Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Isaac Howard, Mississippi State professor and Richard A. Rula School of Civil and Environmental Engineering director, and Jessica Lewis, a civil engineering graduate student from New Orleans, Louisiana, compare asphalt samples in the Rula Engineering and Science Complex. For more than a decade, Howard has researched how asphalt ages and how recycling a variety of materials into asphalt affects its long-term durability in the Southeast’s hot, wet climate. Opened in 2021, the Rula Engineering and Science Complex's comprehensive materials storage room contains thousands of asphalt specimens of various ages and large quantities of raw ingredients. PHOTO: Megan Bean | Public Affairs

Faculty garner $3.1 million NSF grant to increase Mississippi’s biological, chemical research capabilities
A Mississippi State research team is the recipient of a $3.1 million Major Research Instrumentation, or MRI, grant from the National Science Foundation to increase biological and chemical research and teaching in Mississippi. The three-year NSF grant -- “MRI: Acquisition of the First 800 MHz NMR with Cryoprobe in the State of Mississippi for Biological and Chemical Research and Teaching” -- will fund the installation of a high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, or NMR, spectrometer at MSU. The team is led by Professor of Chemistry Nicholas Fitzkee, the principal investigator of the grant, and includes MSU faculty members Joseph Emerson and Colleen Scott, associate professors of chemistry; Christopher Johnson, assistant professor of chemistry; and Carrie Vance, associate professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and entomology and plant pathology.

Study of possible wormholes in space lands Ye in prestigious scientific journal
Research by Mississippi State Professor Jinwu Ye is featured in Nature -- the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal -- as part of an interdisciplinary team whose computer coding created a holographic universe in order to test the existence of space-time passages or wormholes. The article “Traversable wormhole dynamics on a quantum processor” was published by the prestigious publication at the end of last year, referencing work by Ye, a faculty member in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. The article details how researchers were able to simulate two black holes in a quantum computer and send a message between them, validating the possibility of theorized shortcuts through spacetime called wormholes.

MSU Lyceum Series kicks off spring schedule with The Acting Company’s take on ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Mississippi State’s 75th season of the Lyceum Series continues into the spring semester with The Acting Company’s rendition of the classic Shakespeare play “Romeo and Juliet.” The Tony Award-winning touring theater group based in New York will perform the play on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. at Bettersworth Auditorium in historic Lee Hall. The performance is free for MSU students, and the general public can purchase tickets at www.union.msstate.edu/student-activities/lyceum/tickets. Individual tickets are $30 per person and $25 for MSU employees and senior citizens. Touring nationally, the company provides a fresh take on the classic story of star-crossed lovers, with feuding families, who follow their passion and desire until the end.

MSU Riley Center announces 2023 spring/summer season
The Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts unveils a 2023 Spring/Summer Performing Arts Series of musical superstars, theater and comedy featuring one of Mississippi’s own. “From theater and comedy to a variety of musical acts, we aim to provide something for a range of audiences,” said Terry Dale Cruse, associate vice president and head of the Meridian Campus. “We are pleased to attract patrons from the local community as well as the rest of the state and region for quality arts and entertainment -- plus the restaurants, shops and other attractions that are thriving today in historic downtown Meridian, including the new Threefoot Hotel.”

MSU Libraries signs open access publishing agreement for university academic researchers
Mississippi State University researchers can now publish unlimited open access research articles -- without any current academic author fees -- in five top scholarly journals supporting life sciences. The expanded access is thanks to a new MSU Libraries licensing partnership agreement with The Company of Biologists, according to Associate Dean of Collection Management and Strategy Raymond Uzwyshyn. Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Acquisitions and Collection Development Cathy Austin said, “This means that MSU faculty researchers can publish an uncapped number of open access research articles in these journals without paying an article processing charge.”

2023-2024 Community-Engaged Learning Fellows applications now available
Applications are now available for Mississippi State University's 2023-2024 Community-Engaged Learning Fellows program. The CEL Fellows program supports instructional faculty and staff in integrating community-engaged learning into their formal or non-formal teaching. The CEL Fellows program seminar will meet in May. Participants receive a $1,000 course or research development award, peer support and one-on-one assistance to design a new CEL course or modify an existing course. Program guidelines and application can be obtained via an email to michelle.garraway@msstate.edu. Submissions are due by Feb. 28.

Online instructional training available for faculty and staff
Mississippi State Online’s Center for Distance Education offers instructional training for faculty and staff. Whether you are on campus or teaching from a distance, the unit can help you explore tools and techniques for Canvas instruction and help you strengthen your courses. WebEx training opportunities over the next three weeks include Interactive Learning Tools, 2 p.m. Jan. 31; Active Learning in Your Online Course, 10 a.m. Feb. 1; and Creating Standout Videos, 10 a.m. Feb. 9. An in-person, special topics session on UCCC will be held 10 a.m. Feb. 8 at Memorial Hall’s Coskrey Auditorium. Visit www.online.msstate.edu/faculty/training to see a list of all CDE training sessions and links to enrollment on our Faculty Resources website.

Spring general faculty meeting coming up Feb. 14
The Office of the President and the Robert Holland Faculty Senate invite all faculty to the spring general faculty meeting at 2 p.m. on Feb. 14 in Colvard Student Union’s Foster Ballroom, Section U. Interested members of the campus community are also welcome. The program will include updates from President Mark E. Keenum, Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw, Vice President for Research and Economic Development Julie Jordan, and Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Keith Coble. The MSU Television Center will provide a livestream of the meeting at https://vimeo.com/event/2762401 for those unable to attend in person or who prefer to watch online.

Spring MSU Golf Course memberships now available
Spring memberships at the Mississippi State Golf Course are now available. Current students, faculty and staff can purchase unlimited green fees and golf car fees for $600 or a green fees-only option for $325. Memberships run from Jan. 16 to May 10. Visit the golf shop during normal business hours to sign up for a membership. Charge forms for students are also available. For more information or questions, call (662) 325-3028 or email PGA Head Golf Professional Tim Basel at tbasel@business.msstate.edu.

Smoke-free policy enhances healthy environment
Mississippi State University is a smoke-free campus. Official policy prohibits the use of any combustible or vapor products anywhere on campus property including university buildings, university grounds, university vehicles, parking areas and sidewalks. The smoke-free campus policy is part of the university's commitment to creating a healthy environment for all members of the campus community. Use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah or other similar devices are prohibited by this policy. The complete policy is available at www.policies.msstate.edu/policy/91301.

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University honors Black History Month with a variety of events in February
Mississippi State is commemorating Black History Month throughout February with a variety of events, including a book signing and talk by the daughter of an organizer of the historic 1964 “Freedom Summer” voter registration effort, creator of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer. MSU kicks the month off with “‘What Would Mama Fannie Do?’; A Talk and Book-Signing with Jacqueline Hamer Flakes,” Wednesday [Feb. 1] at 2 p.m., in the John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library. Flakes is the youngest daughter of Hamer. The event is sponsored by MSU Libraries. Throughout the month, MSU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and the Division of Access, Diversity and Inclusion are sponsoring a number of programs and activities.

MSU celebrates newest Excellence in Community Engagement Award winners
Mississippi State is honoring four outreach projects with the university’s fifth annual Community Engagement Awards. Winners for 2022 -- “Health Destination Access,” “Rethinking Public Housing,” “Teaching Health Communication,” and “Water Quality and Education Awareness” -- were awarded in three categories, including community-engaged service; scholarship of engagement; and community-engaged teaching and learning. Winning projects receive $3,000, and honorable mention projects receive $750 to further their engagements. The recipients were selected by MSU’s Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Office of Research and Economic Development and the Division of Student Affairs.

Rader publishes book on ‘teaching’ fear of crime
A Mississippi State faculty member’s new book focuses on how lessons about safety and safety precautions enhance fear of crime. “Teaching Fear: How We Learn to Fear Crime and Why It Matters,” by Nicole E. Rader, professor and head of MSU’s sociology department, is available at major booksellers in both hardcover and softcover editions. The Temple University Press publication investigates three primary crime myths: a fear of strangers, a fear for white women and girls, and a belief that victimization can be prevented with the right tool kit. “I argue there are better ways to teach lessons about safety and crime that would be more effective at crime prevention,” Rader said.

Untold history of marginalized groups in public relations field chronicled in Fisher's new book
Mississippi State Associate Professor Melody Fisher fills a void in social science literature about public relations history with her 2022 book highlighting the practices and scholarship contributions to the field by members of ethnically and racially underrepresented groups. Fisher’s Business Expert Press publication “The Untold Power: Underrepresented Groups in Public Relations” offers snapshots of individual and group challenges and triumphs in academia, the workplace and society with the hope that readers will be inspired, reflective and proactive. Though the advancement of public relations has been recorded and taught as an integral part of the communications curriculum, this book examines the stories of trailblazers who have been overlooked, Fisher said.