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Franklin College researchers reveal that magnetic ‘rust’ performs as gold RESEARCH NEWS
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Time Jumpers, along with Vince Gill, coming to Performing Arts Center Vol. 44, No. 11
October 3, 2016
columns.uga.edu
UGA GUIDE
4&5
UGA scientists lead team developing test for Chagas disease By Donna Huber donnah@uga.edu
Andrew Davis Tucker
From left: Second-year biological engineering major Stephanie Pham of Lawrenceville, fourth-year biochemical engineering major Austin Kessler of Savannah and fourth-year electrical engineering major Aneek James of Stone Mountain, are taught how to use the 3-D plotter on a pump flow controller inside the new Collaborative Design and Integration Studio at the Driftmier Engineering Center by instructional research and support manager Roger Hilten.
Brainstorm central
An international team of researchers, led by UGA infectious disease experts, has received $5.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a more accurate, affordable diagnostic test for Chagas disease. The parasitic infection kills more than 50,000 people each year in Central and South America. Caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and spread by bloodfeeding insects commonly known as “kissing bugs,” Chagas disease is considered by many to be the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases. While it is endemic to Latin America, Chagas disease is a growing threat in the U.S. and
Europe. Currently, there are only two drug treatments available; however, their usage is limited due to severe adverse Rick Tarleton reactions and the length of treatment required. “Fortunately, there are a number of new drug discovery efforts in Chagas disease. But a major limitation is the difficulty in comparing the relative efficacy of current drugs to newly developed ones,” said Rick Tarleton, UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Research Professor of Biological
See CHAGAS on page 8
Collaborative Design and Integration Studio gives ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Georgia Informatics Institutes for students dedicated space to work on team projects Research and Education launched By Mike Wooten students to have a place where they and tasks. Renovation of the nearly mwooten@uga.edu
A new interactive learning space in the UGA College of Engineering is designed to foster the type of collaborative spirit found in high-tech startups. The Collaborative Design and Integration Studio features flexible work areas, a bank of 3-D printers, a 3-D plotter, a 3-D scanner and computers loaded with high-end graphics and design software. While college leaders say those tools are important, they believe the new studio’s defining feature is that it provides a place for students to work in teams on complex projects. “Design is woven throughout our curriculum, so it’s vital for
can brainstorm, design a prototype, test their design and go back to the drawing board if necessary,” said Donald J. Leo, dean of the College of Engineering. “Our industry partners tell us they need engineers able to work in teams on open-ended projects, and the Collaborative Design and Integration Studio provides an environment for exactly that type of work.” Located in former laboratory space in the Driftmier Engineering Center, the studio was designed with input from students and faculty. Many of the ideas students submitted through an online survey last spring made their way into the final plans, including work spaces that can be reconfigured for different groups
2,500-square-foot room began at the end of spring semester, and the college formally opened the new studio Aug. 19. “We were careful not to strictly define the studio in a way that wasn’t adaptive to what the students wanted to do,” said Roger Hilten, an instructional research and support manager in the College of Engineering. “As time goes by, we hope the studio can evolve with the students and their needs.” Administrators say students in the College of Engineering’s capstone senior design course are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of the new studio. During the yearlong course, all fourth-year students work in small teams on See ENGINEERING on page 8
WILLSON CENTER FOR HUMANITIES AND ARTS
By Sam Fahmy
sfahmy@uga.edu
UGA will significantly expand its instruction and research in the critical area of informatics with the formation of the Georgia Informatics Institutes for Research and Education. The GII will be administered by the College of Engineering and will include faculty members from across campus to create new synergies that enable research advances in fields ranging from data analytics and cybersecurity to public health and agriculture. The GII also is developing an informatics core curriculum that will serve as a foundation for discipline-specific informatics programs.
An interdisciplinary, sevenmember faculty planning committee charged in 2015 by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten began exploring ways to build upon the university’s established strengths in informatics, and their plan established the framework for the proposal to create the GII. “The ability to extract meaning from large volumes of data is transforming business and our understanding of the world,” Whitten said. “By establishing the Georgia Informatics Institutes, our faculty have put the University of Georgia at the forefront of the information revolution.” Informatics is a broad field
See INFORMATICS on page 8
HIGHER EDUCATION EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AWARD
‘Important milestone’: UGA joins a2ru, national University receives diversity arts consortium committed to advancing research recognition for third year By Dave Marr
dmarr@uga.edu
UGA has joined the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities, known as a2ru, a consortium of almost three dozen researchintensive universities committed to advancing interdisciplinary, arts-oriented research. The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts has initiated a new faculty research cluster that will serve as UGA’s point of connection to a2ru. Along with the Willson Center, the university’s membership is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Arts
Council, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Lamar Dodd School of Art and the Office of Research. “The mission of the council is to foster an awareness and appreciation of the arts and to create an environment conducive to artistic innovation,” said Russell Mumper, Arts Council chair and vice provost for academic affairs. “The council seeks to involve all students in the arts as part of their educational experience and to foster mutual and beneficial collaboration among campus units to integrate the arts into the fabric of the university. Therefore, joining a2ru is an
important milestone for UGA and the council.” “The University of Georgia’s growing faculty interest in arts research and interdisciplinary ventures aligns perfectly with a2ru’s core mission,” said Laurie Baefsky, executive director of a2ru. “The Willson Center’s broad programming within the arts and humanities will add much to a2ru’s expanding network and influence. I look forward to UGA’s participation and contributions as a2ru’s 35th partner.” UGA will participate in a2ru’s national conference Nov. 3-5 at See CONSORTIUM on page 8
By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
For the third year in a row, UGA received national recognition for its efforts to foster an inclusive, diverse campus. UGA is one of 83 recipients of the 2016 INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award, the only designation of its kind awarded to institutions that demonstrate outstanding efforts and success in promoting diversity and inclusion throughout their campuses. “It is a great honor for the
University of Georgia to be recognized with the HEED Award for the third consecutive year,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “UGA is strengthened by the contributions of its diverse and outstanding students, faculty and staff. We are committed to fostering the kind of inclusive academic environment that is a hallmark of a leading public university.” UGA, which first received the recognition in 2014, has implemented several initiatives over the past decade to recruit diverse students, faculty and staff and to
See DIVERSITY on page 8
2 Oct. 3, 2016 columns.uga.edu
Around academe
Using Twitter, Facebook to assess candidates for tenure, promotion
A report by the American Sociological Association suggested sociology professors’ social media presence should factor into decisions about promotion and tenure. Using Twitter and Facebook to spread academic studies enables researchers to reach a wider audience, the report states. The report also suggests researchers write op-eds to newspapers, publish blog posts and solicit media attention for their studies to spread their knowledge to a broad audience. Recognizing time constraints on professors, who are expected to teach and conduct and publish original research, the ASA recommends incorporating public communication criteria as only a portion of tenure and promotional decisions.
Study finds that fewer students are enrolling in history courses
The number of undergraduates enrolled in history courses declined by almost 8 percent from the 2012-2013 to 2014-2015 academic years, according to a survey by the American Historical Association. Three out of four of the 123 departments experienced drop-offs in enrollment, and the decline in enrollment was steeper at public institutions than at private. Fifty-five departments experienced declines of 10 percent or higher. More than 40 percent of departments said their faculty were not very active in recruiting students.
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News to Use
Columns is published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer for faculty and staff of the university by the UGA Division of Marketing & Communications. There are several ways readers can keep up to date on campus news and happenings. • columns.uga.edu: The Columns website provides an electronic version of the content printed in each issue. Color photos, available to download, top the articles, which are categorized to help readers with content preferences. The website is updated with new content the same date the print issue is published. • Columns email: An email automatically is sent to those UGA faculty and staff who opt out of receiving the paper version. The email is sent the same day the website is updated. Instructions for opting out are online at http://columns.uga.edu/receiving-columns/ • Columns on issuu.com: An archive of PDF versions of Columns is available at http://issuu. com/ugacolumns. The archive goes back to June 30, 2014, and includes an easy-to-read online viewer. The PDF versions are available to be read on mobile phones as well as tablets. Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining Columns in an alternate format. Source: Division of Marketing & Communications
FOOD SERVICES
Mobile menu: UGA’s first food truck, Taqueria 1785, rolls out dishes By Krista Richmond krichmond@uga.edu
Mix one part red truck with a griddle with one part creative Mexicaninspired menu, and you have the recipe for Taqueria 1785, UGA’s official food truck. Not only does this addition to UGA Food Services allow them to serve more people, it also allows them to reach more areas of campus. “There are pockets of campus that are ‘food deserts’ where there are not dining options in the immediate vicinity,” said Bryan Varin, interim director of food services. “There may be dining Chad Osburn options a short walk away, but, in that Taqueria 1785, UGA’s official food truck, offers a variety of fresh Mexican-inspired dishes to particular area, there may not be a lot students, faculty and staff across campus. going on, and so food trucks are really good for us. We’re able to feed people in with the Student Government Associa- customers. Noriega has his favorite those areas very conveniently without tion to help decide the truck’s concept dish—the roasted cauliflower quesathem having to walk too far to get to a with an informal survey. Different types dilla, one of two vegetarian options— dining commons or to a retail location.” of cuisine were ranked, and tacos were and added that customers are loving So far, locations have included the clear winner. the chicken tinga quesadilla. Herty Drive, Cedar Street near the Executive Chef Jorge Noriega The reaction in general has been biological sciences building and the designed the menu, which includes overwhelmingly positive, according Zell B. Miller Learning Center. The a variety of items from pork cecina to Varin. It is open to the public and quickest way to find out where Ta- tacos to hearts of palm barbacoa tacos accepts Paw Points and Bulldog Bucks. queria 1785 will be each weekday is to funnel cake fries with Mexican hot “The core of our mission is to to follow its social media accounts— chocolate dip and/or dulce de leche further the educational mission of @Taqueria1785. The truck also can dip. Noriega spent the last 12 years the university. And we believe very be hired for special events on campus. living in California, admittedly eating strongly that we do that through feedFood services started working with at many taco trucks. That, blended ing people,” Varin said. “You’ve got Webb Foodservice Design to review with his knowledge of Mexican culture to fuel people for them to be able to the department’s offerings about and visits to Mexico City, inspired the perform academically and on the job, 18 months ago. The idea of a food truck flavor profile. too. The truck ties right into that. It’s came up in those conversations, and “Everything came together,” he a new mode of service for us, but when food services began talking to students said. “We did go for authentic flavors.” you think about it, it’s really not a lot about it. Specifically, they partnered And those flavors resonate with different than our retail locations.”
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH
By Sam Fahmy
By Christopher James
Noel Fallows, an administrator with a proven record of fostering international partnerships in research, instruction and outreach, has been named associate provost for international education. Fallows has been serving as interim associate provost for international education since February and was previously associate dean of international and multidisciplinary programs in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Throughout his career, Dr. Fallows has forged connections that open doors of discovery and opportunity,” said Provost Pamela Whitten. “I am confident Noel Fallows that he will build upon UGA’s national leadership in providing study abroad opportunities while continuing to create mutually beneficial partnerships that advance research, scholarship and service.” Fallows oversees nearly 200 university-level partnerships in more than 50 countries, as well as 180 study abroad programs and more than 50 international exchange programs with collective enrollments in excess of 2,500 students per year. “I am thrilled at the prospect of leading the Office of International Education into a new era of excellence in instruction, research and outreach in the international arena, focusing on faculty and staff skill-sets and strengths, and providing the highest quality global academic experiences for UGA students,” Fallows said. Fallows, a Distinguished Research Professor of Spanish in the department of Romance languages, joined the UGA faculty in 1992 as an assistant professor. He served from 2007 to 2016 as associate dean of international and multidisciplinary programs in the Franklin College. “I am pleased that Dr. Fallows has been named the next associate provost for international education,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “International learning experiences and collaborations are more important than ever in our globalized world, and Dr. Fallows brings an impressive set of qualifications to this critical role.”
An assessment of community health needs, led by UGA faculty and facilitated by the UGA Archway Partnership, has contributed to a new urgent care center for one middle Georgia county and resulted in a scholarly article in the Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association. Graduate students from the College of Public Health helped conduct the IRS-mandated Community Health Needs Assessment at Hawkinsville’s Taylor Regional Hospital under the direction of UGA College of Public Health faculty members Marsha Davis and Grace Bagwell-Adams. They provided the kind of expertise that isn’t easily found in small communities, said Michelle Elliott, Archway operations coordinator and Archway Partnership professional in Pulaski County. “Students come in and partner, get the local knowledge from the Archway professional and the people who are invested in the community, and really make something of value for the hospital and community,” Elliott said. The students, Ayanna Robinson and Sabrina Cherry, analyzed data from 400 surveys developed by Davis, the associate dean for outreach and engagement in the public health college. They also conducted three focus groups to get additional feedback. The team used a five-step process recommended by Georgia Watch, the state’s leading consumer advocacy organization, following a study of 38 CHNAs and 29 implementation strategies across Georgia. The assessments, which are required every three years for hospitals to maintain their nonprofit status, can be a burden to smaller hospitals, Davis said. Universities like UGA can help gather direct input from local residents, including vulnerable populations, which can lead to a more comprehensive strategy for improvement. The assessment already supported the opening of an urgent care facility, Taylor Express Care in Hawkinsville, which served 10 patients on opening day earlier this summer. The hospital also is conducting monthly forums that provide information on health care issues like diabetes and access to prescription drugs.
Noel Fallows named associate provost for international education sfahmy@uga.edu
Faculty, students assess community health needs, get hands-on experience chtjames@uga.edu
RESEARCH NEWS
columns.uga.edu Oct. 3, 2016
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Digest University Council votes to modify dates on fall 2017 academic calendar
Simona Murph’s newest research has resulted in the creation of a new hybrid nanoparticle that combines gold and rust nanoparticles. The new substance may prove useful in a variety of applications, including hyperthermia treatment, environmental cleaning and medical imaging.
Modern-day alchemy Franklin College researchers reveal that magnetic ‘rust’ performs as gold at nanoscale
By Jessica Luton jluton@uga.edu
Researchers from UGA are giving new meaning to the phrase “turning rust into gold” and making the use of gold in research settings and industrial applications far more affordable. The research is akin to a type of modern-day alchemy, said Simona Hunyadi Murph, an adjunct professor in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences physics and astronomy department. Researchers combine small amounts of gold nanoparticles with magnetic rust nanoparticles to create a hybrid nanostructure that retains the properties of both gold and rust. “Medieval alchemists tried to create gold from other metals,” she said. “That’s kind of what we did with our research. It’s not real alchemy, in the medieval sense, but it is a sort of 21st-century version.” Gold has long been a valuable resource due to unique physical and chemical properties that make it inert and resistant to oxidation. But because
of its high cost and limited supply, large-scale projects using gold can be cost prohibitive. At the nanoscale, however, using a very small amount of gold is far more affordable. In the new study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, the researchers used solution chemistry to reduce gold ions into a metallic gold structure using sodium citrate. In this process, if other ingredients—rust in this case—are present in the reaction pot during the transformation process, the metallic gold structures nucleate and grow on these “ingredients.” “For the first time ever, we’ve been able to create a new class of cheaper, highly efficient, nontoxic, magnetically reusable hybrid nanomaterials that contain a far more abundant material, rust, than the typical noble metal gold,” said Murph, who is also a principal scientist in the National Security Directorate at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina. When materials are broken down in size to reach nanometer scale
dimensions—1-100 nanometers, which is approximately 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of human hair—these substances can take on new properties. Gold nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes display different colors when impinged by light because they absorb and scatter light at specific wavelengths, known as plasmonic resonances. These plasmonic resonances are of particular interest for biological applications. If someone shines light on the gold nanoparticles, the absorbed light can be converted to heat in the surrounding media, and if bacteria or cancerous cells are in the vicinity of such gold nanoparticles, they can be destroyed by using light of appropriate wavelength. This phenomenon is known as photothermal therapy. By replacing some of the nano-gold with magnetic nano-rust, researchers show that the hybrid gold and rust nanostructures are able to photothermally heat the surrounding media as efficiently as pure gold nanoparticles, even with a significantly smaller concentration of gold.
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Study: Rural location, race influence college access By Kristen Morales kmorales@uga.edu
Students from rural communities who want to attend college face challenges on their pathways to higher education, according to a new study from a UGA researcher. Not only does location affect whether a student enrolls, but race plays a role as well, said Darris R. Means, an assistant professor in the College of Education. With about 580,000 students in rural schools across Georgia—and nearly 40 percent students of color—this can have a tremendous effect on college access, Means said. “Usually, particularly when we’re talking about students of color, people consider the urban context. But when we don’t think about this intersection of rurality and race, we overlook a lot of youth on their pathways to higher
education,” said Means, whose study was recently published in the journal The Review of Higher Education. “I think people of color in rural communities are often overlooked when it comes to educational policies, practices and programs, especially compared to urban and suburban settings.” For the study, Means and colleagues interviewed African-American high school students and staff members in a rural Southeast high school about their impressions of college access. Many students had parents, teachers, coaches and school counselors who pushed them to go to college, but this encouragement was tempered by a lack of resources. For example, students overwhelmingly felt that they had encouragement and support to go to college, yet didn’t have access to academically rigorous classes or enough one-on-one time with a counselor to get help with the college admission process, a task that can seem
especially daunting to a first-generation college student. Also, students at the rural high school said they felt motivated to go to college but felt constrained by geography—pressure to attend a school closer to home for family reasons—or felt out of place when visiting a campus lacking diversity. “There are several implications for this study. First, colleges and universities, especially the most selective institutions in a state, have an opportunity to think about ways to recruit students from rural communities and enhance programs and services to retain rural students,” he said. “Second, educational leaders and state policymakers must consider how resource allocations affect rural students of color and their educational experiences. For us to understand how to support all youth, we have to look at this intersection of race and rurality.”
On Sept. 21, the University Council approved a modification to the fall semester 2017 academic calendar, which would change the first day of classes from Thursday, Aug. 10, to Monday, Aug. 14. Classes would end Tuesday, Dec. 5, instead of Dec. 4. The council’s proposal has gone to President Jere W. Morehead for approval. The proposal came from the Educational Affairs Committee to address concerns about early semester start dates, which can conflict with students’ summer jobs, internships and other experiential learning opportunities. The council voted to refer a separate proposal for spring semester 2018, which had originated from a faculty petition, to the Educational Affairs Committee for consideration as it undertakes a more in-depth review of the entire academic calendar for spring, summer and fall semesters.
COE professor organizes events to celebrate poet Edgar Allan Poe
A UGA College of Education professor has organized a slate of events to celebrate the poet Edgar Allan Poe. “Poe-tober” activities include theater improv, spooky poetry readings and storytelling, a maskmaking workshop and Poe-related discussions and a “conspiracy of ravens” Oct. 29 at the annual Wild Rumpus parade. Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, a professor in the education college’s language and literacy education department, developed the events and community partnerships after receiving a “Big Read” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant follows this past spring’s Big Read events celebrating the naturalist and poet Robinson Jeffers. “Poe-tober” will end Nov. 1 on All Saints’ Day with the Asian-German-American poet and translator Kimiko Hahn. With the exception of the mask-making workshop on Oct. 12, all events are free. The “Poe-tober” schedule is at http://t.uga.edu/2EB.
Classics department to host colloquium
The classics department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences will host a colloquium featuring visiting scholars Christiane Reitz and Simone Finkmann of the University of Rostock on Oct. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 265 of Park Hall. Open free to the public, the colloquium is sponsored in part by a cooperative agreement between the University of Rostock and UGA, and by the Southeastern Conference Faculty Travel Program. Reitz will present the lecture “Neronian Suicide and Flavian Literature,” and Finkmann will discuss “Winning the War with Words: The Power of Expression in the Cyzicus Episode of Valerius Flaccus’ and Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica.” Raymond Marks of the University of Missouri will give a talk titled “Searching for Ovid at Silius’ Cannae.” Chair of classical Latin language and literature at the University of Rostock, Reitz studied classics and comparative linguistics at the universities of Bonn and Heidelberg. Finkmann studied classics, medieval Latin and English philology at the universities of Munster and Oxford (Corpus Christi College). Together with Reitz, she is now in charge of the international collaboration “Structural Elements and Narrative Patterns in Ancient Epic” funded by the German Research Foundation. Marks, associate professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Missouri, is the author of numerous articles and chapters, as well as the 2005 monograph From Republic to Empire: Scipio Africanus in the Punica of Silius Italicus. A discussion with the scholars will be held Oct. 5 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 265 of Park Hall for faculty and instructors interested in online pedagogy in the teaching of classics and Latin.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and
biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.
For a complete listing of events at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/). The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.
UGAGUIDE
Works of Alabama sculptor Chris Taylor to be featured at Circle Gallery By Melissa Tufts
By Clarke Schwabe
mtufts@uga.edu
ccschwabe@uga.edu
The Circle Gallery at the College of Environment and Design will host The Stands, an exhibit by Chris Taylor, Oct. 13 through Dec. 13. An opening reception and brief gallery talk will be held Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. The gallery is located in the Jackson Street Building at 285 S. Jackson St. Taylor is a sculptor and professor at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. His work has deep cultural roots in religion, music and sport in the southeastern U.S. He considers the South to be fertile ground for his interest in spectatorship. Churches, theaters, race tracks, gymnasiums and music halls—the gargantuan, the unheralded and the banal—offer myriad imagery and experience that coincide with his artistic pursuits. A graduate of Ohio State University, Taylor also holds an MFA in sculpture from the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University. For the past several months, Taylor has been visiting and documenting empty venues of spectatorship throughout the Southeast. This exhibit will feature his new work in response to these venues of spectatorship. The Circle Gallery is open free to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit is sponsored by the College of Environment and Design. For more information, visit www.ced.uga.edu.
Time Jumpers with Vince Gill coming to Performing Arts Center By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu
The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the Time Jumpers Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. The Time Jumpers feature a who’s who of Nashville talent, including Vince Gill, Kenny Sears, Ranger Doug Green and Paul Franklin. The Time Jumpers were established in 1998 by an assemblage of Music City studio musicians who wanted to spend time jamming with their buddies. The group’s 2007 album, Jumpin’ Time, earned two Grammy nominations and a high-profile segment on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Gill has performed with the Time Jumpers for many years and became an official member in 2010. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, he has won 20 Grammys and 18 Country Music Association awards. Tickets for the concert are $41 to $72 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the box office at 706-542-4400. UGA students can purchase tickets for $6 with a valid UGA ID, limit one ticket per student.
EXHIBITIONS The Stands: Environmental Art by Chris Taylor. Oct. 13 through Dec. 13. The Circle Gallery, Jackson Street Building. 706-542-8292. (See story, top left). Icon of Modernism: Representing the Brooklyn Bridge, 18831950. Through Dec. 11. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu. Keep Your Seats, memorabilia celebrating the 110-year history of the UGA Redcoat Marching Band. Through Dec. 23. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079.
Dynamics,” Carlos Botero, Washington University. Reception precedes seminar in lobby at 3:30 p.m. 4 p.m. 201 ecology building. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu JOHNSTONE LECTURE Mark Risse will speak about his experience studying groundwater and sea level rise throughout Georgia, as well as his work with students, government officials, farmers and fishermen about water resource management and the opportunities that sustainable growth presents. Reservations required. 7 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. garden@uga.edu
Gifts and Prayers: The Romanovs and Their Subjects. Through Dec. 31. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu
READING The UGA Creative Writing Program presents a reading by writer Masande Ntshanga. 7 p.m. Cine, 234 W. Hancock Ave. 706-542-2659. cwp@uga.edu
Living Color: Gary Hudson on the 1970s. Through Jan. 8. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu (See story, top right.)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5
On the Stump—What Does it Take to Get Elected in Georgia? Through Aug. 18. Special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. jhebbard@uga.edu
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3 AL-HIJRA Islamic religious observance. ROSH HASHANAH Jewish religious observance.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4 MIDTERM For fall semester. BROWN BAG INFORMATION SESSION: UGA LOGO Bring your lunch and hear more about guidelines for use of the new logo and what to expect during the transition. Noon. Peabody Board Room, administration building. 706-542-8083. COMMUNITY FORUM “What Should be America’s Role in the World?” A deliberative discussion weighing the benefits and trade-offs of three approaches to this issue using a National Issues Forums issue guide. 2 p.m. 258 special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. jhebbard@uga.edu THE POE-TOBER FOREST Meet in the Theater-in-the-Woods for wickedly funny activities, including improv theater games for youth, which will leave your Tell-Tale Heart pounding for more. Part of The NEA Big Read: Poe-Tober. 3:30 p.m. Theater-in-the-Woods, State Botanical Garden. kathleen.mcgovern25@uga.edu (See Digest, page 3.) SEMINAR “Climate Change, Fluctuating Selection and Eco-evolutionary
RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES “Systematic and Site-Specific Quantification of Human Cell Surface Glycoproteins,” Ronghu Wu. 11 a.m. 201 Pharmacy South. 706-542-7385. meganjs@uga.edu LECTURE “Oceans in Peril: From Oil Spills to Overfishing to Climate Change,” Samantha Joye, UGA Athletic Association Professor in Arts and Sciences in the UGA marine sciences department. 1:25 p.m. 201 ecology building. cpringle@uga.edu ARTFUL CONVERSATION Join Callan Steinmann, associate curator of education, and Sage Kincaid, assistant curator of education, for an in-depth gallery conversation on George Siegel’s “Young Woman in Doorway.” 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. STAFF COUNCIL MEETING 2:30 p.m. 213 Miller Learning Center. mmoore10@uga.edu LECTURE Join political scientists John Sides and Lynn Vavreck for a breakdown of key data collected during the 2016 election cycle to find answers to important questions. Part of the Ready, Steady, Vote! series. 3:30 p.m. Auditorium, special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. jhebbard@uga.edu 38TH ANNUAL McGILL LECTURE “Investigative Journalism in a Digital World: The End of Genre or the Birth of a Golden Age?,” David Armstrong, senior enterprise reporter for STAT. 4 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-5038. murrayd@uga.edu
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 WORKSHOP Complementing the strategies shared in the “Active Learning Strategies” workshop earlier in the semester, “More Active Learning Strategies that Promote Learning” will build upon
Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.
Hodgson Wind Ensemble’s concert to draw on jazz, salsa, gospel influences
The Hodgson Wind Ensemble performs its second concert of the season with a Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty soloist in Hodgson Concert Hall Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. The concert comprises several exciting and provocative 20th-century works, including Dana Wilson’s “Concerto for Trombone” featuring Joshua Bynum, associate professor of trombone at the School of Music. The program begins with Ingolf Dahl’s “Sinfonietta,” written in 1961. The Swedish-German composer intended the work to conform to no single classification. “I wanted it to be a piece that was full of size, a long piece, a substantial piece,” said Dahl. “But in addition, I hoped to make it a ‘light’ piece. Something in the serenade style, serenade ‘tone,’ and perhaps even form.” Adolphus Hailstork’s “An American Guernica,” from 1982, although only six minutes long, confronts one of America’s most heated, controversial and complicated issues: race. “An American Guernica” is a musical reaction to the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four children. The composition tries to capture that moment: its precursor, the act itself and its aftermath. The inscription on the score reads, “for Carol, Addie Mae, Cynthia and Denise; the four girls ages 14, 14, 14 and 11, killed at the 16th Street Baptist Church.” Bynum joins the Wind Ensemble for Wilson’s concerto next, lending the concert a touch of jazz. The concerto is infused with jazz sensibilities by way of its composer’s musical roots, its dedicatee, noted trombonist Henry Charles Smith, and Langston Hughes, whose poetry inspired the names of the concerto’s movements. The final performance of the night, Roberto Sierra’s “Tumbao,” is a feel-good tune inspired by the music of Tumbao’s home, the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. “We dare you not to dance your way out of the hall,” said Cynthia Johnston Turner, director of the Hodgson Wind Ensemble. “And once you’re out there, you might find a surprise.” The Wind Ensemble’s concert will continue its trend of surprising and unconventional performances. Four audience members will be invited to sit on the stage while the Wind Ensemble performs “Tumbao.” Once again, admission to the concert is free with donation of a nonperishable food item to the UGA Student Food Pantry. Also, the “tweet seats” set up in their last performance— designated by signage in the balcony area—will be available, encouraging attendees to join a live discussion of the concert on Twitter using the hashtag #HWElive. This concert will be streamed live to the School of Music’s website at music.uga.edu/streaming. Admission without a nonperishable food donation is $12 or $6 with a UGA student ID.
active learning research and provide a range of practical, active learning strategies that participants can employ in classrooms of all sizes. 2 p.m. CTL, North Instructional Plaza. 706-542-1355. edwatson@uga.edu FACULTY/STAFF GOLF CLINIC Free golf clinics for faculty and staff will be held at the UGA driving range on Oct. 6 and Oct. 20 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. with a make-up date set for Oct. 27 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Each session will include long and short game instruction. To reserve a space, email Clint Udell at cudell96@uga.edu and indicate if you would like to borrow golf clubs for the event. Spouses of UGA faculty/ staff members are encouraged to participate. Driving range, UGA Golf Course. (See Bulletin Board, page 8).
ART PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA Celebrate four new exhibitions in the galleries with light snacks, music and lively conversation. 6 p.m. Dodd Galleries, Lamar Dodd School of Art. 773-965-1689. kgeha@uga.edu
LINGUISTICS CONFERENCE The Linguistics Society at UGA is holding its third annual linguistics conference through Oct. 9. Graduate student and faculty-level researchers will be presenting on a variety of linguistic topics. Friday, Oct. 7: 137 Tate Student Center. Saturday, Oct. 8: 250 Miller Learning Center. Sunday, Oct. 9: 250 Miller Learning Center. LUNCHTIME GALLERY TALK Atlanta-based photographers Christina Price Washington and Nancy Floyd will discuss their work in the group exhibition Continuum: Space & Time in Contemporary Photography. The show, curated by Marni Shindelman, assistant professor of photography, and Beth Lilly, director of the Atlanta Photography Group, investigates the relationship of photography, its processes and the ways in which it expands on, transforms and transcends fundamental notions of time and space. In addition to Price Washington and Floyd, artists featured include Kelli Couch and
LECTURE AND RECEPTION “The Poisoner’s Guide to Life,” Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning American science journalist, columnist and author of five books. 6:30 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building. 404-376-3314. aina@uga.edu PERFORMANCE The Skin of Our Teeth. This Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by Thornton Wilder follows a “typical” American family as it traverses history itself, from the Ice Age to the present day. Along the way family members face success, failure, mystery and discover that human civilization isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Shows at 8 p.m. Oct. 7-8, 11-14, 16 and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 16. $12; $7 students. Cellar Theatre, Fine Arts Building. 706-542-4400.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 CLASS “Plants We Love to Hate: Identifying and Controlling Exotic Pest Plants.” This class is an introduction to invasive, non-native pest plants in the Georgia Piedmont. Students will learn to identify the major offenders, their current ranges and habitats, and how these plants impact natural plant communities. $50. 9 a.m. Visitor Center, Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. garden@uga.edu
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9 CLOSING RECEPTION A final chance to meet painter Judy Bolton Jarrett and see her exhibition, 300 Seasons: A Colorful Journey. 1:30 p.m. Visitor
TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.
The exhibition Living Color: Gary Hudson on the 1970s is on display at the Georgia Museum of Art through Jan. 8. Organized by Sarah Kate Gillespie, curator of American art, the exhibition consists of nine large-scale abstract paintings by the artist, including one in the museum’s collection. Hudson received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in the 1960s and studied there with famed artist and teacher Hans Hofmann. In the late 1970s, Hudson created works of lyrical abstraction. In contrast to minimalism, the lyrical abstractionists took a looser, more painterly approach to abstract art. Hudson experimented with the importance of color and line in composition. Sometimes he soaked a cloth with paint, then pulled it across a canvas, allowing color to saturate the surface randomly. “This exhibition offers us the opportunity to appreciate and examine a pivotal moment in Hudson’s career,” Gillespie said. “With these works, we can clearly see the legacy of both abstract expressionism and minimalism, but also how the artist took these movements and reshaped them in new ways in the 1970s.” In 2002, Hudson moved to Madison and continued to produce abstract paintings, which he exhibited regularly. He died in 2009 and is survived by his widow, Christie Hudson, who still lives in Madison. His works are in public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Diego Museum of Fine Arts as well as in many private collections. Related events include a Teen Studio with local artist Kristen Bach on Nov. 3 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. (free but registration required via 706-542-8863 or callan@uga. edu) and a public tour on Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. LSU. 2 p.m. Turner Soccer Complex. 706-542-1621.
CONCERT The Hodgson Wind Ensemble with special guest soloist Joshua Bynum, associate professor of trombone at the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music. $12; $6 with a UGACard. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu (See story, above center.)
FRIENDS FIRST FRIDAY: BUYING SPRING BULBS NOW Connie Cottingham and Mike Sikes will speak about their favorite bulbs, where to plant them, which do well in the South, which are avoided by deer and a few unique and fun bulbs to try. $12. Reservations required. 9 a.m. Gardenside Room, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6138. garden@uga.edu
hannahjm@uga.edu
LECTURE “Biggest Health Issues for Women: They Are Not What You Think!,” Katie Darby Hein, health promotion and behavior. Part of the Women’s Studies Friday Speaker Series. 12:20 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846. tlhat@uga.edu
CLASSICS DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM Christiane Reitz and Simone Finkmann, visiting from Heinrich Schliemann Institute of the University of Rostock, Germany, and Raymond Marks from the University of Missouri will present lectures about recent work on Imperial Roman literature. 3:30 p.m. 265 Park Hall. (See Digest, page 3).
WORKSHOP “Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) Figural Scoring 500.” 319 Aderhold Hall. 706-542-5104. ssumners@uga.edu
By Hannah McCollum
Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. garden@uga.edu
LECTURE “(Re)Framing Raza: Language as a Lens for Examining Race and Skin Color Classification in the Dominican Republic,” Eva Wheeler, New Mexico State University. 3:30 p.m. 118 Gilbert Hall.
Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.
4&5
Georgia Museum of Art to showcase abstract paintings by Gary Hudson until Jan. 8
Janelle Young. Noon. Gallery 307, Lamar Dodd School of Art. 773-965-1689. kgeha@uga.edu
BROOKLYN BRIDGE FILM SERIES ’Neath Brooklyn Bridge. The 11th film in the East Side Kids series—most famous for Angels with Dirty Faces—focuses on a gang of tough, young kids who try to solve a murder. 1942, 61 min. 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
columns.uga.edu Oct. 3, 2016
SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT TOUR Highlights from the permanent collection led by docents. 3 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. CONCERT Jazz Ensemble. 8:30 p.m. Hendershot’s Coffee, 237 Prince Ave. $5. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu
COMING UP COLUMBUS DAY Oct. 10. Classes in session; offices open. ENSEMBLE CONCERT Oct. 10. The British Brass Band. 8 p.m. Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu SCREENINGS AND DISCUSSION WITH SU FRIEDRICH Oct. 11. Screening of First Comes Love (1991, 20 min.) and Gut Renovation (2012, 80 min.). Su Friedrich will introduce the films and answer audience questions following the screening. 4 p.m. 400 Fine Arts Building. rgabara@uga.edu YOM KIPPUR Oct. 12. Jewish religious observance. RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES Oct. 12. “The Role of the PI3K-AKT Pathway in Brain Metastasis and Therapeutic Resistance in Melanoma,” Michael Davies. 11 a.m. 201 Pharmacy South. 706-542-7385. meganjs@uga.edu MOBILE FLU SHOT CLINIC Oct. 12. $45 or $65 without insurance. Noon. R. C. Wilson Pharmacy Building. 706-542-9979. contact@uhs.uga.edu LECTURE Oct. 12. “Pollinator Stressors: What’s Really at Stake?,” Keith Delaplane, professor and director of UGA Honey Bee Program at the UGA entomology department. 201 ecology building. cpringle@uga.edu SIGNATURE LECTURE Oct. 13. “Reflections on Sentencing,” Lisa Godbey Wood, U.S. district judge and UGA alumna. Edenfield Jurist in Residence Lecture. Sponsored by the School of Law. 3:30 p.m. Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom Law School. LECTURE Oct. 13. Kurt Culbertson, chairman and CEO of Design Workshop, a major environmental design firm working throughout the U.S. and the world. 5:30 p.m. 123 Jackson Street Building. 706-542-8972. mcobrien@uga.edu
NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Oct. 5 (for Oct. 17 issue) Oct. 12 (for Oct. 24 issue) Oct. 19 (for Oct. 31 issue)
6 Oct. 3, 2016 columns.uga.edu
Jared Klein, a Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics in the classics department of Franklin College, has been honored with the publication of a festschrift celebrating his career and contributions to the discipline of IndoEuropean linguistics. Tavet Tat Satyam, the book-length volume of original, scholarly articles, was published by Beech Stave Press on Klein’s 70th birthday. The presentation of a festschrift is a European tradition honoring respected academicians during their lifetime as an acknowledgment of their broad influence on their field or discipline. The special volume was edited by three of Klein’s former students, all UGA graduates: Andree Byrd, Jessica DeLisis and Mark Wenthe. Tavet tat satyam is Sanskrit, taken from the first hymn of the Rigveda, the foundational text of ancient classical India, and translates as “Of you alone is that true.” The U.S. Department of Defense has honored Marie Scoggins, administrative financial director of UGA Marine Extension Service and Georgia Sea Grant, with the Seven Seals Award. The award recognizes significant individual or organizational achievement and initiatives that promote and support the National Guard or Reserve members. Scoggins became eligible to be nominated for the Seven Seals Award after receiving the U.S. Patriot Award in August 2015. The Seven Seals Award is the broadest and most inclusive award given to employers who support their Guard and Reserve employees. Scoggins was nominated Marie Scoggins for the U.S. Patriot Award by Clayton Holloway, maintenance foreman at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island. Holloway has praised Scoggins for her help with paperwork in preparation for deployments and for providing information about benefits while he was away on deployments. Holloway, who also serves as a master sergeant in the Georgia Air National Guard, recently was on military leave to attend mandated training in Nebraska. Scoggins received the Seven Seals Award at the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Banquet held Aug. 12 in Peachtree City. Roy A. Welch, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Geography in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is the 2016 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and honorary membership in the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Welch was honored for his professional excellence and distinguished service to the organization and for the attainment of distinction in advancing the science and the use of the mapping sciences. Welch was the president of ASPRS in 1984 and between 1992 and 1994 he served as president of Commission IV, Mapping and Geographic Information Systems of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He is the author of more than 170 refereed publications. A Fellow of both ASPRS and ISPRS, he received several previous awards, including the UGA Research Foundation’s Creative Research Medal (1981) and Inventor of the Year Award (1993), 1981 ASPRS Fairchild Photogrammetric Award, 1993 ASPRS Alan Gordon Memorial Award and 2006 SAIC/ Estes Memorial Teaching Award. He founded and was director of the UGA Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science from 1984 to 2003, which is now the Center for Geospatial Research. Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.
FACULTY PROFILE
Peter Frey
As curriculum coordinator of the UGA Portuguese Flagship Program, Cecilia Rodrigues shares her love of language and teaching.
Portuguese professor leads students down path to be ‘global professionals’ By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
As curriculum coordinator of the UGA Portuguese Flagship Program, Cecilia Rodrigues advocates for international opportunities for students with a twist on an old saying: Practice what you teach. A scholar in her third year at UGA with an affinity for travel, language and culture, Rodrigues is in many ways the perfect ambassador for the international career opportunities students unlock by adding language skills to their academic training. Rodrigues, a native of the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceara, first came to the U.S. as an exchange student. After completing her undergraduate degree at the Federal University of Ceara, she returned to the U.S. for graduate school where her studies in Spanish and Portuguese philology, language and literature blossomed into a passion for research and teaching. “I’ve always loved teaching and language, so the university was a natural path for me,” Rodrigues said. “I feel a perfect connection with students that is so much more than just being in the classroom and doing research.” Rodrigues counsels many students who are considering joining the Portuguese Flagship Program, drawing on her own educational experience to provide advice. “So many students are passionate
about languages, living abroad and learning with different cultures and different peoples that they are curious about how I ended up at UGA and want to learn about my path,” she said. “It’s a nice connection to make with students.” Funded by a multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Defense National Security Education Program that was renewed for its second four-year cycle in 2016, the UGA Portuguese Flagship Program is the first of its kind in the nation. Focused on helping students enhance their current major with international and linguistic credentials, the program involves study abroad, internships and cultural training, experiences that create expansive career opportunities for some students. “The idea is for our students to become global professionals,” Rodrigues said. “The students come from all walks of life, with many different kinds of majors, from biology to business, and to that they add a minor or a certificate in Portuguese.” On the graduate level, Rodrigues teaches contemporary Brazilian literature, from the 19th century to present, including works by Machado de Assis and the novels of Milton Hatoum, about whom she wrote her dissertation. “His work arises out of all of these cultures, and it’s incredibly beautiful to think that in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon, you have such cultural
FACTS Cecilia Rodrigues
Assistant Professor of Portuguese and Curriculum Coordinator, UGA Portuguese Flagship Program Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Ph.D., Lusophone Literatures and Cultures, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2012 M.A., Spanish and Portuguese Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2007 B.A., Portuguese and English Languages and Literatures, Federal University of Ceara (Brazil), 2002 At UGA: Three years
wealth,” Rodrigues said. While the richness of the humanities and a love for travel informs Rodrigues’ teaching and writing, she also works to professionalize her graduate students in preparation for the next stage in their careers. “I try to take them to conferences and show them the importance of presenting your work, of meeting colleagues from elsewhere and also to see what other people are working on,” she said. Mindful of the job market via her own recent proximity to it, Rodrigues seeks to be a resource for students at every level, whether they are preparing for a career in academia or weighing a decision to add a language to their major field of study.
PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH
Three UGA faculty members named PSO Fellows By Lee Redding
leeredd@uga.edu
Three UGA faculty members selected as 2016-2017 Public Service and Outreach Fellows are spending the fall conducting research with one of the university’s eight public service and outreach units. • Marin Talbot Brewer in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is working with the State Botanical Garden to develop materials and programs focused on identifying mushrooms and other fungi located throughout the garden. Brewer, her students and lab staff also will conduct a pilot study on the effects of the removal of the invasive plant Chinese privet that has disturbed parts of the garden. • Jenna R. Jambeck in the College
of Engineering is working with UGA Marine Extension Service and Georgia Sea Grant to continue her research into plastic pollution. She will build a database of information about Marin Talbot Brewer marine debris collected by the public and reported through a marine debris tracking app. In collaboration with marine extension and Georgia Sea Grant faculty, Jambeck will develop educational materials. • Rebecca Nesbit in the public administration and policy department at the School of Public and International Affairs is working with the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership
Jenna Jambeck
Rebecca Nesbit
Development to determine the effectiveness of the institute’s capacitybuilding efforts with nonprofit organizations in northeast Georgia. Nesbit’s goals include identifying long-term impacts of capacity-building training, developing an online tool to measure impacts for future clients and setting up an electronic repository of key nonprofit management documents.
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
columns.uga.edu Oct. 3, 2016
Just the ticket
7
Graduate Student Travel Awards enhance international research efforts By Denise H. Horton
denisehhorton@gmail.com
For the second year in a row, three UGA students have been named recipients of Graduate International Travel Awards from the UGA Office of Global Programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Established in 2011, the awards traditionally have provided roundtrip airfare to an international destination to only one graduate student. For the past two years, however, applications have been of such a high quality that OGP has expanded the number of awards given. This year’s recipients, Alexandra Bentz, Diego Barcellos and Emily Urban, traveled a combined distance of 37,703 miles this summer to further their research and enhance their international experience. Bentz, a doctoral candidate in poultry science, spent a week in Orange Walk, Belize, collecting behavioral data, testing for rabies and Bartonella bacteria, and collecting hair samples to measure cortisol levels in vampire bats. Because Bentz’s doctoral research focuses on the genetic mechanisms that regulate aggression in birds, her experience measuring the stress hormone cortisol was an opportunity for her to begin a new line of exploration with fellow UGA graduate student Daniel Becker, who is leading the research project. “Daniel approached me last year about joining the project and helping with measuring the stress hormone cortisol,” Bentz said. “I became interested in the behavioral aspect of the project and, since I had never done work abroad, I was excited to go to Belize and to work with 20-30 biologists from all over the world who are studying various aspects of vampire bats in this region.” The project focuses on behavioral changes in vampire bats that seem to be occurring as a result of increasing agriculture in the once-remote rain forests of Latin America. As the bats become less afraid of humans, there’s concern that they may become more aggressive, which could lead to an increase in bat-vectored diseases such as rabies. Barcellos, a doctoral candidate in crop and soil sciences, used his travel award to attend the Goldschmidt International Conference in Yokohama, Japan. Jointly organized by the American Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry, the conference
is the premier international conference for geochemistry and biogeochemistry. Barcellos’ research focuses on the effects of iron oxides in soil carbon dynamics. “By better understanding the mechanisms of carbon and nutrient storage by iron and aluminum oxides, we can better manage soil nutrients and improve carbon sequestration in the soils,” he said. “Moreover, a more profound understanding of soils is essential for achieving global food security.” During the conference, Barcellos presented a poster of his laboratory research, demonstrating that the dynamics of reduction-oxidation fluctuations change iron reduction rates and directly affect the mineralization, preservation and storage of organic carbon in soils. He also spent three days with more than a dozen colleagues from around the world, learning about the geology and soils of Japan, specifically the area around Mount Fuji. “It’s interesting to see this area because Mount Fuji’s eruption was only 300 years ago, so you’re seeing very young rock,” Barcellos said, explaining that it takes a minimum of 10,000 years for rocks to degrade and become soil. Master’s student Emily Urban likely traveled the most miles this summer—18,464— with her International Travel Award. Urban’s summer began with a trip to Romania where she spent two weeks as a coleader of agricultural communication professor Abigail Borron’s Maymester course. As part of a partnership with Heifer International, the students stayed with host families in the cities of Cluj and used video, photography and written narratives to document local agricultural and community development projects. At the end of May, Urban boarded a plane south to Mozambique for a project with the Feed the Future Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab, headquartered at UGA. Urban traveled throughout the Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces with eight locally hired individuals, gathering data that will provide a fuller understanding of peanut production and its challenges, in addition to information on the marketing and consumption of groundnuts in Mozambique. Urban, who has spent the past 1½ years working with the PMIL team on the UGA campus, led a portion of the project that is focused on gender. “Each day our team visits two new communities and interviews 25 households,” Urban said in an email from Mozambique.
WEEKLY READER
Faculty pen new statistical program guide This practical introduction to secondorder and growth mixture models using the statistical program Mplus introduces simple and complex techniques through incremental steps.The authors, including UGA’s Kandauda “K.A.S.” Wickrama, the UGA Athletic Association Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences, and Catherine Walker O’Neal, an assistant research scientist in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ human development and family science department, extend latent growth curves to second-order growth curve and mixture models and then combine the two. Higher Order Growth Curves To maximize understanding, each and Mixture Modeling with model is presented with basic structural Mplus: A Practical Guide equations, figures with associated syntax By Kandauda “K.A.S.” Wickrama, that highlight what the statistics mean, Tae Kyoung Lee, Catherine Walker Mplus applications and an interpretation O’Neal and Frederick O. Lorenz of results. Examples from a variety of Routledge disciplines demonstrate the use of the Paperback: $52.95 models and exercises allow readers to test their understanding of the techniques. Hardback: $165
Diego Barcellos visited Mount Fuji while in Japan for a conference.
Emily Urban assists with an interview on the PMIL project in Mozambique.
“The local enumerators conduct the survey (as I do not speak the local language Makhuwa) and I serve as the field tech, ensuring data quality day to day and entering it into the database.” The survey included questions about who makes decisions in the household, both in regards to peanut production and for general household issues. There also were detailed questions about the number of hours the men, women and children of a family spent for each production activity, such as ground preparation, planting, harvesting, drying and shelling.
“It is essential to understand how men and women contribute in these processes. In this way, possible future interventions can better target who is actually doing specific activities and can help ensure that both men and women are receiving equal opportunities,” Urban said. “Ultimately, I’ll be compiling an overview gender analysis in relation to the peanut value-chain in these regions.” “The three recipients of this year’s Graduate International Travel Awards have a wide variety of interests and goals,” said Amrit Bart, director of the Office of Global Programs.
CYBERSIGHTS
ABOUT COLUMNS Columns is available to the community by subscription for an annual fee of $20 (secondclass delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format. Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu
Read the President’s Annual Report online
http://president.uga.edu/ar/2016/ The 2016 President’s Annual Report, which highlights UGA’s major achievements from the past fiscal year, is now online. The report is organized around four themes that demonstrate the upward trajectory of America’s first state-chartered university: • Setting a New Standard of Excellence by advancing studentcentered initiatives;
• Transforming the World Around Us by addressing some o f t o d a y ’s m o s t p r e s s i n g challenges; • Building Facilities for the Future to support the very best in teaching, research and service in the 21st century; and • Committing to Our University to enhance UGA’s impact on the state, nation and world.
Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Senior Writer Aaron Hale Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.
8 Oct. 3, 2016 columns.uga.edu DIVERSITY
CHAGAS
from page 1
improve the graduation rates of underrepresented groups. The university offers a myriad of diversity-related events and curricular offerings. “As a community, the University of Georgia continues to excel in every metric,” said Michelle Garfield Cook, associate provost and chief diversity officer. “Our success in our diversity and inclusion efforts is one that we celebrate throughout the year, and therefore the HEED Award is a national recognition of which the entire UGA community should be proud.” Programs such as UGA Road Dawgs, through which a diverse group of students tours Georgia high schools to talk with prospective undergraduates, have bolstered minority enrollment at UGA. Diversity among first-year students reached a record level this fall, and overall minority enrollment has increased from 22 percent in 2004 to 29 percent in 2016. UGA’s six-year graduation rate for African-American students is 87 percent, more than double the national average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The graduation rate of 80 percent for Hispanic students also far exceeds the national average. Recent initiatives designed to support diversity include the opening of a Student Veterans Resource Center in 2013, the launch of the Women’s Leadership Initiative in 2015 and the opening of The Intersection, a dedicated space for discussions on a range of topics, also in 2015. Destination Dawgs, a new inclusive post-secondary education program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities, is set to begin in
ENGINEERING
spring 2017, and a campus climate survey was completed last year. “The diverse experiences and perspectives that our students, faculty and staff bring to our campuses help create an outstanding learning environment that prepares all of our students for success in the 21st century global economy,” said Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten. UGA hosts numerous multicultural and diversity events for students, faculty, staff and the community, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast, the International Street Festival and the HolmesHunter Lecture, which honors the first African-American students to enroll at UGA. As a HEED Award recipient, the university will be featured in the November issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity, the nation’s oldest and largest diversity magazine and website in higher education. “The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees—and best practices for both— continued leadership support for diversity and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “While we look at numbers and expect continued improvement for those schools that receive the HEED Award year after year, we also use a holistic approach in reviewing each application. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being accomplished every day across their campus.”
discuss our slides and documents while interacting with our client in real time,” said Turner. Ryan Foster agrees. A senior biological engineering major from Atlanta, Foster says the studio is “definitely conducive to working in a group.” As the College of Engineering grows— undergraduate enrollment topped 1,800 students this semester compared to fewer than 600 four years ago—administrators hope the Collaborative Design and Integration Studio is the first step in a long-term effort to provide students with state-of-the-art facilities that support design-oriented learning. “With the right type of learning environments, we have an opportunity to link up with other colleges, schools and programs on campus to create a highly interdisciplinary experience for students,” said Leo. “I can envision engineering students working with students in nearly every other discipline at UGA on collaborative projects that positively impact the state.”
Bulletin Board University Woman’s Club
The University Woman’s Club will meet Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Central Presbyterian Church, 380 Alps Road. Guest speaker Joni Taylor, head coach of UGA’s women’s basketball team, will give a talk titled “A Day in the Life of the Lady Bulldogs’ Head Coach: Recruitment, Practice, Study Hall and Basketball.” Tickets for the Dec. 13 holiday luncheon also will be available for purchase. For more information, email Kim Argo, UWC publicity committee chair, at argo1230@att.net.
Free golf clinics
Free golf clinics for UGA faculty and staff will be held at the UGA
Sciences in the cellular biology department and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. “One simply can’t wait for 10 years, as current protocols require, to determine if a new drug is better than the existing ones.” In Chagas disease, the number of parasites in chronically infected individuals is extremely low, making detection of parasites an unreliable test to determine if an individual is infected. Instead, the researchers have focused on the body’s response to infection by measuring the unique antibodies that the immune system creates in response to exposure to T. cruzi. Tarleton and his colleagues already have developed a successful multiplex blood test that measures antibodies to multiple T. cruzi proteins. While their test has proven to be useful in the laboratory, it is also expensive. The primary goal of their current project is to make the test more sensitive by expanding the number of T. cruzi antibodies it can detect. But the researchers also are developing techniques to make the test more affordable so that it can be used in diagnostic centers in endemic countries. “By monitoring a broader range of immune responses, we can achieve a rapid and reliable detection of changes in these responses after treatment,” Tarleton said. “And moving from the current bead-based assay to an array platform makes the reagents and the detector for reading the assay much more affordable.” The “gold standard” for determining a cure is for a patient to convert from seropositive to seronegative, meaning that a blood test does not detect any T. cruzi antibodies. The conventional blood test requires a minimum of 24 months to show a decline in antibody response, and complete conversion to a negative blood test can take up to 10 years.
INFORMATICS
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an engineering challenge for clients that include industry, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Recently, students have worked with Georgia Power to determine the optimal location for a new solar energy production site and with the U.S. Army to develop a line-of-sight texting device that doesn’t rely on cellular telephone service or satellites. In cooperation with UGA’s Archway Partnership, a public service and outreach unit, students have worked with communities across the state on civil engineering projects such as bridge rehabilitation, traffic assessment and design, and other infrastructure improvements. Chris Turner, a senior from Augusta majoring in mechanical engineering, says he’s already seen the benefits of the studio. Part of a senior design team working with Gulfstream Aerospace, Turner and his group recently used one of the new studio’s two conference cubicles for an online meeting with Gulfstream officials in Savannah. “It was great to be able to share and
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driving range. Also open to spouses of UGA employees, the clinics will take place Oct. 6 and 20 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.; a make-up date has been set for Oct. 27 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Each session will include long and short game instruction. To reserve a space in one of the clinics, email Clint Udell at cudell96@uga.edu. Also let him know if you would like to borrow golf clubs for the clinic.
Award nomination deadline
The Office of Service-Learning is accepting nominations until Nov. 4 for the 2017 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence and Service-Learning Research Excellence Awards. All full-time, permanent UGA faculty members are eligible for
Over the past 12 years, the Tarleton laboratory and the laboratory of CONICET research scientist Susana Laucella in Argentina have shown antibodies tested by the multiplex method are potential surrogate indicators of treatment success. They believe this method will detect significant decline in antibody levels in less than 12 months. To more rapidly determine treatment success, the project also will investigate other potential markers of patients being cured, including antibodies to carbohydrate epitopes and changes in the numbers of plasmablasts, the cells that secrete antibodies. “We are looking for the earliest signs of treatment efficacy,” Tarleton said. “As parasite numbers are reduced due to treatment, we expect, based on data from other systems, that one of the first detectable changes will be in the immune cells that are responding to the presence of parasites and producing antibodies, the plasmablasts.” The researchers also will be exploring the phenomenon of spontaneous cure, a cure in the absence of treatment, as only anecdotal information is currently available. “The immune response to T. cruzi infection is actually very strong and as a result, spontaneous cure occurs,” Tarleton said. “However, the frequency of cure without treatment is not known, nor are methods available that discriminate between those with active, chronic infections and those who have cured.” Approximately 20 percent of individuals receive mixed results from conventional blood tests for T. cruzi infection. This is a large number of potentially infected people to leave untreated. However, current therapies have such severe side effects that doctors often do not prescribe them. Understanding why some individuals can “cure themselves” could lead to new treatments for the disease.
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that encompasses the generation, storage, processing and analysis of massive data sets. A Presidential Informatics Hiring Initiative that was completed earlier this year brought eight new informatics faculty members to campus who will work in seven departments and five of the university’s schools and colleges. In total, UGA has more than 160 faculty members who apply informatics to fields such as health, business, the environment, digital humanities and engineering. To foster collaboration and bring nationally recognized speakers to campus, the university will host its first-ever, day-long informatics symposium on Oct. 11. “The Georgia Informatics Institutes for Research and Education is another great example of UGA leading the way as a public research university,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “The GII will enhance the university’s ability to prepare our students for successful careers in informatics while expanding research and collaboration in areas of vital importance to our state and nation.”
Kyle Johnsen, an associate professor in the College of Engineering and the inaugural director of the GII, said planning is underway for an undergraduate certificate program in informatics as well as a graduate certificate program. A foundational course in informatics is currently offered through the College of Engineering for students in any major, and it covers topics such as the evaluation, analysis and visualization of data. Experts from business, industry and other fields will play a role in the GII through a technical advisory board that will provide input on strategic directions. Johnsen notes that the demand for workers who possess skills related to data analysis and security is high in Georgia and across the nation. “The GII will be a hub for informatics research and instruction that will promote collaboration among faculty members and give our students the knowledge and skills they need to fill some of today’s most indemand positions,” Johnsen said.
CONSORTIUM nomination. The awards recognize faculty for innovative service-learning course design as well as scholarship that stems from academic servicelearning work. Award recipients receive a $2,500 faculty development award and will be recognized at the annual faculty awards banquet. Nominations by deans and department heads, faculty colleagues or selfnominations will be accepted. Nomination packets, award guidelines and lists of previous award winners are at http://servicelearning.uga.edu/awards/. For more information, contact Shannon Wilder, director of the Office of Service-Learning, at 706-542-0535 or swilder@uga.edu. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.
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the University of Colorado, Denver. Joining the consortium is an important symbol of UGA’s commitment to art’s inclusion in interdisciplinary research and teaching, and it aligns UGA with other institutions that share this forward-thinking philosophy, said Chris Garvin, director of the art school. “Membership in a2ru allows UGA to join with other research universities that want to position the arts at the heart of academic life, treating them as a significant means of inquiry, integral to problem solving and the production of knowledge.” The faculty research cluster will be directed by Isabelle Loring Wallace, associate director of research and graduate studies at the art school and Willson Center associate academic director for arts and a2ru. The research cluster is accepting grant proposals from full-time, research-budgeted faculty. Projects may be creative or scholarly in form, and they may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary in scope. More information, including instructions for applications, is at http://t.uga.edu/2Dz.