By Kate Maddox

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2022) — Throughout March for Women’s History Month, the University of Kentucky is spotlighting Women Making History. These women are leading their fields of research, crossing traditional academic boundaries and impacting Kentucky’s most pressing challenges, including opioid use disorder treatment, aging and Alzheimer’s, water and air filtration, environmental impacts on health and suicide prevention.  

They are mentoring the next generation of women scientists and scholars, curating stories and creating artworks illuminating who we are. Their work and voice shape the University of Kentucky.  

On this “Wildcat Wednesday,” UK celebrates Lauren Hudson, a junior majoring in neuroscience and biology, from Villa Hills, Kentucky.  

By Melody Ryan and Craig Borie

LEXINGTON, Ky (March 11, 2022) — COVID-19 brought to the forefront the challenges of mental health around the world. During the Feb. 26, 2022 Global Mental Health Hack-A-Thon, University of Kentucky students and the Kentucky community proposed solutions to this global health challenge.

The event was sponsored by the UK Office of Global Health Initiatives, The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship and the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise.

Hack-A-Thon teams and individuals used their talents to devise ideas to improve mental health in a rapidly paced half-day event. Participants received

By C. Lynn Hiler

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 14, 2022) — The University of Kentucky chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society inducted 232 new members during the Spring 2022 semester. The chapter’s induction ceremony was held in the Gatton Student Center Ballroom on Thursday, March 3. 

Alpha Lambda Delta offers various scholarship opportunities to its members, one of which a UK chapter member won this past summer. Former Chapter President Jessica Lamb was awarded the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship in July 2021 for exceptional participation in academics, Alpha Lambda Delta activities and community service. 

“ALD has been one of my defining experiences at UK, and I am so excited and proud to be part of an organization that uplifts other driven, intelligent members of our

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 14, 2022) — From laughable to just downright bizarre.

“I have a wildcat skull — "JOR" — given to me by former faculty member, Dr. Stemple. When he retired, he passed "JOR" down to me to take precious care of,” said Tammy Jo Edge, who works in the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences. “We always summon "JOR" for extra help during those tough games. I believe that 'JOR' was one tough warrior of a Wildcat in his day.”

Let’s face it, fan bases are a superstitious bunch. That includes us Wildcats.

“I have to watch UK March Madness games at the same restaurant — Cinco De Mayo in Lexington,” said Christina Lucas, who works at UK Eastern State Hospital. “Every game that I've watched there, UK has won.”

From the food on their plate

By Olaoluwapo Onitiri

LEXINGTON, KY. -- Anna Voskresensky, senior lecturer in Russian studies, has received the American Association of Slavic and East European Languages Award for Excellence in Teaching on the Post-Secondary Level. She received the award at the association’s conference in Philadelphia in February.

The association, which was founded in 1941, exists to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures and cultures on all educational levels.

Jeffrey Peters, chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, described Voskresensky as an amazing individual, as he congratulated her for her achievement.

“"Anna is a gem. She is creative, innovative, dynamic, and caring,

By Kate Maddox

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 9, 2022) — The University of Kentucky’s 2022 Naff Symposium will host four experts in the area of molecular neuroscience from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, April 1, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. A poster session will be held in conjunction with the symposium at the Jacobs Science Building.

The event is free and open to the UK community and the public.

Each year, the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences presents the symposium, which focuses

By Dave Melanson

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2022) — Organic semiconductors, often referred to as plastic electronics, offer key advantages for emerging electronic and communication devices, provided they can meet all the appropriate metrics for performance, stability and cost. While these materials are already widely used in display technologies — the organic light-emitting diodes used as the displays in televisions, tablets, smart phones and watches are the foundation of a multi-billion dollar per year industry — there remain several technical hurdles to widespread market adoption.

Two faculty members in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry, who also serve as affiliated faculty members at the 

LEXINGTON, Ky., (March 8, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Women’s Executive Leadership Development (WELD) program has announced its 2022 cohort of faculty and staff participants. The eight-month WELD program is designed to develop the next generation of UK leaders through retreats, monthly meetings, conversations with upper-level administrators, and a group project.  To date, there have been 151 participants with a record number of 31 participants in this year’s cohort.

To kick off the 2022 WELD program, UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity 

By Elizabeth Chapin

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2022) — Research from University of Kentucky faculty and students working to reduce the burden of substance use disorders in Kentucky and beyond was showcased at UK's Substance Use Research Event (SURE) on March 1.

The annual event, supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research, gives substance use researchers at UK the opportunity to present their work, network and build collaborations.

More than 200 attendees from 13 colleges across UK participated in SURE, which included 70 presentations and poster sessions on the latest basic science, pre-clinical, clinical and community research addressing substance use.

“We are excited to be back in-person and host this unique forum

By Danielle Donham and Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 2, 2022) — In times of crisis and uncertainty, we look to those with knowledge and experience to lead us through understanding. From economics and trade to warfare and culture — our faculty members at the University of Kentucky are generous in sharing their expertise to help the campus community and beyond comprehend events that are unfolding in real-time.

UKNow spoke with Robert Farley (senior lecturer, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce), 

By Hilary Brown and Allison Perry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2022) – Sarah Katzenmaier is, by her own admission, a Halloween fanatic.

The Lexington native goes all out with her decorations. She celebrates her Oct. 29 birthday Halloween-style. And she’s been a “zombie” dancer in Lexington’s annual Thriller Parade for 10 years. On Oct. 24, 2021, she got ready for the parade just as she had every year prior.

“I wear a royal blue bridesmaid dress every year – it’s become my costume,” Sarah said. “I put on my zombie makeup with the dripping blood and bites and everything.”

The Thriller Parade is part of Lexington’s annual Halloween Festival. Hundreds of “zombies” lie in wait on Main Street,

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 24, 2022) — Crystal Wilkinson, associate professor in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, can add NAACP Image Award winner to her expansive and impressive list of accolades.

The Kentucky Poet Laureate’s book of poetry, “Perfect Black" (University Press of Kentucky), brought home the top honor in the category of “Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry.”

The NAACP Image Awards program highlights

By Olaoluwapo Onitiri

Many people grew up playing video games throughout their childhood. Gaming has become an important culture in the world today. It has inspired many, including Kishonna Gray, who is using her gaming experiences to create platforms to talk about important topics, such as Black people in the cyber world and intersectional feminism.

Gray is an associate professor in Writing, Rhetoric and Digital studies and African American and Africana studies and an affiliate faculty in Gender and Women studies and International Film studies. In her latest book, Intersectional Tech from Louisiana State University Press, she talks about blackness in gaming at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and (dis)ability in-depth.

“While my

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 22, 2022) — Axolotls are no strangers at the University of Kentucky.

For nearly 20 years, labs across the UK campus have studied the axolotl — a type of salamander native to Mexico — due to its ability to regenerate body parts, including limbs, tail and even the spinal cord. By studying axolotls, researchers at UK, and around the world, hope to one day develop therapies that may help humans regenerate their own tissue. 

One of the reasons the axolotl is so fascinating in regenerative research is because of its paedomorphy, which is the retention of juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Instead of metamorphosizing and moving from water to land like other salamander species, the axolotl continues living in water its entire life. Being

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2021) — “We cannot understand where humanity has been and where we are going without Black Studies.”

This is the mantra of the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies (CIBS) — a multidisciplinary research institute based in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of African American and Africana Studies.  

The institute hosts more than 50 nationally and internationally recognized researchers with expertise in fields such as Black futures and 21st century race in digital cultures; slavery and inequality in Central Kentucky; race and sport; global Blackness (from Appalachia to Zimbabwe); and gender and sexuality in Black lives. These affiliated faculty represent 11 colleges across UK, and they are

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Dennis Preston, adjunct professor of linguistics in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences, was named a Fellow by the American Dialect Society. He is among the first group of 10 who were chosen for the honor and was President of the Society in 2001-02.

He is also an Erskine Fellow of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Linguistic Society of America; in 2004 he received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic.    

He earned a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in 1965 and is a former Regents Professor in the Department of English at Oklahoma State University and University Distinguished Professor at

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- S-STEM, a new program funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, will provide four years of scholarship support for up to 15 qualifying incoming biology or neuroscience majors a year in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Kentucky. The average scholarship amount will be $5,000 a year, depending on financial need, going up to $10.000. 

“The goal of the project is to increase recruitment and retention of talented undergraduates majoring in biology and neuroscience at UK who have unmet financial need,” said Jennifer Osterhage, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and coordinator of the effort. “We will accomplish this goal by recruiting these students to actively participate in an integrated set of high impact curricular and co-curricular activities throughout

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2022) — Now in its third year, the University of Kentucky’s SPARK (Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky) Program gives an introduction to health equity research to students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in research. And there’s something extra special about its newest cohort of participants — it includes students not only from UK but also from Kentucky State University. Among the students selected are three majors in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

“From our first two cohorts, we had proof of concept and strong feedback on what was successful or not. We felt it was a good time to grow,” said SPARK

By Alicia Gregory

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 14, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science will hold its 17th Annual Spring Conference on April 5, 2022, focusing on “Climate and Health.”

Join nearly 1,000 researchers, clinicians, students and community members for this free, day-long, in-person event at the Gatton Student Center exploring the relationship between the environment, our health and how we live. 

This year’s keynote speaker is Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy and director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. 

Widely regarded as the

By Kody Kiser and Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 14, 2022) — In the fall of 2020, the University of Kentucky announced plans to establish the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies (CIBS) — a multidisciplinary program designed to highlight UK’s growing research around issues of race and racism.

The interdisciplinary institute establishes research clusters across the campus and promotes the university’s growing research and scholarship on topics of importance in African history and African American history, such as slavery and the quest for freedom, racial discrimination and violence, and the long struggle for civil rights.

This year, the university announced continued annual funding of $200,000 through UK’s