Four Women Scholars Join the Faculty at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota

Macalester College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in St. Paul, Minnesota, has seven new tenure-track faculty members on campus this fall. Four of the new hires are women.

Taryn Flock is a new assistant professor in the department of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. She previously taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Birmingham in England.

Dr. Flock is a graduate of Yale University and earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ariel James was hired as an assistant professor of psychology. Her research focuses on language processing and other cognitive abilities. She has been conducting postdoctoral research at Macalester College for the past two years.

Dr. James is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Illinois.

Christine Sierra O’Connell is a new assistant professor of environmental studies. Her research is concentrated on the impact of global climate change on tropical below-ground nutrient cycling. She had been conducting postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. O’Connell is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in earth systems. She holds a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and behavior from the University of Minnesota.

Anna Williams is an assistant professor in the department of physics and astronomy. Her research focuses on using radio telescopes to detect magnetic fields in distant galaxies. She was a visiting assistant professor at Macalester College during the 2018-19 academic year.

Dr. Williams is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.