Miami's Public Health program publishes results and recommendations from its contact tracing partnership with Butler County

May 27, 2021

Miami’s program in Public Health, which over the past year has trained over 130 students to work as contact tracers to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, has published results of its collaborative efforts with the Butler County Health District in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice …

Tammy Kernodle and David Berg named University Distinguished Professors

April 28, 2021

Tammy Kernodle, professor of musicology, and David Berg, professor of biology and professor of biological sciences, have been awarded the title of University Distinguished Professor by Miami University's board of trustees, effective July 1. Established by the trustees in 1981 to attract and retain eminent professors, the title includes an annual stipend for conducting research and other professional activities. University Distinguished Professors have national and international stature with demonstrated recognition and projected high level of scholarly productivity in the future. They must be a teacher of demonstrated excellence and a contributor to the life and mission of Miami University …

Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness facility will enhance the collaborations that define Miami

April 7, 2021

The new Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness facility will be part of Miami University's first "corridor of excellence," said Steve Large, assistant vice president for health and wellness and a member of the planning committee for the facility. Located on Campus Avenue, its proximity to Miami's Recreational Sports Center, Phillips Hall, and the Goggin Ice Arena creates a corridor that will naturally promote cross-divisional partnerships in order to advance holistic wellness efforts for our campus and local communities, Large said …

Ohio officials to share insight on the pandemic's impact on health equity and social justice

March 11, 2021

The Center for American and World Cultures, through its Robert E. Strippel Memorial Fund, has organized an online panel series beginning on Tuesday, March 16 to discuss the disproportionate impacts of Covid-19 in underrepresented communities …

Jumping genes: a Q-and-A with geneticist Meixia Zhao

February 10, 2021

Geneticist and computational biologist, Meixia Zhao studies transposable elements — also known as "jumping genes" — using maize as a model system. She joined Miami University in fall 2018 as assistant professor of biology …

New professional communication course kickstarts student exposure to work in healthcare

February 4, 2021

Spring 2021 saw the introduction of a new pilot course constructed and taught by professor of English Heidi McKee, ENG 310B: Professional Writing for Healthcare. The course offers students a curriculum focused on practicing tasks healthcare professionals complete every day …

Stats+Stories podcast honored with national award for mathematics communications

October 28, 2020

Miami University's John Bailer, Richard Campbell and Rosemary Pennington have been honored with the 2021 Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communications Award for their "engaging, entertaining and enlightening" Stats + Stories podcast. The annual award is designed to reward and encourage communicators who, on a sustained basis, bring mathematical ideas and information to non-mathematical audiences …

Miami's public health program engineers a new contact tracing program for Butler County to fight COVID-19

October 7, 2020

Early this summer, after the COVID-19 pandemic had already swept across the country and shut down college campuses and businesses around the world, Miami's public health program began to put together a plan to help track the virus's rampant spread throughout the local community. …

Western Program professor Nik Money invites students on a nature walk to discover wild mushrooms

September 23, 2020

Professor Nik Money, mycologist and director of the Western Program, is taking students on a botanical journey into the Western Woods to study mushrooms on October 16, from 2:30 to 4 pm. Mushrooms are the fruit that are produced by 16,000 different species of fungi. Fungi engage in rapid activities both above and below ground …

Miami commits to carbon neutrality and climate resilience: Virtual PCLC signing ceremony

September 15, 2020

Join Miami University President Greg Crawford as he signs the Second Nature's Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments (PCLC) Climate Commitment in a virtual ceremony at noon Tuesday, September 22. Second Nature president Tim Carter, members of Miami's new Climate Action Task Force executive steering committee, the office of sustainability, and Oxford Mayor Mike Smith will give brief remarks during the ceremony …

Don't let COVID be an excuse to marginalize older Americans

September 9, 2020

Kate de Medeiros, O'Toole Professor of gerontology and a research fellow at the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, discusses perhaps the most quietly pervasive, and therefore most insidious, negative effects of the coronavirus — the casual dismissal of "the elderly" …

Carolyn S. Craig joins CAS as director of diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging

September 8, 2020

The College of Arts and Science is excited to welcome Carolyn S. Craig to the dean's staff as their new director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Craig has worked at Miami University since 2015 and is credentialed as both a certified diversity professional (CDP) and an advanced certified cultural intelligence professional (ACCQP) …

Search for the "wings" of a crustacean sheds light on origins of insect wings

August 26, 2020

Genes from a tiny shrimp-like crustacean could help in the search for the origin of insect wings, a new study finds. To be clear, there is no evidence that any crustaceans ever evolved to fly, according to evolutionary biologist Yoshi Tomoyasu, associate professor of biology at Miami University and senior author of the study recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution …

Miami's Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation honored with STEM award

August 17, 2020

Miami University's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) has been named a recipient of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine's 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award. The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) …

Opening Minds through Art masks feature designs made by elders with dementia

August 5, 2020

Since May, Opening Minds through Art (OMA) has been selling cloth masks featuring 29 different artistic designs created by participants in Miami University's award-winning intergenerational art program for people with dementia. "This is how we honor the creativity of people living with dementia. We happily and with pride wear their artwork on our faces," said Elizabeth 'Like' Lokon, director and founder of OMA, which is based in the Scripps Gerontology Center …

President Crawford to sign Second Nature's PCLC: Climate Commitment

July 21, 2020

President Greg Crawford will sign Second Nature's Climate Commitment, the most comprehensive of its Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments (PCLC). Miami's Oxford campus will join more than 350 other colleges and universities committing to achieving carbon neutrality and addressing climate change resilience …

Miami chemists' breakthrough technique enables design at the interface of chemistry and biology

July 20, 2020

A technique developed by Miami University associate professors of chemistry and biochemistry Dominik Konkolewicz and Rick Page may help enable more rapid and efficient development of new materials for use in pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and other applications. Konkolewicz and Page's technique uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology to illuminate how proteins and synthetic polymers interact in chemical substances known as bioconjugates …

Lei Kerr is inventor on Miami's newest patent

June 3, 2020

A respiratory simulation device, complete with an artificial nose made from a 3D printer, is the subject of Miami University's newest patent and a potential breakthrough in researching, diagnosing and treating breathing disorders. Lei Kerr, professor of chemical, paper and biomedical engineering, is the inventor on the patent along with co-inventors at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base …

Miami receives 5th Beckman Institutional Award for undergraduate research

June 3, 2020

Camaryn Bennett and Hope Kirby are 2020-2021 Beckman Scholars. Miami University is one of 12 institutions nationwide to receive the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation's 2020 -2023 Beckman Scholars Program Institutional Award. The award supports undergraduate research and faculty mentoring for select students in chemistry, biochemistry and the biological sciences …

Lexie Adams awarded Astronaut Scholarship

May 28, 2020

Miami University junior, Alexandra "Lexie" Adams, has been awarded a scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). She is one of 56 students from 41 universities to receive the award for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Astronaut Scholarship is among the most significant merit-based monetary scholarships awarded to undergraduate STEM juniors and seniors who intend to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree …