Gallaudet welcomes visiting STEM researcher from Germany

Gallaudet is pleased to announce the arrival of its latest International Visiting Scholar, Dr. Ingo Barth, from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Dr. barth will make use of the University’s resources to further his research project, “Collaboration on Developing a STEM Sign Language Lexicon,” as well as teach and collaborate with faculty for the Spring 2022 semester. 

Dr. Barth, who is a third generation deaf person, co-founded a forum in 2015 for deaf German (and later European) researchers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and has gained a reputation as a respected leader among deaf STEM researchers. Barth currently has

a grant for Sign2MINT from the Max Planck Society, a leading German organization in natural and life sciences, and humanities research that, according to its website, has produced 22 Nobel laureates since its founding in 1948.

While expanding on his research findings at Gallaudet, Dr. Caroline Solomon, director of and professor in the School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health, will serve as Barth’s faculty advisor. Dr. Solomon said a recent roundtable discussion on STEM signs used around the world was led by Barth and Dr. Alicia Wooten, assistant professor of biology at Gallaudet, and proved to be so popular that a followup roundtable will be held on February 23, 2022, with the possibility of it becoming a monthly event during Barth’s time on campus. Solomon added that the topic has gained such notability that an international STEM sign lexicon conference may be held at Gallaudet in spring 2023.

Barth’s itinerary as an International Visiting Scholar at Gallaudet is brimful with projects. Besides conducting research, he is teaching Quantum Biology this semester, and will give a campus-wide presentation via Zoom on February 16 at 1 p.m. in JSAC 1011 that may be live-streamed for an external audience. Solomon added that the lecture is expected to be covered by a reporter from the German news magazine, GEO. Barth will also give a presentation next month about his quantum physics work to faculty in the  University’s School of  Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health. 

“(Barth’s) research area is so narrow that we couldn’t find a collaborator in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region),” Solomon noted. “He is very excited about his collaboration with Dr. Tugba Kucukkal (associate professor of chemistry) in offering “Quantum Biology” this semester. It is not taught at the undergraduate level at many places, and the two of them plan to publish about their experience after this semester.”

Barth’s stay is sponsored by a Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence grant won for Gallaudet by Solomon and Dr. Charles B. Reilly, senior international officer and executive director of the Office of International Affairs.