Campus Welcomes New Dean of Natural Sciences
Elizabeth (Betsy) Dumont joins Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę today as the newest dean of the . Sheās the third dean in the schoolās history and the second woman to serve in this capacity, after Founding Dean MariaĀ Pallavicini.
Dumont arrives from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where for the past three years she served as vice provost for academic affairs and director of the Interdepartmental Graduate Programs in Life Sciences. She joined the UMass faculty inĀ 2001.
āDr. Dumont brings a distinguished and varied track record of leadership in higher education toĀ Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę, as well as a strong interest in engaging faculty, staff, and students in strategic academic and administrative planning for the School of NaturalĀ Sciences,ā Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Tom PetersonĢż²õ²¹¾±»å.
Dumont attributes her cross-country move to Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ęās innovative, forward-thinking approach toĀ research.
āMy work is very interdisciplinary, and thatās one of the things that really drew me to Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę,ā Dumont said. āI really admire the cross-disciplinary themes that are emerging in the School of Natural Sciences, and am especially excited that there are graduate programs that span schools andĀ departments.ā
Dumontās own story is that of a scientist who refused to be confined by narrow academicĀ boundaries.
Dumont received her bachelorās degree in anthropology from Indiana University and her masterās and doctoral degrees in physical anthropology from the Stony Brook University in New York. She completed postdoctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh, and was a research associate at the Carnegie Museum of NaturalĀ History.
It was at the Carnegie Museum that Dumont the anthropologist became Dumont the chiropterologist ā one who studiesĀ bats.
āWhen I was teaching anatomy to medical students at the University of Pittsburgh, I started going to the Carnegie museum and looking through drawers full of specimens,ā Dumont said. āI came across these bats and thought they were ridiculouslyĀ amazing.ā
Dumont recognized that bats, as the most diverse group of mammals, might be the ideal system for studying how biodiversityĀ evolves.
āPeople donāt realize that 20 percent of all species of mammals are bats,ā sheĢż²õ²¹¾±»å.
Along with her duties as new dean, Dumont intends to continue her research at Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę. Sheās accompanied by a postdoc who will help set up her new lab, and she hopes to attract new graduate students. She also brings a 5-year, multi-institute National Science Foundation grant that funds her cross-disciplinaryĀ efforts.
āWeāre looking at the evolution of sensory systems in a particular family of bats. It has everything from fruit bats and nectar bats to vampire bats and frog-eating bats,ā Dumont said. āAnd we work with everybody ā people who are building genomes and evolutionary trees, developmental biologists, mechanical engineers, and ecologists who are out there in theĀ field.ā
Dumont arrives with a grand vision for the School of Natural Sciences, with two ambitious goals topping her list ofĀ priorities.
First, she wants to help accelerate the universityās rapidly growing reputation for cutting-edge research, as evidenced by its inclusion in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of HigherĀ Education.
āItās amazing that Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę was able to achieve R2 status in such a short time,ā Dumont said. āAs dean, I want to help the faculty build research programs that will move Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę to R1 just asĀ quickly.ā
Second, Dumont wants to improve outcomes for Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ęās unique student population, many of whom are first-generation students or come from underservedĀ backgrounds.
āI look forward to learning the routes that students take through the school and working together to help them complete their degrees as effectively and as efficiently as possible.ā DumontĢż²õ²¹¾±»å.
However, Dumont stresses that itās not enough to improve four- and six-year graduation rates. She also wants to help students identify the opportunities that exist for them once they leave UCĀ Merced.
āI hope we can help students understand the full range of careers that they have to choose from and, just as important, to show them the paths that can take them there.ā Dumont said. āThere are many different ways to access most careers. As educators, part of our job is to help students identify the route that is best forĀ them.ā
