National Science Foundation to feature Kansas State University student-made videos
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016
MANHATTAN — Science news will have a touch of purple in the coming weeks. The National Science Foundation will feature the work of several Kansas State University students in its Science 360 News, an online e-newsletter in February and March.
Five Kansas State University student-made videos will be featured. The pieces were designed to communicate the work of NSF-funded researchers at the university to the public. The project was a collaboration among Tom Hallaq, assistant professor of digital media in the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications; Sarah Hancock, documentation technical writer from the Office of the Vice President for Research; and Cliff Braverman, audiovisual production specialist at NSF. Han Yu, professor of English in the College of Arts & Sciences, and students from her Introduction to Professional Writing course also contributed.
The following is the schedule for the student-made videos at Science 360 News:
• Feb. 19, "Maize Mosaic Virus" by Anthony Williams, senior in physics and mass communications, Murdock. This video is about the project "Molecular Mechanisms of Virus-Vector Interactions" by Anna Whitfield, associate professor of plant pathology, who is studying how corn plant hoppers spread a devastating virus. Another video by Williams, "Spotlight on Science," will be featured Feb. 12 by the NSF. The video, produced through the university's Wildcat Watch program, features the work of Jim Edgar, university distinguished professor and head of the chemical engineering department.
• Feb. 25, "Carbon Sequestration" by Nathan Sage, senior in mass communications, Herington, and Mark Vaca, senior in mass communications, Bonner Springs. This video profiles "Understanding Process-Level Physico and Biogeochemical Mechanisms Controlling Soil Carbon Stabilization," a project led by Ganga Hettiarachchi, associate professor of agronomy. Her effort advances understanding of how management practices and climate change affect soil microbial properties.
• March 4, "Censoring Our Sleep" by Tana Akers, senior in mass communications, Topeka, and Amy Pond, December 2015 bachelor's graduate in mass communications, Wichita. This video profiles the project "Research to Quantify the Health and Development of Children with Disabilities Around the Clock" by Steven Warren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and colleagues Behrooz Mrafzal, Punit Prakash, David Thompson and Bala Natarajan, also in electrical and computer engineering.
• March 17, "Contact Tracing"by Cameron Kietzman, senior in mass communications, Lenexa, and Lindsay Rhoades, December 2015 bachelor's graduate in mass communications, Newton.This video looks at the control models used in the project "Effectiveness of Contact Tracing for Detection of Ebola Risk During Early Introduction of the Virus Within the USA" by Caterina Scoglio, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Faryad Darabi Sahneh, research assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.
• March 22, "High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping"by Cody Isern, junior in mass communications, Ellinwood, and Safiya Woodard, junior in mass communications, Manhattan. Their video features the work of Jesse Poland, assistant professor of plant pathology, for his project "A Field-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Platform for Plant Genetics." Poland recently received a creativity supplement for this project, which accelerates the process of measuring plant characteristics.
More information on the collaboration between the university and NSF that fostered the production of these videos is available at k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/sept15/nsfproject91415.html.
