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International Jayhawk Festival will celebrate KU’s global community on April 13
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will come together to celebrate its diverse global community at the International Jayhawk Festival from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. April 13 in the Burge Union, forums C and D. Representing cultures from around the world, the event will have activities, games, crafts and performances, as well as the distribution of T-shirts and international snacks. Students, staff, faculty and community members are invited to attend the free event.
KU scientist named a fellow of Ecological Society of America
LAWRENCE — Jim Bever, University of Kansas Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, is one of seven scientists across the U.S. who have been named fellows of the Ecological Society of America this year.
Two KU juniors to compete for Astronaut Scholarships
LAWRENCE — Two outstanding University of Kansas undergraduates — Audrey Rips-Goodwin, of Overland Park, and Kate Wienke, of St. Louis, will compete for prestigious Astronaut Scholarships, worth up to $15,000. The six surviving members of the Mercury 7 mission founded the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in 1984 to encourage students to pursue scientific endeavors to keep the U.S. on the leading edge of technology.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Christine Metz Howard, International Affairs, [email protected], @KUintlaffairs
International Jayhawk Festival will celebrate KU’s global community on April 13
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will come together to celebrate its diverse global community at the International Jayhawk Festival from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. April 13 in the Burge Union, forums C and D.
Representing cultures from around the world, the event will have activities, games, crafts and performances, as well as the distribution of T-shirts and international snacks. Students, staff, faculty and community members are invited to attend the free event.
In its seventh year, the International Jayhawk Festival highlights KU’s diverse student body, importance of global citizenship, the value of international education and the need for global awareness.
Comprehensive internationalization is one of five core foundations informing Jayhawks Rising, KU’s multiyear strategic planning process. More than 1,700 international students from over 100 countries attend KU. Additionally, KU ranks 24th among U.S. public research doctoral institutions in the percentage of students who have studied abroad.
At the festival, more than 45 student groups or academic units will be present, offering intercultural activities, demonstrations and global trivia. Students can meet with advisers from study abroad, discuss academic programs with area studies representatives and language departments, connect with foreign language clubs, explore international career opportunities and learn about international student organizations.
A highlight will be international performances, including those that represent Peruvian, Indonesian, Brazilian and Chinese cultures. The International Student Association will host an international fashion show.
The Pederson Grants for Global Engagement, funded by KU alumna Christine Pederson, provided $200 grants to support the involvement of nine student clubs and organizations interested in representing their countries and cultures at the festival. With the funds, the groups can purchase items that will help in sharing, celebrating and educating festivalgoers about their group’s language and cultural traditions.
The International Jayhawk Festival receives support through the following contributing university sponsors: Applied English Center; Center for East Asian Studies; Center for Global & International Studies; Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies; Center for Russian, Eastern European & Eurasian Studies; Department of French, Francophone & Italian Studies; Global Business Initiative; Global Business Studies; Indigenous Studies; Institute for International & Global Engagement; International Affairs; International Support Services; Kansas African Studies Center; KU Libraries; Middle East Studies; Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging; Office of Multicultural Affairs; Office of the Provost; Open Language Resource Center; Pederson Grant for Global Engagement; Spencer Museum of Art; Student Union Activities; Study Abroad & Global Engagement; and University Career Center.
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Contact: Kirsten Bosnak, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, 785-864-6267, [email protected], @KUFieldStation
KU scientist named a fellow of Ecological Society of America
LAWRENCE — Jim Bever, University of Kansas Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, is one of seven scientists across the U.S. who have been named fellows of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) this year.
The society announced its 2023 fellows on April 5. Its fellowship program recognizes the many ways in which its members contribute to ecological research, communication, education, management and policy. This year, the society’s governing board confirmed seven new fellows and 10 new early career fellows.
Fellows are members who have made outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA, including, but not restricted to, those who advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofit organizations and the broader society. They are elected for life.
Bever integrates theory with empirical tests of population and community dynamics of plants and microbes. He received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan and Duke University, respectively. He developed the plant-soil feedback experimental and theoretical approaches to understand the soil microbiome influence on plant community structure. His work contributed to a growing awareness of the role of soil pathogens and mutualists in plant species coexistence, succession, biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships, invasion and native plant restoration. His work also tests forces influencing the dynamics and stability of the mycorrhizal mutualism.
ESA established its fellows program in 2012 with the goal of honoring its members and supporting their competitiveness and advancement to leadership positions in the society, at their institutions and in broader society. Past ESA fellows and early career fellows are listed on the ESA Fellows page.
ESA will formally acknowledge and celebrate its new fellows for their exceptional achievements during a ceremony at ESA’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research houses a diverse group of ecological research and remote sensing/GIS programs at KU. It also manages the 3,300-acre KU Field Station, a resource for study across the university.
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Contact: Erin Wolfram, Academic Success, 785-864-2308, [email protected]
Two KU juniors to compete for Astronaut Scholarships
LAWRENCE — Two outstanding University of Kansas undergraduates are representing KU in the Astronaut Scholarship program.
The six surviving members of the Mercury 7 mission founded the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) in 1984 to encourage students to pursue scientific endeavors to keep the U.S. on the leading edge of technology. Astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs have joined the foundation, which has awarded $4 million in scholarships to more than 400 of the nation’s top scholars.
KU’s 2023 nominees:
1. Audrey Rips-Goodwin, a junior majoring in chemistry and mathematics and minoring in psychology
2. Kate Wienke, a junior majoring in physics
With the support of the ASF, up to two KU undergraduate students will be selected to receive up to a $15,000 scholarship during their junior or senior year. Nominations were sought from faculty members in all STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — for students with exceptional academic records and considerable research experience. A committee coordinated by the Office of Fellowships and chaired by Steven Hawley, KU professor emeritus of physics & astronomy and former astronaut, selected the university’s candidates for the award. The winners of the scholarship will be announced later this spring.
The ASF board of directors selected KU to join the program based upon the excellence of the university’s STEM academic programs for undergraduates and the strong research capabilities and opportunities for undergraduate students. Admission into the scholarship program is highly competitive, and only the top research universities in the country are chosen to participate.
Audrey Rips-Goodwin, from Overland Park, is the daughter of Cheryl Rips and Stanley Goodwin and a graduate of Blue Valley Southwest High School. She is majoring in mathematics and chemistry and minoring in psychology with plans to pursue a doctorate in neuroscience and conduct research in neuroscience/neuroeconomics of addictions, eating disorders and obesity. In 2021, Rips-Goodwin contributed to a large series of studies examining how age-related increases in phosphodiesterase 11A4 contribute to age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease under Michy Kelly at the University of South Carolina. Rips-Goodwin is a co-author of a paper based on this research, which is currently in review. In 2022, after transferring to KU, she joined Tera Fazzino’s lab and determined the accuracy of reported energy content of hyper-palatable foods, combining her research interests in both chemistry and psychology and leading to two presentations. In 2022, she was named a Kansas Idea Network for Biomedical Research Excellence program scholar to conduct independent research. In summer 2023, Rips-Goodwin will participate in a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in the Department of Mathematics at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. She is also a student ambassador for the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, a Bricker ChemScholar and a Frances H. Gayetta Lensor Scholarship recipient, awarded to an exceptional female student majoring in chemistry. Outside of research and academics, Rips-Goodwin serves as a weekend volunteer at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Kate Wienke, from St. Louis, is the daughter of Libby Clabaugh and Steve Wienke and is a graduate of Webster Groves High School. Majoring in physics, Wienke aspires to earn a doctorate in astrophysics and lead a team conducting research on astrobiology or exoplanets. She also plans to teach at the university level and start a mentorship program for young gender and racial minorities in physics. In 2021, within Ian Crossfield’s KU ExoLab, she compared the densities of exoplanets with the elemental abundances of their stars. She presented this research at the KU 2022 spring Undergraduate Research Symposium. Currently, Wienke is conducting research with Jessie Christiansen on using Spitzer Phase Curve Analysis to detect an atmosphere on the Super Earth-HD within the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. In September 2022, she was one of 36 students invited to participate in Caltech’s FUTURE of Physics for junior and senior undergraduate gender minorities in physics. Wienke is an honors ambassador and University Scholar and served as the project leader on a team examining diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging within the KU Department of Physics. She also serves as a co-captain for the Women’s Rugby Club and was a member of the KU rowing team her freshman year. Wienke has received numerous accolades including the KU Gene R. Feaster Physics Scholarship and KU Francis W. Prosser Physics Scholarship and was on the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team for achieving a 4.0 GPA while participating as a Big-12 athlete. Most recently Wienke was named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar.
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