Two Recreation & Leisure Professional Associations Honor Henderson

Posted on September 9, 2010 by

Dr. Karla Henderson, a professor of parks, recreation and tourism management, at NC State University recently received major awards from two professional associations.

The National Recreation and Park Association will honor Henderson with a 2010 National Literary Award, given to a writer or publisher who has made a significant contribution to understanding of tenets, trends or research in the field. She will accept the honor Oct. 27 at a congress and exposition in Minneapolis.

Henderson was named a senior fellow and founding member of the World Leisure Academy, an association for researchers, educators and practioners. She was inducted Aug. 20 in ChunCheon, Korea. Henderson accepted the academy’s George Torkildsen Literary Award earlier this month.

Henderson, who publishes regularly in a variety of journals, has authored or co-authored several books, led professional organizations and received awards for both teaching and research. She teaches primarily graduate courses in recreation and leisure theory and qualitative research methods.

This Red House

Posted on September 7, 2010 by

NC State University News Release – September 7, 2010
by Caroline Barnhill

It has been more than 80 years since NC State built a new chancellor’s residence. A thing or two has changed since 1928 – like the advent of central heat and air conditioning, which are among the many “retrofittings” that have taken place at the residence. The way the residence is used has changed a great deal, too, as the university has grown.

The need for a new residence more specifically designed for meeting the needs of a large university has become apparent. Last spring, ground was broken on a new residence. And despite this particularly hot North Carolina summer, construction is in full swing.

The new home is located on Lake Raleigh, near the Park Alumni Center. The residence is scheduled for completion by this time next year and will be financed by private gifts. The home was designed by College of Design Dean Marvin Malecha.

“The exterior of the home is very much a traditional style. When people come up to the residence, they’ll have an immediate feeling of familiarity – that this is what a home feels like. We’re using traditional landscaping and traditional materials. But when you walk into the house, you’ll see it is more modern than you’d think,” Malecha explains. “That was a struggle for us – to use familiar forms but with a modern expression. But I think this design does it. It will speak to the roots of NC State, but also to what the university has become.”

The lower level of the residence – about 5,000 square feet — will be the “public” portion of the home, where large receptions and events will be held for NC State students, employees, alumni and friends. The second floor will serve as the living quarters for the chancellor’s family.

NC State’s University Communications office recently launched the This Red House blog which will follow the building of the new chancellor’s residence. The blog will include interesting facts and features, pictures, videos and interviews relating to the design and construction of the new residence.

College Welcomes New Students

Posted on September 1, 2010 by

Our students are here, and they are ready to roll!

The College of Natural Resources kicked off the 2010-2011 school year with College Connections on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010! The College is excited to welcome 309 new freshmen and transfer students and 114 graduate students into our three departments, bringing our total enrollment to 1,577.

On Tuesday, incoming students gathered to share thoughts and reflections from their summer reading, Half the Sky by Sheryl Wudunn and Nicholas Kristof. The students discussed ways they can connect to make a difference (on campus, in the community, in our country, and even our world).
Team building activities helped them forge new relationships and best of all they enjoyed eating Howling Cow ice cream – an important NC State tradition, and delicious!

By working in small groups to build the tallest, freestanding tower they could, using only a few office supplies – the students got to know one another.

To make it even more challenging, the rules changed while the students were building their towers — no talking, build using only one hand, etc. The Result – reflection, fun, new friends and a growing sense of belonging to the college. And best of all – the winning group was first in line for ice cream!

“College Connections was a great way for me to meet others in CNR and get to know some of the faculty.” Summer Higdon tells us. “My first couple days of classes have been great because I am beginning to see that every teacher and professor really just wants each of us to succeed, not only in the class, but also in future endeavors.”

The whole campus gets in on the act of welcoming students, both old and new, back to campus during Wolfpack Welcome Week. Every year students can get re-engaged and re-energized. Higdon had clearly been checking out her options, “All of the extra-curricular clubs and organizations around campus seem like a great way to get involved and I can’t wait to get started!”

The excitement and energy that these students have already shown has all signs pointing to a FABULOUS year ahead!

NC State Researchers Receive Grant to Convert Lignin into Chemical Feedstocks

Posted on August 19, 2010 by

NC STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE – Aug. 19, 2010

Media Contact:
Tracey Peake, News Services, 919/515-6142 or tracey_peake@ncsu.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Researchers at North Carolina State University have received a grant aimed at finding an energy efficient and environmentally friendly method for breaking down lignin-a renewable, energy-rich raw material found in plants-into feedstock for the petrochemical industry, which produces everything from fuel to pharmaceuticals.

NC State scientists Dr. Dimitris Argyropoulos, Finland Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Dr. Elon Ison, assistant professor of chemistry and a green chemistry specialist, have received a $500,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant via the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) for their research “Catalytic Oxidation Chemistry Aimed at Upgrading Lignin.”

Lignin is found in woody biomass and the by-products of the pulp and paper and bioethanol industries. Approximately 1.3 billion tons of biomass are available annually in the United States, which could produce up to 130 billion gallons of biofuels, as well as other petrochemical products. However, the fundamental science necessary to convert lignin into chemical feedstocks has not been adequately addressed.

Argyropoulos and Ison aim to develop the science for catalytically transforming lignin by using liquid carbon dioxide, an environmentally-friendly process, thereby creating an economically viable resource for the petrochemical industry.

“It will be a win-win-win situation if we are successful,” Argyropoulos says. “We will be making use of a renewable material, eliminating industrial waste, the end product will be immediately usable to supply our existing industrial infrastructure, and our conversion method is environmentally friendly.”

This grant is part of IRI’s Industry-Defined Fundamental Research program, designed to bring together leaders in industrial science to identify research that will directly affect the success of the American chemical industry, and to partner with universities and companies to explore this research.

The Department of Forest Biomaterials is part of NC State’s College of Natural Resources. The Department of Chemistry is part of NC State’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

NC Energy Office Stimulus Grants Support CNR’s Student Internship Program

Posted on July 22, 2010 by

Excerpted from Triangle Business Journal – July 20, 2010
by Amanda Jones Hoyle

NC Energy Office grants $5.6M in stimulus funds

The North Carolina Energy Office is doling out $5.6 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to create an internship program that will employ 400 North Carolina students training in green-energy related fields.

The federal funds are being combined with $3 million allocated from public and private agencies in North Carolina to fund the program, which will create jobs and internships for college students and recent graduates. More than 20 private businesses, public agencies and universities are expected to participate, according to information from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The N.C. Energy Office created the program with money from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide green-energy-related internship and fellowship programs for North Carolina undergraduate and graduate students.

N.C. State University’s College of Natural Resources in Raleigh will use its $435,481 grant to hire 45 interns and three fellows with master’s degrees. An internship experience is a course requirement for completion of a degree in several majors within the department.

Read the complete article in the Triangle Business Journal