The University of Tennessee at Martin Faculty and Staff Newsletter |April 28, 2014

addendaHONORED FACULTY

OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEES – Ricky Bradberry (left) and Judy McMorries, both of Martin, are joined by Dr. Tom Rakes, UT Martin chancellor, after receiving the UT Martin Spring 2014 Outstanding Employee Awards. Bradberry received the non-exempt award and McMorries the exempt honor. The awards, presented April 23 during a special program at the Boling University Center, recognize outstanding service to the university and are presented each fall and spring semester to two employees. Bradberry is the Physical Plant Operations foreman responsible for the carpentry and paint shops. His more than 36 years of service include a major role in the construction of the university’s Margaret N. Perry Children’s Center in the early 1990s. He also served with the Army National Guard in Operation Desert Storm. McMorries is the assistant director in the Office of Human Resources and is known for her concern for others and attention to detail. Among her varied duties, she is responsible for the university’s payroll and employment records and is a presenter for human resources training.

EMPLOYEES HONORED

AMONG THOSE HONORED -- Several faculty members were recognized at Honors Day 2014. They included (back row, from left) Dr. Paula Moore, 2014 UTAA Outstanding Teacher; Dr. Margaret Toston, vice chancellor for student affairs; Dr. Tom Rakes, UTM chancellor; Dr. Jerald Ogg, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Jenna Wright, Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages chair; (front row, from left) Dr. Stan Dunagan, 2014 Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar; Dr. Teresa Collard, 2013 UTAA Outstanding Teacher; Dr. Somsak Sukittanon, 2014 Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar; Dr. Tracy Rutledge, 2013 Coffey Outstanding Teaching Award; Dr. James Butler, 2014 UTAA Outstanding Teacher; and Dr. David Carithers, 2014 Coffey Outstanding Teaching Award.

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YoUTM

April 28 -- Gospel Choir Concert, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Martin, 7:30 p.m.April 29 -- Cecilia Allen, Senior Flute Recital, Fine Arts Building, Blankenship Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m.April 29 -- Sodexo Moonlight Breakfast, Skyhawk Dining Hall,

9:30 p.m.May 2 -- Skyhawk Baseball vs. SIU Edwardsville, Skyhawk Park, 6 p.m.May 3 -- Spring Com-mencement, Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, 11 a.m.May 3 -- Skyhawk Softball at Austin Peay, Clarksville, Noon

(doubleheader)May 3 -- Skyhawk Baseball vs. SIU Edwardsville, Skyhawk Park, 3 p.m.May 4 -- Skyhawk Softball at Austin Peay, Clarksville, NoonMay 4 -- Skyhawk Baseball vs. SIU Edwardsville, Skyhawk Park, 1 p.m.

Calendar

n Dr. Daniel Nappo, asso-ciate professor of Spanish, pre-sented a paper titled “Ruben Dario, la Revolucion Mexxi-cana lo fantastico” at the 67th annual Kentucky Foreign Lan-guage Conference, April 12, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

n Drs. Tom Blanchard, Jennifer Greenwood, Lisa Krueger, Kevin Pitz, and Dawn Wilkins from the De-partment of Biological Scienc-es, along with 10 UT Martin students, recently attended the joint meeting of the Associa-tion of Southeastern Biologists and Beta Beta Beta Biological Honors Society Southeastern Region, in Spartanburg, S.C.

Katrina Moeller, senior bi-ology major, presented a talk titled “Effect of census method and season on the number and types of vocalizations uttered by Barred Owls in the area surrounding Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee.” The talk was co-authored by Wilkins.

Lauren Childress, senior bi-ology major, presented a poster titled “Storage effects on pine rockland grass seed viability and germination.” The poster was co-authored by Krueger.

Luke Postoak, senior biol-ogy major, presented a poster titled “Hydrogen peroxide production by clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis.” The

poster was co-authored by Dr. Linda Husmann from the Department of Biological Sci-ences.

Michael Beasley, biology graduate, presented a poster titled “Diatom biodiversity of North Branch PawPaw Creek, a stream near Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee.” The poster was co-authored by Greenwood.

Blanchard presented a talk in the special session on field stations titled “The changing role of Reelfoot Lake Environ-mental Field Station in provid-ing educational and research opportunities along the Mis-sissippi River floodplain of Northwest Tennessee.” The talk was co-authored by Green-wood, Krueger and Wilkins.

Blanchard also presented a talk titled “A Preliminary As-sessment of the Physical and Ecological Effects of Natural Channel Design Restoration Projects.” The talk was co-au-thored by Dr. Jeffrey Fore of the Tennessee Nature Conser-vancy.

Greenwood and Wilkins presented a poster titled “The Reelfoot Lake Environmental Field Station: an emerging re-search facility with a new sum-mer field course program.”

The poster was co-authored by Blanchard and Krueger.

Other students attending were Kenisha Champion, Gina Lowry, Gina Hicks, Taylor Un-derwood, Jared Polk, and Brit-tany Cullum.

The UT Martin com-mencement will be May 3 with Secretary of State Tre Hargett delivering the commencement address. Set for 11 a.m. in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, 769 graduates are eligible to receive diplomas.

A live commencement webcast will be available courtesy of the OVC Digital Network at http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/showcase/?Live=1579.

UT Martin Chancellor Dr. Tom Rakes will preside over the exercises and confer degrees. Dr. Nell Gullet, UT Alumni Association Alumni Distinguished Service Professor, will be the mace bearer, and the processional marshals will be Dr. Jefferson S. Rogers, faculty senate president; Dr. Brian Donavant, faculty senate vice president; Nancy J. Yarbrough, interim vice chancellor for finance and administration; and Andrew A. Wilson, vice chancellor for university advancement.

Immediately following commencement, a reception will be hosted in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

Hargett was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessee’s 37th Secretary of State in 2009 and re-elected in 2013.

addendaThe University of Tennessee at Martin

Published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer by UT Martin, Martin,

TN 38238

• Dr. Joseph DiPietro - President,

University of Tennessee System

• Dr. Thomas Rakes - Chancellor

•Joe Lofaro - Addenda Editor

UT Martin is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section504/ADA/ADEA employer. E05-0425-00-0014-14

ATTENDING SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL -- Among the faculty and students attending the Association of Southeastern Biologists and Beta Beta Beta Biological Honors Society were (front from left) Gina Lowry; Taylor Underwood, Brittany Cullum’ Jared Polk, (second row, from left) Kenish Champion, Gina Hicks, Dr, Kevin Pitz; (third row, from left) Dr. Dawn Wilkins; Lauren Childress; Dr. Tom Blanchard; Like Postoak; (fourth row, from left) Katrina Moeller; Dr. Lisa Krueger; (back row, from left) Michael Beasley and Dr. Jennifer Greenwood.

Commencementset for Saturday;Secretary of Stateto deliver address

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PARSONS CENTER JOINS ‘I HEART UTM’ CELEBRATION – Parsons Center students, faculty and staff showed their UT Martin spirit last week during “I Heart UTM Week,” April 21-25. The Undergraduate Alumni Council and the Office of Alumni Relations sponsored the week and sold T-shirts promoting the theme. Those gathering for a photo in front of the center were (front row, left to right) Chesley Baker, Lindsey Mooney, Heather Coleman and Amber Beedy; (standing, left to right) Judy Duke, Torrie Rosson, Cary Haggard, Joyce Smothers, Shelby French, Allen Shull, Lauren Mooney, Jim Reed, Hannah Chumney, Tammie Patterson, Jessica Graves, Amy Lee and Dr. Kelli Deere, center director.

SMACS GRANT

GRANT AWARDED -- The UT Martin chapter of the Student Members of the American Chemical Society (SMACS) has been awarded a $2,800 grant by the Society Committee on Chemical Education for hosting the Undergraduate Program at the 66th Southeastern Regional Chemistry Meeting of ACS - SERMACS 2014, in Nashville in October this year. UTM SMACS will be organizing activities such as College Chemistry Bowl, Demomania, posters sessions, oral presentations, an eminent scientist lecture, a chemagic show, and a graduate school fair/luncheon. Showing off the grant check are: SMACS faculty advisor Dr. S. K. Airee, secretary Stephanie R. Gourley, president Krysten A. Harris, and project advisor Dr. Abigail H. Shelton.

FINANCE PROFESSOR RETIRES – Dr. Arnold Redman (right), UT Martin professor of finance, is joined by Dr. Ross Dickens (left), College of Business and Global Affairs dean, and Dr. Bill Davis, interim chair, Department of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Political Science, during an April 23 retirement reception held in Redman’s honor. The finance professor is retiring after 22 years of UT Martin service. In addition to teaching, Redman is managing co-director of the UT Martin TVA Student Investment Management Program. He earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and previously held faculty positions at Western Kentucky University, the University of Cincinnati and Memphis State.

REDMAN RETIRES

‘I HEART UTM’

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Three UT Martin students competed for the national Agricultural Innovation Prize, April 25-26, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Agriculture majors Shawn Butler, of Jackson, Austin Scott, of Hickory Valley, and Daniel Wiggins, of Friendship, competed in a 30-team field that includes MIT, Yale, Harvard, Penn State, Purdue and other nationally known universities.

The UT Martin team was a first alternate for the competition but was added when another team was disqualified for exceeding $100,000 in receipts for its company. The team will now receive $1,000 for making the field and was eligible to win one of four semifinalist awards at $25,000 each or the $100,000 grand prize.

According to its website, the Agricultural Innovation Prize encouraged “cutting-

edge technology in agricultural and food systems.” The site notes that the Ag Prize “seeks students who are interested in transforming global food systems into one that facilitates sufficiency and resilience.”

The UT Martin team, called FarmSpec, invented a “flex roller crimper,” a piece of farm equipment used to destroy cover crops in sustainable agricultural practices. Faculty members have assisted the students in their work and prepared them for the contest. The students submitted a provisional patent for their invention through the University of Tennessee Research Foundation.

“The UTM ag innovation team did not place in ‘the money’ at the Contest in Madison this weekend, but indicated that is was a wonderful experience and that they made a lot of good connections, said Todd

Winters, dean, College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. “Their presence greatly helped UTM’s and NextFarm’s visibility in the ag innovation arena. I’m very proud of their accomplishments.”

The students are developing their company in cooperation with the NextFarm Agricultural Innovation Accelerator, a project of Northwest Tennessee Entrepreneur Center, Memphis Bioworks Foundation and Ag Innovation Development Group. NextFarm’s goal is to help start and grow new agricultural businesses in Tennessee.

Carol Reed, Northwest Tennessee Entrepreneur Center director, and Dr. Rachna Tewari, assistant professor of agricultural economics, traveled with the team to Wisconsin.

Student team competed for national ag innovation prize

‘ROOTS OF RHYTHM’ HIGHLIGHTS

The UT Martin Percussion Ensemble concluded its three-day, six-city tour this past week.

“The tour was a smashing success,” said director Dr. Julie Hill (pictured left).

Some photo highlights from the tour are shown, which included stops at Decatur County Middle School and Stewart County High School.

Three days, six-city tour termed‘smashing success’