Greg Pope, Rolf Sternberg, postdoctoral research associate Lihong Su, and graduate student Peter Davis of Earth and Environmental Studies are presenting papers at the 2005 annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Denver, Colo., April 5-9. Pope will present "Hot fires and pedogenesis: fleeting factor or long-term conditioner in central Colorado?" in a session he organized, "Geosystems, Ecosystems and Wildfire," featuring seven other presenters. Sternberg will present "Hydroelectricity in the context of political, social, environmental and economic dimensions" in a session on "Energy Development and Society." Su will present "Determine on advisable spatial scale of geometric-optical model application" in the paper session, "Modeling and Spatial Analysis of Vegetation with Remote Sensing." Davis will present "Ancient Landscape Modification and Settlement Planning at Chawak But’o’ob, Belize: A Perspective on Ancient Maya Environmental Management and Site Development through the Lens of Soil Analysis," related to his M.S. thesis, in the session, "Geoarchaeology and Geomorphology."

Gregory Waters of English was named director of the Honors Program. He has been serving as acting director since the fall.

Steven Johnson was named director of Institutional Research. Johnson brings more than three decades of higher education experience to Montclair State including Institutional Research directorships at several colleges and universities in the region, mosts recently at the College of Staten Island, N.Y.

Alan Oppenheim dean of the School of Business was featured in New Jersey Business magazine's March issue that focused on today's college students. He was quoted as saying, "MSU's philosophy is to prepare students to be immediately effective in cutting-edge industries."

Julian Keenan of Psychology was featured on Fox 29 Philadelphia, in a segment on how his research may lead to more accurate lie detection devices.

Marina Cunningham of Global Education was selected as a Fulbright scholar grantee to the U.S.-Germany International Education Administrators Program.

Debra Zellner of Psychology was quoted in an article in the Washington Times, "Chocolate's dark little secret." Zellner, who has researched the cultural differences in the craving of chocolate, said, "There are certainly things found to be addicting in chocolate. However, it's not clear if there is enough of those substances that would make it addicting."