Collaborating on Program to Offer Tours of Lower Schuylkill River
Inspired by urban river projects that have revitalized the cities of Los Angeles and New York, the Penn Program in the Environmental Humanities (PPEH) is collaborating on a project with Bartram’s Garden and River Corps to increase access to the Lower Schuylkill River, helping more people connect to the storied waterway.
The PPEH is exploring the development of “multi-modal public river-based tours” of Southwest Philadelphia, with Bartram’s Garden serving as the central hub of activities.
The PPEH will host a public planning meeting on Thursday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at Bartram’s Garden. Discussion will center on existing local organizations, programs and events that intersect with the river guides project, examples of successful urban waterway tours and content for Lower Schuylkill River Guide tours.
Reservations are encouraged and can be made by emailing Bethany Wiggin, an associate professor of German in the School of Arts & Sciences and PPEH director, at director@ppehlab.org
“We’ve been working and collaborating on the river all year long,” Dr. Wiggin says. “The experience of getting on the water—whether in Bartram’s public kayaks or in our public Lab at WetLand—has been absolutely central.”
The project seeks to supplement a number of ongoing riverfront programs and projects underway at Bartram’s Garden. They include the PPEH Lab at WetLand, a public art project for “experiments in sustainability” based in a houseboat on the river. Participants at the planning meeting will have an opportunity to explore WetLand, http://www.ppehlab.org/wetland/
Additional meetings are planned leading up to a one-day certification session for river guides during the week of August 22.
As envisioned, the first phase of the project will culminate in river and watershed tours led by the corps of certified river guides in kayaks, bicycles and/or on foot. In phase two, a website will be created with information about the Schuylkill River, its past and future. The third phase will involve development of a mobile app to enable visitors to explore the river on their own through self-guided tours.
Public access to the riverbanks has risen dramatically in recent years as efforts by the Schuylkill River Trail Council to connect the trail’s sections have flourished. Dr. Wiggin envisions the new tours evolving to build audiences that will grow over time, as well.
She says that floating on the river that provides Philadelphia’s single largest source of drinking water, between the nation’s oldest botanic garden on the west bank and one of its oldest refineries on the east, is amazing.
“It’s quite a contrast,” she says, “and an important vantage point to facilitate dialogue about our community’s experiences of environmental degradation and, vitally, of resilience.”
This award was established in 1980-1981 as a memorial to Leonard Berwick by his family and the department of pathology to recognize “a member of the medical faculty who in his or her teaching effectively fuses basic science and clinical medicine.” This award is intended to recognize outstanding teachers, particularly among younger faculty.
This award was established by the department of anesthesia in 1983-1984. As a pioneer in the specialty of anesthesia and chair of the department from 1943 to 1972, Dr. Dripps was instrumental in the training of more than 300 residents and fellows, many of whom went on to chair other departments. This award recognizes excellence as an educator of residents and fellows in clinical care, research, teaching or administration.
Aba Barden-Maja is a professor of clinical medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. After completing a residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, she completed a general medicine fellowship at Cornell and joined the Penn faculty in 1997. Dr. Barden-Maja is a current Measey fellow and the recipient of the Maurice Attie Faculty Teaching Award, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching at an Affiliated Hospital, the John Eisenberg Faculty Teaching Award and a Penn Pearls Teaching Award. Her teaching style is interactive, engaging, collegial and inclusive. She consistently endeavors to find new ways to explain difficult concepts, identifies how people learn and brings the best out of each learner. She is a strong believer in bedside teaching and models this effortlessly for students and residents. A former trainee stated: “Her thoughtful approach to prioritizing medical or psychosocial issues at the bedside was a learning experience that I carry with me into my current career as a Fellow.”
Lisa B. Zaoutis is an associate professor of pediatrics and the director of the General Pediatrics Residency Program at CHOP. She is a general pediatric hospitalist and a pioneer in helping to establish the field of pediatric hospital medicine. One resident wrote, “Perhaps the most impressive teachers are those that do not just display their knowledge, but rather pull that knowledge out of his/her learners. Dr. Z is just that kind of teacher. Without a shred of ego, Dr. Z remains one of our most effective and dynamic teachers.” A medical student wrote, “Dr. Z is a phenomenal physician and teacher. Energetic, passionate and fun, she exudes a profound sense of curiosity and wonder about the human body and the disease processes that affect it. This inspires those working with her to view medicine with a similar sense of wonder and awe.”
Brian Keith is an adjunct professor in the department of cancer biology and associate director for education and training in the Abramson Cancer Center. He has taught in cell & tissue biology for many years, and in 2015 developed a new MS1 course that focuses on the development of effective, novel cancer therapeutics based on our increasingly mechanistic understanding of transformed cells and the tumor microenvironment. He is also an adjunct professor of biology (SAS), where he developed an undergraduate course on cancer cell biology. He received the Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty in 2010 and the Excellence in Medical Education Award from PSOM classes of 2015 and 2018. One student writes: “Dr. Keith is a phenomenal lecturer—he navigates clearly and seamlessly from broad concept down into detail and then back up to broad concept.” Others commented: “Clear, concise and passionate about the topic he teaches” and “Dr. Keith makes me want to be an oncologist!”
Robin Canada is an assistant professor of general internal medicine whose practice and teaching focus on medically underserved populations. She completed her residency at Penn and worked with migrant farm workers and homeless populations, then moved to Arizona to work with the White Mountain Apache for the Indian Health Service. She recently established a link between Penn and the Fort Defiance Navajo reservation, creating an IHS elective rotation for residents. She mentors and precepts medical students and residents interested in Native American and Latino health care. She serves as the medical director for Puentes de Salud, a local Latino health clinic for undocumented immigrants. After working for one of the city’s safety net clinics, she created a community medicine immersion experience in West Philadelphia for primary care internal medicine residents. One trainee stated: Her “lessons have made our clinical experience as residents more fruitful and enjoyable, and in my case, they have inspired me to strive to be not only a clinician but also an advocate.”
Nikhil Mull is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Section of Hospital Medicine. He joined Penn in 2012. Dr. Mull teaches evidence-based medicine principles that can be used at the point of care. He is assistant director for the Penn Medicine Center for Evidence-based Practice and has taught similar principles for faculty development, advanced practitioner grand rounds series and the introduction to medicine internship for sub-intern students. He received the Donald B. Martin Award in Teaching Excellence from the department of medicine in 2014. One of his former trainees stated: “Dr. Mull brings a unique combination of high expectations and insightful guidance to the attending-housestaff relationship which empowers those who work with him to grow as clinicians and be well-prepared to assume the next level of responsibility.”
Jason Hutchings is a psychologist and clinical associate faculty member in the department of psychiatry. He serves as the attending psychologist on 6 Spruce, the inpatient psychiatric unit at Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Hutchings has been a part of the department since starting his internship in 2011 and has continued on staff since 2013, teaching medical students, psychology interns and psychiatry residents. He teaches psychotherapeutic technique and conceptualization, psychological testing and mindfulness-based intervention, and lectures in several courses for psychiatry residents. He has co-created a mindfulness program for Penn employees. One of his former fellows stated: “The transition to the inpatient rotation was a steep learning curve for me and Dr. Hutchings provided a stable, empathic leadership style which allowed me to establish a confidence with my work by the end of my rotation. These qualities were also present in his supervision within the outpatient clinic.”
Frank Leone is a pulmonologist in the department of medicine. He directs Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program, a clinical program of the Harron Lung Center, located at both Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. Dr. Leone’s scholarship focuses on investigating advanced treatment strategies for tobacco use disorder, and on testing educational strategies for improving the care of tobacco-dependent patients. His scholarly activity occupies the intersection of physical and behavioral medicine in a meaningful way. Many of his trainees find his teaching to be transformative, regardless of level of experience or professional discipline. He has taught a variety of professionals—including undergraduate and medical students, oncologic surgeons and psychiatrists, and community addiction counselors—all with the same effect. He has made several unique contributions to the University’s teaching mission and has received special attention from a number of professional and scientific societies. A former fellow stated: “He is a master educator with infectious enthusiasm and his lectures have aided numerous trainees and faculty in developing a more sophisticated armamentarium to effectively counsel patients.”
David Gasser, professor emeritus of genetics, is receiving the Special Dean’s Award in recognition of his serving as the course director for PSOM’s genetics course for first-year medical students since its beginning as a founding course in Curriculum 2000. He has been completely dedicated to medical student education and also served as the original leader of Module 1, the portion of the curriculum devoted to pre-clinical sciences. He performs his role with great dedication and equanimity. Dr. Gasser sits on multiple administrative committees for the Immunology Graduate Group, the department of genetics and PSOM. Students have commented that “genetics was perfectly designed to help me learn.” He has demonstrated great commitment to students irrespective of their scientific background and has been a leader of medical education at PSOM.
Marilyn Hess, the late professor emerita of pharmacology, who died last fall (Almanac November 3, 2015), is receiving this posthumously. She was known for her tireless service and earnest commitment to the mission of the Perelman School of Medicine. Her research background and long-standing commitment to the educational mission of the School provided special insights into the essential components of a successful and productive research program. Dr. Hess was instrumental in the initial design, implementation and assessment of the School’s Curriculum 2000, which was implemented in 1998. Her efforts were essential to ensuring that medical students were exposed to basic pharmacology across all organ systems. The model that was developed with her help is in place to this day. She was a tireless educator with an enduring impact on the School.
Katherine Margo has been the director of student programs for the department of family medicine & community health since 2000. She has been the clerkship director and co-director of the Doctor-Patient Communication course since 2001. She helped start the Sayre Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in West Philadelphia that has the dual mission of service to the community and education at all levels; she has been an active board member and now serves on its advisory board. Dr. Margo has been active nationally through the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, where she founded the Medical Student Educators Development Institute and served as director for its first eight years. She has been active in the American Balint Society and recently chaired its Credentials Committee. She won the Lindback Award in 2013.
Rudolf R. Roth is an associate professor of clinical dermatology and the director of clinical dermatology at Penn Medicine at Radnor. He completed his dermatology residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1988 and completed a 26-year career in the United States Air Force before joining the Penn faculty in 2001. He was nominated for this award because of his work in creating educational partnerships between Penn and programs in other countries, and a joint service trip to an underserved part of each country. A supporting letter states that he “envisioned a program that would allow Penn’s department of dermatology to partner with dermatology residency programs in developing countries. The program was initiated by Dr. Roth visiting an international residency program based in Guatemala. A core motivation of these trips is teaching others, including residents from Penn who often accompany Dr. Roth on these weeklong trips, as well as the residents and staff from [the host country].”
Erika Holzbaur is a professor of physiology. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology before joining the biochemistry department at Penn in 1992. She is chair of the graduate program in cell biology, physiology & metabolism within the Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Group (CAMB) and has provided long-standing, exemplary service to the BGS/PSOM/Penn core mission of educating, mentoring and training the next generation of biomedical scientists. She received considerable praise and appreciation from her colleagues and students for her teaching and mentoring acumen, as well as for her leadership roles in the Graduate Group across many years. Her dedication to these efforts exemplifies the type of scientist/educator represented by Jane Glick.
Amy Pruitt is a professor of neurology and director of Medical Student Education for Neurology. She is described as “a treasure” and “a fantastic teacher and physician who is loved by all trainees at all levels.” She is known to include clinical anecdotes related to case studies, making the material more tangible. As one student said, “Dr. Pruitt is quite possibly the smartest person I have ever met. She is an incredible student educator and an expert at her craft.” Another said, “She has a unique ability to impart information in a way that makes it impossible to forget.” A third student said, “Fantastic, phenomenal, amazing, awesome—there are just a few adjectives that come to mind when describing Dr. Pruitt.”
James White is an adjunct associate professor of cell & developmental biology in the Perelman School of Medicine, where he teaches a number of introductory courses, including gross anatomy, neuroscience and histology. Dr. White is described as an “engaging instructor who helps students find answers for themselves.” One student said, “Professor White is animated and clearly demonstrates a passion for cell and tissue biology. Even though the material is pretty dry, he manages to make it entertaining and interesting.” Another said, “He is clear and thorough and very good at explaining complex concepts.” Students appreciate Dr. White’s willingness to stay late and review structures with them. As one student summed it up, “Beyond being a great teacher, I think this really shows his dedication.” This is the seventh year he has won the award.
Lillian Sholtis Brunner, HUP’40, ED’45, HON’85, a former Overseer of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, died on March 23. She was 97 years old.
Protective amulets, incantation bowls, curse tablets, powerful rings, magical stones and anatomical votives—these objects and more, once used by ancient peoples seeking to fulfill desires through supernatural means, are featured in Magic in the Ancient World. The new exhibition opens Saturday, April 16 at the Penn Museum, and runs through April 2017.
Employees of the University of Pennsylvania and UPHS are invited to take home a free yard tree as part of Penn’s continuing efforts to increase the greenery in the greater Philadelphia area. This spring, Penn is partnering with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for Creating Canopy 2016. A limited number of free trees will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis to interested Penn and UPHS staff and faculty who pre-register online registration before April 29.