Nebraska would not be the same without the incredible faculty at the university. This section highlights faculty that have been featured across campus in the last month for their research achievements, academic work, and journey to Nebraska.
Meet some of Nebraska’s incredible faculty, including those conducting important international research and earned national recognition for their impactful work.
Nebraska-Brazil partnership eyes expansion of preschool science instruction
In both the U.S. and Brazil, science concepts aren’t usually integrated in preschool classrooms and many preschool teachers are reluctant to talk about science with young children. To help address this challenge, Soo-Young Hong, associate professor of child, youth and family studies, collaborated with Brazilian researchers to conduct a three-year pilot impact study to better understand preschool teachers’ ideas, attitudes and engagement around science in the classroom. This research is part of the ongoing Nebraska–Brazil Early Childhood Partnership.
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Research analyzes ‘Chinese virus’ rhetoric and its impact on Chinese and Asian Americans
When the coronavirus broke out in December 2019, the world changed. In the spring of 2020, reports of racism, hate crimes and even violence directed at Chinese and Asian Americans surged throughout the United States at the same time U.S. government leaders began referring to the virus as the “Chinese” or “Wuhan” virus. Because of the connection between media discourse and public opinion, theories emerged that at least some of the verbal and physical attacks likely stemmed from official government communication surrounding COVID-19. Nebraska researchers are analyzing official U.S. government discourse regarding the virus in a variety of news and social media sources, as well as public comments connected to those sources.
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Nebraska duo eyes end to costly swine diseases
Two University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers have received $1 million in grant funding to continue research that could lead to the development of vaccines and genetic-selection tools to fight some of the world’s costliest swine diseases. Huskers Daniel Ciobanu and Hiep Vu have each recently been awarded a three-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. It is the third NIFA grant for each.
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Wood inspires international HIV research leadership
For virologists around the globe, this has been a year of intense research to learn all there is to know about the novel coronavirus. For virologists like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Charles Wood, whose career spans 40 years, the urgency of the work may feel familiar. Wood reflects on his work with Abbott Laboratories in 1980 at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the breakthrough enabled the medical community to ensure a safe supply of donor blood for life-saving blood transfusions.
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Nebraska film shares global message on dissent, civil society
Pop singer Marta Kubišová was a 1960s sensation in her home country of Czechoslovakia — until the Soviet-led invasion, when she was blacklisted by the communist regime and banned from performing. Nebraska’s James Le Sueur is exploring stories like these in “The Art of Dissent,” his feature documentary film that will premiere online at the upcoming Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival and Newburyport Documentary Festival. The film explores the role of artistic activism during Czechoslovakia’s communist takeover and nonviolent transition from communist power.
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Hames fears how COVID-19 pandemic will affect the Amazon region
Ray Hames, professor of anthropology, hasn’t seen his friends in the Amazon region for more than 20 years, but he finds himself worrying about them amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Hames spent some 35 months total living among the indigenous Yanomamö and Ye’kwana tribal peoples until 1999 when political changes in the region blocked visits by outsiders.
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To submit a faculty or staff feature for the next edition of the Global Nebraska newsletter, please contact Courtney Van Hoosen in the Office of Global Strategies at cvanhoosen2@unl.edu.