January 17, 2002

4 professors earn Fulbright grants

Four members of the UNL faculty were recipients of 2001-02 Fulbright Scholar grants from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. In addition, two international scholars are performing research at Nebraska as part of the Fulbright program

The four Nebraska scholars are:

n Stephen Burnett, assistant professor, classics and religious studies, lecturing and research, "Christian Hebraism and European Jewry in the Reformation Era (1500-1650)," University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, September 2001 through August 2002.

n Frances Kaye, professor, English, lecturing and research, "Comparative Canadian and American Wests," University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, September 2001 through January 2002.

n Karl Reinhard, associate professor, School of Natural Resource Sciences, lecturing and research, "Promoting an Evolutionary Perspective on Parasitic Disease," National University of Public Health, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March through August 2001.

n Andrew Wedeman, assistant professor, political science, research, "Taiwan's New Political Economy," National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, September 2001 through June 2002.

The two scholars visiting Nebraska are:

n Serguei Goriatchkine, head, Institute of Geography, Laboratory of Soil Geography and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, research, "Soil Resources of the Northern Circumpolar Area and Their Transformation Due to Global Change," October 2001 through April 2002.

n Jaime Molina-Ochoa, professor and researcher, School of Biological and Agricultural Sciences, University of Colima, Colima, Mexico, research, "Molecular Characterization of the Genetic Variability of Mexican and U.S. Fall Armyworm Populations from Different Geographic Areas," June 2001 through June 2002.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Reinhard work covered in several publications

This year, Karl Reinhard and his colleagues, published the find of ancient human hair and lice from Brazil in "Parasitology Today." The article was picked up by several major and minor outlets around the world, including Nature, http://www.nature.c om/nsu/000727/000727-3.html, and other international science news magazines ranging from Canadian Geographic to Nature Australia. The new, calibrated date of the hair is more than 11,000 years old, making it the oldest dated human remains from the New World.

Heather Pringle's latest book, The Mummy Congress, features the work of Reinhard regarding the search for the origins of Chaga's disease in mummies. Last year, Reinhard and his colleagues published the find of DNA of this pathogen from ancient mummies. Pringle covers the description of gross pathology and the value of this line of inquiry for modern medical research.

PBD honors several for international service

Phi Beta Delta, the International Honorary Society, has announced that Ian Newman, Meierhenry Professor of Health Education, and John Foster, professor of entomology, were recognized as Outstanding International Scholars at a Nov. 15 reception by the UNL chapter of the society. These inaugural awards recognize faculty for distinguished service in international activities and for the development of multiple research links between the United States and foreign countries, which have resulted in enduring projects and relationships. Newman and Foster also have advised and mentored many international UNL students.

Em-Orn Dispanya, a doctoral student in the Department of English, received the first student Outstanding International Scholar award. She was recognized for her scholarship and long-term involvement in international programs both in Thailand and in the United States. She is a graduate assistant in International Affairs and she coordinates several programs for the benefit of UNL international students, scholars and their families.

Extension web site earns praise

The University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County's Web site at http://www.lancaster.unl.edu/foo d ranks "Among the Best" by the Tufts University Nutrition Navigator, a resource for finding sound nutrition information on the Internet.

Created to help the public quickly sort and find trustworthy information, the Tufts Nutrition Navigator is the first online rating guide that evaluates nutrition Web sites based on accuracy, depth and usefulness of information. The criteria were developed by an advisory board of U.S. and Canadian nutrition experts.

"'Among The Best' ratings are only awarded to Web sites that serve as outstanding resources and maintain a high level of integrity in nutrition reporting," said Jeanne Goldberg, director of the Center on Nutrition Communication at the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy. "University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County is a leader in the electronic nutrition information arena."

The University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County's Food Safety and Nutrition Web site scored 22 points out of a possible 25 points to earn the rating.

"We are proud to be recognized by the Tufts University Nutrition Navigator," said Alice Henneman, Lancaster County Extension educator. "Representing the best of nutrition Web sites on the Internet raises our commitment to provide reliable, timely information."

Stump honored for French-English translation

Jordan Stump, associate professor of modern languages and literatures, was honored in December by the French-American Foundation for producing the best French-English translation of 2001.

Stump received the 2001 French-American Foundation Translation Prize for his translation for Northwestern University Press of Le Jardin des Plantes by Claude Simon. The foundation presented the award, which includes a $10,000 prize, at a luncheon in New York on Dec. 13.

"A good writer is a lot easier to translate than a bad writer, and Simon is a remarkably intelligent writer," Stump said.

Stump has other translations in use in courses around the country, and his new Random House release of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island was published the first week in January. The book is the first new translation in a century of what is thought to be Jules Verne's most important work.

"It's fair to call Jordan a trend-setter," said modern languages chair Russell Ganim.