By Jenny Wells, Whitney Harder

(Nov. 9, 2015) — It's a partnership unlike any other, relying on each other to complete pivotal projects and daily deeds, constantly working together to find solutions. Yes, the city of Lexington and the University of Kentucky are intertwined, but a recent discovery proves it's much more than a partnership — it's a new species of community.

Lexington, often referred to as a college town, has evolved into a "university city," according to new research by Lexington's own Scott Shapiro, senior advisor to Mayor Jim Gray, which was confirmed in an analysis by UK Department of Statistics Professor and Chair Arnold Stromberg. As a university city, Lexington boasts the positive characteristics of both

By Guy Spriggs

Because of incomplete or partial data, it can be hard to calculate accurate approximations important to scientific work such as medical research. When human subjects quit clinical trials, what do researchers and statisticians do with incomplete results when trying to estimate survival probability?

Statistics professor Mai Zhou’s new book, “Empirical Likelihood Method in Survival Analysis,” aims to answer these questions by applying a new principle to data approximation dealing with duration.

“Empirical likelihood is a relatively new method. I’ve been fascinated by this method since the terminology was invented in 2001,” Zhou explained. Since then, he has been on leave twice to collaborate with partners and been awarded two research grants from the National Science Foundation for work leading toward his book.

As Zhou explains, likelihood is

By Rachel Lorch

The roots of black cohosh, a plant native to the Appalachian region, has served a large variety of needs throughout its history. Progressing from its roles as an acne treatment and insect repellent, black cohosh root is often used today as an herbal supplement.

Gabrielle Miles, a former graduate student in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Statistics, studied black cohosh roots during her time at UK. The project on the plant was a continuation of work she completed as an undergraduate summer field intern with Dr. Jim Chamberlain, Research Forest Products Technologist at the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station.

Miles’ interest in statistics and its application to ecology stems from the requirements of an

By Sarah Schuetze

From Hawaii to Arizona, from Arizona to Kentucky, from Kentucky to Bristol, England…fellow statisticians might consider their colleague Grady Weyenberg’s past and future moves a product of what they call random variation, but they are the steps he’s taken toward his career as a statistician.

Weyenberg recently received his Ph.D. from the Department of Statistics at UK, just weeks before he and his wife Hillary make the move from Lexington to Bristol where Weyenberg will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Bristol.

In the midst of preparing for the defense, Weyenberg and his wife were working on selling cars, getting visas, and getting rid of all electronic devices that can’t be used with the English 230 voltage system (

By Blair Hoover, Rebecca Stratton

(April 17, 2015) — Provost Tim Tracy honored seven faculty members and three teaching assistants with Provost's Outstanding Teaching Awards at the 2015 UK Faculty Awards Ceremony.  The ceremony took place Wednesday, April 15, in the Lexmark Public Room in the Main Building.

This annual award recognizes faculty and graduate teaching assistants who demonstrate special dedication and outstanding performance in the classroom or laboratory.  Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the Provost's Office of Faculty Advancement.

Winners received cash prizes of $5,000 for regular and special title series faculty and $1,000 for teaching

By Provost blog

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."
 

These words by Albert Einstein ring especially true today as our community honors seven faculty members and three teaching assistants who have dedicated themselves to preparing, advising and inspiring our students.

I will have the honor of recognizing these 10 individuals at the 2015 University of Kentucky Provost's Outstanding Teaching Awards ceremony this afternoon. 

The Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award recognizes regular and special title series faculty for outstanding teaching performance. The 2015 winners are:

by: Patsy Carruthers, Lee Bessette, Kathi Kern

(Jan. 28, 2015) — An opening reception is set for Jan. 30 to celebrate the Faculty Media Depot and its services for University of Kentucky faculty. UK Analytics and Technologies’ Academic Technology Group (ATG) and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) are bringing together technology and pedagogy in the depot, nestled away in the Science Library, located in the M.I. King Library.

The opening reception

by Whitney Harder

(Dec. 18, 2014) — Thirteen University of Kentucky students took home top honors at the Kentucky Academy of Science 100th Annual Meeting in November, where hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students from Kentucky colleges and universities participated in research competitions.

Winners included graduate and undergraduates from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, College of Arts and Sciences, Gatton College of Business and Economics, College of Health Sciences and College of Public Health.

Graduate oral presentations:

by Whitney Harder

(Dec. 1, 2014) – William Rayens, University of Kentucky statistics professor, was recently honored for his work in undergraduate education with a nomination in the 2014 U.S. Professors of the Year awards program.

“Teaching may well be the most important enterprise we engage in as professors, and I was thrilled to be asked to compete for one of the 2014 awards," said Rayens.

Rayens, director of undergraduate education in the Department of Statistics, developed the general education course "STA 210: Intro to Statistical Reasoning," implemented in the fall of 2011. Serving as assistant provost for general education in the 

(Nov. 20, 2014) — As University of Kentucky freshmen settle into life as college students, a new resource on campus has been helping them adjust to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs, known for difficult coursework. Undergraduate instructional assistants (UIAs) within one of the university's newest Living Learning Programs, STEMCats, use their past experiences to mentor incoming UK students.

The College of Arts and Sciences recently produced a podcast about the STEMCats community, featuring many STEMCats UIAs explaining what they enjoy about the program and their connections with younger STEM students.

"You get to help them succeed

by Gail Hairston 

(Sept. 30, 2014) — More than an “s” has been added since the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science was created in 1908 with only seven faculty members. In fact there was a College of Arts and Science even before the institution was named the University of Kentucky; the institution was called the State University, Lexington, Kentucky (previously Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and State College) until 1916.

In those 106 years, several of today’s largest colleges were birthed from the original College of Arts and Science’s former programs, including today’s College of Education, College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work and College of Fine Arts.

The college grew quickly under the inspiration and commitment of President James Patterson, whose statue now graces the plaza next to the

by Carl Nathe

(June 16, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has received a $12.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue its work to better understand and minimize negative health and environmental impacts from hazardous waste sites.

The Nutrition and Superfund Chemical Toxicity grant funded through the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is administered through the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. It supports the efforts of more than 50 scientists and students from 15 departments within the colleges of Agriculture, Food and Environment; Arts and Sciences; Engineering; 

by Keith Hautala

(June 3, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has been awarded a $1.9 million grant to improve retention of students in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics, through a collection of initiatives dubbed "STEMCats."

UK is one of 37 research institutions selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to receive an award, from among 170 institutions competing for a share of $60 million in total funding. The five-year awards, ranging from $1.2 to $2.4 million, are intended to enable schools to focus on "significant and sustained improvement in retaining students" in the STEM disciplines.

Although the need for STEM graduates is growing nationally, fewer than half of all students who enter college with the intention of majoring in

by Keith Hautala

(April 15, 2014) — A team of students and researchers from the University of Kentucky Department of Statistics and the UK Center for Applied Energy Research worked last summer with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to evaluate energy and environmental policy under a range of potential carbon dioxide regulatory scenarios.

The UK team assisted with the enhancement of the Kentucky Electricity Portfolio Model which was developed at the EEC and responds to highly variable factors such as weather, fuel prices, and federal environmental policy, to identify the optimal electricity portfolio and forecast electricity prices, demand, emissions, fuel consumption, employment, and economic growth.

The project report,

by Gail Hairston 

(April 14, 2014) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, as the principal investigator, will lead a multi-million-dollar initiative with Kentucky and West Virginia universities to increase underrepresented undergraduates studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The five-year, $2.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant establishes the Kentucky-West Virginia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (KY-WV LSAMP) in the STEM disciplines. Coordinated by the UK Office for Institutional Diversity and UK’s co-PI and engineering Associate Professor Johné Parker, the alliance of nine institutions of higher learning includes UK, University of Louisville, West Virginia University, Western Kentucky University, Centre College, Marshall University, Kentucky State University, West Virginia

by Keith Hautala & Jennifer Edwards

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 17, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has announced eight awards for the first round of its eLearning Innovation Initiative (eLII) Program, totaling more than $500,000 in internally funded grants.

The eLII program was launched in September 2013 to improve instructional delivery and learning outcomes, with a $3 million investment over three years. The program is administered through a collaborative effort by the Office of the Provost, UK Analytics and Technologies, and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

“As new delivery models and teaching methods evolve across higher education, the University of Kentucky should be an active contributor and innovator,” said President Eli Capilouto. “The eLII program will give creative faculty the support to develop high-quality teaching

article courtesy of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy

(Jan. 21, 2014) - A University of Kentucky research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the first to be recognized as a UK College of Pharmacy Research Publication Highlight of the Year. Every month the College honors the best research publication submitted by faculty, postdocs and graduate students as a way to recognize outstanding research and scholarship generated within the College. Out of the 12 monthly publication recipients in 2013, the JAMA article received the top award for 2013.

The title of the publication is “Association Between Pseudoephedrine Sales and Reported Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures in Kentucky.” The authors are Jeffery Talbert, Karen Blumenschein and Trish Freeman, each of whom is a faculty member in the College’s

A team of students and staff from the University of Kentucky Department of Statistics worked at the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet to design the Kentucky Electricity Portfolio Model, which is being used by leadership in Frankfort to evaluate energy and environmental policy. The model responds to highly variable factors such as weather, fuel prices, and federal environmental policy, to identify the optimal electricity portfolio and forecast electricity prices, demand, emissions, fuel consumption, employment, and economic growth. The following report discusses the results of early model output and some of the potential economic implications of changing Kentucky's electricity generating portfolio.

View the EEC Model Report (pdf) here.

by Allison Elliott-Shannon

(Nov. 26, 2013) — From humans to sparrows, individuals within a species display distinct "personalities" when it comes to their behaviors. Taking an innovative approach to understanding how various factors impact behavioral patterns, David Westneat is working with a local population of house sparrows to understand how variables including local ecology, stress and hormones come together to affect the parenting behaviors of birds and other creatures.

Westneat, professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology, has been awarded a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation for $670,000. As a behavioral ecologist with expertise on reproductive and social behavior, Westneat will use the grant to study variation in parenting patterns.