UIS hosts event at Emiquon Preserve for meteor shower

Many members of the Springfield and surrounding areas gathered at Thompson Lake at the Emiquon Preserve on Tuesday night, August 11, to view the Perseid Meteor Shower. The Sangamon Astronomical Society had telescopes set up for viewing and UIS physics and astronomy professor John Martin was on hand to explain the meteor shower.

The event was featured in an August 15, 2009, article of the State Journal-Register.

Download a PDF of the article
20090815-SJR-meteorshower.pdf

Professor weighs in on large mammoth bone found

Comments from Dr. Dennis Ruez, professor of environmental studies at UIS, were featured in a WICS news story about the finding of a large mammoth bone in Illinois. Dr. Ruez says the find will be instrumental for research and learning and is important for Illinois.

Watch the video clip here:
http://www.wics.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wics_vid_233.shtml

Course helps students understand evolution and creationism theories

The debate about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution continues even 200 years after his death, and to help the public study and understand his views, local colleges, including UIS, offer classes on evolution and creationism.

UIS' class is taught by Dennis Ruez, Jr., assistant professor of environmental studies at UIS. His course is part of a feature story written about such classes in a January 30, 2009, article in the Galesburg Register-Mail.

Download a PDF of the file
20090130-GalesburgRM-Evolutionclasses.pdf

Wired world means rarely leaving work

Because about 60 percent of the workforce uses the Internet or e-mail for their jobs, almost half of them also work from home, checking their e-mail on weekends and sick days and logging in while on vacation.

Clinical psychologist Keith Burton, head of the psychology department at UIS, says that while some can manage with constant connection to work, most people need to recharge and take a break to be productive.

Burton's quotes were featured in an article in the November 25, 2008, State Journal-Register. Download a PDF of the file
20081125-SJR-WiredWorkers.pdf

Campus hosts "Battle of the Brains" competition

On November 1 the UIS campus was the host site for a round of competition in an international programming contest – the 33rd annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest – also known as the Global "Battle of the Brains" Software Competition.

Reporter John Reynolds was on hand to profile the event. His account appeared in the November 2, 2008, State Journal-Register.

Download a pdf file of the article
20081102-sjr-BattleoftheBrains.pdf

UIS' Emiquon Field Station an asset to area teachers, students

The UIS Field Station located at the Nature Conservancy's Emiquon Preserve near Havana is providing area teachers and students with unique hands-on learning opportunities.

Mike Lemke, UIS associate professor of biology and field station director, noted that the facility "allows us access to an incredible restoration project and natural setting that would not otherwise be possible."

An article that appeared in the July 17, 2008, Canton Daily Ledger profiled the experiences of one teacher, Kristy Boggs from Spoon River College, who has been bringing students in her field ecology classes to Emiquon since 2006.

Download a pdf file of the article

20080717-CDL-EmiquonLivingLab.pdf

Emiquon Field Station will open this spring

When UIS' new Emiquon Field Station opens this spring, the partnership that has been established among the university, the Nature Conservancy, and Dickson Mounds Museum will allow for a sharing of resources as well as educational and research programs that would previously have been very difficult.

An article in the February 2, 2008, State Journal-Register reports on the progress of construction and gives readers a preview of the possibilities the facility has to offer.

Download a PDF file of the article:
20080202-sjr-EmiquonFieldStation.pdf