TCIC Hosts the Director of the National Animal Disease Research Center.

On December 2nd, 2010 the UWRF Tissue and Cellular Innovation Center (TCIC) hosted a visit by Dr. Kurt Zuelke, Director of the National Animal Disease Research Center (NDAC) who spent the day on campus meeting with students, faculty and administrators. As a portion of his activities, Dr. Zuelke presented a noontime talk entitled “Science, Medicine and Agriculture: A perfect mix for building your dream career” to a group of approximately 100 students and other interested attendees. This visit was part of a developing collaborative research relationship between the TCIC and USDA NDAC.

For more details see: http://uwrfcell.blogspot.com/

The 9th Annual SURSCA "Evening Gala of RSCA" breaks its own records!

On the evening of November 17th 2010, SURSCA (the Society for Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities) held it’s 9th annual “Gala Evening of Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities”! Begun in 2002 as its signature event the Gala has been held by SURSCA each Fall since then and has regularly drawn 25-30 presenters to showcase their scholarship from across the campus. This year, some 42 presenters from a wide variety of disciplines presented and/or performed their work. Collectively, more than 175 people attended the event throughout the evening. This represents the largest group of presenters and attendees in the history of SURSCA.
In addition to presentations on economic trends and rehabilitation strategies to treat children with cerebral palsy, posters also covered topics like spatial reasoning by cows (measured by GPS technology), zebra fish models of heart disease and tissue engineering in cancer biology. Several topics from Physics, Psychology, Economics, Food Science, and Health/Human Performance, Biotechnology, English and Chemistry as well as others rounded out the presentation line-up. The evening was capped by a beautiful piano performance from a Psychology/Music double major! Chancellor Van Galen delivered a keynote address and SURSCA President Tim Morris discussed the impact of undergraduate research on his education as well as the opportunities that have been generated by this work across the campus. When Tim quoted a recent Counsel on Undergraduate Research (CUR) review team-member who said “UWRF is a undergraduate RSCA power in the nation”, the audience gave a load cheer!
In addition to the keynote, CAS Dean Brad Caskey and Education and Professional Studies Dean Fay Perkins both discussed the impact of undergraduate RSCA in their schools and across the campus. Dr. Perkins cited the efforts of faculty in her school to develop and integrate research into their courses while Dr. Caskey compared the work done here at UWRF in advanced biotechnology to that done at Purdue University Graduate School.
Altogether, some 42 presentations were made and more than 175 people attended from across the campus and the River Falls community. Again, this was the single largest turnout in the 9 year history of the SURSCA “Gala”! Next year, we move to the Ballroom!!!
Now our RSCA students across the campus have turned their attention to final abstract submissions for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2011) that were due by the 19th!!! Hopefully we topped our total from last year of 62 presentations….another historic first!

Chemistry Department Summer 2010 RSCA

During the summer of 2010, students Eric Serum and Joe Emery, in collaboration with Dr. David Rusterholz and the UWRF Chemistry Department, conducted organic synthesis research in the pursuit of making molecules analogous to the substance called icilin. Icilin is nearly 200 times more potent than menthol in causing a cold sensation on the human tongue or skin. Understanding the cold receptor, and the way in which icilin binds to it, is still in its infancy.The goal of the research was to use the basic tools of medicinal chemistry to synthesize compounds that were designed to mimic the key components of the icilin structure. These compounds are planned to be tested this fall to determine the importance or non-importance of specific functional groups in the ability of icilin to cause a cooling sensation. This research is a continuation of an active program in the Chemistry Department to synthesize and explore a variety of clinically relevant molecules.

English Department Summer 2010 RSCA

Dr. Lissa Schneider-Rebozo, Associate Professor in the Department of English received a UW System IRE (Institute on Race and Ethnicity) Curriculum Development grant for the 2010-11 fiscal year. This grant supports the development of a new course on Modern East Asian Film and Literature. Included in the grant is support money for a student researcher, Madeline Page, and this faculty/student team began their work through the summer of 2010. Course development is moving along well as a result of the research done by Madeline this past summer and it should be ready to roll-out soon.

Math Department Summer 2010 RSCA

During the summer of 2010, Dr. Kathy Tomlinson of the Mathematics Department reports that her student Mame Fatou Thiam (Mathematics Major) participated in the SUMSRI-Summer Undergraduate Mathematics Research Institute at Miami University in Ohio. With four other students in the program she investigated fairness of judging in subjective competitions such as figure skating or scholarship awards. The team used Monte Carlo simulations with beta-binomial distributions to find two patterns depending on whether the panel of judges is somewhat homogeneous or somewhat heterogeneous. Mame Fatou is a McNair Scholar and was able to do this research primarily because of her participation in and preparation from the McNair Program. Kathy Tomlinson was her McNair Faculty Mentor.

Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium, July 22-23, 2010

On July 22-23, the 3rd Annual Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium (WSTS 2010) was held at the UW-Green Bay. This annual gathering brings together scientists, industrial partners and politicians from across the state to share research from the comprehensive campuses and technology industries of the region. Again this year, two major laboratories from the Biology Department participated in this premier statewide meeting. Both the UWRF Tissue and Cellular Innovation Center and the UWRF Zebra Fish Laboratory presented a combined total of 8 posters and two oral presentations. This total, which amounted to approximately 31% of the posters at the meeting exceeded any other campus represented and was very well received with a great deal of interest being shown by other participants toward the biological research done here at UWRF. Drs. Lyden and Huang, the respective directors of the labs, were again joined this year by undergraduate researchers who presented their work in the all day poster sessions. Meanwhile Dr Lyden presented a podium talk entitled “In-vitro 3D Artificial Tumor Microenvironments as Potential Models of Clinical Disease“ which focused on the TCIC human tumor 3D modeling project being conducted in collaboration with Marshfield Clinic and the Rivers Cancer Center. Dr. Huang also presented a podium talk entitled “Zebrafish Make a Splash in Drug Discovery“ which highlighted work done in his lab in collaboration with researchers at the UW-LaCrosse Mycology Discovery Lab. UWRF student presenters were: Tim Morris, Kevin Rixmann and Reid Kuen from the TCIC as well as David Mankowski and Johnathan Emahiser from the Zebra Fish Lab.

UWRF Posters presented were entitled:

C6, a Potential Drug for Heart Failure by Suppressing Inflammation.
Johnathan Emahiser and Cheng-Chen Huang, UW-River Falls

Screening Synthetic Chemicals and Purified Compounds from Natural Sources for Attenuative Action against AA-induced Heart Failure in Zebrafish.
David A Mankowski and Cheng-Chen Huang, UW-River Falls

Modeling complex cervical carcinoma cell-derived structures in 3D “artificial tissue”cultures.
Brittany Lee and Timothy Lyden, UW-River Falls

The isolation and 3D culture of putative fetal and adult cardiac stem cell populations from avian, bovine and porcine heart samples.
Timothy Lyden, Mike Martin, Victor Piazza, John Magnuson and Travis Cordie, UW-River Falls and Spring Point Project LLC

Modeling and characterization of primary and cell-line derived artificial breast cancer tissues produced using 3D culture methods.
Kevin Rixmann and Timothy Lyden, UW-River Falls; Ray Haselby, Marshfield Clinic; Peter Dahlberg, Rivers Cancer Center

Longterm 3-D cultures of HEK-293 cells demonstrate clear evidence of unique
kidney tissue-like differentiation.
Miyuki Bessho, Timothy Lyden, UW-River Falls

Seeking to generate “induced pluripotent stem” (IPS) cells from the cervical cancer cell line, HeLa.
Timothy A Morris Jr., Samuel Lifton, Reid Kuen, Timothy Lyden, UW-River Falls

Modeling human cancer with complex 3D cultures using rudimentary tissue
engineering methods.
Timothy Lyden, UW-River Falls; Ray Haselby, Marshfield Clinic; Peter Dahlberg, Rivers Cancer Center; Michael Pickart, UW-Stout

UW-River Falls students attend the 2010 ‘Posters in the Rotunda’ event in Madison.

From left is Bryan Bodrog, Rep. Kitty Rhoades, Brittany Lee, Samantha Jakel (a UW-Madison student collaborator on the UWRF Ice Cube project), Drew Anderson, Kyle Jero, and Ted Cannady.

Seven UW-River Falls students attended the seventh annual “Posters in the Rotunda” event at the Capitol Rotunda in Madison on May 5 to share their original research with legislators and other state leaders.

These students joined more than 100 University of Wisconsin System undergraduates from all 26 UW System campuses at the Capitol. State leaders had the opportunity to view poster presentations of the research projects, speak with students and faculty mentors to learn more about how high impact undergraduate research enriches the educational experience.

Students attending from UWRF include:

Bryan Bodrog, a senior psychology major from Hudson, presented his poster, “A Comparison of the Attitudes, Education Experience, and Engagement of Military Veterans and Nonveteran College Students.”

Kyle Jero, a senior mathematics and physics major from Marshfield, presented his poster, “The Oden Ice Breaker Calibration Cruise: Extending the Icetop Array for Solar Study.”

Jennie Maciosek a senior majoring in political science from Stillwater, Minn., presented her poster titled: “Do Specific References and Words Matter to the Public? State of the Union Addresses and Presidential Job Approval Rating.”

Brittany Lee, a senior animal science and biology major from Chatfield, Minn., presented her poster, “Modeling Complex Cervical Carcinoma Cell-Derived Structures in 3D ‘Artificial Tissue’ Cultures.” Brittany also represented the UWRF TCIC in presenting a poster for Victor Piazza, who was attending the Bio2010 International Convention in Chicago.

Victor Piazza, a post-graduate student with a degree in biotechnology from UWRF, had his poster,“Tissue and Cellular Characterization of Long-Term Cardiac Artificial Tissues Cultured in 3D Using Natural ECM Materials.” presented by lab partner Brittany Lee.

Ted Cannady a senior agriculture business major from Milwaukee, presented his poster, “Analysis of Estimated Costs and Investment Feasibility of Transitioning to an Ellepot Production System.”

Jennifer Haug, a senior TESOL major from Manitowoc, presented her poster, “2009 UWRF Climate Change Survey, co-authored by Jonathan Lyksett, and Cory Heaton.

As the UW System works to increase the number of graduates by 30 percent over the next 15 years, many campuses are expanding opportunities for undergraduate research as one way to boost retention and graduation rates. Considered a “high impact practice,” this kind of experience has been demonstrate to enhance student success in college, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement.

More information on the event, including a list of all participating students, is available at http://www.wisconsin.edu/posters.

UWRF physics students present their research on the Ice Cube Project in Washington D.C..

Recently, on April 13th, 2010 three UWRF students (Kyle Jero, Samantha Jakel and Drew Anderson) from physics Professor Jim Madsen's Ice Cube project presented their work at Posters on the Hill, a prestigious undergraduate research event sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

The event was held in the Rayburn House Office building in Washington, DC, and many members of congress--including Wisconsin's Ron Kind--attended to view the posters. The group visited five congressional offices---Obey, Ryan, Kind, Feingold, and Kohl. Senator Feingold spent time talking with the students as did staffers in the other offices.

Drew, Samantha, and Kyle were also selected to present a Council on Undergraduate Research award to NSF Director Dr. Arden Dement. The CUR event showcasing the undergraduate research and scholarship of 60 selected students from across the nation honored Dr. Dement for a lifetime of service to the NSF and to undergraduate research through a long and distinguished career.

For information on the IceCube project, visit http://www.uwrf.edu/icecube/welcome.htm

UWRF Tissue and Cellular Innovation Center at Bio 2010 Convention in Chicago!

On May 5-6th two UWRF TCIC student researchers, Victor Piazza and Tim Morris along with the TCIC Director, Dr. Lyden traveled to Chicago to participate in the “Bio 2010” Convention at McCormick Place. The TCIC contingent joined others from across Wisconsin in representing the Biotechnology Industry of the state. In particular, the TCIC crew manned the “Momentum West” portion of the state pavilion in this global event. More than 1700 exhibitors representing countries, states and companies from around the world presented the state of the art in Biotechnology. The meeting also featured presentations by former Presidents Clinton and Bush as well as Vice President Gore. Altogether the meeting attracted some 17,000 participants over 5 days.

Momentum West, the regional economic development organization based in Eau Claire invited the TCIC to participate in this world class event to showcase the significant work being done here in western Wisconsin to develop the biotechnology and biomedical research and training capacity of the region. At the Momentum kiosk we were joined by individuals and materials from UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire and CVTC as well as information on numerous industries in the area. Also presenting within the state pavilion was TCIC collaborator, Marshfield Clinic in addition to several units associated with UW-Madison.

This was an extremely productive short trip to Chicago that we expect to see grow new opportunities and potential collaborations. Thanks go out to the Dean of CAS, the Director of the UWRF Biotechnology Program and the Grants Office for their funding support of this trip. For additional details and pictures see the new TCIC Blogspot at : http://uwrfcell.blogspot.com/

UWRF hosts the 10th Annual UW-System Research Symposium.

On Friday April 30th, more than 200 students, faculty and administrators from across the UW system converged on the UC for the “10th Annual UW-System Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activities”. This premier System-wide event is held nearly every year (unless NCUR is in Wisconsin) somewhere around the state as campuses of the UW-System gather to share their scholarly works with one another.
This year and in 2008, UWRF was honored to host the event in our excellent meeting facilities in the UC. Both oral and poster sessions went on throughout the day from around 8:30 to nearly 3:30 in the afternoon. Special quests included the Chancellor Van Galen and UW-System Student Regent, Aaron Wingad. Regent Wingad is currently serving a 2 year term on the Board and hails from our sister western Wisconsin campus in Eau Claire. Regent Wingad was recently awarded a very prestigious “Truman Scholarship” by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation and plans to attend Medical School upon completion of his undergraduate studies in 2013.


Also featured at the Symposium was the keynote speaker, Dr. Brian Fife, from the
University of Minnesota. Dr. Fife is a new and already well known specialist in autoimmune diabetes who presented a talked entitled, “Biology happens in 3D: What can imaging teach us about autoimmune diabetes?” Dr. Fife is also a UWRF alumnus and began his research career as an undergraduate researcher here at UWRF back in the early 1990’s. Graduating in 1995, Dr. Fife was encouraged and challenged by the excellent mentorship of Dr. Karen Klyczek in the Biology Department to go on for his Ph.D. and is now a world class research scientist back in Minnesota. Dr. Fife presented a fascinating talk on imaging immune responses in 3D and the role of various immune system components in both normal and pathologic immune responses. Despite the seriousness of the topic, Dr. Fife made everyone laugh with his “trunk monkey” examples of immune system functions.



Overall the event was a great success with numerous discussions and new friendships established while old colleagues met and discussed the new ideas flowing from all the great presentations. UWRF Society for Undergraduate RSCA officers assisted the Grants office organizers with preparations, logistics and functioned as ushers for the program. Chalk-up another statewide undergraduate RSCA success for UWRF!!!

UWRF hosts the 2010 UW-System Research Day on April 30th!

Once again, UWRF was selected as the site for the annual UW-System Statewide Research Day. On April 30th more than 350 students from across the state will converge on the UC for a day of presentations and talks which showcase activities throughout the System. This represents the second time UWRF has hosted this important event. The first time was in 2008 when more than 300 students came to our campus for a very successful meeting.

This years keynote address will be presented by Brian Fife, an Immunology researcher at the UMinn TC Medical School. This presentation represents a full circle for UWRF Undergraduate research since Brian was a student here in the 1990’s and conducted his first research immunology projects in the Biology Department under the direction of Dr. Karen Klyczek. Now, Brain is a rising star in the field of Immunology who regularly publishes in the best science journals in the world. Not bad for one of our own!

Brian Fife graduated from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls in May 1995, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology. He then received his Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis through the Department of Pathology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, IL, in 2001. Brian went on to perform postdoctoral fellow research at the University of California at San Francisco in the Department of Medicine Diabetes Center in San Francisco, CA., until 2007.

Brian has received numerous honors and awards for his research regarding Juvenile Diabetes. Brian is an Assistant Professor in the Department Medicine in the Division of Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases, Center for Immunology at the U of M. He is a member of many associations, including the American Society of Immunologists, the American Diabetes Association, the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Brian is the Director of the Center for Immunology Imaging Core Facility, as well as a faculty mentor for the Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology graduate program at the U of M.

Brian is an Ad Hoc Reviewer for seven scientific journals including the journals Cell, Diabetes, and the Journal of Immunology. He has upwards of 20 publications including “Interactions between PD-1 and PD-L1 promote tolerance by blocking the T cell receptor-induced stop signal.” (Nature Immunology. 2009 Nov;10(11):1185-92.) and “Visualizing regulatory T cell control of autoimmune responses in non-obese diabetic mice.” (Nature Immunology 2006 Jan;7(1):83-92.)

Report from the Rockies….the return home!

This will be the final report from NCUR 2010, unfortunately all good things must end…but that just means it's time to start working on our data for NCUR 2011 in Ithaca, New York!!! We only have about 360 days until we all meet again to celebrate undergraduate research from across the nation. And you can bet that UWRF will be there (in force), leading our region in this important “high impact” educational activity! We have already talked to Sun Country about the jets to get there next year…so now it is up to our students to do their research, scholarly and creative activities in the coming year so that they can once more join their peers in growing, expanding and building the future for us all!

As you can see, the trip home, as always, was very tiring…after 3 solid days of meeting, presenting, learning and a little “just plain fun stuff”…we are all worn out. Of course that didn’t stop some folks from breaking out the homework and getting ready for their week back in class! Montana bid us a lovely farewell with nearly perfect flying weather again and we had one last long look at those gorgeous mountains as we headed home.

Once on the ground, it was particularly bittersweet to realize that this was Dr. Bill Campbell’s last official NCUR meeting as the “travel-agent-to-future-stars”. Though we seriously doubt it is actually his last unofficial NCUR meeting ;-)). Bill will be retiring in the summer and so finished off his long efforts to build a research culture here at UWRF with an immensely successful final trip this year. Bill has been working for the betterment of UWRF through a variety of means since the early 1990’s and was the key administrative element in the formation of SURSCA. In fact, it was Bill and several students who cooked up the idea over lunch at NCUR 2002 in Whitewater, WI. The rest as they say, is now history…leading to the charter of 2 jets and transport of 360 young scholars from across our region to this year’s event! To thank Bill and acknowledge his many contributions to these efforts and the thousands of students he has impacted through his efforts, the UWRF travelers this year presented him with a signed NCUR 2010 T-Shirt… we wish him well and all the happiness and success that he has helped bring to so many students over his entire career.

On behalf of all those current and former students, SURSCA wishes to say, THANKS BILL and WELL DONE!!!

Report from the Rockies: Day Three!

Once more, UWRF student scholars stepped up to the plate and hit another series of homeruns. Presentations today included topics such as the evolution of SURSCA, Ecology, Chemistry, Music, Literature, Horticulture and others. Scholars who presented on Saturday included the following:

WOMEN COMPOSERS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES Poster Music Virginia Carlson

INNOVATIVE GROWING CONTAINERS MAY POTENTIALLY EXPAND CONSUMERS CHOICE OF TREES FOR REPLACING DISAPPEARING ASH TREES Poster Botany Anthony Celley

USING AN INDEX OF BIOTIC INTEGRITY TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS OF A TRIBUTARY (PARKER CREEK) ON THE BIOTIC INTEGRITY OF THE KINNICKINNIC RIVER Poster Biology Kristina Gorshe

THE SOCIETY FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH, SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE ACTIVITIES (SURSCA) Poster Education Ashley Graef and Felicha Colbeth

EFFECTS AND FEASABILITY OF LED LIGHTS IN COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSE

CHRYSANTHEMUM PRODUCTION. Poster Botany John Letourneaux

QUATERNARY GLACIAL MAPPING USING SOIL SURVEY INFORMATION Poster Geology/Earth Sciences Betsy Oehlke

THE REPRESENTATIONS OF TIME IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S MRS. DALLOWAY, THE WAVES, AND TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. Poster Literature Andy Phelps

WESTERN INVOLVEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN, 1838-1989 Oral History Adam Roberts

THE CONCEPT OF BREATHING Poster Music Jordan Warfield

TOWARD THE SYNTHESIS OF RHUSCHOLIDE A Poster Chemistry Amie Wrisky

JACK STAMP: THE MAN BEHIND THE COMPOSITIONS Poster Music Nikki Zeleny

After the meeting some students spent time enjoying the natural beauty of Montana while others hit the books to prepare for the assignments that await their return home…the work never ends! Having seen the mountains, we can all understand why they call it "Big Sky Country"!!!

With these presentations on Saturday, UWRF concluded its participation in NCUR 2010. This year was one of “firsts” for the meeting and UWRF with a record number of overall participants at 2800 from across the nation as well as the UK with UWRF being the 3rd largest contingent at the meeting with 75 presenters, faculty and administrators. Not to mention that the Wisconsin/Minnesota regional travel consortium (lead by UWRF) was the first time anyone here can remember that such schools chartered their own jets to arrive in style at an NCUR meeting! Plans are already in the works for next year to repeat this success! It was a great meeting with many organizational, institutional and student personal triumphs of which to be proud.

Great job UW-River Falls!!!!

Report from the Rockies: Day Two!

The day was again a beautiful one! Great weather outside and excellent scholarship and professionalism inside! Our student colleagues were fantastic and impressed the entire meeting with their knowledge, skill and presence while presenting a wide variety of subjects. Today’s presentations included the following:

DOUBLE OR NOTHING: THE CONCEPT OF MIRRORING IN POSTMODERNISM LITERATURE Oral English Amadeline Baird

VIDEO PRODUCTION AND RED BULL: THE NEXUS OF TEACHER PREPARATION, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND COLLEGE ACCESS Oral Education Paul Bowman

WANDERING THE UNEXPECTED PATH: AN ARTHURIAN TALE Oral Creative Writing Kelly Bryant

THE FIGHT FOR IRISH FREEDOM: COLONIAL IRELAND Oral European Studies John Hanley

INVASION OF THE LYME DISEASE VECTOR IXODES SCAPULARIS AND PATHOGEN BORRELIA BURGDORFERI IN SOUTHWESTERN MICHIGAN Oral Biology Michelle Haring

UNIVERSITY COMPOST AGAINST COMPETITIVE SOURCES Poster Biology Max Hart

"STONE SOUP - A FOLKTALE THROUGH THE AGES" Performing or Visual Arts: Gallery Exhibit English Sandi Hoag

PHOOLAN DEVI: ARCHETYPE OF STRUGGLE FOR CLASS AND GENDER EQUALITY IN POST-COLONIAL INDIA Oral English Brent Hopkins

INFLUENCE OF PAST MAORI TRADITIONS INTO CONTEMPORARY ART Oral Art History Chelsea Kelly

NOT QUITE TRANSCENDENCE: VIRGINIA WOOLF AND THE GENDER BINARY Oral English Peter Larson

THE ESSENCE OF LANDSCAPE Performing or Visual Arts: Gallery Exhibit Studio Art Cheyenne Mallo

TISSUE ADHESION DEFECTS IN THE ZEBRAFISH BUBBLE TAIL MUTATION CAUSE HEMORRHAGE, EPIDERMAL FINFOLD DEGENERATION AND LETHALITY Poster Biology Charles Phillips

CHINESE TEA POTS: A LINK TO THE LITERATI Oral Art History Lauren Potter

SIMULATIONS OF PHOTON TRANSPORT IN SOUTH POLE ICE USING A GRAPHICS PROCESSOR UNIT Oral Physics Abby Riddick

GENDER REFLECTION Performing or Visual Arts: Gallery Exhibit Studio Art Shelby Sand

THE OJIBWE AND THEIR FIGHT FOR THEIR HOME IN WISCONSIN Poster History Wendy Schmidt

“ARRANGE WHATEVER PIECES COME YOUR WAY”: VISUAL AND LITERARY ART IN VIRGINIA WOOLF Oral English Caryn Whipple

WISH - A DANCE EXPLORING THE TIBETAN PILGRIMAGES Performing or Visual Arts: Powerpoint Presentation Dance Haiya Zhang

In addition to the various presentations it was fun to open the local paper and discover that UWRF and it’s “partners in travel” had been mentioned in an excellent story on NCUR 2010 (see http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_52547842-4910-11df-a599-001cc4c03286.html). In particular, the piece noted that “Wisconsin-area schools chartered two airplanes” to get here. In fact, our planes have been the talk of the meeting! Besides being the third largest contingent in the nation at this international meeting of some 2800 students (folks are here from England as well), our use of Sun Country to off-set the travel costs has been noted across the meeting! In fact, the travel costs were discussed at the Friday morning “Faculty Summit” and our solution was roundly praised by all. Additionally, we have already lined-up additional schools for next year and Bill checked with Sun Country about flying into Ithaca NY, site of NCUR 2011. It appears that we’ve started something of a new and exciting trend within NCUR here at Montana!

Besides the presentations by our students, we have all been participating in the several excellent plenary sessions here in Missoula as well. These have included some fascinating presentations of Native American culture including a native flute recital by R. Carlos Nakai on Thursday night and the Kyi-Yo Nation Pow Wow on Friday night. It was an amazing cultural diversity immersion for us all to witness the majesty of these wonderful people from the “first nation”. As honored guest of our native fellow Americans many students from NCUR (including some from UWRF) were invited to joined in the dancing and celebrating as well.

Saturday promises to be another busy day! And unfortunately our last here at NCUR 2010! But alas, as the saying goes all good “things” must come to an end, and what a great “thing” this has been.

For a student prespective check out the student profile page at: http://uwrf-rsca-students.blogspot.com/ (Links are to the left).