Baylor students take a cue from ‘Gilligan’s Island’
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Student life, Research
Watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island growing up, my favorite character was always the Professor; I loved the way he could build anything, it seemed, out of a couple of coconuts.
Baylor students are working on something similar — working to design multiple low-cost products that can be created from coconuts in poor coastal regions, where the fruit is an abundant, renewable resource. The researchers hope that by developing technologies and a business model, the value of farmers’ coconuts in places like the Philippines, Ghana and Mexico will increase from 5 cents to 50 cents each, multiplying their annual income 10 times.
The team showed off its work last month at the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance meeting in Dallas. Graduate student Stanton Greer, the team’s leader, exemplifies Baylor’s mission; I like what he had to say about displaying their work at the convention:
“We are very excited about the opportunity for more people to find out about what we are doing to serve Christ. It is an honor to be put in the same class with so many other great projects and schools and to be able to bring glory to God on such a large stage.”
Sic ’em, Baylor coconut researchers!
Four Baylor-related books among Christianity Today’s favorites
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Research, Honors
As the world’s largest Baptist university, it stands to reason that Baylor would be among the leaders in the study of religion. Recognition from outside the University — like the recent honors from Christianity Today — just confirms the standing of Baylor and its faculty nationwide.
Christianity Today, the nation’s leading evangelical Christian magazine, named books by three Baylor professors and one alum among the winners of its 2008 Book Awards:
* Questions to All of Your Answers: A Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith, by Truett Seminary professor Dr. Roger Olson;
* The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, by history professor Dr. Thomas Kidd;
* Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief, by Dr. Rodney Stark, co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion; and
* Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite, by Dr. D. Michael Lindsay, class of 1994.
Sic ’em, Drs. Olson, Kidd, Stark and Lindsay!
Geology chair elected president of international society
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Academics, Research, Honors
The chair of Baylor’s geology department, Dr. Steven Driese, can now add another title to his name. Driese was elected president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, an international organization “dedicated to the dissemination of scientific information” in various geological fields.
Driese has been an active member of the organization for over 30 years, most of that time as a professor at the University of Tennessee before coming to Baylor as chair in 2004. He has published more than 75 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has served as associate editor for two of the Society’s journals.
Part of Baylor’s Vision 2012 is “developing a world-class faculty;” the explanation under that imperative describes professors who are “recognized as leaders in their respective disciplines.” I think being elected president by your peers fits that description, don’t you?
Sic ’em, Dr. Driese!
Baylor prof develops new way to test blood-sugar level
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Research
I cannot overstate how much I hate needles. But, there is some history of diabetes in my family, so the prospect of daily sticking myself to check my blood-sugar level is out there.
That’s why I’m personally excited to hear about a new potential alternative for diabetics to daily pricking developed by a Baylor researcher. The new technique, created by electrical and computer engineering professor Dr. Randall Jean, uses an electromagnetic sensor to read blood glucose levels; the process is no more complicated for the user than giving a thumbprint. (Read the press release for more on the science behind it all.) There’s still some development to do before the sensor is ready for the market, but early testings show the sensor works effectively.
Sic ’em, Dr. Jean and all Baylor researchers!
Race for the White House at Poage
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Photo Galleries, Research
In our modern era, presidential candidates have (for the most part) moved away from creative and colorful posters and buttons in favor of MySpace pages and Facebook groups. In some ways, that’s a shame, because future generations won’t have artifacts like “Who? Who? Hoover!” signs and “Snowmobilers for Bush” bumper stickers to look back on.
Just in time for the run-up to our next presidential election, the Baylor Collection of Political Materials has put an array of such memorabilia from its archives on display at the Poage Legislative Library (on campus, between Jones Library and Castellaw Communications). The “Race for the White House” exhibit is on view from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, from now through the end of summer. Admission is free.
The Waco Tribune-Herald and Baylor Lariat each recently ran nice features on the unique collection. In case you can’t make it to Waco to see the display, we’ve compiled a photo gallery of the exhibition for you.
Sic ’em, Poage Library!
Prestigious journal focuses recent issue on Baylor Religion Survey
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Research, Honors
The Baylor Religion Survey conducted by the University’s Institute for Studies of Religon (ISR) made waves a couple of years ago when its results were released, and it’s back in the news again — this time, in the pages of the prestigious Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
The Journal, widely recognized as the top research journal dedicated to the intersection of religion and social science, included four major articles in its December 2007 issue looking at the results of the survey — a very rare allotment of space to one subject.
Sic ’em, ISR!
New Scholars award goes to Baylor prof for 2nd straight year
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Academics, Research, HonorsBaylor’s reputation as a university with faculty recognized as leaders in their discipline received a nice boost this week as, for the second year in a row, a Baylor professor took home the New Scholars Achievement Award from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS).
The CSGS, which includes all major graduate schools in 17 states and the District of Columbia, gave its 2008 Achievement Award for New Scholars in Math, Physical Sciences and Engineering to Dr. Ian Gravagne, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor. Last year, English professor Dr. Richard Russell received the New Scholars award in the humanities.
Gravagne is not only a prolific researcher, but also an involved teacher leading one of three Engaged Learning Groups (ELGs) currently on campus.
Sic ’em, Dr. Gravagne!
Baylor researchers working to treat PTSD
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Research
Researchers from Baylor, Texas A&M and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs are working together to treat and possibly prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the collaborators recently received $2.7 million from the federal government to fund their work.
“People with PTSD begin to associate other cues in their environment with fear, and they predict bad things will happen. We’re studying what creates that increased fear response,” says Dr. Brad Keele, a 1990 Baylor grad and an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience.
For more on the team’s work, check out this feature from the latest issue of Baylor Magazine.
Sic ’em, PTSD researchers!
Baylor helps bring clean water to Mongolian town
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Research
The Baptist Standard picked up on a story recently about work that Baylor researchers are doing to bring clean water to a town in Mongolia.
Dr. Rene Massengale, an assistant professor of biology, is leading the project. Industrial mining in the area has led to environmental contamination, which in turn has led to water laced with toxic levels of cyanide, mercury and other heavy metals. Testing confirmed the contamination in the recently completed phase one of the project; a pair of groups, Lifeqwest Mongolia and Texas Baptist Men, have brought in medical supplies and water purifying equipment to provide a short-term solution.
Phase two will set up a permanent Baylor in Mongolia program and establish a permanent water-quality lab, where students from Baylor and the University of Mongolia can further research the needs of local towns and work to train residents about water quality, health and sanitation.
Sic ’em, clean-water providers!
Baylor profs receive NSF grant for ELG
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Research, HonorsCongratulations to Drs. Ian Gravagne and Kenneth Van Treuren on receiving a $145,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support their Engaged Learning Group (ELG)!
You might remember reading about their group, titled “Energy and Society: the costs and benefits of an energy-dependant civilization,” in the summer ’07 issue of Baylor Magazine. In short, ELGs provide a unique opportunity for freshmen to meet with their fellow residents for weekly, interdisciplinary lectures and discussions about a particular issue. Gravagne and Van Treuren’s ELG is one of three that began this fall. It’s a unique way to dive into a topic with professors from across campus.
Sic ’em, Drs. Gravagne and Van Treuren!
