Winter 2011: Of Note

Dalai Lama being interviewed

Bryan Meltz

Perfect Pitch

Eyes on Emory: The visit in mid-October by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama and a series of events devoted to interfaith views on happiness, compassion meditation, creativity and spirituality, and the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative attracted worldwide attention. More than forty outlets provided coverage—including CNN, USA Today, NPR, the Associated Press, Voice of America, WABE, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Midterms: Emory political scientists and election experts Alan Abramowitz, Merle Black, and Andra Gillespie weighed in on the midterm elections on a near-daily basis in outlets including NPR, Fox News, Georgia Public Broadcasting, WABE, the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Associated Press, and the Los Angeles Times.

After the Mine: “For a small percentage, this is a genuinely life-changing experience. . . . For most people, it wanes, and they settle back into their old way of life,” explained theology professor Tom Long to CNN’s Belief blog about the faith experience of the Chilean miners rescued last month. Emory physician Kimberly Manning also provided her expertise on the health of the miners for CNN.

Fossil Finds: Emory paleontologist Anthony Martin’s find on prehistoric wasp cocoons, as cited by eScienceCommons, was among this year’s “best fossil finds” by Wired Science.

Pencils Away: FOX News highlighted chemistry senior lecturer Tracy Morkin in a piece on teaching technologies and her use of “clickers” in the classroom. Preetha Ram, associate dean for pre-health and science, also was interviewed about the global virtual study hall called “OpenStudy” she has helped develop in partnership with Georgia Tech.

Standout Student: The Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighted Emory student and neuroscience and behavioral biology major Rosy Gomez as one of three Georgia students to receive a scholarship from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, one of ten organizations picked to split President Obama’s $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award.

Heal Thyself: Biologist Jaap de Roode’s research on the self-medicating habits of monarch butterflies (see opposite page) attracted notice with coverage by MSNBC, CBC, Scientific American, Voice of America, LiveScience, and other outlets.