Husker researcher plays key role in Amazon basin project
Since 2018, Husker researcher Steven Thomas has been part of an international research team with an ambitious goal: Harness artificial intelligence and other tools to understand how strategic planning can reduce the impact of hydropower development on the entire Amazon River basin. This was no small task as the Amazon basin encompasses approximately 2.4 million square miles — more than a third of South America and slightly greater than 31 Cornhusker States. Currently, more than 350 sites have been identified as potential hydroelectric dam locations throughout the basin.
Nebraska Sandhills rated as world’s most intact prairie
To speak with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Dirac Twidwell is to hear the sentiment emerge as a sort of mantra. The reasons preceding the statement, and behind the sentiment, are legion. Protecting signature species from extinction. Maintaining the quality of air and aquifers. Mitigating wildfires and floods. Preserving cultures and livelihoods that echo across generations. It's for those reasons that the associate professor of agronomy and horticulture has spent years researching and combating the decline of grasslands, especially the one just a few hundred miles to his northwest: the Nebraska Sandhills.
Kenyan-born student touches hearts and minds with her artwork
Painting is an art form that has historically been capable of profound emotional depth despite its limited physical dimensions. As such, it can be daunting for an aspiring artist to take the next step of showcasing their artwork. For Rose Onyango, her desire to express herself has been a driving factor in sharing her art with the world. Onyango is a fourth-year political science and global studies double major from Kenya. Growing up in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, she started drawing with limited supplies, creating sketches from graphite and charcoal. Now she paints with brushes and buckets, conceiving full-colored illustrations, some of which are on display in the College of Business.
Institute for Ethnic Studies celebrating 50 years
In 1972, the Institute for Ethnic Studies was founded to educate students about issues that were so urgent and pressing then — and remain so today. Over the next five decades, the Institute for Ethnic Studies became an interdisciplinary academic unit that offers a major, five minors, and graduate specializations at the master's and doctoral levels. Instructors in ethnic studies have won university awards for excellence in teaching, and many are nationally and internationally known for their scholarship and creative work on racial justice.
Peace Corps Week begins Feb. 28
From Feb. 28 to March 4, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will celebrate Peace Corps Week with a series of information sessions for students to learn more about the Peace Corps. In addition to events planned by the agency, Nebraska students can participate in the celebrations on campus with multiple opportunities to learn about becoming a Peace Corps volunteer and applying to the university’s Peace Corps Prep program.
Huskers participate in global debate experience
After spending this year in individual competition focused on one topic, Husker debaters Uwase "Andy" Andromede and Nicholas Wallenburg teamed up and turned their attention to a new topic in preparation for a global debate. As part of the Global Debate Series, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Speech and Debate team hosted a virtual match of intellect and policy discussion with a team from iDebate Rwanda on Feb. 18. Christian Bahire and Sandrine Umubyeyi represented iDebate Rwanda.
UNL researchers find deeper meaning in preserving ancient ruins
Three University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers spent three weeks in the grand Rosalila tunnels of Temple 16 in Copán, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to help preserve the elaborate structure that has stood the test of time since 600 A.D. Located in the tropical valleys and highlands of western Honduras, this ancient Mayan temple sits on top of a complex array of temples, creating a pyramid-like structure 30 meters above the city's acropolis that formed over 400 years ago.
UNL student promotes wildlife conservation, Rwandan culture via card game
While card games can serve as a fun distraction from matters of the outside world, one University of Nebraska-Lincoln student and his friends saw the opportunity to break the mold and forge an experience through the medium that's as informative as it is entertaining. Shema Yahya, a third-year integrated science major from Rwanda, is the architect behind a business venture he started with a few fellow Rwandan students, which is a card game called Muco.
Students needed to model for campus ‘Global Glam’ fashion show
In alignment with the Forward Together global strategy's goal of expanding international opportunities for students, the International Student and Scholar Office is seeking student volunteers to model for "Global Glam: A Night of Fashion, Diversity and Community."
Husker researcher takes another step toward virtual immune system
The renewal of a National Institutes of Health grant will enable a University of Nebraska–Lincoln researcher to continue developing a tool that illuminates the complex, multi-scale interplay of the immune system's many components. Tomas Helikar, Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor of biochemistry, will use the five-year, $1.8 million grant from the NIH's Maximizing Investigators' Research Award program to advance his work on a virtual immune system aimed at increasing the understanding of immune-related diseases and ramping up the speed and efficiency of drug development.