KAS Welcomes Kate He and Jon Dixon to the board! Jon is our new Vice President and Kate is our new Biological Division Representative.

Read more about them and all our board members HERE

I appreciate very much the opportunity that you have given me to be President of the Kentucky Academy of Science for the upcoming 2020 year. I approach the upcoming year with enthusiasm, but also with some trepidation, as we move forward with the Academy into the new decade. If you saw or heard about the movie, “I Believe in Dinosaurs,” featuring one of our own members, which was screened at the last Annual Meeting in Berea, you are probably aware of America’s — and our own Commonwealth’s — problematic relationship with science. The end title of the movie indicates that 38% of all Americans believe in creationism, which should suggest to all of us in science that we need a stronger history lesson and that we need to communicate among ourselves and with the public about what we do and why we do it.
 Part of our job as scientists and as members of the Kentucky Academy of Science is to optimize our approach to problems with the understanding of science in Kentucky and develop a strong collective voice to speak out on the importance of science to each of us and to the future health and security of our planet. I am eager to do this with you and through the Academy, but more participation in Academy affairs and meetings is required from all of us.
One of those voices that we have is the Academy’s journal, but in recent years it has been largely “taken for granted.” The journal now has a new on-line venue that should make it easier for us all to share our research and other information of importance and to give Kentucky scientists an opportunity to be real brokers of information about Kentucky science. In addition to the “hard sciences,” I would like to let you know that our journal is also available for work in the social sciences and science education.
I think that you are all aware of the Academy’s Annual Meeting, which in November 2020, will be held at Eastern Kentucky University, and associated with the meeting, our sections will hold section meetings for the various scientific disciplines. We welcome more participation in these sections and in our Speaker’s Bureau. You are also always welcome to participate in Governing Board meetings, but one of the highlights for me is participating in the annual meeting of the Junior Academy of Science at Kentucky State University in April. We are always in need of members to help with the Junior Academy, and this is a real opportunity to help encourage and mentor our future scientists. Information about all of these activities can be found on the KAS website and in the newsletters. Once again, we need your participation in these and other KAS activities if we are to better serve science in Kentucky, and we eagerly welcome your ideas and comments, which can be addressed to me (fettens@uky.edu) or our executive director (executivedirector@kyscience.org).
Finally, we are asking each of you to be a more engaged KAS member, especially in your dealings with students and the public. We science people do well at explaining the technical aspects of our trade among ourselves at our various meetings. However, for those people outside our group, like students, civil servants, business and other stakeholders, politicians, and everyday people without a science background, we are not connecting on a level that they can understand. These people are looking for assurance, fairness, open-mindedness, quick and positive responses, and a foundation in the same basic values and beliefs that they hold. In other words, we need to use science to address those things that people really want to know. Hence, it is increasingly important that we communicate more with the public, and KAS can provide help in doing this. Personal interactions with the public, student mentoring, and sharing personal experiences, among others, are ways that we can interact more productively with the public. To that end, it is important for us to share with the public that interest, excitement and fascination that brought us into science. It was that interest and fascination — as well as a concern for its continued sustenance — that brought me into KAS. I would like to encourage each of you to convey that same excitement and concern to the public as a normal part of your professional and KAS responsibilities.
 
Best regards,
Frank R. Ettensohn
2020 KAS President
 

Winter Birds of Kentucky

• Presenters for 1-hour interactive lab sessions for HS audiences
• Speed mentors - scientists of all disciplines & places in your career are welcome here- 1 hour commitment, no experience necessary

Email Andrew.Spence@louisvilleky.gov if you're interested

Thank you to everyone at Berea College for hosting KAS for our Annual Meeting! Berea welcomed us with warm hospitality and wowed us with the Margaret A Cargill Science Building.
This year KAS welcomed 650 scientists representing 40 different institutions and organizations. Of those, 311 students participated, and attendees presented 360 scientific posters and talks during the two-day meeting.

2019 Annual meeting Photos
2019 Online Annual Meeting Program

Some highlights included:

• Teacher workshops and a Geology field trip
• Screening of the new documentary We Believe in Dinosaurs, featuring KAS member Dan Phelps
• President’s Reception at Boone Tavern
• Friday Night of Science with slideshow karaoke
• Hiking at the Pinnacles

Next year we're organizing a joint meeting with the Kentucky Science Teachers Association at EKU, November 5-7, 2020. Mark your calendars now and join us!
 

Congratulations to our student competition winners:
Find winners online along with some photos
 

Place	Section	Category	First	Last
1st	Agricultural Sciences	Poster	Sarah	Whitaker	Berea
2nd	Agricultural Sciences	Poster	Chi Jing	Leow	Asbury
3rd	Agricultural Sciences	Poster	Kevin	Smeeks	KSU
1st	Agricultural Sciences	Oral	Spencer	Langford	WKU
2nd	Agricultural Sciences	Oral	Ian Storrs and	Sara Barrens	WKU
3rd	Agricultural Sciences	Oral	Chinmay	Avinash	Western Hills HS
1st	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Poster	Marranne	Conge	Berea
2nd	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Poster	Kiahra	Burns	KBRIN
3rd	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Poster	Haley	Todd	Bellarmine
1st	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Oral	Clara	Reasoner	Berea
2nd	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Oral	LilyAnne	Grieve	Murray
3rd	Cellular and Molecular Bio	Oral	Muhammud Khadaroo and	and Ronald Burns	NKU
1st	Chemistry: Analytical / Physical	Poster	Zackary	Boothe	Berea
2nd	Chemistry: Analytical / Physical	Poster	Catherine	O'Rourke	Murray
3rd	Chemistry: Analytical / Physical	Poster	Natalie	Adriano	NKU
1st	Chemistry: Analytical / Physical	Oral	Madisyn	Hayes	NKU
1st	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Poster	Fox	Bratcher	WKU
2nd	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Poster	Pedro	Herrera-Castro	Berea
3rd	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Poster	Krupa	Hegde	NKU
1st	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Oral	Ayanav	Roy	NKU
2nd	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Oral	Zachary	Callihan	EKU
3rd	Chemistry: Organic / Inorganic	Oral	Anna	Vernier	NKU
1st	Computer & Info Sciences	Poster	Tam Nguyen, Anthony Tamasi	and Chad Nelson	UK
2nd	Computer & Info Sciences	Poster	Raiffa	Syamil	UK
3rd	Computer & Info Sciences	Poster	Coilin	Bradley	UK
1st	Computer & Info Sciences	Oral	Katelyn	Richard	EKU
2nd	Computer & Info Sciences	Oral	Alexander	Stewart	UK
3rd	Computer & Info Sciences	Oral	Robert	Harper	UK
1st	Ecology	Poster	Jonathan	Frommeyer	Thomas More
2nd	Ecology	Poster	Andrew	Seiler	Thomas More
3rd	Ecology	Poster	Evan	Moser	EKU
1st	Ecology	Oral	Gage	Barnes	Murray
2nd	Ecology	Oral	Joseph	Mecham	Berea
3rd	Ecology	Oral	Sarah	Bell	WKU
1st	Environmental Science	Poster	Kathleen	Condon	Murray
2nd	Environmental Science	Poster	Raquel	Dominguez	WKU
1st	Geography	Oral	Dallas	McKinney	WKU
1st	Geology	Poster	Austin	Weber	Berea
2nd	Geology	Poster	Darrell Ray and	Justin Brown	WKU
3rd	Geology	Poster	Cameron	Peterson	NKU
1st	Geology	Oral	Selsey	Stribling	EKU
2nd	Geology	Oral	Andrew	Hensley	EKU
1st	Health Sciences	Poster	Aloyce	Riziki	Berea
2nd	Health Sciences	Poster	Hannah	Leibman	WKU
3rd	Health Sciences	Poster	Nicholas	Brock	EKU
1st	Health Sciences	Oral	Stefany	Reyes	Berea
2nd	Health Sciences	Oral	Samuel	Adams	NKU
3rd	Health Sciences	Oral	Tavin	Marshall	KSU
1st	Mathematics	Poster	Patrick	O'Doherty	NKU
2nd	Mathematics	Poster	Jacob	Adkins	NKU
3rd	Mathematics	Poster	Christopher	Leadford	Morehead
1st	Mathematics	Oral	William	Boultinghouse	KWC
2nd	Mathematics	Oral	Megan	Pauley	Morehead
3rd	Mathematics	Oral	Will	Pitts	Morehead
1st	Microbiology	Poster	Elizabeth	Morgan	WKU
2nd	Microbiology	Poster	Isabel	Mendez	KWC
3rd	Microbiology	Poster	Austin	Applegate	Berea
1st	Microbiology	Oral	Michael	Vacik	KWC
1st	Physics & Astronomy	Poster	Alex	Henson	WKU
2nd	Physics & Astronomy	Poster	Taylor	Robinson	WKU
3rd	Physics & Astronomy	Poster	Lars	Hebenstiel	Gatton
1st	Physics & Astronomy	Oral	Valeria	Rosa Rocha	Berea
2nd	Physics & Astronomy	Oral	Jessy	Anderson	Morehead
3rd	Physics & Astronomy	Oral	Eli	Prater	Berea
1st	Physiology and Biochemistry	Poster	Louis	Fritz	Wood Hudson
2nd	Physiology and Biochemistry	Poster	Kenneth	Schlabach	WKU
1st	Physiology and Biochemistry	Oral	Collin	Wells	Centre
2nd	Physiology and Biochemistry	Oral	Amber	Earlywine	Berea
3rd	Physiology and Biochemistry	Oral	Michael	Parritt	Wood Hudson
1st	Science Education	Poster	Stasio	Gibbons	Bellarmine
2nd	Science Education	Poster	Emma	DeBurger	NKU
1st	Science Education	Oral	Kathryn	Gallenstein	Morehead
2nd	Science Education	Oral	Austin	Trammell	KWC
3rd	Science Education	Oral	Hannah	Brewer	Morehead
1st	Social Sciences	Poster	Jayasree	Mullaguru	NKU
2nd	Social Sciences	Poster	Haley	Hill	EKU
3rd	Social Sciences	Poster	Andrea	Anderson	WKU
1st	Social Sciences	Oral	Jenifer	Fidelia	Berea
1st	Zoology	Poster	Kaylee	Simmons	NKU
2nd	Zoology	Poster	Austin	Spradlin	Morehead
3rd	Zoology	Poster	Darby	Tassell	WKU
1st	Zoology	Oral	Melanie	Andrews	Berea
2nd	Zoology	Oral	Nicole	Marguerite	UK
3rd	Zoology	Oral	Hannah	Jackson	Berea

The documentary We Believe in Dinosaurs is now available to download for rent or purchase at the websites linked to at the bottom of the film’s website:
 
https://www.webelieveindinosaurs.net/
 

Thank you to those who filled out our Annual meeting evaluations.  You offered us some very helpful feedback and suggestions which we will try to incorporate into next year's meeting at EKU.
Congratulations to Austin Applegate at Berea College who was randomly chosen among respondents to win $25!

Congratulations to Thomas More University @TMUBIO for the winning photo in our social media photo contest!

Dr. Joe Winstead died November 20, 2019. Dr. Winstead was president of KAS from 1984-1985 and remained interested and involved right to the end of his life. KAS is greatly indebted to him for helping us work with the Athey family to set up the Athey endowment that supports KAS research grants.  Dr. Winstead was a faculty member at WKU and retired in Arkansas. Read his entertaining obituary here.

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors







Thank you to our Business Meeting Luncheon Sponsor




Thank you to our Afternoon Break Sponsor

Thank you to our Gold Level Sponsor


Thank you to our In-Kind partners



 

Thanks for carpooling!
Based on what you told us, we tallied 2.72 occupants per car on average traveling to the Annual Meeting. We're calculating our carbon footprint and  shopping for a Carbon offset and we appreciate your help to keep it small!

Become a Student Ambassador!

KAS Student Ambassadors can organize events on their campuses, get involved in science policy, outreach, or mentorship, and much more! Tell us what you're interested in!

Fill out our Student Ambassador Interest Form here.

Help us manage our Instagram account!

If you're interested in helping us promote KAS on Instagram, let us know.

Check out our latest digital edition:

A Benchtop Approach To Measuring S-AdenosylMethionine Metabolite Levels Using HILIC UPLC-MS
Stuart Oehrle, Kathryn SP Higginbotham, Erin D. Strome
80(1), 1-5, (10 September 2019) https://doi.org/10.3101/1098-7096-80.1.1

Do Conservation Practices Bring Quick Changes to Key Soil Properties for Resource-Limited Farmers?
Sait Sarr, Maheteme Gebremedhin, Mark Coyne, Avinash Topè, Karamat Sistani, Shawn Lucas
80(1), 6-16, (17 October 2019) https://doi.org/10.3101/1098-7096-80.1.6

Exploring the Potential Impact of Louisville's Urban Heat Island on the Structure and Intensity of an Organized Convective Systems
L. J. Twohey, J. Naylor
80(1), 17-26, (8 November 2019) https://doi.org/10.3101/1098-7096-80.1.17

The Urban Heat Island at a Regional University in Kentucky, USA
Donald M. Yow, Matthew Ruggless
80(1), 27-37, (21 November 2019) https://doi.org/10.3101/1098-7096-80.1.27
 

KAS Archive Update: 

All the archive materials from EKU have been moved to UK. Although not all of the material has been indexed yet, the Journals have been completed. However, even after combining the collections from both universities, we are missing some issues. If you can help us complete this collection, that would be wonderful.
 
Do  you have copies of these journal issues? We are missing:
 
Complete Volumes:
4, 6, 20 – 26, 28 -31, 51, 74 – 75, and 77
 
Issues:
Vol. 27 issue 3-4, Vol. 57 issue 1, Vol. 62 issue 2 and Vol. 72 issue 1.
 
If you have or know someone who has any of these, and you are willing to donate them to the KAS Archives, just let me know.
 
Thanks in advance for any help you can give us to complete the collection in the Archives so that everyone can have access to them.

Contact information: 

Dr. Marilyn Akins
Science Education Center
Phone: (859) 246-6242
Email: marilyn.akins@kctcs.edu

 

Louisville Regional Science Fair is Saturday March 7, 2020 at the University of Louisville
Volunteer as a judge.

Science & Engineering Fair of Northern Kentucky Feb 28, 2020  at NKU
Registration for Judges will be open in in January. Undergraduate student scientists are welcome as judges for elementary & middle school categories.

The Kentucky American Water - Fayette County Public Schools District Science Fair is on February 1, 2020, at Frederick Douglass High School. The deadline to register as a judge is December 20th. Volunteer as a judge. 

Dear Fellow Biologists and Natural History Enthusiasts,
 
As the newly elected president of the Kentucky Society of Natural History, I’m writing to encourage you to become a member.
  Our dues support student research grants in Kentucky
Student members or students of members qualify to apply for research grants
e-Newsletters and announcement of events, grants, and other opportunities
annual meeting and group hikes and other outings membership is only $15 for individuals, $7.50 for students, $25 for families. You can join via paper form or the web. The KSNH includes all of the field sciences of natural history— geography, geology, biology, environmental chemistry, and others, so please pass this on to your colleagues!

Annual Conference
On February 28–29, KSNH will meet jointly with the Kentucky Organization of Field Stations at Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, Lexington KY. Registration information will be sent out to KSNH members in December, so join soon so you don’t miss out!
 
Student Research Grants
We are pleased to announce funding to support undergraduate and graduate student research that expands natural history knowledge in Kentucky. We encourage research in both the field and laboratory, with information disseminated through presentations, journals, monographs, books, and other literature. The KSNH includes all of the field sciences of natural history— geography, geology, biology, environmental chemistry, and others, so please pass this on to your colleagues. Grant applications for up to $1000 for graduate students and $500 for undergraduate students are due on is 1 February 2020. For more information, contact Stephen Richter (stephen.richter@eku.edu), President, Kentucky Society of Natural History.
 
More background: The Society recently went through a transition period and reconstituted our Board of Directors. I would like to welcome and thank our other new officers for being willing to serve and to rejuvenate our society: Billy Bennett (Vice-President), Emily Sedgwick (Secretary), Mary Alice Bidwell (acting Treasurer), Luke Dodd (webmaster), and Berl Meyer (e-newsletter Editor). I would also like to offer a special thank you to Berl for his persistence in preserving this very important society that has been around for over 75 years!
 
Our primary mission is to promote natural history by encouraging scientific inquiry, supporting the next generation of naturalists and scientists, disseminating research within scientific and public venues, and promoting conservation and preservation of nature by offering public lectures, hikes, and other opportunities to interact with our living and non-living environment. As impacts by humans to our natural landscapes continue to grow, so does the importance of all aspects of our mission.
 
Over the next months, we plan to send out a survey to learn about what you would like from the society, along with opportunities for you to get involved if you so choose. We then plan to modify programs, meetings, and other offerings to better meet the needs of our members. In the past, full member meetings and nature hikes were offered fairly regularly, and we plan to continue having these. Another major focus of the society has been the support of natural history research through student research grants, which enhance our understanding of Kentucky natural history while training and recruiting students. These are made possible through membership dues and donations, so please continue to maintain your membership and consider donating to the cause.
 
Stay active and do you part to promote natural history! I encourage all of you to join and to recruit others to our society so that our impact will grow. Please know that while you are doing your part, no matter how small you think it is, others are doing theirs. Together we can accomplish much!
 
Very respectfully,
 
Stephen Richter
President, Kentucky Society of Natural History
 
Director, Division of Natural Areas
Professor of Biology
Eastern Kentucky University
http://richterlab.weebly.com