By Tiffany Molina and Gail Hairston

The connection between two neurons in the brain has been an intriguing topic to Robin Cooper, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky. Cooper has been at UK for 21 years teaching his true passion: synaptic transmissions. Cooper said he loves it so much that he “often goes on tangents” and has to be reminded by his students to stay on track during lectures.

When he came to Kentucky, Cooper said he noticed there was a need for outreach to the younger community. He started a regional science fair program for young middle and high school students with an interest in science. The program, which has been running for 12 years, has been a success.

“Working with the teachers and students

By Lori Minter

A record number of students made the University of Kentucky Dean's List for the fall 2016 semester. The 7,408 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance.  That's an increase of more than 200 over the previous record reached in fall 2015 when the number of students on the UK Dean's List surpassed 7,000 for the first time.  Last semester's Dean's List includes over 700 more students than the spring 2016 semester's list.

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes.  Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting www.uky.edu/PR

By Whitney Hale

Poet Camille T. Dungy, known for her groundbreaking anthology of African-American nature poetry, will be the keynote speaker for the 2017 Kentucky Women Writers Conference, running Sept. 15-16. Dungy, who has two books scheduled to be released this year including her debut memoir, will present her keynote address 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

“Camille Dungy’s seminal anthology of African-American environmental poetry, 'Black Nature,' redefined the American poetic canon. At the same time, her own volumes of poetry have enlarged

By Gail Hairston

For the second year in a row, an advisor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Advising Center has been recognized by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).

“Phyllis Nally has done sterling work and deserves this honor,” said Ruth Beattie, associate dean for advising for the college in the Office of Academic Advising and a biology professor in the Health, Society and Populations Program.

Phyllis Nally was named the winner of the 2017 Excellence in Advising-New Advisor Award in Region 3, an area that includes Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

University of Kentucky associate professor Jim Ridolfo has won the 2017 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Research Impact Award for his book, “Digital Samaritans: Rhetorical Delivery and Engagement in the Digital Humanities,” published by University of Michigan Press. The CCCC is a constituent organization within the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The award honors an empirical research publication in the previous two years that most advances the mission of the organization or the needs of the profession.

The Award’s selection committee shared this statement: “The committee recognizes this work for its contribution to moving the field forward. The book takes advantage of the affordances of both digital distribution and multimodal composition, offering effective new modes of scholarly communication. Ridolfo's method infuses his

By Gail Hairston

"UK at the Half" interview with UK history Professor Gerald Smith about the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia.

Now celebrated in several nations around the world, Black History Month began humbly when noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other African American leaders urged the nation to recognize a “Negro History Week” in February 1926. Fifty years later, President Gerald Ford officially designated February as Black History Month, defining it as an annual celebration of the achievements of African Americans and their roles in U.S. history. At the time, he urged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Decades later, University of Kentucky’s history professor and Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar in

By Gail Hairston

Fourteen University of Kentucky undergraduate students -- one sophomore, two juniors and 11 seniors -- were recently awarded with Oswald Research and Creativity Program awards by the Office of Undergraduate Research.  

Students submitted research posters in six categories -- Biological Sciences; Design, including architecture, landscape architecture and interior design; Fine Arts, including film, music, photography, painting and sculpture; Humanities, from creative and critical-research approaches; Physical and Engineering Sciences; and Social Sciences. Winners in each category received $350; second place finishers received $200.

The 2017

Dr. Shaunna Scott was interviewed by a filmmaker and community activist about a proposed, community-based, participatory action research study of land ownership and taxation in Appalachia. In the interview she discusses the original land ownership study, later published as Who Owns Appalachia in 1983, and the impact of that work. She argues for why the time is right for a new study of land ownership in the region.

The Appalachian Land Ownership Study (1978-80) was a landmark participatory action research collaboration that analyzed land ownership and property tax patterns across six states in southern Appalachia.

Read the interview here. 

By Blair Hoover

As part of faculty development efforts, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (KCPE) has planned a series of workshops to address the personal, interpersonal and organizational issues faced by early career underrepresented faculty of color. Kentucky colleges and universities were asked to nominate faculty members for the Academic Leadership Development Institute.

Several faculty members at the University of Kentucky were nominated. Ultimately, three were chosen to participate in the program.

By Gail Hairston

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has launched a major initiative to transform the culture of graduate education and to implement changes that will broaden the career preparation of a doctoral student beyond a teaching career. The University of Kentucky and 27 other colleges and universities received a total of $1.65 million in grants to plan the transformation.

UK’s program, Careers Beyond the Professoriate, will provide resources and support to humanities and social science graduate students who are interested in exploring diverse career paths. Careers Beyond the Professoriate is supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and a NEH Next Generation Humanities PhD

Prof. Gary Ferland has been awarded the 2016 Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, the University’s highest honor for research. This award is given annually to one UK faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to original research or scholarship.

Ferland’s research focuses on astrophysical applications of atomic and molecular physics; specifically, how matter in space produces the light we see. “We take the light that we can receive here on Earth and figure out what’s happening out there,” Ferland said. “Our computers here on the Earth allow us to run simulations to see how matter in space emits light, and what that light tells us about the galaxy.”

Ferland developed a computer platform, Cloudy

By Rebecca Stratton

Want to get to know the people behind some of the biggest student leadership positions on campus? We did, too! That's why we've introduced "see blue." #selfie — a series on UKNow that lets student leaders from across campus tell us a little bit more about themselves and their organizations. Up this week, Society for the Promotion of Undergraduate Research Co-presidents Aaron Mueller and Joy Kim.

Meet Aaron Mueller and Joy Kim, this year's co-presidents of the Society for the Promotion of Undergraduate Research! Mueller and Kim, both from Louisville, Kentucky, conduct very different types of research on their own, but they collaborate to support other students' passions and interests in research. These co-presidents are paving the way for new discoveries, and encouraging other students at UK to do the same. Learn more about them in their "see

By Gail Hairston

Their eyes fill with commitment, their smiles reflect their joy, and Madeline Conrad and Mason Johnson nearly bounce off their chairs with excitement when they talk about the College Mentors for Kids after-school program.

Conrad and Johnson are the University of Kentucky seniors.

They say the third- through fifth-grade children at two Fayette County schools mentored by UK student volunteers “are launched into orbit” when they talk about their visits to the university campus.

Mellie: “UK Mentoring is AWESOME!” (Her capital letters, not the writer’s.) “We get to have mentors and do lots of fun activities.”

Jaxon: “The program helps us to think about what we want to be when we grow up.”

Isobel: “UK Mentoring exposes us to the campus. If we decide to go to UK, then we will already know the land.”

Nyiemah: “Being a part of

By Jay Blanton and Kody Kiser

On Jan. 20, the United States of America observed the “peaceful transfer of power” that for more than two centuries has marked the transition from one U.S. president to another.  

Shortly after noon, Donald J. Trump officially became the 45th president of the United States. 

At this moment in the country’s history, UKNOW wanted to get a perspective on the campaign that just occurred and the policy issues — both domestic and foreign — that a new a new president and Congress will likely tackle. 

To explore these issues in depth, we talked with two leading experts — Emily Beaulieu, an associate professor in comparative politics, and Stephen Voss, an associate professor specializing in

By Whitney Hale

Paige A. Dauparas, a University of Kentucky accounting, English and Spanish literature and culture senior from Mokena, Illinois, has been selected to present the 23rd annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the UK Athletics Auditorium at William T. Young Library. Dauparas' free public lecture focuses on diversity and how the search for individuality impacts unity.

The Breathitt Lectureship was named for an outstanding UK alumnus who showed an

By Gail Hairston

In recent years, much federal funding has been earmarked to help find solutions to the opioid use and overdose crisis in the nation’s rural regions. The effort has included a focus on coal-impacted Appalachian states, including Kentucky.

Rising overdose deaths and substance use disorder treatment rates in many rural communities indicate sharp increases in opioid use, resulting in high rates of opioid use disorder, injection drug use, and unmet needs for treatment services. These dramatic increases have led to high rates of opioid overdoses, as well as large increases in acute HCV (hepatitis C virus) infections and the potential for localized HIV and continued HCV transmission.

Federally funded projects work with state and local communities to develop best practice responses to opioid injection epidemics that can be implemented by public health

By Whitney Hale

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) selected University of Kentucky senior Corrine Faye Elliott, of Lexington, as one of this year's 40 recipients of the prestigious $10,000 scholarship. The ASF Scholarship is presented annually to outstanding college students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). Earlier this year Elliott was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding students who wish to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

For more than 30 years, the ASF has identified and supported the best and brightest undergraduate students pursuing educations in STEM fields across the nation. The

By Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle 

Jeesun Lim is one alumna who thoroughly enjoyed her undergraduate years as an economics major at the University of Kentucky. Holding leadership positions on campus as the secretary and vice president of the Korean Student Association as well as the treasurer of the International Student Council, she found a sense of community and made lasting friendships and connections.

Showing the importance of time and patience in finding direction, Lim didn’t decide on economics as a major until her sophomore year, after she took a class with a professor that she really enjoyed. As a testament to her hard work and dedication, as well as breaks spent invested in her academics, the South Korean native graduated one semester early, in December 2016.

Being a busy student did not deter Lim from

A team from the University of Kentucky has received a grant from Kentucky NSF EPSCoR (National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) for Education and Outreach Activities to fund a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) conference for middle school girls at UK this spring.

The primary goal of the conference, titled “Expanding Your Horizons (EYH),” is to encourage middle school girls to consider STEM studies by providing them with memorable interactive workshop experiences, visible female role models in STEM fields and exposure to different career paths in STEM. EYH seeks to provide middle school girls and their parents an inspiring environment in order to help both groups recognize and pursue opportunities in STEM. The conference will be held April 29 in the Jacobs Science Building.

Ellen Crocker and Bradford

Professor Anne-Frances Miller was chosen as the next President Elect of the Division of Biologial Chemistry in the American Chemical Society (ACS). This 7000-member technical division of the ACS hosts section meetings, administers awards, supports regional meetings and encourages participation of biochemists in the ACS.  Prof. Miller’s two-year term begins on January 1, 2017.