By Jenny Wells

John Postlethwait, a professor of biology from the University of Oregon, will deliver two lectures at the University of Kentucky this week as the featured speaker for the ninth annual Thomas Hunt Morgan Lecture Series. The series is sponsored by the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology.

Postlethwait will give two talks, the first a public lecture for a general audience titled "An Icefish is a Nice Fish: Antarctic Oceans and Global Climate Change" at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Room 121 of the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building. The second talk, a scientific lecture titled "Genetic Mechanisms of Sex Determination in Zebrafish," will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec, 7,

By Jenny Wells

This weekend, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology will host the second annual BioBonanza, a one-day open house festival, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building (680 Rose St.).

This free public event will showcase interactive displays on research taking place in biology at UK. Attendees will enjoy around 30 hands-on activities carried out by more than 80 volunteers.

Free parking is available in the parking garage on Hilltop Avenue, next to the Jacobs Science Building.

The event is sponsored by Nikon, the UK Graduate School, the Biology Graduate Student Assocation (BGSA) and the UK Office of Community Engagement.

Visit the BioBonanza Facebook page for more information: 

Dr. Santollo's research is focused on understanding how gonadal hormones, specifically estrogens, contribute to sex differences in fluid and energy homeostasis. Estrogens reduce water, salt, and food intakes and blood pressure in females but the exact mechanisms by which this occurs is unknown. Current research projects focus on (1) identifying the estrogen receptor subtypes and populations which underlie these behavioral changes, (2), investigating estrogen receptor specific effects on the cell signaling pathways downstream of the angiotensin type 1 receptor, (3) investigating the role of aging on fluid and energy homeostasis in females, and (3) identifying and exploring sex differences in the renin-angiotensin system.

By Kristie Colon

The University of Kentucky’s Igniting Research Collaborations (IRC) grant program has awarded nearly $300,000 in pilot grants to support cross-college interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

IRC seeks to increase interdisciplinary scientific engagement and leverage the breadth of expertise across campus to tackle important health problems in the Commonwealth. UK is one of eight universities in the nation with the full range of undergraduate, graduate, professional, medical and agricultural programs on one campus, which creates distinct opportunities for collaborative research. 

"Programs like the IRC give us the opportunity to drive discovery and find creative solutions to complex problems in Kentucky," said Linda Dwoskin, associate dean of research at the UK College of Pharmacy. "Ultimately, we’re transforming patient-centered care by

By Gail Hairston

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, Eugenie C. Scott, a nationally recognized physical anthropologist and an expert on evolution and creationism, will deliver the preliminary address for the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ series “Year of Civics and Citizenship in the 21st Century: Keys to our Common Future.”

The title of her lecture is “Evolution and Creationism in Kentucky.”

Scott is a former UK professor of physical anthropology and an educator who has been active in opposing the teaching of young earth creationism and intelligent design in schools. She also taught at University of Colorado and California State University system.

Scott’s lecture is scheduled for 7-8 p.m., Sept. 13, with extended discussion planned 8-9 p.m., in Room 121 of the Don & 

Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.

The UK graduates awarded Fulbright grants are:

By Lori Minter

The University of Kentucky has released its Dean's List for the spring 2017 semester.  A total of 6,412 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance. 

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes.  Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting: www.uky.edu/PR/News/DeansList/.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK

By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced four UK students have been awarded Critical Language Scholarships to study Chinese, Japanese and Swahili abroad. The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program, a program of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, offers intensive summer language institutes overseas in 14 critical need foreign languages during the summer of 2017.

The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills

Middle school students are awed when they get the chance to turn a banana into a percussion instrument at the 2017 Expanding Your Horizons STEM workshop for girls.

Sometime during the transition from middle school to high school, girls often find their early interest in science and math steered in other directions, often toward careers that fit comfortably into a box of more “traditional” women’s roles. A recent daylong workshop at the University of Kentucky sought to stem that tide by introducing 120 Kentucky middle school girls to a challenging STEM career.

A multidisciplinary project, Expanding Your Horizons, focused on countermanding some of the possible reasons that girls’ interest in the sciences flag at a certain age, such as peer pressure or a lack of female role models. During the workshop, the young students met many female undergraduate and

By Jenny Wells

The University of Kentucky’s #IAmAWomanInSTEM project has awarded scholarships to 11 UK students for project proposals that promote STEM education and careers for women.

Females are less likely than their male counterparts to pursue an education in the STEM disciplines, which include science, technology, engineering and math. The #IAmAWomanInSTEM initiative, which launched at UK last year, seeks to change that by recruiting hundreds of female student ambassadors who are encouraging the study of STEM and health care among women at UK, and empowering them to persist in those fields.

“As a public research institution and the state's flagship, UK has an important role in promoting graduation of women in STEM majors,” said Randolph Hollingsworth, assistant provost and advisor of the program

By Jenny Wells

Tissue regeneration is complex and involves the dynamic interaction of many cellular and physiological processes. Understanding how these processes interact to regulate regeneration requires working across disciplines. In support of an interdisciplinary approach, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded researchers at the University of Kentucky a five-year, $1.65 million grant from its National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) to study how inflammatory cells can regulate tissue regeneration in mammals.

The research team is led by Ashley Seifert, assistant professor of biology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and John Gensel, assistant professor of 

By Jenny Wells

Macrophages from an African spiny mouse promote tissue regeneration.

A team of University of Kentucky researchers has discovered that macrophages, a type of immune cell that clears debris at injury sites during normal wound healing and helps produce scar tissue, are required for complex tissue regeneration in mammals. Their findings, published today in eLife, shed light on how immune cells might be harnessed to someday help stimulate tissue regeneration in humans.

“With few examples to study, we know very little about how regeneration works in mammals; most of what we know about organ regeneration comes from studying invertebrates or from research in amphibians and fish,” said Ashley Seifert, senior author of the study and assistant professor of 

By Katie Pratt

In her research, Townsend compared container, vertical and hydroponic gardens to assess their ability to grow several different types of lettuces. Photo by Katie Pratt, Agricultural Communications.

As a self-proclaimed foodie and a lifelong gardener, it was no surprise that University of Kentucky student Anna Townsend answered the call to share her knowledge when the Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky (CKUK) formed in 2014. As she prepares for graduation, Townsend, the group’s vice president and garden fellow, will leave her mark on the organization through research.

As part of her Lewis Honors College capstone, and with funding from the 

By Gail Hairston

The last event of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Civil Life Panel Series’ spring season is slated noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, with two follow-up panel discussions later the same day. The topic is “Science Speaks.”

Allan Butterfield, Alumni Association Endowed Professor of Biological Chemistry; Andrea Erhardt, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences; Bruce Webb, professor of entomology; and David Weisrock, associate professor of biology, will gather for a lively discussion at noon in the UK Athletics Auditorium of the William T. Young Library.

They will discuss what it

By Gail Hairston

The University of Kentucky will send 59 undergraduate student-researchers to the 31st annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at the University of Memphis April 6-8.

The UK group joins young researchers from around the world to showcase their research findings through poster and oral presentations. Each student will be given the opportunity to discuss their display and share their research results, illuminating how their work will have an impact on future research development. UK has been an active NCUR participant since the mid ’90s.

One of the first things these young researchers learn is that most research is not conducted in the traditional laboratory with bubbling beakers and flaming Bunsen burners. But modern research spans all disciplines and majors, and includes a wide variety of activities.

“For some

By Jenny Wells

A long-form essay by Jim Krupa, professor of biology in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, is featured in the winter issue of Minding Nature, the Center for Humans and Nature’s journal.

In the essay, Krupa explores the play between environmental issues and politics, with a focus on endangered wildlife in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

The essay can be read at www.humansandnature.org/geronimos-pass.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and

By Blair Hoover

Wildcat fans around the country have been rooting for the men's basketball team in the NCAA tournament. While the Wildcats are battling on the court, three University of Kentucky students are in Chicago this week to pit their brains against students from other Sweet 16 schools.

UK students Ryan Morales, Christina Zhang and Evelyn Mechas will appear on a new ESPN quiz show — "Bracket Genius." Hosted by Trey Wingo of ESPN's "SportsCenter," "Bracket Genius" aims to spotlight the academic genius of students at schools participating in March Madness. The show matches Sweet 16 schools against one another in a bracket-style competition for the chance to have their team crowned the inaugural Bracket Genius Champion and share the prize of $100,000.

​Biosystems engineering seniors Morales and Zhang and Mechas, a

By Loretta Stafford

The University of Kentucky Institute for Rural Health Policy recently published a report detailing Chellgren Student Fellow and Honors biology junior Elijah Myers's research on buprenorphine treatment availability in Kentucky.

Along with his mentor, Ty Borders, who is a professor in the UK College of Public Health, Myers co-authored