University of Nebraska-Lincoln personnel generated more than 85 news stories on the regional, national and international scene in February.
Matthew Jockers, English, received international coverage in The Times of London, The Paris Review and Motherboard.com, among several others, for his latest research classifying the plots of more than 40,000 novels into six basic structures.
Daniel Brooks, a University of Toronto emeritus professor now affiliated with UNL’s Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, sparked worldwide mentions of his alma mater after he co-authored a scholarly article warning that climate change could bring more infectious disease.
NBC News and the Today Show reported on research about sibling bullying by Eve Brank and Lori Hoetger, psychology. Several other outlets also carried the story.
Other highlights of February news coverage:
The American Chemical Society posted a video by Raychelle Burks, a chemist affiliated with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, highlighting “Three amazing women scientists you’ve never heard of.” It included Rachel Lloyd, a pioneering University of Nebraska chemist believed to be the first woman in the U.S. to hold a doctorate in chemistry.
Reporters continued to turn to Wheeler Winston Dixon, English and film studies, for syndicated coverage of events in the entertainment industry. He was quoted in a Feb. 7 Los Angeles Times piece about Amy Pascal’s exit as head of Sony Pictures; The Christian Science Monitor asked him about Jon Stewart’s departure from the “Daily Show” on Feb. 11. In a story carried Feb. 20 by USA TODAY and run by news outlets across the nation, the Arizona Republic interviewed Dixon about the civil rights movie “Selma” being snubbed during this year’s Oscar nominations. The Christian Science Monitor sought his observations on the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony for a Feb. 23 story.
Kwame Dawes, English, was touted in a Feb. 17 Black Star News article about African poets. Dawes, a Ghanian-born Jamaican poet, has been instrumental in efforts to promote African poetry. Several outlets carried the article.
Aaron Duncan, communication studies, authored a Feb. 7 post on Poker News highlighting his study of how poker culture has reshaped the American Dream.
In an essay published Feb. 12 by Canada’s “The Walrus,” James LeSueur, history, discussed the 1989 fatwa by the Ayatollah Khomeini, sentencing novelist Salman Rushdie to death for his “Satanic Verses.” LeSueur subsequently was interviewed on the topic Feb. 16 on a Portland, Ore., morning radio talk show.
University of Nebraska law faculty had a strong run of media appearances in February: Space law professor Frans von der Dunk was quoted in a Feb. 25 Forbes.com story about the feasibility of birthing children in a future Mars colony; Gus Hurwitz, telecommunications law, published a column about the Federal Communications Commission’s “net neutrality” regulations on realclearmarkets.com; Craig Lawson, who teaches torts, was quoted in a widely syndicated Feb. 16 Kansas City Star story about the consequences of banning sledding in municipal parks; Matthew Schaefer, space law, was interviewed by Space.com for a Feb. 24 report on whether the Federal Aviation Administration’s favorable response to Bigelow Aerospace signaled a willingness to provide protections for commercial space endeavors; and Anthony Schutz, who teaches land use law, was quoted in a Feb. 24 New Republic story about the eminent domain battle over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Rhonda Garelick, English and fine and performing arts, authored a Feb. 20 Salon.com piece examining why newsmen like Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly feel compelled to tell war stories.
For a Feb. 11 piece about a French study on the physics of popcorn, a Los Angeles Times reporter asked Devin Rose, food science, to explain why the popular snack food pops. The syndicated story was carried by numerous outlets across the U.S.
Andy Suyker, natural resources, was among the experts discussing corn’s carbon cycle in a Harvest Public Media piece that aired on NPR’s mid-day news program, “Here & Now,” on Feb. 5.
Susan Swearer, educational psychology, wrote a Feb. 3 Huffington Post blog post about efforts by Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation to stop bullying.
The Huffington Post quoted Eric Thompson, Bureau of Business Research, for a Feb. 2 piece on why Lincoln’s economy is buzzing.
Matthew Waite, drone journalism laboratory, was quoted by the Washington Post Feb. 3 about why drone footage of the Auschwitz concentration camp was so powerful. Waite also was interviewed by several news organizations about the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed regulations for commercial drone activity and their implications for the package-delivery plans of Amazon and Google.
National Geographic sought Jun Wang, atmospheric sciences, to comment on a newly released study led by the University of Iowa, that found smoke from Central American fires contributed to a deadly tornado outbreak in 2011. The story was published Feb. 9.
China Daily USA interviewed Joseph Weber, a journalism professor who has taught in China, about the decision by state-run China Central Television to provide Chinese New Year coverage free to international TV networks. The story appeared Feb. 10.
Science 360 posted video about the Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory’s development of synchrotron X-Ray technology as well as research led by Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, civil engineering, to explore the links between climate change and groundwater supplies. Phys.org and AP posted stories about efforts by Zhigang Shen, construction management, to develop 3-D modeling software to use in bridge maintenance. BTN’s LiveBig program highlighted a research team led by Alexei Gruverman, physics, to use ferroelectric tunnel junctions to improve device speed and capacity.
This monthly column highlights national news coverage of UNL faculty, administrators, staff and students. The national media often works with University Communications to identify and connect with UNL sources to include the university’s research, expertise and programming in published, broadcasted and internet news coverage. UNL appearances in the national media are routinely logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews/. If you have additions to this list or suggestions for national news coverage, contact Leslie Reed at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.
