National media outlets featured and cited UNL sources on a number of occasions throughout the month of April:
Alan Baquet, director of UNL’s PGA Golf Management program, was quoted in a April 7 Wallet Hub “info-graphic” examining the financial impact of the Masters Tournament.
UNL climate scientists were quoted by several outlets. In an April 9 Associated Press article, climatologist Mark Svoboda of the National Drought Mitigation Center, discussed why the California drought persists. Svoboda and a National Drought Mitigation Center map also were featured in an April 11 post on Andrew Sullivan’s “The Dish.” The Insurance Journal quoted Adam Houston, atmospheric science, in an April 14 article noting that Oklahoma hadn’t had a tornado in eight months. The Washington Post used a center map April 17 showing 40 percent of the U.S. in drought. The San Jose Mercury News used center maps and data in an April 18 piece on the California drought.
Wheeler Winston Dixon, film studies, appeared in two USA TODAY stories on the same day – one on the success of Marvel superhero movies and the other on why video games rarely make good movies. Dixon was quoted in an April 15 Christian Science Monitor article about people testing Google Glass devices and in an April 21 BBC piece, published in English and in Spanish, about the box-office boost for movies that get banned. Dixon’s book, “Streaming: Movies, Media and Access,” was cited in an April 10 PopMatters article.
A project to develop a fist-sized robot that could perform emergency surgery on astronauts in space garnered headlines for Shane Farritor, mechanical and materials engineering. New Scientist posted a story about the NASA project on April 1. Io9 covered it on April 2 and India’s Business Standard reported on the project April 5.
The April 25 announcement that Joseph Francisco, a nationally recognized chemist at Purdue University, had been chosen as UNL’s new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences was covered by several outlets across the country, including the Lafayette Journal-Courier and Reuters.
Research by Peter Harms, management, into whether narcissism is an asset or a drawback in the workplace was featured by the Australian’s Executive Living section on April 21.
Mother Jones’ Inquiring Minds podcast featured John Hibbing, political science, in an April 2 report about using eye-tracking technology and skin conductance sensors to identify political predispositions. On April 9, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass talked about the Mother Jones piece and Hibbing’s research, saying he had discovered he suffered from “a mental problem afflicting millions of Americans.”
Courtney Hillebrecht, political science, wrote about Russia’s rocky relationship with the European Court of Human Rights in an April 23 column on the Monkey Cage, the political science blog of the Washington Post.
Science 360 featured two “videos of the day” featuring UNL researchers. An April 2 video featured Xia Hong, physics and astronomy, and her research into nanostructures that could give computers and other devices more capacity and higher speed, at lower cost. On April 23, the video featured a water sensor for irrigators being developed by Mehmet Can Vuran, computer science and engineering.
The International Quilt Study Center received a shout-out in USA TODAY on April 11, when leading fiber artist Ricky Tims listed it as one of 10 best places to see amazing quilts.
Matthew Jockers, English, was interviewed by WCSH, an NBC TV affiliate in Portland, Maine, on April 18, about his use of digital techniques to find the relationships between tens of thousands of literary works.
The American Journalism Review reported April 5 on an interactive journalism panel that featured Gary Kebbel and Matt Waite, journalism. Kebbel said journalism instructors have a duty to teach the freshest newsgathering technologies, while Waite urged instructors to “pick one thing to learn, be stubborn and don’t quit until it’s done.” Waite also predicted drone journalism will be common in five years in another AJR piece published April 16.
The University of Nebraska College of Law was mentioned in a April 30 Yahoo Finance article listing law schools with lowest average student debt for 2013 graduates.
James LeSueur, history, was quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek April 17 in an article highlighting the Algerian presidential election. He correctly predicted the ailing incumbent, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 77, would be re-elected. “The regime has enough fuel in the tank to run for another generation or two,” LeSueur said.
In a story carried by scores of outlets across the country, the Associated Press reported April 20 upon a study by Adam Liska, biological systems engineering, that found biofuels made from corn residue were worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, received coverage from many other outlets around the world, including TIME, USA TODAY, PBS Newshour, Scientific American, and National Geographic. It even garnered a mention on the Colbert Report.
Larkin Powell, natural resources, and Jocelyn Olney, natural resources graduate student, discussed research that tracks 70 prairie chickens in the Sandhills in an article highlighted by Science 360 on April 23.
A humorous video featuring Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett giving social media tips to UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman was the subject of April 2 stories by the Associated Press and CNBC, among others. The piece, in which Buffett suggested Perlman tweet about cats, was part of a series of “Perls of Knowledge” promotional videos in Perlman sought advice from “Social Squadron Team Alpha,” comprised of prominent UNL alumni and faculty.
http://perlsofknowledge.unl.edu
Frank Rack, director of the U.S. Antarctic Drilling team, appeared on Living on Earth, PRI’s environmental news magazine, April 11 to discuss a new sea anemone species discovered by ANDRILL. The creature lives on the underside of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
The Associated Press carried an April 5 story about a program founded by Stacie Ray, special education and communication disorders, to help families purchase hearing aids for children with hearing impairment.
Anthony Schutz, law, was quoted in an April 21 AP story, carried by the Colorado Springs Gazette, that discussed the legalization of pot in Colorado and its costs to Nebraska law enforcement.
Bloomberg Businessweek quoted Anthony Schutz and Sandra Zellmer, law, in a April 29 article about the Keystone XL pipeline route through Nebraska and how it might be affected by a pending court appeal over whether the governor or the Public Service Commission has the power to choose the route. Zellmer also was quoted in a similar Law 360 article (available through subscription) that appeared April 28.
Daizaburo Shizuka, biological sciences, was quoted in an April 15 Birdwatching Daily article highlighting a new web site that will allow “citizen scientists” to help track the movements of California Condors. Shizuka and other scientists are trying to discover how lead poisoning moves through condor populations. The giant birds were once on the brink of extinction. YubaNet.com and the Santa Cruz Sentinel also covered the “Condor Watch” project
A performance by the STREB dance company, which included a residency in which UNL dance students developed choreography involving drones from UNL’s NIMBUS laboratory, was reported April 7 by Robotics Tomorrow and April 9 by the Associated Press.
Susan Swearer, educational psychology, was quoted in an April 1 USA TODAY story about new research that shows that youth are at greater risk of being bullied when they become more popular at school. Swearer is co-director of the Bullying Research Network. The story was carried by a number of outlets across the country.
Frans von der Dunk, space law, was quoted April 3 by The Verge, a Vox Media affiliate, on news that NASA had ordered its personnel to immediately cease most communication with Russian officials and scientists. Von der Dunk said the order was unprecedented and even more restrictive than Cold War limits.
Matthew Waite, director of UNL’s drone journalism laboratory, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor April 30 in a story about controversy over the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle to cover an Arkansas tornado. The Federal Aviation Administration maintains drone journalism violates rules prohibiting commercial use of unmanned aircraft.
Bloomberg Businessweek interviewed Amber Williams, admissions director, for a April 23 article on the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling affirming a voter-approved affirmative action ban in Michigan.
The American Water Resources Association highlighted Sandra Zellmer, law, and her book “Mississippi River Tragedies: A Century of Natural Disaster” in an April 17 blog post.
