UNL and its personnel appeared in at least 70 national media reports during the month of January, including multiple stories about the ice-drilling team’s success in an Antarctic expedition and about new findings about snake evolution by paleobiologist Jason Head.
Campus experts, on topics from allergies to whistleblowing, also helped keep UNL in the national spotlight. Outlets from The New York Times to Munchies — an edgy food channel launched by Vice Media — sought out UNL’s expertise in January. Stories that featured UNL in January included:
Timothy Gay, physics, was quoted by NBC News, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times on the mysterious deflation of footballs used by the New England Patriots in their Super Bowl-qualifying game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Anthony Schutz, law, served as a go-to source for national reporters covering Nebraska’s legal battle over the Keystone XL pipeline. His media appearances included a Jan. 22 story in the The New York Times, and a Jan. 9 report in Bloomberg News, as well as the Associated Press.
A Munchies writer turned to Stephen Taylor, Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, on Jan. 21 to confirm that it is indeed rare to be allergic to potatoes. Susan Swearer, educational psychology, was quoted by U.S. News & World Report Jan. 12 about the tendency for children with food allergies to be bullied.
More UNL experts who made January appearances in publications across the country:
A Jezebel writer consulted with Sarah Gervais, psychology, for a “lemon cake” experiment described in a Jan. 6 article. By carrying cakes and other baked goods on the subway, men participating in the experiment got a sense of how a woman feels when she’s the subject of leers.
Lisa Kort-Butler, sociology, was quoted in a Jan. 4 story in The New York Times about the popularity of Investigation Discovery, a cable TV channel focusing on true-crime stories.
USA TODAY quoted Richard Moberly, law, in a Jan. 21 story about a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of a former air marshal who claimed whistleblower status. Six days later, he was a guest on a Los Angeles National Public Radio talk show, discussing the conviction of a former CIA officer for leaking information.
Harvest Public Media interviewed Andy Suyker, natural resources, for a Jan. 27 story about how corn cultivation affects the carbon cycle. The piece later aired on the nationally syndicated news program Here & Now. Harvest Public Media also interviewed Jeff Keown, emeritus professor of animal science, for a widely distributed Jan. 12 story about efforts to recruit California dairy farmers to Nebraska and Iowa.
Matthew Waite, journalism, was quoted Jan. 13 by The Christian Science Monitor, among many others, after an FAA ruling that allowed CNN to begin drone journalism efforts. Voice of America and Mashable.com were among outlets that quoted him after a commercial drone crashed on the White House lawn Jan. 26.
Many other national news stories featured UNL personnel:
The latest expedition to Antarctica by the Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL) team based at UNL received worldwide coverage in late January, after scientists discovered fish living beneath the ice and made other new findings about the area where an ice sheet covering the continent meets the Ross Ice shelf floating on the ocean. Stories mentioning the ANDRILL program; its director, Frank Rack; and its chief engineer, Bob Zook; appeared in Scientific American, Nature World News, the Antarctic Sun, Engadget and other publications.
Kathleen Brooks, agricultural economics, was interviewed for a Jan. 11 McClatchey-Tribune syndicated story about 2015 demand and prices for beef calves.
Several outlets around the world covered new findings by Jason Head, earth and atmospheric sciences, about how snakes evolved. They included the Daily Mail in London, and Sciences et Aviner in France on Jan. 8, Popular Science on Jan. 20 and the archeology site HeritageDaily on Jan. 5.
Wheeler Winston Dixon, English and film studies, was quoted Jan. 3 iin the South China Post, when it ran a version of an LA Times syndicated story about the long-term consequences of “The Interview,” the movie that was pulled from wide release after it inspired hackers’ ire for its depiction of an assassination attempt on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Dixon also showed up Jan. 19 in the Christian Science Monitor to discuss “American Sniper” and in the Arizona Republic to predict the future of movies.
Motherboard featured Matthew Jockers, English, and his digital analysis of literature in a Jan. 21 story that pondered whether the tool could be used to answer whether Shakespeare’s plays were truly authored by a glove maker’s son from Stratford.
Yan Ruth Xia, child youth and family studies, was interviewed by Daily News Analysis of India Jan. 7 for a story about the stresses facing families today. Xia was in India for an international conference.
Several January stories credited UNL extension and other resources. The West Fargo Pioneer, in North Dakota, for example, cited UNL for its assistance in developing an anti-bullying event; The Lebanon Democrat in Tennessee and Al.com, serving Alabama markets, shared food preparation tips and recipes from UNL extension. The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan quilted Richard Randle, School of Veterinary Medicine about biosecurity as cattle producers rebuild their herds.
Blogs and columns written by UNL experts also generated attention. A NBC news story included a link to a blog entry by Ari Kohen, political science, about the American Sniper movie and the nature of heroism. Film International published a column by Wheeler Winston Dixon about “The Interview,” Sony Pictures and changing distribution models for the film industry, published by Film International. John Wilson, extension educator, and Loren Geisler, plant pathology, authored an article about soybean nematode resistance published in AgProfessional.com.
