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College Highlights, January 2017

In the College of Arts and Sciences, there are always big things happening. Take a look at some of our highlights from January 2017:

American Ethnic Studies

Biology

Communication Studies

Economics

Geography

Geology

Journalism and Mass Communications

Modern Languages

Music, Theatre, and Dance

Physics

Psychological Sciences

Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work

Statistics

American Ethnic Studies

Yolanda Broyles-González, department head of American Ethnic Studies, has published the first academic treatment of singer Jenni Rivera as part of a cultural studies anthology titled “De Aztlan al Rio de la Plata,” edited by Sergio M. Martinez.

The anthology’s title marks its transnational focus: “Aztlan” is a Nahuatl Aztec designation for North America, while “Rio de la Plata” designates South America. Mexican American singer Jenni Rivera enjoyed a singular hemispheric popularity across national borders. When Rivera died in a plane crash on Dec. 9, 2012, Mexican-Americans lost their greatest living song idol, while the world in general lost one of the most eloquent and engaged advocates for women of color.

In her article, Broyles-González traces the emergence of Rivera from a Long Beach, California barrio to a stardom, which gave voice to the most disenfranchised sectors of society. Her voice performed a powerful history from the fringe, which modeled empowerment for women, most especially immigrant Mexican women. Click here to read more.

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Biology

Rollie J. Clem, professor of biology, has been awarded the Joan S. Hunt Distinguished Mentoring Award by the Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Program, or K-INBRE.

Candidates for the award must be faculty members at one of 10 participating Kansas and Oklahoma universities with demonstrated success in their field and must have mentored a substantial number of junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, or graduate or undergraduate students. The award was established in 2012 to recognize someone with demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of mentees. The award’s namesake, Joan S. Hunt, is professor emeritus of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the original principal investigator of K-INBRE. Read the full story here.

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Communication Studies

Two Communication Studies students were awarded Arts and Sciences Research Travel Scholarships to attend the Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Conference. Brett Sitts, an undergraduate, and Lindsey Milburn, a graduate student, will both travel to Minneapolis later this spring for the conference.

Sitts and Paige Wiley, another undergraduate student, both had papers accepted to the CSCA Undergraduate Honors Research Conference (UHRC) and will present their papers as part of a competitive panel.

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Economics

Dan Kuester gave a presentation on creating personal connections in the classroom as part of the GTA Professional Development Series sponsored by the Faculty Exchange for Teaching Excellence (FETE). This series features faculty lectures for graduate students who are interested in receiving certification in teaching techniques.

“This is the second consecutive year I was asked to give one of the talks and I was happy to do so,” Kuester said. “I spoke about ways to make the classroom environment less intimidating for students.”

Amanda Gaulke presented “Stopping Out of College: The Role of Credit Constraints” at the Western Economic Association International Conference in Santiago, Chile as part of a Contemporary Economic Policy: Public Policy and Inequality Series Session arranged by Indiana University.

 

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Geography

Dr. Francesco OrsiAssistant Professor Francesco Orsi published a correspondence piece titled “Environment: Progressive Taxes for Sustainability” in the international journal Nature. The correspondence suggests levying progressive taxes on goods that are particularly detrimental to the environment as a method of achieving a more sustainable society. Orsi is a recognized authority on the use and preservation of green space and sustainable transportation.

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Geology

Mattheow Totten and Abdelmoneam Raef and their student Keithan Martin published an article in the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering on studying the petroleum system of the subsurface Hugoton embayment basin of western Kansas.

The study focuses on improving the understanding of the orientation, geometry, and spatial distribution of ooid shoal complexes in Kearny County, Kansas. Integration of multiple datasets and advanced Artificial Neural Networks analysis resulted in the development of a well-calibrated predictive tool for classifying specific rock characteristics (lithological facies) based on geophysical well-logs.

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Journalism and Mass Communications

Safiya Woodard, senior in mass communications at K-State, won the grand prize in the 2016 Biotech University reporting contest, a $2,500 academic scholarship. Woodard’s winning entry was a video documentary, “The Evolution of Biotechnology in Agriculture.” Click here to read more.

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Modern Languages

Laura Kanost, associate professor of Spanish, led a group of eight Spanish students on a two-week study abroad program in Costa Rica blending cultural and linguistic immersion, leadership, and multidisciplinary research. The students, who represent four different colleges at K-State, lived with host families in a rural community, engaged in a service-learning project, and participated in a variety of excursions and mini-classes. Pictured, from left to right: Natalie Wolf, sophomore, Arts and Sciences Open Option; Jacklyn Dawson, freshman, Business Administration; Katlyn Krause, junior, Geography; Anne Recker, senior, Animal Sciences and Industry; Christine Laflin, sophomore, Architectural Engineering; Shea Roy, senior, Kinesiology; Cassidy Frost, senior, Biochemistry; Kaylee Aherns, freshman, Arts and Sciences Open Option; Amy Hein, senior, Spanish and Marketing; Laura Kanost, associate professor of Spanish.
Continue reading “College Highlights, January 2017”

College Highlights, August 2016

In the College of Arts and Sciences, there are always big things happening. Take a look at some of our highlights from August 2016:

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Biology

English

Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies

Geography

Geology

Journalism and Mass Communications

Modern Languages

Music, Theatre, and Dance

Physics

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

Statistics

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Michael Kanost, university distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, led a team of 114 researchers from 50 institutions and 11 countries in a project to sequence and annotate the genome of the tobacco hornworm — a caterpillar species used in many research laboratories for studies of insect biology. The researchers have published their work “Multifaceted biological insights from a draft genome sequence of the tobacco hornworm moth, Manduca sexta” in the journal Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and have made the genome sequence available to the public through the National Agricultural Library.

“This project represents years of collaborative research across the world,” said Kanost, who studies insect immune systems. “We wanted to provide these valuable data to scientists, and our hope is that this sequenced genome will stimulate new research in molecular studies of insects.”

The tobacco hornworm, or Manduca sexta, develops into the Carolina sphinx moth. The name Manduca comes from the Latin word for glutton because these caterpillars eat so much. Manduca sexta occurs naturally in North, Central and South America and is a known pest to gardeners: It eats the leaves of tomato plants and also can be found on pepper, eggplant and potato plants. Crops and weeds from this plant family, which includes tobacco, produce chemicals such as nicotine that deter feeding by most insects, but not Manduca sexta, which makes its physiology especially interesting to scientists. The sequenced genome can lead to improved molecular biology, physiology and neurobiology research in insects and also may help in developing future new methods for insect pest management.

The life cycle of the tobacco hornworm, or Manduca sexta.
The life cycle of the tobacco hornworm, or Manduca sexta.

Kanost has studied the tobacco hornworm for decades, and he and Gary Blissard, from the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University, decided to start the collaborative project to sequence the tobacco hornworm’s genome in 2009. Kanost’s research focuses on proteins in caterpillar’s blood and how insects protect themselves against infections. Kanost and the Kansas State University research team prepared and purified the DNA of the tobacco hornworm and sent the samples to the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center in Houston, which performed the genome sequencing. The international team used a common computer system so that the researchers from around the world could analyze the gene sequences based on their areas of expertise.

Other Kansas State University researchers involved in the project included Susan Brown, university distinguished professor of biology; Rollie Clem, professor of biology; William Bryant, research assistant professor in biology; Neal Dittmer, research assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics; Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan, university distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biophysics; Lorena Passarelli, professor of biology; Yoonseong Park, professor of entomology; Nicolae Herndon, doctoral graduate in computer science; Jayne Christen, doctoral graduate and former postdoctoral research associate in biochemistry and molecular biophysics; and Di Wu, former postdoctoral research associate in biochemistry and molecular biophysics. The project received financial support from the National Institutes of Health (Kanost) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA (Blissard). Return to top


Biology

Walter Dodds, university distinguished professor of biology, was named an inaugural fellow of the Society for Freshwater Science.

Dodds is recognized for his contributions to freshwater science, promoting freshwater science through education and outreach and membership in the society. The society’s board of directors selected fellows for the inaugural class.

The society is an international scientific organization that promotes further understanding of freshwater ecosystems — rivers, streams, wetlands and lakes — and ecosystems at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial habitats, such as streamside vegetation. Dodds will be recognized and inducted into the inaugural class of fellows at the society’s annual meeting, June 4-9, 2017, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Return to top


English

The Comics of Herge: When the Lines Are Not So Clear book coverJoe Sutliff Sanders, associate professor of English, published two edited collections: “The Comics of Herge: When the Lines Are Not So Clear” (UP of Mississippi, 2016) and, with colleague Michelle Ann Abate, “Good Grief! Children’s Comics, Past and Present” (Ohio State University Libraries, 2016).

Sanders also published essays in each collection: “Herge’s Occupations: How the Creator of Tintin Made a Deal with the Devil and Became a Better Cartoonist” and “How Comics Became Kids’ Stuff.” Return to top

Continue reading “College Highlights, August 2016”