Dr. Tess Neal with Arizona State University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences won the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence in Psychology and Law, co-sponsored by the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology.

Neal’s interdisciplinary research blends psychology, ethics and law to inform how people reach decisions in the legal system. The assistant professor focuses on how expert witnesses inform the decisions made by judges, lawyers and other members of the courts.  Through her work, she has analyzed how the biases of forensic experts shape legal decisions. Dr. Tess Neal’s interdisciplinary research blends psychology, ethics and law to inform how people reach decisions in the legal system. Download Full Image

She is the 20th recipient of the Saleem Shah Early Career Award.  The award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the interdisciplinary field of psychology-law within six years of completing their highest academic degree.

“I’m truly humbled to be honored by my peers and colleagues with the Saleem Shah Award,” said Neal. “This award helps highlight that my research so far has been meaningful and worthwhile, and it inspires me to think more broadly about how psychology and law can work together to improve the justice system.”

Neal plans to continue studying the biases of forensic experts, and what the legal system and experts themselves can do to minimize the effects of these biases.  She hopes her research can identify how our preconceptions shape decisions and the impact this has on the real world.

The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences is part of ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences on the West campus.

Arizona State University anthropologist Katie Hinde sees milk as more than food. For her, it is also personalized medicine and a carrier of information that affects immunity, brain function and metabolism in lasting ways.

Hinde was named to this year’s Grist 50 — a list of innovative individuals whose work points toward a better, more sustainable world — by Grist magazine. ASU anthropologist Katie Hinde analyzes milk samples from across the globe, enhancing “precision nourishment” for the most fragile infants and children in neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units. Photo by Cary Allen-Blevins Download Full Image

“For a long time, we really took mother’s milk for granted,” Hinde said. “You can buy milk at the store. It just seems like a food item. That’s allowed this amazingly complex, fascinating adaptation — lactation — to hide in plain sight.

“Our nation does not mandate paid maternity leave, depriving many mothers from achieving their breastfeeding goals. This is a public health issue not only for infant health and well-being, but for maternal health and well-being. At the same time, for the babies who don’t have access to mother’s milk, there needs to be better artificial alternatives that reflect the state of the science.

“Some of the greatest global challenges — disease, childhood mortality and population growth — can be addressed, in part, through empowering women in their educational, economic and reproductive decisions,” she added. “Breast milk research is an integral aspect of this mission.”

Hinde, an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a member of the Center for Evolution & Medicine, is currently analyzing milk samples from across the globe. Insights from different places and diverse people allows us to “decode” mother’s milk. Such research will enhance “precision nourishment” for the most fragile infants and children in neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units.

Hinde’s work is not only being heralded by scientists but is also heavily followed on social media, including her popular blog Mammals Suck… Milk!, which translates her and colleagues’ work into engaging and relatable posts.

To address the national need for greater numbers of students to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, Project AMP at Arizona State University is conducting a three-year program that taps into the tech interests and talents of students grades 9-11 as a way to increase their interest in STEM.

Project AMP (App Maker Pro) — in which teams of students and teachers come up with software apps to address workplace and community needs — also aims to help high school STEM teachers enhance their technology expertise and knowledge of applications that will promote student learning. High school students and teachers working collaboratively in the Power Track Design Village in the first Project AMP cohort. Download Full Image

In AMP Design Villages, teams of five (three students and two teachers) collaborate to develop software apps to address real-world needs — for example, in health care or city planning. Villages are led by university and industry scientists with STEM, software and programming expertise. Leaders are assisted by mentors who are computer science majors, who also serve as role models for the student participants.

After creating their own apps, Villagers will design and conduct — with mentorship from AMP staff — Mini-Design Villages for students, teachers and members of the community in their home schools or school districts.

All completed, tested and refined apps will be uploaded to a national database.

During the three years of the project, three cohorts of villagers (150 participants in all: 30 students and 20 teachers per cohort) will be served, along with the hundreds of students reached by the in-school and after-school programs offered by AMP participants.

Throughout the program, student and teacher activities are monitored, and content knowledge and interests assessed. Results will add to knowledge about motivation for student program selection and career choice, as well as for professional-development approaches that enhance teacher knowledge of STEM careers.

On Nov. 14, AMP Cohort 1 completed the first of its five consecutive project sessions. A session is a semester (six Saturday mornings) or a summer (two weeks). The last day of each session is dedicated to a Showcase Open House where each villager picks up the microphone, describes some aspect of the project that was explored, and answers questions from the audience — family, friends, members of the community.

The two Design Villages in Cohort 1 are: Health Tech, co-led by Dr. Rachel Rowe, neuroscientist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Ashish Amresh, assistant professor of computer science at ASU. Mentors are Pragathi Gopal, Taruni Kancharla and Zach Moore. The Power Track Village is co-led by ASU faculty, Dr. Lina Karam, professor of electrical engineering, Dr. Timothy Lindquist, professor of computer science, and Dr. David Meltzer, associate professor of physics education. Mentors are Jason Luc, Yifan Tian and Shaojia Zhao.

Laura Gonzales-Macias, one of the parents of a participant, commented, “Riley (daughter), as part of this creative and talented team of students and faculty, has explored new technologies and strengthened her communication skills. I’m deeply grateful to the Project AMP staff."

Project AMP is directed by professor Carole Greenes and her PRIME Center staff, executive director Mary Cavanagh, project manager James Kim and project co-manager Javier Duarte. Project evaluator is Dr. Melissa Kovacs.

Project AMP participants hail from the school districts of Avondale, Bagdad, Chandler, Gilbert, Higley, Mesa, Phoenix, Tempe and Queen Creek, as well as the San Tan Charter School and the Arizona Virtual Academy. Session 2 begins on Jan. 23.

Contact: Carole Greenes, cgreenes@asu.edu and Mary Cavanagh, mcavanagh@asu.edu.

A new 3-D astronomy show, "The Secret Life of Stars," is premiering at Arizona State University's Marston Exploration Theater at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20.

The show takes audiences on a journey through the birth, life and death of stars, exploring white dwarfs, planetary nebulas, supernova explosions, neutron stars, pulsars, and the ultimate fate of massive stars, black holes. Simulation of a bipolar supernova explosion with color corresponding to density (top) and a composite image of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory (bottom). Image credits: Ellinger & Young, ASU (top) and NASA (bottom). Download Full Image

This live-narrated 3-D show will answer questions about where stars come from, how they form, what happens when they die and why humans are made of stardust.

“The Marston Exploration Theater is the next-generation planetarium,” said theater director Ric Alling. “It’s a state-of-the art, 3-D experience combined with live narration.”

The supernova images in the new show were developed by ASU associate professor Patrick Young and feature simulations of supernova explosions performed on the Saguaro supercomputer.

The supercomputer, located on the ASU Tempe campus, is capable of 50 trillion mathematical operations per second.

“ASU is at the cutting edge of simulating how supernovae explode,” Young said. “This is the only place where the public can see the raw data of our simulations and experience supernova explosions in an immersive 3-D environment. It’s pretty dramatic.”

The Marston Exploration Theater is in the school's Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4 (ISTB4) on ASU's Tempe campus. This show will also be featured at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 23. Tickets are $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for students.

For more information about the show, tickets, location and parking, visit sese.asu.edu/public-engagement/3-d-astronomy.