Campus Buzz From President Allison D. Garrett

Outstanding Kansas Citian

Ed Eilert (BSB 1962, MS 1962) was named an Outstanding Kansas Citian of the Year by The Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City. Eilert is chair of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners. The award is designed to recognize individuals who have contributed to the well-being and/or historic preservation of the greater Kansas City metro area, through their professional work, civic engagement or volunteerism, or who have simply become part of Kansas City’s history.

Iowa Caucus

Dr. Michael Smith, chair of social sciences, and 14 students learned about U.S. presidential politics first-hand. The group traveled to the Des Moines, Iowa, area to observe the caucuses.

Census Work

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly last week appointed Dr. Jim Williams, ESU vice president for Student Affairs, to the Kansas Complete Count Committee. The committee serves to coordinate efforts to promote the 2020 Census and encourage a high rate of participation. The next Census begins April 1, 2020.

NCAA Service

Emporia State University President Allison Garrett was elected vice chair of the NCAA Division II Presidents Council at the conclusion last week of the NCAA’s annual meeting. Garrett joined the Presidents Council at its April 2017 meeting.

Arts & Sciences

Eleven faculty and 17 undergraduate students attended the 18th Annual K-INBRE Symposium on Jan. 18 and 19 in Wichita. The group presented 11 posters. Senior Derek Reese received honorable mention for his presentation of research conducted with Dr. Eric Trump of Physical Sciences. The Kansas IdEA Network of Biomedical Excellence (K-INBRE) is a NIH-sponsored program that supports biomedical research across the State of Kansas. In its 18th year, K-INBRE has given ESU more than $2 million to improve research infrastructure and provide opportunities for undergraduates to pursue relevant, authentic research alongside a faculty mentor.

Congratulations to Cherie Crisp, majoring in crime and delinquency studies and sociology, who received the 2020 President’s Award from Blue Key Honor Society, which recognizes a current or past Blue Key chapter president who is considered an outstanding collegiate member. The award was given at the national conference, but weather kept ESU students from attending.

Alum Addison Canidy (Communication, gender and ethnic studies minor, 2010) is taking over as pastor of Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church in Atlanta at the end of July. Addison joined the 4,500-member church when he moved to Atlanta to attend seminary.

Congratulations to Gaile Stephens, associate professor of music, who was asked to present at the Oklahoma Summer Professional Development Academy this summer. The invitation is a follow-up to her 2019 presentation at the Kansas Music Educators Association, “Hip Hop & Kodaly,” with Jeremy Thomas, an inner-city Wichita elementary music teacher.

The Emporia State University Theatre program was well-represented at Festival 52 of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region V in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the week of January 19. At the festival, ESU students competed for acting scholarships and in events for craft and design, participated in workshops, performed in 10-minute plays and with an improv troupe and directed plays.

Congratulations to Juli Piper (BFA Communication 1999), named 2019 District Sales Representative of the Year by Norfolk Iron and Metal. Juli also entered the Circle of Excellence with the company.

Magic card tricks were popular when Dr. Brian Hollenbeck, professor of mathematics at Emporia State University, presented a “Math Magic” show at Emporia Middle School on January 23. Dr. Hollenbeck showed EMS students and teachers various magic card tricks and explained the mathematics principles behind each trick. This event was part of the Inspired by Math and Science program, a STEM enrichment program directed by Dr. Qiang Shi at ESU and Laura Albertson at EMS. The Inspired by Math and Science Invited Speaker Series was funded by the ESU LA&S Dean’s Office.

Congratulations to those receiving awards at the 13th Annual / 2020 Kansas Natural Resources Conference in Manhattan on January 30 and 31. Undergraduate Jera Wolke received the Robert J. Robel Memorial Award for outstanding student in wildlife biology from the Kansas Chapter of The Wildlife Society. James Miazga won the Otto-Tiemer Award for outstanding fisheries graduate student from the Kansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Faculty member Zach Klein was elected president of the Kansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Recently retired Professor David Edds received a mentorship award from the Kansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society!

Business

Congratulations to graduate student Jodi Jensen of Council Grove, who is working as an intern for The Certified Public Accountants of Brungardt Hower Ward Elliott & Pfeifer, L.C., of Hays during the spring 2020 semester. After completing her degree in May, Jodi will work full-time with the firm.

Congratulations to Mary T. Joerg (BSB 1985) named a best finance expert in Wichita Business Journal’s 2020 CFO Awards. Mary works at Coonrod & Associates Construction Co., Inc.

The Emporia Entrepreneur Challenge kicked off with the Meet & Greet on Jan 28. The next event is the Elevator Challenge on Feb 11.

Each year, 20 new students are selected by application for The Dean's Leadership Class. By focusing on the students' abilities and strengths, a high impact learning environment is created using Strength Based Leadership and Kansas Leadership Center principals.

Phi Beta Lambda is raising money for their trip to nationals in Salt Lake City. By busing tables, cleaning, and working for tips, members were able to make $350 at Pizza Ranch. Thank you to those that came to eat and to Rich Avery for allowing such a positive and rewarding fundraising program.

Need your taxes done? Dr. Liz Diers and students are hosting a VITA tax return service once again. Hours for the free service are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. Mondays, both in Cremer Hall on campus. From 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, the service is done at Kansas Works, 215 W. Sixth Ave. This service is not for complicated returns. For more information, call 620-341-5024.

The Teachers College

Congratulations to Dr. Melissa Reed (elementary education), who was selected to represent Kansas in a multistate standard setting panel study for Praxis/ETS in Princeton, New Jersey.

Charles Anderson received the Joan Phillips Legacy Award at the American Art Therapy Association’s 50th annual conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri, in November. Anderson worked for ESU’s art therapy department for decades and served as an internship supervisor until 2019. The Joan Phillips Legacy Award is named for another ESU alumni and art therapy instructor. Anderson was included in a profile of black art therapists in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.

Current student Caleb Coble, who is due to graduate this year with his degree in Health & Human Performance 2020, was recently accepted into the Wichita State University Physical Therapy program.

ESU physical education students participated in the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance on January 24.

Courtney Nemechek, current HPER student, was selected recently as one of SHAPE America’s Majors of the Year.

Library & Information Management

John Esh (Oregon MLS 2019) is the new processing archivist at the Albert S. Cook Library at Towson University.

Brittany Fischer (South Dakota MLS 2019) has accepted the position of Scholarly Communications and Social Sciences Librarian at the Chester Fritz Library at the University of North Dakota.

Student Affairs

The office of Fraternity and Sorority Life took seven students to the Association for Fraternal Leadership and Values conference in Indianapolis, January 30 through February 2. These students all hold executive roles on the governing councils of campus Fraternities and Sororities, and will bring back ideas to better the Fraternity and Sorority Life community at Emporia State University.

Athletics

Emporia State had five provisional qualifiers at the Wendy's Pittsburg State Invitational on Feb. 1 in Pittsburg.

The ESU men’s tennis team is slated for fourth and the women’s team sixth in preseason polls released last week.

Both the Emporia State men's and women's cross country teams earned United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team recognition for the 2019 season. To qualify for All-Academic distinction, teams must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period and compile a team score at their respective regional championship meet, among other qualifiers.

Emporia State's Taysean Goodwin picked up his first MIAA Male Athlete of the Week for this season after scoring a combined 22.5 points for the Hornets at the UCM Invite.

Emporia State's Mollie Mounsey became the third Lady Hornet to earn MIAA Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors this year. The senior from Follett, Texas averaged 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on .522 shooting in a pair of home games.

Emporia State defensive back Lawson Holbert and linebacker Jace McDown both earned All-American honors from the Don Hansen Football Committee.

Emporia State baseball began its season slotted fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. ESU softball began the season sixth in the MIAA conference.

Presentations

During the 18th Annual K-INBRE Symposium in Wichita, these 11 posters were presented:

• Derek Reese, Eric Trump. Synthesis of a Superstable Trioxatriangulenium Ion.
• Bradley Corbett, Matthew Mers, Qiyang Zhang. ICP Analysis of Clay-layer Sediments for the Identification of the K-Pg Boundary and the K-Pg Mass Extinction.
• Mingjing Sun. Separation of inositol hexakisphosphate stereoisomers.
• Ashley Clifton and Kim Simons. Identification of Ingredients in CBD Oil Sold in Emporia Through Analytical Techniques.
• Qiyang Zhang, Silei Zhang, Antonia Zapata, Jenika Wheeler. Optimizations in Capillary Electrophoresis for Fast Determination of Amino Acids.
• Dalton Doyle, Savannah Bender, Tim Burnett. Tracking mucosal T-cell subtype development in mice.
• Shelby Innes, Alireza J. Nasrazadani, Emily L. Torrey, Hernan A. Hernandez, Matthew P. Thompson, Nathan C. Gianneschi, Andrea J. Luthi. Towards Peptide-polymer Nanoparticles of Different Charges for Studying Biological Interactions.
• Joseph LaForge, Guanpeng Wang and Stephen D. Fields. Soil microbiota use non-cellulolytic bacteria to synergistically enhance cellulose digestion.
• Eric Elbert, Bailey Lampton, Mulin He, Stephen Fields. The Role of Melatonin in Neuronal Development.
• Josephine Johnson and Qiyang Zhang. Determination of Heavy Metal Levels in Cosmetic Foundations & Mascaras Using ICP. AES Analysis.
• Jenika Wheeler, Antonio Zapata, and Qiyang Zhang. Injection Voltage and Time with Poly (dimethylsiloxane) and Flow Gating in Capillary Electrophoresis.

Fifteen students and five faculty from ESU’s Department of Biological Sciences attended the 13th Annual / 2020 Kansas Natural Resources Conference in Manhattan, on January 30 and 31. ESU students, faculty presented and/or co-authored 10 oral presentations and five posters. When alumni of ESU’s biology program are added to the list of those writing oral presentations, ESU can claim authorship on 21% of the scientific program. Presentations from current students and faculty as well as alumni were:

Oral presentations:

• Bison Grazing and Fire Impact Tallgrass Prairie Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling and Microbial Diversity. Jaide Allenbrand and Lydia Zeglin.
• Distribution and Seasonal Activity Patterns of the Mudpuppy in Eastern Kansas. J. Autz, J.L. Buchanan, M.S. Mahr, A.F. Powell, L. Sievert, D.R. Edds, and J.D. Riedle.
• Mesophytic Invasive Plant, Sericea Lespedeza, Impacts on Fuel Bed and Flammability Characteristics in Tallgrass Prairie.Alexander G. Barnes, Jeffery M. Kane, David A. McKenzie, and Brenda A. Koerner
• Stomach Content Analysis of the Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) in Kansas. Jennifer L. Buchanan, Alexis F. L. A. Powell, and Lynnette M. Sievert.
• Can Freshwater Darters (Percina) Pass the Mirror Test? An Experiment in an Undergraduate Biology Classroom Based on Recent Cutting-Edge Science. K. Ghanshi, S. Nelson, and E.C. Martin.
• Does Cattle Grazing in CRP During the Nesting Season Impact Grassland Birds? William E. Jensen, Heather M. Kraus, Benjamin S. Wilson, Greg R. Houseman, Mary Liz Jameson, and Molly M. Reichenborn.
• Resource Selection by Female Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer in Western Kansas. Talesha Karish, David Haukos, Andrew M. Ricketts, Levi Jaster, Maureen Kinlan, and Mitchell Kern.
• Fawn Survival of Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer in Western Kansas. Mitchell Kern, Maureen Kinlan, Talesha Karish, Andrew Ricketts, David Haukos, and Levi Jaster.
• The Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) in Kansas: A Threatened Species. Michael S. Mahr, Justin Autz, Jennifer L. Buchanan, Alexis F. L. A. Powell, Lynnette M. Sievert, and J. Daren Riedle.
• CRP Management Practices Differentially Affect Native Bees at an Ecoregional Scale. A.R. Morphew, M.E. Jameson, G.R. Houseman, W.E. Jensen, M.R. Reichenborn, D.F. Watson, and E.L Kjaer.
• Detection of an Invasive Legume, Sericea Lespedeza, by Small Unmanned Aerial Systems over the Growing Season. Kelsey L. Porter and Brenda A. Koerner.
• Using Citizen Science Data to Describe Diversity and Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. J. Daren Riedle.
• Effects of Seasonal Burn Treatments on Native Perennial Plants and Pollinator Recruitment: Implications for Prairie Conservation. Bethany Roberton and Darren Rebar.
• Effects of Grazing and Conservation Practices on CRP Plant Communities across Kansas. D. Fraser Watson, Gregory Houseman, Mary Liz Jameson, William Jensen, Molly Reichenborn, Alexandra Morphew, and Esben Kjaer.
• Status of the Blackside Darter (Percina maculata) in Kansas. James E. Whitney, Kali L. Boroughs, Joshua A. Holloway, and Alexandra D. King.

Poster presentations:

• Have Neosho Madtom Densities Responded to Improved Water Quality in the Spring River of Southeastern Kansas? Kali L. Boroughs, and James E. Whitney.
• Status of the Sunflower State`s Ozarkian Fish Fauna. Alexandra D. King, James E. Whitney, and Joshua A. Holloway.
• Can Freshwater Darters (Percina) Pass the Mirror Test? An Experiment in an Undergraduate Biology Classroom Based on Recent Cutting-Edge Science. S. Nelson, K. Ghanshi, and E.C. Martin.
• Morphologic Variation, Geographic Distributions, and Taxonomic Boundaries of Map Turtles (Graptemys spp.) in Kansas.Michael S. Mahr, Justin Autz, Jennifer L. Buchanan, Alexis F.L.A. Powell, Lynnette M. Sievert, David R. Edds, and J. Daren Riedle.
• Beginner’s Guide into the World of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems. Kelsey L. Porter and Brenda A. Koerner.
• Effects of Seasonal Burn Treatments on Native Perennial Plants and Pollinator Recruitment: Implications for Prairie Conservation. Bethany Roberton and Darren Rebar.
• Woodland Stand Dynamics and Decline at Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge. Briseida E. Yanez and David McKenzie.
• Sheryl Lidzy, Communication & Theatre, presented the paper, “Despite hurtful messages: Marital success,” as part of the Autoethnographies of Close Relationships panel during the inaugural conference of the International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry in St. Petersburg, Florida, January 3.
• Dr. Annie Opat presented “Illuminating Alternative Pathways for Enhanced Listening and Viewing Comprehension: Utilizing Art Elements and Artistic Response to Clarify Meaning for Striving Readers” at the Literacy Research Association conference in Tampa, Florida, in early December.

Publications

Sheryl Lidzy, associate professor in Communication & Theatre, published a chapter, “The Difficult Dialog of Critical Race Theory through the Lens of ‘Crash’” in Janice D. Hamlet, ed. “Films as Rhetorical Texts: Cultivating Discussion about Race, Racism and Race Relations.” Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. The book has a 2020 publication date.

Patrick Callahan published “The Catholic Church and the College Campus: A Study in Culture” in Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. XXV, No. 5.

“How Does Culture Affect International Business Between the United States and China?”, co-written by Carolina Taylor, accounting student, and Dr. Joyce Zhou, was featured on the American Publishing Services Facebook page.