The Faculty Senate Early Career Academic Faculty Committee hosted its biannual Meet Future Collaborators Lightning Talks event Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

"We call it a collaborative session," Amy Hunsaker, ECAFC committee member and digital initiatives librarian for University Libraries, said. "We can get trapped in our silos, and these sessions give us an opportunity to share our work with our colleagues across campus."

The event featured five-minute research presentations from seven early-career faculty members representing a variety of disciplines across the University.

The Lightning Talks, attended by nearly 30, were held from 4-5 p.m. in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center's Knowledge Nook. It is an event designed to provide an opportunity for new faculty to share their current research with colleagues from around campus in a friendly environment.

Presenters and Projects

• David Johnson, assistant professor of education, Professional Specialized Studies
  How are universities reconfiguring their "social contract" with society

• Andrew Nuss, assistant professor of agriculture, Entomology, Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences
  Insecticide discovery by targeting peptide receptors and physiological functions of peptide hormones

• Mozart Fonseca, assistant professor of agriculture, Animal Science, Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences
  Beef cattle production and applied modeling

• Bradley Ferguson, assistant professor of nutrition, Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences
  The study of diet and lysine acetylation in the heart

• Chris Barile, assistant professor of chemistry, Chemistry 
  Smarter windows with tunable transparency

• Ruthie Meadows, assistant professor of music, Ethnomusicology, Music Department 
  The Nigerian Connection: Re-Africanizing Cuban religion in sound

• Tara Radniecki, engineering librarian, University Libraries
  How might academic library makerspaces impact undergraduate student learning?

The Early Career Academic Faculty Committee promotes the success of early career academic faculty, conducts studies on University practices, policies and procedures and makes recommendations to the senate and administration on matters that affect the welfare and success of Early Career Faculty. 

"Thank you all for coming," Maggie Ressel, committee chair and director of access services for University Libraries, said after the 50-minute program. "If anyone who is not a presenter who would like to present, we welcome your exciting research in the future."

The next Lighting Talks event will be planned for the fall semester and scheduled soon. If anyone has any observations, comments or suggestions for improving future events, or would like to be a speaker, contact Maggie Ressel at ressel@unr.edu or 775-682-5653.