The presidential election left many Americans feeling anxious in November. University of Nebraska researchers helped National Public Radio reporters prove just how anxious in an informal experiment that involved collecting saliva from debate watchers.
The project was among more than 40 topics that generated national news coverage for University of Nebraska-Lincoln personnel during November.
The election anxiety experiment generated multiple NPR reports featuring Kevin Smith, political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jeffrey French, neuroscience at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Reporters for “Only Human,” a health-related podcast produced by WNYC, initiated the project and reported upon it Nov. 3. It also was discussed Nov. 7 on “The Takeaway,” which airs on NPR stations nationwide. The United States of Anxiety podcast posted a Nov. 3 report and the Leonard Lopate Show, a weekday talk show on WNYC, featured it on Nov. 7.
A Nov. 8 article carried by The Guardian’s U.S. edition also reported on the experiment and Smith and French’s research.
Other stories featuring university sources in November:
A widely carried Nov. 15 report by the Associated Press on new research that shows photosynthesis could be boosted to create more productive crops quoted Tala Awada, School of Natural Resources. Awada, who was not involved with the study, called it a breakthrough.
The Washington Post published a glowing review Nov. 11 of “Bartók By Heart,” the latest release by the Chiara String Quartet, artists in residence at the School of Music. The quartet also received praise in a Nov. 14 Broadway World article.
The National Drought Mitigation Center was cited dozens of times in stories regarding drought and wildfires across the nation. A few examples: The Associated Press reported Nov. 4 that drought was easing in California; a Nov. 11 AP report covered drought-related fires in the southeastern U.S.; and Arkansas Online reported Nov. 12 on drought conditions in that state.
Yahoo! Tech and Space Daily carried Nov. 2 reports on satellites being used to track photosynthesis in evergreens. The information could shed new light on how climate change affects northern forests. Project leader John Gamon, natural resources, recently moved from the University of Alberta to pursue his research using Nebraska facilities. He is assistant director of the Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies.
John Hibbing, political science, was quoted in a Nov. 23 New York Times report on whether state and local officials could expect rewards if they had been early supporters of Donald Trump.
KCUR, a National Public Radio station in Kansas City, aired a Nov. 14 Harvest Public Media piece about the cancer risks of glyphosate herbicide. The story quoted Amit Jhala, weed science, about the herbicide’s ballooning popularity in recent years.
Matthew Jockers, English, was quoted in a Nov. 4 report by German international news provider Deutsche Well about his recently published book, “The Bestseller Code.” Jockers used a University of Nebraska computer cluster to analyze thousands of novels and detect patterns among which became bestsellers and which did not.
Meredith Martin, educational psychology, was quoted by The Atlantic in a Nov. 2 article about preschoolers, empathy and politics. Martin, who studies how children and adolescents deal with interpersonal relationships and bullying, commented on new research on how children’s perceptions of social justice and unfairness develop between age 3 and age 8.
The National Provisioner quoted Rod Moxley, veterinary medicine, Nov. 18 about new e. coli testing methods developed through a USDA grant to study Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
Donna Shear, University of Nebraska Press, was quoted in widely carried Nov. 26 report on the 75th anniversary of the Press. The story originated with the Lincoln Journal-Star and appeared in more than two dozen outlets, including the Miami Herald.
Adrian Silva, a sophomore architectural studies major who works at Sheldon Museum of Art, was quoted in Buzzfeed Nov. 13 after the Uber driver he summoned turned out to be U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. Sasse spent a day driving for Uber to meet constituents and to learn about the on-demand economy. Silva’s surprise encounter appeared in several online news sites, including Mashable and The Blaze.
Popular Mechanics carried a Nov. 15 report on a new concrete mix being developed by Christopher Tuan and Lim Nguyen, engineering. The concrete, which has been licensed to a private company, could be used to protect against electromagnetic pulses. Engadget reported on the development Nov. 16.
Matthew Waite, founder of the drone journalism laboratory, was quoted by the Tampa Bay Times in a Nov. 17 article about a drone Christmas show being staged this year by Disney. Waite described the safety precautions necessary for the show. Waite also was quoted in a Nov. 26 Virginian-Pilot report on whether drones could be used for speed limit enforcement.
Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged here. If you have additions to this list or suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed, the university’s national news editor, at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.