February 4, 2016
National Science Foundation to feature K-State student work in daily newsletter
K-Staters have more reasons to keep abreast of science news in the coming weeks. The National Science Foundation will feature the work of several K-State students in its Science 360 News in February and March.
Five student-made videos will be featured. The pieces were designed to communicate the work of NSF-funded K-State researchers to the public. The project was a collaboration among Tom Hallaq, assistant professor of digital media in the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications; Sarah Hancock, documentation technical writer from the Office of the Vice President for Research; and Cliff Braverman, audiovisual production specialist at NSF. Han Yu, professor of English in the College of Arts & Sciences, and students from her Introduction to Professional Writing course also contributed.
Here is the schedule of videos and dates on which they will be featured at NSF 360 News:
• Feb. 19: "Maize Mosaic Virus by Anthony Williams." This video is about the"Molecular Mechanisms of Virus-Vector Interactions" project by Anna Whitfield, associate professor of plant pathology, who is studying how corn plant hoppers spread a devastating virus.
• Feb. 25: "Soil Carbon Sequestration" by Nathan Sage and Mark Vaca. This video profiles "Understanding Process-Level Physico and Biogeochemical Mechanisms Controlling Soil Carbon Stabilization," a project led by Ganga Hettiarachchi, associate professor of agronomy. Her effort advances understanding of how management practices and climate change affect soil microbial properties.
• March 4: "Censoring Our Sleep" by Tana Akers and Amy Pond. This video is about the"Research to Quantify the Health and Development of Children with Disabilities Around the Clock" project by Steven Warren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and colleagues Behrooz Mrafzal, Punit Prakash, David Thompson, and Bala Natarajan, who are working to improve children's lives.
• March 17: "Contact Tracing" by Cameron Kietzman and Lindsay Rhoades. This video looks at an investigation of disease control models in the project "Effectiveness of Contact Tracing for Detection of Ebola Risk During Early Introduction of the Virus Within the USA" by Caterina Scoglio, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and colleague Faryad Darabi Sahneh.
• March 22: "High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping" by Cody Isern and Safiya Woodard. This video features the work of Jesse Poland, assistant professor of plant pathology. The full title of his project is "A Field-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Platform for Plant Genetics." Poland recently received a creativity supplement for this project, which accelerates the process of measuring plant characteristics.
NSF also will feature another video made by Williams on Feb. 12. The "Spotlight on Science" piece was produced through Wildcat Watch and features the work of Jim Edgar, university distinguished professor and head of chemical engineering.
Read more about the collaboration between K-State and NSF that fostered the production of these videos.