Featured_Alumnus

Patty (Bryan) Janes has been selected as our outstanding alumni for the 2009 edition of the physics newsletter. Patty graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from Mary Washington in 1996. She initially pursued a graduate degree in atmospheric physics at the University of New Hampshire, but later decided to take a break from her studies. She moved to South Carolina where she taught physics and math at the high school level. After two years of teaching, she moved back to the northeast where she had lived most of her life and eventually settled in the New York metro area.

For the past nine years, Patty has worked at the educational publishing company, Scholastic. Although the company is better known for publishing Harry Potter and Clifford the Big Red Dog, she works in its magazine department. She is the executive editor of two science magazines for kids and teens. The magazines are called Science World (for students in grades 6 to 10) and Super Science (for students in grades 3 to 6) and together they reach over 1 million students. Both of the magazines present breaking science news to kids in terms that they can comprehend.

According to Patty, this job has been incredible, as it has given her the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading researchers and help to inform future generations of scientists. For example, she was invited to join researchers on a month-long expedition in the Bering Sea on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy. The scientists were studying the effects of climate change on the Bering Sea ecosystem. While at sea, she reported live to students across the country about the science taking place onboard the icebreaker, and upon her return, wrote a series of articles about the research.

Patty is currently working remotely on a master’s degree in environmental studies with a concentration in writing and communications from Green Mountain College in Vermont. She has already completed a program in conservation biology from Columbia University.

Patty loves the outdoors, and she has a passion for winter sports and all things related to the Arctic and Antarctic. She cross-country ski, snowshoe, ice skate, and has traveled to Churchill (Canada) to go dog sledding and see polar bears in their natural habitat. Her next dream destination is Greenland, where she would like to report on the health effects of air pollutants from North America on people living in that remote region of the world.

Patty has been married for almost nine years now and she and her husband have recently added another family member — a new puppy. Patty’s career accomplishments have been fascinating so far, and we are so proud and delighted that we had a role in her development. We wish her and the family all the best in future endeavors.

Past Featured Alumni:

• Jennifer Malos ’93
• Michael Bardzell ’89
• Michael Langham ’94
• Kevin Osburn ’92
• David Richards ’89
• Andrew Mercado ’01