Discovery

HHD Professor’s Research Shows shifting Precipitation Patterns Affect Tea Flavor and Health Compounds

A team of researchers including Montana State University professor Selena Ahmed has found that shifting patterns of precipitation affect key chemicals responsible for the flavor and health properties of tea.

Ahmed, assistant professor of sustainable food systems in the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development, said the team’s research shows that major antioxidant compounds that determine tea health properties and flavor, including epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin gallate, gallocatechin gallate, catechin and gallic acid, fell up to 50 percent in an area of southwest China during an extreme monsoon, while other compounds increased. Household income from the sales of tea grown during the extreme monsoon also dropped by up to 50 percent, Ahmed said. Read more at MSU News.

Professor Receives Invitation from the White House to Share Research

Beth Rink (associate professor in HHD) and Julia Haggerty (earth sciences) were invited by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to present their research on psychological, community, cultural and ecology systems resiliency as it relates to the restoration of the buffalo with the Fort Peck Tribes. They are partnering with the Fort Peck Tribal College on this project. They were part of an all day workshop taking place in April that brought together community leaders, scientists, engineers, program and policy developers, and other stakeholders to discuss the unique characteristics and strengths of communities and cultures across the country that make them resilient in times of difficulty, particularly as they respond to the challenges of climate change.

Education Professor Wins Award for Commitment to Student Learning & Research

Montana State University’s Tricia Seifert, an associate professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Development, recently won the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services’ CACUSS Award of Honor. The award – which is widely recognized as the association’s most prestigious – is given for significant achievement and distinguished contribution to the development and promotion of student services and/or active participation within CACUSS.

Seifert’s award letter noted her contributions in supporting student affairs research in Canada, her contributions to CACUSS through presentations and mentoring graduate students to present, her support of the organization and her commitment to student learning and research. Read more at MSU News.

Education Professor Wins National Young Scholar Award

Nick Lux, assistant professor in instructional technology, was recently awarded the 2014 Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) Young Scholar Award for a concept paper, “The Cadence of Online Learning,” coauthored with Robert Carson, professor of education. The award is given to a junior faculty member who received a doctorate within the past five years and is the primary author of an unpublished work dealing with research and theory in educational technology. Lux’s article focuses on “the notion that enforcing scholarly habits and effective patterns of social academic engagement in online education can advance the quality of learning.” “The concept of a rhythm or cadence between student and instructor leads to high quality scholarly work,” said Lux. “Developing a rhythm can uplift learning.” Lux and Carson began working on the paper several years ago and submitted the theoretical paper to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). Lux received word in November 2014 of the award and will be officially recognized at the national convention in 2015 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Children’s Lit Professor to Serve on National Council

Joyce Herbeck, associate professor of literacy in the Department of Education at Montana State University, was recently appointed to serve as a member of the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Committee for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Her three-year term will begin after the 2015 Annual Convention scheduled for November 19-24, in Minneapolis. This committee’s task is to select the recipient of the annual Charlotte Huck Award and up to five honor books with both authors and illustrators receiving recognition. This award was established in 2014 to promote and recognize excellence in the writing of fiction for children. In particular this award recognizes fiction that has the potential for transforming children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder. The award will be presented at the Books for Children Luncheon at the NCTE Annual Convention. The National Council of Teachers of English, with 35,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.

HHD Professors Receive Sustainability Award

Assistant Professors Selena Ahmed and Carmen Byker Shanks and sustainable food systems (SFS) graduate student, Alicia Leitch, received a departmental MSU Sustainability Award for their project in partnership with University Food Services, the Office of Sustainability, and Campus Sustainability Advisory Council. The project examined how to decrease food waste and begin a composting program at the university. The preliminary project was established with the assistance of students in “Nutrition and Society” and “SFBS Capstone” courses. Learn more about research occurring at MSU's Food and Health Lab[BROKEN LINK].