By Jonathan Greene

McKenna Green

University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences psychology and College of Public Health public health dual major McKenna Green is one of 14 UK undergraduates selected for the 2024 Commonwealth Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship program. 

The fellowship will support McKenna as she works on research related to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

Sponsored by the UK Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the CURE Fellowship program empowers undergraduates to develop new knowledge and skills through research within eight of UK’s Research Priority Areas: cancer, cardiovascular health, diabetes and obesity, energy, equity (UNITE), materials science, neuroscience, and substance use disorder.

Students selected as CURE Fellows receive a $5,000

By Tom Musgrave 

Lexington Freedom Train organizers plan to unveil this monument (concept at left) to Lexington abolitionists Lewis and Harriet Hayden in mid 2025. Photos provided.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 18, 2024) — A proposed monument honoring a Kentucky couple who escaped enslavement and later became a force in the abolition movement has University of Kentucky connections. 

Four people with ties to UK are involved in the Lexington Freedom Train monument effort: 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 13, 2024) — In March, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association honored six recipients with this year’s Great Teacher Awards.

Launched in 1961, they are the longest-running UK awards recognizing accomplished and passionate educators.

In order to receive the honor, teachers must first be nominated by a student. The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Committee, in cooperation with the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa, then makes the final selection. Recipients receive a commemorative award and stipend.

Zada Komara, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the Lewis Honors College and an

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Lukas Bullock

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 12, 2024) — Lukas Bullock, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies (GWS) in the College of Arts and Sciences, received one of the the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected through nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the 

By Lindsay Travis 

UKNow is highlighting the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 University Research Professors. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the professorship program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research.  

Haralambos Symeonidis

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 11, 2024) —  Haralambos Symeonidis, Ph.D., the John E. Keller Endowed Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Hispanic Studies in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, has been honored as a 2024-25 University Research Professor.

Symeonidis joined UK in 2007. His research focuses on the

Emmanuel Asante, Refah Tamanna, Jessica Nwafor, Nuwan Herath and Brittany Thomas.

On May 1, Anthropology Ph.D. students Emmanuel Asante, Nuwan Herath, Jessica Nwafor, Brittany Thomas and Refah Tamanna received Unite Predoctoral Research Enhancement Awards. The UNITE Predoctoral Research Enhancement Program provides benefits to graduate students interested in an academic career, including a $10,000 stipend, mentorship from UK professors, and research career development activities. 

James Keppeler and Michelle Roberts

In late spring, James Keppeler and Michelle Roberts were awarded grants from the Wenner Gren Foundation. The foundation plays a leadership role in anthropology by publishing the Sapiens anthropology magazine and the journal Current Anthropology while also sponsoring workshops as well as pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. 

Roberts’ fieldwork project is  "Webs of Care: Understanding Acquired Disability in Rural Appalachia through Culture, Politics, and Biomedicine." Keppeler’s fieldwork is  “Unearthing Mindanao: Archaeological

By A Fish 

 Patricia Ehrkamp

LEXINGTON, Ky, --  Patricia Ehrkamp, Ph.D., professor of geography in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been elected president of the American Association of Geographers.  

The scientific and educational organization serves around 10,000 international educators, practitioners, researchers and students in  geography. Ehrkamp has been serving as vice president of the organization since 2022. She will assume the presidency July 1.

“I've been involved in different roles with this professional organization since I first presented my research at annual meetings as a Ph.D. student,” Ehrkamp said. “Over the last 20 years, I've served on the boards of various research specialty groups in the organization, across different subfields such as

By Jennifer T. Allen 

Students in Heather Campbell-Speltz's SPA 423 translation course with the nonprofit partners they worked with during the Spring 2024 semester.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When Reagan Sutton, an English and Spanish double major, registered for an advanced Spanish translation course, she didn’t realize how much the work would impact the community.  

“It’s really easy to feel disconnected in your schoolwork, but this is something that touches real lives,” Sutton said. “I’m passionate about language and connecting with different populations. This course made me feel like my major serves a purpose outside of only getting me into law school. Through this class, we got out there and talked with people and are helping with projects that have impacts on people’s lives.” 

Sutton, along with 12 classmates, spent the spring

By Emily Sallee 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 5, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards announced three students have been selected as award winners of a Critical Language Scholarship.

The program provides opportunities for American college and university students to study languages and cultures essential to America's engagement with the world. 

Each summer, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities across the country spend eight to 10 weeks learning one of 13 languages at an intensive study-abroad institute.

More than 500 students were

By Lindsay Travis 

Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, Ph.D., uses mathematical models to understand how plant traits evolve. Her field work has taken her to Colombia to study plants. Photo provided.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 4, 2024) — Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology at the University of Kentucky, is part of a wide-ranging group of experts to study a complex phenomenon with significant implications in plants, animals and humans called polyploidy.

Polyploidy means having more than two complete sets of chromosomes. Typically, when plants and animals undergo sexual reproduction, two sets of chromosomes — one from each parent

By Erin Wickey 

Michelle Martel

UKNow is highlighting the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 University Research Professors. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1976, the professorship program recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research at UK and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research.  

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 4, 2024) — Michelle Martel, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Psychology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a 2024-25 University Research Professor.

Her research examines hormonal effects on such disorders related to impulse control as ADHD and binge drinking in women. Martel’s

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

Edward Lo, left, Eleng Kazangiljan, Shelbie Larmour, Ambassador James K. J. Lee, Venus Evans, Emerald Skye Byrd, Stephanie Van Hoose and Anagali Duncan on stage at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York. Photo provided by Van Hoose.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 3, 2024) —  Last month, the University of Kentucky had significant involvement in this year’s Seminar on Indigenous Issues, held April 24 in New York City, as part of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The seminar, organized by Edward Lo, Ph.D. (羅力明), a

By Susan Cantrell and Camille Harmon 

Christopher Huggins, left, and Troy Cooper presented at the 2024 Pedagogicon on their experiences in TEK. Photo provided by Camille Harmon.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 31, 2024) — Faculty fellows in the Transdisciplinary Educational approaches to advance Kentucky participated in the 11th annual Pedagogicon, hosted by Eastern Kentucky University and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Graduate Profile Academy on May 16. 

This year’s theme of Student Engagement & Experiential

 By Lindsey Piercy and Steve Shaffer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 30, 2024) — In March, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association honored six recipients of this year’s Great Teacher Awards.

Launched in 1961, they

By Jesi Jones-Bowman 

Elizabeth Elliott, left, and Shasanka Lamichhane

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 24, 2024) — Two University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences students will participate in the Beckman Scholars Program, titled Scholars United by Chemistry: Cultivating Excellence through Science Stewardship. 

The Beckman Scholars are:

They will begin their independent, laboratory research this summer.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation’s Beckman Scholars Program is a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 23, 2024) — Five students from the University of Kentucky have been selected for the Sustainability Summer Research Fellowship program.

As a learning institution, UK engages in sustainable practices by collaborating with faculty, staff and students across all colleges and departments. The Sustainability Research Fellowship is a collaborative program coordinated by the Office of Undergraduate Research and sponsored by the UK Student Sustainability Council (SSC) and

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 23, 2024) — In March, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association honored six recipients with this year's Great Teacher Awards. 

Launched in 1961, they are the longest-running UK award recognizing accomplished and passionate educators.

To receive the honor, teachers must be nominated by a student. The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Committee, in cooperation with the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 21, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has selected 14 students for the 2024 Commonwealth Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship program.

Sponsored by OUR and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the CURE Fellowship program provides opportunities to develop knowledge and skills through research within eight of UK’s Research Priority Areas: cancer, cardiovascular health, diabetes and obesity, energy, equity, materials

By Avery Schanbacher 

Last fall, students in UK’s Exploratory Studies program participated in a new course, A&S 141, designed to connect them with a variety of academic fields and on-campus resources while developing study skills to aid them as they navigate their first semester of college. Throughout the class, students heard professors from across campus speak about their fields, research, and career paths.  

The course, taught by Christia Brown, associate dean for inclusive excellence and psychology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and two teaching assistants, was divided into two sections: a class and a recitation. Brown cites the small group recitation meeting as a valuable time for students to develop relationships and practice good study habits. As a final assignment, students were asked to choose