Meet Chatham's Zoom Paw-fessors
Have you noticed a sudden influx of furry friends in your virtual classes and Zoom meetings? Chatham’s newest paw-fessors come from a wide range of academic fields, but have been called in to assist their faculty families as we temporarily shift to online learning and working. We wanted to recognize these pals for all the hard work they’ve taken on to help their human companions. Without further ado, we’re introducing the Zoom Paw-fessors of Chatham!
Lulu,
Leading Faculty expert in Cured meats / wonder woman
Faculty liaison: Jennifer Wasco, DNP, RN, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Practice Experience Coordinator
Nickname: Meat
Species & breed: English Bulldog
Age: 5
Life motto: “I’ve never met a human or squirrel that I have not loved immediately!”
Academic expertise: Lulu is skilled at breathing heavily and slobbering. She also earns excellent evaluations on the technique of sleeping.
Favorite snack: Bacon. Bacon. And more Bacon!
Currently guest-teaching: Lulu is assisting with Climate Change and Human Health and the Nursing MSN Practicum using her Wonder Woman superpowers.
PhiL,
Widely published insect BEHAVIORAL researcher / SWEET BABY DRAGON BOY
Faculty liaison: Sheila Squillante, MFA, Director of the MFA Program of Creative Writing, Acting Chair of the Humanities
Nicknames: Philly, Philly-Phil-Phil, Mr. Stink, Awww, Sweet Baby Dragon Boy
Species & breed: Bearded Dragon
Age: 4
Life motto: “I'm not dead! I'm sleeping!”
Academic expertise: Cockroach behavior and psychology. Entomophagy.
Favorite snack: See above.
Currently guest-teaching: Phil is currently directing the MFA program in Creative Writing and serving as Acting Chair of the Humanities.
Bailey,
noted long-boy in the scholarly community / food quality critic
Faculty liaison: Dr. Nichole Bayliss, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Psychology
Nickname: Grumpy Old Man
Species & breed: Orange Tabby
Age: 14
Life motto: “Friday is my second favorite f-word. The first is food.”
Academic expertise: Expert in suspended consciousness, methods of human behavioral conditioning, food quality evaluation, perimeter surveillance, and feline-conflict instigation.
Favorite snack: All the snacks.
Currently guest-teaching: Integrative Capstone (Guest Workshop: helping graduating seniors put stones on caps); Social Psychology (Guest Discussion of book, How to argue with a cat: A human’s guide to the art of persuasion by Jay Heinrichs); Deviant Behavior (Guest Lecture, “Why are dogs so ‘weird’”?)
Trevi,
Author of ‘The importance of routine: bark, sleep, repeat’ / INCREDIBLY GLAMOROUS
Faculty liaison: Mark Bender, Assistant Professor of Art
Nickname: Named after the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy; No nicknames appropriate for publishing.
Species & breed: Westie
Age: 7
Life motto: “Bath is a four letter word.”
Academic expertise: Watch TV, sleep, stare out of the window and bark at passing dogs. Repeat.
Favorite snack: Whatever you are eating is Trevi’s favorite.
Currently guest-teaching: Advanced Painting, Design Praxis, Digital Illustration and Portfolio.
Bubbles,
THE ONLY JELLYFISH WE’VE EVER HAD ON FACULTY / MINDFULNESS expert
Faculty liaison: Dr. Jason Edsall, Director of Athletic Training and Exercise Science
Nicknames: Squishy, Squish
Species & breed: Moon Jellyfish
Age: 2
Life motto: “Live life like me, you can't stress life when you have no brain or eyes, just keep blobbing around and avoid corners!”
Academic expertise: Skills include stinging and eating prey, starting interesting conversations, and overall Zen moments.
Favorite snack: Brine Shrimp
Currently guest-teaching: Exercise Science Capstone, Medical Management of Athletic Populations, Therapeutic Interventions I.
Becca Marie,
HUMAn PSYCHOLOGIST / author of ‘The power of petting me’
Faculty liaison: Dr. Linda MK Johnson, Assistant Professor of Sustainability and the Environment
Nicknames: Babycakes (from the dog-lover in the house), Furball (from the taller human)
Species & breed: All-American Rescue Dog
Age: She’d rather not say, but the gray around her eyes needs a touch-up.
Life motto: “Life is all about affection – except for stink bugs… Those are scary!”
Academic expertise: Becca is all about soothing human palms by rubbing them with her never-ending supply of fur. She loves doing zoomies through the house when humans comes in, even if they’ve only been gone 5 minutes, because life is short!
Favorite snack: Anything that is not a vegetable.
Currently guest-teaching: Becca is the regular host for Dr. J’s ZOO hours (Zoom Open Office), although she seems to sleep on the job a lot!
Augie & Bella,
World-Renowned CANINE research team / cheese connoisseurs
Faculty liaison: Sandra Taylor, J.D., Former Falk Chair of Socially Responsible Business
Nicknames: Augie Doggie; Baby Bella
Species & breed: Augie: French Bull Dog; Bella: French Bull Dog mix with Terrier and Dachshund
Age: 10; 5
Life motto: Augie: “I’m French so I’m picky about who I play with.”
Bella: “I love everyone (especially humans) and everyone loves me. Let’s play!”
Academic Expertise: Augie is good at sleeping all day and following commands like sit and stay. Bella is good at jumping over 4 feet walls into neighbors’ yards, kissing your mouth and keeping watch out the window.
Favorite snack: Cheese
Currently guest-teaching: International Business, Sustainability Assessment and Reporting, Sustainability Leadership for Executives.
WHEELZ,
OFT-CITED SCHOLAR OF HUMAN MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES / catnip enthusiast
Faculty liaison: Dr. Jennie Sweet-Cushman, Assistant Professor of Policy Studies
Nicknames: Wheelzers, Wheelzies, We-Yulllllllz
Species & breed: Cat
Age: 4
Life motto: "Give me treats or give me death."
Academic expertise: WHEELZ is a leading expert on techniques to manipulate humans into letting him outside.
Favorite snack: catnip-infused cat treats (he may have a "problem")
Currently guest-teaching: Intro to American Government, Social Science Research Methods, Political Psychology.
Bogey,
PSYCHOLOGIST STUDYING THE IMPORTANCE OF BARK-DEFENSE / movie star
Faculty liaison: Dr. Beth Roark, Associate Professor of Art
Nicknames: Bogester, Bogeliscious, Buddy
Species & breed: Maltese (Bogey is named after Humphrey Bogart, who acted in The Maltese Falcon)
Age: 3
Life motto: “I sleep, therefore I am.”
Academic expertise: Researching psychology of possessiveness — believes he owns our whole block, barks at any noise/person/animal on it; working on revision of article on extreme cuteness; award: expert kisser.
Favorite snack: Rotisserie Chicken
Currently guest-teaching: Modern Art, World Art II, Women and Art.
Ponyboy,
SCHOLAR OF FELINE REPRESENTATION IN AMERICAN CINEMA / captain underfoot
Faculty liaison: Kristen Lauth Shaeffer, MFA, Assistant Professor of Film and Digital Technology
Nickname: Captain Underfoot
Age: 18
Life motto: “Stay gold.”
Academic expertise: Feline representation in American cinema, cat videos as cultural artifact
Favorite snack: Tortilla chips
Currently guest-teaching: Intermediate Digital Video Production, Media Project II.
NELLy,
Creator of bridging the gap: reducing cat & dog conflict / pacifist
Faculty liaison: Dr. Debbie Delong, Associate Professor of Marketing
Nickname: Nervous Nelly BoBelly
Species & breed: I was a rescue pup, so it’s anyone’s guess!
Age: 14 ½
Life motto: “Love everyone like you would like to be loved in return.”
Academic expertise: I am no good at school but am always willing to try to please! I wrestle with the cat and let him win. I greet everyone when they get home and don’t ask for anything except a pat on the head in return. I make friends with every dog that walks by my yard. I practice unconditional love, tolerance, and acceptance, as we all should in our various pursuits.
Favorite snack: Peanut butter
Currently guest-teaching: Business Capstone, since it is about cross-cultural awareness, ethical and sustainable business practices, and creative problem solving. I am having a great time with my students and hope they are too <3 <3 <3
Benny,
Expert in Canine Queer Theory / PUPPY prodigy
Faculty liaison: Dr. Allie Reznik, Assistant Professor of Humanities
Nicknames: Benny Boop, Bean, Wubba
Species & breed: Aussie Doodle and Cocker Spaniel Mix
Age: 8.5 months
Life motto: “You miss 100% of the table scraps you don’t beg for.”
Academic expertise: He’s currently working on an article titled “Good dog, bad dog: Queering the rhetoric of puppy training” and enjoys analyzing/discussing/barking at representations of dogs in pop culture.
Favorite snack: Organic cold-pressed coconut oil on a lick pad
Currently guest-teaching: Feminist Theory, Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies, and Ecofeminist Literature.
