Two new trees recently planted on the Washington Avenue lawn of the Thomas Hunt Morgan Biological Sciences Building hold special meaning. The native Blue Ash, the species that defines the Bluegrass Region, are in memory of colleagues in the Department of Biology who passed away recently: graduate student Martin Striz (Aug. 17, 2014), custodial staff member Kenny Robinson (Jan. 10, 2014) and Biology Department staff member Tony Games (Oct. 19, 2015).

“Martin, Kenny and Tony represented an important part of our community and their passing still affects many of us,” said Scott Hotaling, a graduate student in the Department of Biology. “The trees are meant to serve as a memorial to all of those we have lost who were part of the departmental family.”

An informal gathering is planned at the trees Friday, May 6, at 11 a.m. to pay tribute to the significant impact of these

Finding the time scale for the effective transfer of electrons is not an easy task.

With the increasing need for renewable fuels scientists have attempted to harvest abundant sunlight while simultaneously reducing CO2. However, the process is generally inefficient and many aspects needed for improvement remain unknown. Chemists at the University of Kentucky have now contributed new knowledge to explain how sunlight energy is stored in chemical bonds creating energy rich molecules from depleted ones. The stable photocatalyst generates organic fuels with a rate of production that depends on the time spent on the surface by precursor molecules.

Finding the time scale for the effective transfer of reducing electrons in a photocatalyst capable of reducing species containing double bonds or CO2 is not an easy task. What is needed is a reducing electron that is generated upon

By Weston Loyd

(April 28, 2016) — Two current University of Kentucky Gaines Fellows, David Cole and Abby Schroering, have successfully completed their jury projects, a requirement to complete the first year of their fellowship, by creating podcasts on two culture fields with experts from right here in Lexington.

Cole, a junior English major from Monticello, Kentucky, has created a series of “Zen podcasts” that explore the world of video games. The podcasts, which are not heavily edited, lets the conversation of his interviews with local video game developers flow naturally. The goal for these podcasts is to showcase the developers and their video games to a larger audience and prove that Lexington is producing both high quantity and quality artistic work that very few cities of its

By Whitney Harder

(April 28, 2016) — Lee X. Blonder, professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Behavioral Science and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, has been elected by the university faculty as a faculty representative to the UK Board of Trustees. Blonder was elected to a three-year term, which will expire June 30, 2019.

Blonder joins Robert Grossman, professor in the UK Department of Chemistry, as one of two faculty representatives on the board.

"I am honored to have been elected to serve as faculty trustee," Blonder said. "My goals include

By Gail Hairston

(April 28, 2016) — For decades, researchers and scholars have studied what some call the “racial achievement gap” in academics and careers, without having a clear understanding why such a gap exists. 

Edward Morris, associate professor of sociology and director of undergraduate studies at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, and Brea Perry, associate professor of sociology at Indiana University, assert that racial disparities in academic achievement constitute “one of the most important sources of American inequality.”

“Racial inequalities in adulthood — in areas as diverse as employment, incarceration and health — can be clearly

By Eric Lindsey

(April 27, 2016) — Student-athletes from all of the University of Kentucky's winter teams combined to earn a total of 49 spots on the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Spring Academic Honor Roll, the league announced Wednesday.

A total of 667 student-athletes were named to the 2015-16 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll. The 2015-16 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades form the 2015 spring, summer and fall terms.

Any student-athlete who participates in a SEC championship sport or a student-athlete who participates in a sport listed on his/her institution’s NCAA Sports Sponsorship Form is eligible for nomination to the Academic Honor Roll. The following criteria will be followed: (1) A

By Blair Hoover

(April 27, 2016) — Provost Tim Tracy honored five faculty members and four teaching assistants with Provost's Outstanding Teaching Awards at the 2016 UK Faculty Awards Ceremony. The William B. Sturgill Award and the Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize were also awarded at the ceremony. The ceremony took place Thursday, April 21, in the Lexmark Public Room in the Main Building.

The William B. Sturgill Award was awarded to Carl Mattacola, a professor in the rehabilitation sciences program in the College of Health Sciences.

The Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize was awarded to Gary J. Ferland, a physics and astronomy professor in the College of Arts and

By Kathy Johnson, Kelli Meyer

(April 27, 2016) — University of Kentucky Professor Andrew Hippisley has been selected to participate in the American Council on Education's (ACE) ACE Fellows Program, the longest running leadership development program in the United States. Hippisley, in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of English, is one of 33 emerging college and university leaders chosen for the 2016-17 class of ACE Fellows.

Hippisley joined the UK faculty in 2007 as an assistant professor of linguistics and became a full professor in 2012. He is director of the Linguistics Program in the College of Arts and

By Terrence Wade

(April 26, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering are proud to have Nobel Prize Winner Frank Wilczek on campus this week as he delivers his lecture “Some Intersections of Art and Science.” The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Memorial Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

The lecture will cover topics of profound reasons rooted in the nature of human cognition and perception and why art and science have a lot to offer one another. Wilczek will display some important historical examples of their synergy and point out some emerging opportunities. Several striking images will be an integral part of the

By Whitney Harder

(April 25, 2016) — A new instrument to be developed by University of Kentucky researchers will overcome current limitations in fluorescence microscopy and could accelerate basic scientific discoveries. The multimodal and cost-effective imaging and data collection platform is being funded by a three-year, $589,250 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant from the Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) program.

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) have become essential tools to understand biochemical and cellular processes. But these tools are limited — they are often highly labor intensive and thus have been primarily restricted to single sample analysis followed by costly manual data processing. 

By Whitney Harder

(April 25, 2016) — A long-standing question in biology is why humans have poor regenerative ability compared to other vertebrates? While tissue injury normally causes us to produce scar tissue, why can't we regenerate an entire digit or piece of skin? A group of University of Kentucky researchers is one step closer to answering these questions after studying a unique mammal, and its ears.

The team's new findings come on the heels of UK Assistant Professor of Biology Ashley Seifert's landmark discovery in 2012 that two species of African spiny mice found in Kenya could regenerate damaged skin. The group built on this work to show that a third species of spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus, could

By Gail Hairston

(April 25, 2016) — University of Kentucky Associate Professor of History Kathi Kern has been appointed one of the 78 new speakers to the Organization of American Historians’ prestigious Distinguished Lectureship Program for 2016-17.

These scholars, who are affiliated with some of the nation’s top universities, join more than 400 other OAH Distinguished Lecturers who speak to audiences across the country each year and are widely sought for appearances at museums, libraries, universities, community centers, churches and synagogues, and other venues. OAH Distinguished Lecturers strive to promote understanding and appreciation of all facets of U.S. history from the 1600s through the present, which is

By Carl Nathe

(April 25, 2016) — Allison Connelly, the James and Mary T. Lassiter Clinical Professor in the College of Law and founding director of the University of Kentucky College of Law Legal Clinic, is the 2016 recipient of the William E. Lyons Award, co-sponsored by the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Political Science, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. The annual honor is given to one person in recognition of

By Whitney Hale

(April 25, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that junior Corrine Faye Elliott, of Lexington, has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Elliott is among 252 students nationwide awarded the Goldwater Scholarship this year. This year's Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,150 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was authorized by Congress to honor the former Arizona U.S. senator who served the nation for 30 years. The

By Gail Hairston

(April 25, 2016) — The University of Kentucky's second Middle East Festival is slated 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in Memorial Hall.

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Arabic and Islamic Studies Program and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, the event offers food samplings, displays featuring the Middle Eastern culture, a trivia contest, a fashion show and traditional dances. 

By Gail Hairston

(April 25, 2016) — Economic and Commercial Attaché to the United States Consulate for Western France Eric Beaty will visit the University of Kentucky Tuesday, April 26, for the last College of Arts and Sciences Year of Europe event this academic year.  He will make his address, “U.S. and European Union Trade Relations: The French Example” at 4 p.m., in the Multipurpose Room (B-108C) at the William T. Young Library.

Beaty completed his undergraduate studies at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas with a double major in French and German and a minor in history. He went on to earn a master’s degree in French literature at Rice University in Houston. Later, Beaty received a master's degree in linguistics from Aston University in Birmingham, U.K.

Beaty began his career at the University of Rennes 2, in France, in 1981

By Weston Loyd

(April 25, 2016) — The University of Kentucky's Gaines Center for the Humanities, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Working Group on War and Gender, an interdisciplinary group of scholars at UK, are teaming up to present a new program as part of the Gaines Center’s series on violence and the human condition. The series’ fifth event is the "Symposium on War and Gender." This two-day event, running April 28-29, is comprised of four different sessions and is free and open to the public.

"The symposium is for undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty to explore how wartime violence

By Gail Hairston

(April 22, 2016) — Two University of Kentucky faculty members were honored yesterday at the 2016 Provost Outstanding Teaching Awards ceremony with awards recognizing their outstanding contributions to teaching and scholarship at UK.

Gary J. Ferland, professor of physics and astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Science, was awarded the 2016 Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, given each year to a faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to original research or scholarship.

Carl G. Mattacola, professor of rehabilitation sciences and division director of the graduate athletic training program in the UK

By Gail Hairston, Weston Loyd

(April 22, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Graduate School has adopted an online service, Versatile PhD, that will benefit students, faculty and alumni seeking careers in the humanities and social sciences.

“A growing number of graduate students are drawn to careers outside of traditional academic paths. In a survey of UK graduate students conducted earlier this year, 82 percent of the respondents indicated they are planning or considering alternate-academic or non-academic careers,” Morris A. Grubbs, assistant dean in the Graduate School and director of graduate

By Jenny Wells

(April 22, 2016) — Female students are less likely than their male counterparts to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (also known as STEM), but a group of women at the University of Kentucky are trying to change that.

In partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Kentucky branch, a group of UK students, faculty and staff have launched the #IAmAWomanInSTEM initiative this semester, bringing together over 160 female student ambassadors to encourage the study of STEM and health care among women at UK and empower them to persist in those fields.

“Time and time again we hear and read about the challenges and barriers women in STEM have overcome to get where they are today,” said Margaret