By Sarah Geegan

Chemistry Professor Yinan Wei recently received a $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a study expected to generate some of the first ever data in her subject matter.

The proposal, titled "Protein Activity and Oligomer Stability in Cell Membrane," will focus on questions surrounding how proteins oligomerize in cell membrane, or in other words, how membrane-spanning proteins that function in units containing more than one subunit, assemble in nature.

"The selective permeability of cell membranes, which is essential for all life forms that we know, is conferred by membrane proteins," Wei said. "Approximately 80 percent of membrane proteins with known structures

By Sarah Geegan

Psychology Associate Professor Nathan DeWall will showcase his expertise on the Discovery Channel's new series "Head Games," premiering at 10 p.m. this Sunday, June 3.

The show, narrated by actor John Krasinski, invites viewers to explore brain games, mind puzzles and social experiments that display how the human mind works. Both viewers and on-screen subjects will be challenged to participate in these puzzles to better understand how and why people conform, perceive, react in certain ways or make moral judgments — all relating to the complex inner workings of the brain.

DeWall will appear in the "

By Jessica Powers

A professor can impact a student during and after their college career in a plethora of ways. Leighanne Root has been able to learn, utilize and grow with her professors throughout her time at the University of Kentucky.

Root entered UK as a philosophy major, but during her freshman year she enrolled in PHI 260 a course on classical philosophy taught by Paul Carelli. She was instantly fascinated by his use of Greek and Latin, so with his guidance, she decided to switch majors to Classics with a minor in philosophy. Carelli helped her transition into the program by consulting with her on questions and giving advice.

Sophomore year, Root enrolled in Greek courses with Professor Amy Clark. Learning a new language with a new alphabet is difficult, but Clark was patient enough to make the task enjoyable to her students.

“Dr. Clark was a huge

By Sarah Geegan

"Every time I take a trip, I find myself missing home. The people. The culture. The weather," says JR Leach, a triple-major in political science, history and Hispanic studies, who is currently studying in Granada, Spain.

But he is not referring to Lexington.

"I've travelled internationally before and for extended periods of time, and I've always remembered and missed what most people would consider my home in America," Leach said. "But Granada is where all cards are off. Granada has become my home."

Studying through the International Study Abroad program (ISA) throughout the spring 2012 semester, Leach, a student in the

By Sarah Geegan

The UK and Lexington community will have a rare opportunity on Tuesday, June 5 — one that will not occur again for more than 100 years.

The Arboretum, the MacAdam Student Observatory and the Bluegrass Amateur Astronomy Club will present, "Standing in the Shadow of Venus," two events which will allow the community to both understand and observe the transit of Venus.

A solar transit involves an object in the solar system moving exactly between the sun and the observer; Venus will appear to glide slowly across the surface of the sun. Transits of Venus are especially rare, occurring at intervals of 8, 105.5, 8, 121.5, 8…

By Sarah Geegan, Amanda Osborn

Imagine being a University of Kentucky student in Lexington, but sharing a "global classroom" with students in China, France or India.  In collaboration with the associate provost for International Affairs and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), the UK College of Arts and Sciences recently established a program called Global Classroom Connections that will promote international learning and experiences through the use of contemporary technology.

As university graduates increasingly require international perspectives, skills and knowledge to succeed in the multicultural and interconnected world, 

By Sarah Geegan

With the school year freshly completed, 11 students in the College of Arts and Sciences are kicking off the summer in a unique way— with a 4-week intensive language and culture program in Shanghai, China.

The faculty-led program, supported by the Chinese Studies program in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Culture, will advance the students' conversational fluency in Chinese. It will also introduce them to traditional and modern aspects of Chinese culture such as calligraphy, tea houses, Shanghai's history and contemporary society.

Assistant Professor of Chinese Matthew Wells said that the 4-

By Sarah Geegan

Visionaries often ask us to look skyward for signs of alien intelligence. A new book, "The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition," edited by Thomas Zentall of the University of Kentucky Department of Psychology and Edward Wasserman of the University of Iowa, suggests that we might more fruitfully explore and understand alien intelligence right here on Earth.

This 960-page volume, published in February by Oxford University Press, is a compendium of scientific research into the cognitive worlds of animals, a flourishing field of study that that was prompted by Charles Darwin’s provocative proposal that

At any given time, hundreds of salamanders are being bred at the University of Kentucky. "We have the only captive-bred salamander population in the world where people can call us up, and we can do the breedings, make those resources and ship them out nationally and internationally," says Randal Voss, a professor of biology and faculty associate of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC).

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Army Research Office, Voss is studying

By Sarah Geegan

Archaeologists at the University of Kentucky have broken ground on a new project, uncovering historical evidence from a Revolutionary War siege, right in the heart of the state.

UK archaeologists Nancy O’Malley of the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology and Philip Mink of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, are undertaking a geophysical survey and limited excavations at the site of Fort Boonesborough on the Kentucky River in May. The study aims to find archaeological evidence relating to the Siege of 1778, a prolonged engagement that pitted a large party of French Canadians and Indians against settlers living in the stockaded fort.

By Whitney Hale

Sarah Gooch, a University of Kentucky junior majoring in Japanese language and literature with a minor in anthropology, has been awarded a National Security Education Program (NSEP) Boren Scholarship to travel to Japan this fall. Gooch is one of 161 award winners selected nationally from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants.

The Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 for U.S. undergraduates to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad. Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program, which focuses on geographic areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national

By Whitney Hale

Two students from the University of Kentucky and one 2006 alumna have been selected as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among 1,700 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2012-2013 academic year through the prestigious program.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and

For Fraternel Amuri Misako, pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky amounts to much more than enhancing his career. It represents his freedom to conduct his important research without the threat of political persecution.

A visiting scholar from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amuri came to UK in 2010 through the Institute for International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund, an organization that aides scholars whose academic freedom and physical safety are threatened in their home countries.

He recently defended his landmark dissertation through a tri-national committee, consisting of two faculty members from UK, two from France and two from Congo, coordinated via videoconferencing.

Amuri's research, which focuses on rural populations, mostly young men, children as combatants,

By Sarah Geegan

University of Kentucky history Professor Jeremy Popkin was recently appointed a fellowship for the 2012-13 academic year by the National Humanities Center.

More than $1.5 million in individual fellowship grants will allow scholars to take a yearlong leave from their regular academic duties to pursue research at the center, located in North Carolina. Popkin is one of 33 fellows who will have the opportunity to work on an individual research project and share ideas in seminars, lectures and conferences.

“The National Humanities Center is an ideal environment for scholars,” Popkin said. “It is set up to encourage the exchange of ideas.”

Popkin will spend

Article and video courtesy of reveal - University of Kentucky Reseach Media

At any given time, hundreds of salamanders are being bred at the University of Kentucky. "We have the only captive-bred salamander population in the world where people can call us up, and we can do the breedings, make those resources and ship them out nationally and internationally," says Randal Voss, a professor of biology and faculty associate of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC).

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Army Research Office, Voss is studying salamander regeneration—something that may one day help people with spinal cord and limb injuries. He is involved in sequencing the salamander genome, and says he has been able to

Susan Bordo, the Otis A. Singletary Chair in the Humanities and professor of English and Gender & Women's Studies was recently published in the The Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here to read the full article, "When Fictionalized Facts Matter: From 'Anne of the Thousand Days' to Hilary Mantel's new 'Bring Up the Bodies''.

Biology Professor Ann Morris' lab contains approximately 200 individual fish tanks, but only one type of fish.

Having recently secured a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Morris will continue investigating zebrafish and the insight they offer in regard to solutions for human retinal degeneration. The NIH grant, titled, “The role of insm1 in vertebrate photoreceptor differentiation,” will be funded over five years and focuses on zebrafish to better understand genetic pathways that control the development of the retina.

"Mammals cannot regenerate photoreceptors, because the retina is part of the central nervous system, and like other neurons in the brain, when you damage them you can't replace them," Morris said. "So that means when people get genetic diseases where the neurons, particularly the

Karen Rignall successfully defended her dissertation “Land Rights and the Practice of Making a Living in Pre-Saharan Morocco” this afternoon.

The College of Arts and Sciences annually grants to one of its faculty members the Distinguished Professor Award. Read the full story here.

The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Tuesday approved University Research Professorships for 2012-13 for four faculty members. The professorships carry a $40,000 award to support research. Read the full story here.