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Former NATO commander, leading experts to discuss the Russo-Ukrainian War’s global effects at KU Security Conference
LAWRENCE — Philip Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe during Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, will deliver the keynote address for the 2024 KU Security Conference, “The Russo-Ukrainian War and Global Human Security.” The on-campus event April 10-11 will bring together policymakers, military and intelligence officials, and scholars to discuss the war’s far-reaching effects and how the world can respond.
KU Engineering professor wins NSF CAREER Award for water resources research
LAWRENCE — Research conducted by a School of Engineering professor at the University of Kansas that examines how humans have and will affect natural water systems was awarded a five-year, $609,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Admin Husic is the recipient of an NSF Early Career Development (CAREER) award for his efforts to understand how landscapes adjust as they direct water — and the sediment and nutrients that it carries — to rivers.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors to present public programs at KU
LAWRENCE — Activist, artist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement Patrisse Cullors will visit the University of Kansas on April 10–11 and present two free public programs. At 4 p.m. April 10, Cullors will perform “Opening Up” at the Spencer Museum of Art. At 7 p.m. April 11, Cullors will give a talk titled “Our Collective Imagination Will Set Us Free,” discussing the intersection of abolition and art and the power of human imagination as a liberating force.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Megan Luttrell, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, [email protected], @KUCREES
Former NATO commander, leading experts to discuss the Russo-Ukrainian War’s global effects at KU Security Conference
LAWRENCE — Philip Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe during Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, will travel to Lawrence to deliver the keynote address for the 2024 KU Security Conference, “The Russo-Ukrainian War and Global Human Security.”
The on-campus event April 10-11 will bring together policymakers, military and intelligence officials, and scholars to discuss the war’s far-reaching effects and how the world can respond.
The event begins at 7 p.m. April 10 at the Dole Institute of Politics with Breedlove’s presentation on how the ongoing war is affecting a range of global issues, including migration, environmental security, food security and disinformation. Breedlove’s presentation and the ensuing discussion will be moderated by Vitaly Chernetsky, professor in the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies, with introductory remarks given by Barbara Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor.
The event continues April 11 at the Jayhawk Welcome Center, with a day of panel presentations addressing these important issues in greater detail. Presenters include the following:
Joshua Campbell, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
Glenn Corn, 34-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence and foreign affairs communities.
Matt Dimmick, a KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) alumnus and the former director for Russia and Eastern Europe on the U.S. National Security Council.
Mahir Ibrahimov, director of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College’s Cultural and Area Studies Office.
These experts from the military and intelligence community will be joined by invited scholars from across the United States and around the world, including Antonina Broyaka of Kansas State University; Volodymyr Dubovyk of the Center for European Policy Analysis and I.I. Mechnikov National University in Ukraine; Kristina Hook of Kennesaw State University; and Anton Shirikov of Columbia University.
Also taking part will be some of KU’s faculty experts, including Rebecca Johnston (CREES), Shannon O’Lear (environmental studies, geography & atmospheric science), Kurt Preston (Graduate Military Programs), Kat Romanova (communication studies), and Erik Scott (CREES). The day’s events will begin with an introduction by Arash Mafi, executive dean of the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
More information about the event, including a complete schedule, can be found on the conference website.
Scott, director of KU CREES and of the conference organizers, described the event as both timely and important.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine is more than just a conflict between two states; the conflict has caused the largest refugee migration in Europe since World War II, disrupted global food supplies, damaged ecosystems, and reshaped alliances in the Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere,” he said. “Now is the time to study the war’s consequences and make plans to build a more peaceful and secure future for Ukraine and the international community.”
Other conference partners include the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (ICCAE), Graduate Military Programs and the Dole Institute of Politics.
“KU’s designation as an Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence has opened up doors to the U.S. intelligence community and has led to including leading practitioners in our annual security conference,” said Michael Denning, director for KU Graduate Military Programs.
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Contact: Cody Howard, School of Engineering, 785-864-2936, [email protected], @kuengineering
KU Engineering professor wins NSF CAREER Award for water resources research
LAWRENCE — Research conducted by an assistant professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering at the University of Kansas that examines how humans have and will affect natural water systems was awarded a five-year, $609,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
Admin Husic is the recipient of an NSF Early Career Development (CAREER) award for his efforts to document and share what he describes as “dynamic connectivity: a research and educational frontier for sustainable environmental management under climate and land use uncertainty.”
Husic is working to understand how landscapes adjust as they direct water — and the sediment and nutrients that it carries — to rivers. If efforts to manage shared water resources are to be successful, he said, it will be critical to understand the role that humans play in affecting such timeless connections.
He sees two questions driving the work: “How have humans changed the landscapes around us for the worse, and how are we able to manage them for the better?”
“Water is such a basic necessity — not just for humans but for all living things on Earth,” Husic said. “However, in many places throughout the world, water is often lacking — either in its quantity or quality. I’m motivated by a desire to ensure its availability and safety for people.”
CAREER awards are considered among the NSF’s most prestigious, given annually to about 500 early-career faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. NSF expects recipients’ activities to build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
Husic’s work aims to bring a new, dynamic approach to traditionally qualitative, static assessments of the connectivity of hydrologic systems throughout the United States. His team will look back in time and leverage high-frequency aquatic sensors for nitrate and turbidity in more than 150 rivers, using the data to train a deep learning model. Dynamic connectivity will be expressed through mathematics, revealing dominant pathways of connection. Machine learning will link how attributes of the landscape affect river quality, and a web application will help determine the potential for using dynamic connectivity as a management tool.
“This work will provide us with a set of predictive tools that will indicate where, when and how water quality is deteriorated,” Husic said, noting that the work will attempt to answer a number of critical questions. Among them: “Can dynamic landscape connectivity be strategically managed to confer ecosystem benefits while maintaining societal demands?”
Husic, who joined the KU faculty in 2018, leads a research lab of undergraduate and graduate students developing models and systems that can be used to train the next generation of engineers and policymakers “to be good stewards,” he said, of humanity’s shared and changing human-environment systems.
“The CAREER award will act as a springboard for achieving our lab’s goals and will set us up for success — not only in the next five years, but for the decades to come as land use and climate change intensify and bring new water challenges,” Husic said.
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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”
a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.
https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/when-experts-attack
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Contact: Albert Reyes, Department of Religious Studies, [email protected]
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors to present public programs at KU
LAWRENCE — Activist, artist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement Patrisse Cullors will visit the University of Kansas on April 10-11 and present two free public programs.
At 4 p.m. April 10, Cullors will perform “Opening Up” at the Spencer Museum of Art. The performance will draw on Yoruba prayers and offerings to honor and remember the lives and experiences of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. The event begins outdoors in front of the Spencer Museum and then moves into the galleries, which currently feature exhibitions that share Emmett and Mamie’s story.
In an artist’s statement, Cullors shared that the performance “is a testament to the enduring strength of memory and the unbreakable bonds of kinship that connect us across generations. Through this performance, we not only pay homage to Emmett and Mamie, but also reaffirm our commitment to a future where such tragedies are no longer repeated, guided by the wisdom and blessings of those who have come before us.”
At 7 p.m. April 11, Cullors will give a talk titled “Our Collective Imagination Will Set Us Free,” discussing the intersection of abolition and art and the power of human imagination as a liberating force. A moderated conversation and Q&A will follow. This event will take place in 100 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
Cullors’ visit is supported by the Department of Religious Studies, the Spencer Museum of Art, the Department of Visual Art and the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
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