By Allison Perry

Growing up in an area heavily impacted by the opioid epidemic, University of Kentucky grad student Samantha Malone knew she wanted to pursue a career that involved research on substance use.

“I’m from East Tennessee, and substance use is huge there,” said Malone, a second-year Ph.D. student in the UK Department of Psychology’s Cognitive Neuroscience program. “So I really wanted to go into neuroscience research involving substance use disorder just because of where I’m from, and I know how big of an impact research like this has on our community.”

Malone was one of the dozens of researchers from UK and beyond presenting a

By Gail Hairston, Kody Kiser, Amy Jones-Timoney, and Steve Shaffer

What makes a good teacher a great one? University of Kentucky students were eager to share their opinions about the best teacher in their lives, nominating them for one of the most esteemed awards on campus. 

The UK Alumni Association 2020 Great Teacher Award was recently bestowed upon six University of Kentucky educators. Initiated in 1961, UK’s Great Teacher Award is the longest-running UK award recognizing teaching. In order to receive the award, educators must first be nominated by a student. The UK Alumni Association Great Teacher

By Nate Harling and Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2020) — Bertin Louis Jr. has received a prestigious position that is giving him national exposure. The director of undergraduate studies for African American and Africana Studies (AAAS) and associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky has been named editor of “Conditionally Accepted.”

The 

By Victor Allison and Jenny Wells-Hosley

This Thursday, the University of Kentucky Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) will host its annual open house, giving UK students and the public opportunities to learn about, and even experience, some of the geological research happening on campus. Ed Woolery is one of the participating researchers and plans to showcase his work with seismic sensors and monitoring systems used to predict earthquakes.  

After being named chair of EES last year, Woolery

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The University of Kentucky Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) will host an open house next week, giving students and the public an opportunity to learn more about the environmental and geological research taking place on campus.

The open house will be held 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, in the Slone Research Building, located at 121 Washington Ave. on campus.

What attendees can expect to experience:

By Gabriela Antenore 

The University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences' Environmental and Sustainability Studies program will host a speaker series to give students a realistic look at what they can do with their degrees. The three-part “What can I do with an ENS degree” Spring 2020 Speaker Series is set to begin Feb. 13.

“As corporations are starting to put the planet before profits, our speaker series demonstrates the diversity and growing job market in the field of sustainability,” said Betsy Beymer-Farris, director of Environmental and Sustainability

By Katie Grace

By Emily Sallee

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that biology and health, society and populations senior Hannah Thomas in the College of Arts and Sciences has been awarded a Fulbright Canada-MITACS Globalink Research Internship in the program’s first year. Through this highly competitive opportunity, students undertake

By Ryan Girves 

Allison Soult, senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, will address the University of Kentucky community at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in the Gatton Student Center as the next speaker in the iPad Initiative Speaker Series. 

Soult will discuss how she and her students use the iPad before, during and after class to enhance learning. She will also share some examples of digital in-class activities and her favorite apps to use in teaching.

Soult’s main interests are in the areas of chemistry specifically relating to issues with student engagement in large lectures and using technology to enhance student learning. Soult, who came to UK in 2002, was the recipient of the Arts and Sciences Outstanding Staff

By Richard LeComte

Vincent M Cassone, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, has been named the Jack and Linda Gill Eminent Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky. UK’s Board of Trustees approved the designation, and the appointment took effect in January. 

The Gill Research Excellence Fund supports the Gill Eminent Professorships in Science and Engineering. The deans of the Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Engineering jointly administer the program. Professors are recommended by a committee based on a nomination letter.

“Throughout his time here at UK, Cassone has served as a model for research productivity,” said David Weisrock, associate professor and director of graduate studies for the Department of Biology, who nominated Cassone. “Maintaining research

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

Next week, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences will host renowned biochemist Rafael Radi for two special events on campus.

Radi will serve as the College of Medicine's Dean's Distinguished Lecturer at noon Monday, March 2, in Room HG611, the Chandler Hospital auditorium in Pavilion H. The following day, he will present a seminar for the chemistry department at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, in the William T. Young Library's UK Athletics Auditorium. The events will highlight both clinical and basic science aspects of his research on nitric oxide and its

By Kathy Johnson

Two people with close ties to the University of Kentucky will be recognized for their achievements with honorary doctorates. The UK Board of Trustees approved awarding an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to William Harry Clarke and an Honorary Doctor of Humanities to Nikky Finney.

Clarke is professor emeritus of the UK School of Music, where he served for 43 years. He came to UK in 1965 as a teaching assistant for the marching band while working on his doctorate. In 1968, he became director of bands, a position he held for 21 years. During that time, Clarke grew the Wildcat Marching Band from 30 members to 300, expand the band to include women and established the band’s reputation as one of the best in the country. He also served as director of the UK School of Music and received the

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

In just a few weeks, the University of Kentucky will welcome students, scholars and activists to campus for the 43rd annual Appalachian Studies Association (ASA) conference March 12-15. Themed "Appalachian Understories," the conference will emphasize the often obscured voices of the region, including black Appalachians.

Jillean McCommons, a doctoral student in the UK College of Arts and Sciences' Department of History, studies black Appalachian history and is serving as an organizer for the upcoming conference. One of the conference's four plenaries, "

By Jay Blanton

University of Kentucky faculty member Connie Wood accepted a collect call in 1989 from a student a world away who was in need of a connection and a path forward.

For Bing Zhang, the willingness of a director of Graduate Studies to accept that phone call and offer help in a time of need has made all the difference in a life’s work and, now, what has been a lifetime of giving back.

Flash forward more than 30 years.

Today, President Eli Capilouto is recommending that the UK Board of Trustees accept a $6.35 million pledge Zhang is making to the university’s Department of Statistics, where he received his doctorate a generation ago. Capilouto also is recommending that the board approve naming the department the Dr. Bing Zhang Department

By Richard LeComte

A new Africana Saturday School begins this weekend at the historic downtown Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22.

The Saturday School will be a series of double lectures given once a month through May. The theme for spring 2020 is “New Visions for Black Men: From Maleness to Manhood.” Events start at 9 a.m. and are free to the public.

Frank X Walker, organizer of the event and poet and University of Kentucky English professor in the College of Arts & Sciences, will kick off the series with a talk and reading titled “Honor Thy Mother & Father: Making the Case for a New Vision.” UK faculty participating in the series include Derrick White and Gerald Smith, both UK history professors as well as members of the

By Whitney Hale and Jenny Wells-Hosley

The year 2020 kicks off a new decade. What will the next 10 years bring in the areas of health, technology, climate, the economy, politics and more? In a new recurring series, UKNow explores the next decade by asking University of Kentucky experts to discuss and predict upcoming trends in their areas.

Today, we spoke with Michael Zilis. As an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, he is looking ahead at the issues that will shape 2020 and beyond.

Zilis teaches courses on American government, constitutional law and judicial decision-making. He emphasizes student

By Tom Neely

A total of 82 University of Kentucky student-athletes earned a place on the 2019 Fall Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced last Friday by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. UK had the third-highest number of honorees and the Wildcat volleyball team tied for first in that sport. 

The 2019 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2019 spring, summer and fall terms. UK’s SEC champion volleyball team had 11 honorees, tied for the league lead in that sport. In addition, UK had six representatives from men’s cross country, eight from women’s cross country, 30 from football, 17 from men’s soccer and 10 from women’s soccer. Among other qualifications, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA in order to be named to the list. 

In

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

Eve Schneider, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology, has been named a 2020 Sloan Research Fellow by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The award honors early-career researchers.

Schneider is one of 126 selected across the U.S. and Canada, and is first UK scholar to receive the fellowship in 25 years. She is also the first woman from UK to receive the honor. 

"I’m incredibly honored to join the ranks of all the distinguished researchers who’ve won this award. It’s a lot to live up to! This fellowship is an amazing vote of confidence that my burgeoning lab is on the right path," Schneider said.

By Gabriela Antenore

The University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences' Environmental and Sustainability Studies program will host a speaker series to give students a realistic look at what they can do with their degrees. The three-part “What can I do with an ENS degree” Spring 2020 Speaker Series is set to begin Feb. 13.

“As corporations are starting to put the planet before profits, our speaker series demonstrates the diversity and growing job market in the field of sustainability,” said Betsy Beymer-Farris, director of Environmental and Sustainability Studies

By Lindsey Piercy

The University of Kentucky has been named one of the Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars among colleges and universities for 2019-20. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the list annually.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. Since its inception in 1946, the prestigious program has provided more than 390,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, while finding