Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Perry Samson
NEBRASKA UNION, 4PMTalk to offer ideas on large classroom teaching
Finding more effective ways to connect students with instructors in large lecture classes remains an ongoing challenge for many higher education institutions. But Perry Samson believes he's on to a way to create a more active learning environment even in large lecture halls.
Samson, a professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences at the University of Michigan, will offer a free talk about tools he has created for teaching large classes and data he has collected for illustrating their effectiveness. The lecture is 4 p.m. in the Nebraska Union auditorium, and is free and open to the public. Read more about this lecture on Today@UNL.
Combined Campaign continues through Nov. 18
UNL is positioned to make a big, positive impact on the Lincoln-area Combined Campaign for Health and Human Services, which started Nov. 1 and ends Nov. 18. The UNL theme is "Big Impact — Go Big, Give Big."
Chancellor Harvey Perlman and Darin Erstad, head coach for Husker baseball, are co-chairs for UNL's 2011 Combined Campaign. "Each fall, as members of this university, we roll up our collective sleeves and pitch in to help the greater community through our Combined Campaign for Health and Human Services," said Erstad. "This year in particular, as we make our debut in the Big Ten Conference, we have a unique opportunity to show the strength of this university's ability to transform lives and build a stronger community." Read more about this campaign on Today@UNL.
Richard Amasino
BEADLE CENTER ROOM E103, 4PMWisconsin professor to discuss how winter cold leads to spring blooms
The Big Ten National Academy of Sciences seminar series continues with the University of Wisconsin's Richard Amasino at 4 p.m. in E103 Beadle Center. The seminar and a 3:30 p.m. reception are free and open to the public. Amasino is a professor of biochemistry. His lecture topic is "Memories of Winter: Vernalization is an Environmentally Induced Epigenetic Switch."
Certain plants, such as biennials or winter annuals, require relatively long periods of cold exposure during winter to initiate flowering the following spring. Cold exposure renders the meristem of such cold-requiring species competent to flower. This acquisition of competence to flower is known as vernalization. Before competence is achieved, plants must measure exposure to a sufficient number of days of cold to represent a complete winter; this ensures flowering only occurs when spring has arrived, rather than during a temporary warming in the middle of winter. Read more about this talk on Today@UNL.
ARCHITECTURE HALL LINK, 10AM - 5PM
'Go Green Grab-bag Sale' is Nov. 9-10
The U.S. Green Building Council student group at UNL is raising money for Habitat for Humanity, Nov. 9-10 in the Architecture Hall link.
The "Go-Green Grab Bag Sale" is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and offers, for $10, a reusable grocery bag filled with a random assortment of new and/or slightly used materials. The first 75 bags purchased also include a coupon for a free food from Qdoba. All proceeds from the fundraiser will be presented to the Lincoln Habitat for Humanity.
NEBRASKA UNION, 11:30AM
EE&O events to celebrate 'National Distance Learning Week'
Mark Parker, of the University of Maryland University College
In recognition of National Distance Learning Week, Extended Education and Outreach will host a Nov. 9-10 event on recruiting and retaining distance education students.
The Nov. 9 schedule, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., includes a presentation on "UNL State of Distance Education" by David Wilson, associate vice chancellor; and a keynote address, "Using Online Distance Education to Attract (and Keep) New Students" by Mark Parker, University of Maryland University College. Read more about this presentation on Today@UNL.
NEBRASKA EAST UNION, NOON
Thompson to present nutrigenomics talk
Henry Thompson
Henry Thompson, director of the Cancer Prevention Laboratory at Colorado State University, will discuss "Defining the Human Health Benefits of Dry Edible Beans" in a noon, Nov. 9 lecture in the East Union's Garden Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The lecture is part of the Nebraska Gateway for Nutrigenomics seminar series. Thompson is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society for Nutrition. Read more about this seminar talk on Today@UNL.
HARDIN HALL, 7PM
Oil industry expert to speak
If the world wants to continue consuming more fossil fuels, it has to be willing to accept the risks of more oil spills, a Texas geoscientist and oil industry expert warns. "Ultimate responsibilities for oil spills lie within a mix of competing demands and expectations – a mix far more complicated than most people are aware of or are willing to consider," said W.C. "Rusty" Riese, a Houston-based geoscientist and petroleum industry expert who will give a free lecture, 7 p.m., Nov. 9 at Hardin Hall.
Riese has taught at Houston's Rice University for more than 25 years, writing and lecturing extensively on such topics as economic geology, biogeochemistry, uranium ore deposits and coal bed methane petroleum systems. He holds numerous domestic and international patents from nearly 40 years of working in the mineral and petroleum industries. He is currently an adjunct professor at Rice University, as well as at Colorado State University and the University of New Mexico, where he sits on the Caswell Silver Endowment advisory board. Read more about this free lecture on Today@UNL.
