Dr. Rajesh Sharma is director of the fourth annual Renewable Energy Conference, sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Technology, on Friday, Sept. 19.  Sharma, assistant professor of renewable energy technology, has invited speakers from industry, research, outreach and education to make presentations related to renewable energy, conservation and efficiency.  Registration information is available in the university news release. 

As part of National Campus Safety Awareness Week, several staff members of A-State's University Police Department are manning an educational information booth in the Reng Student Union, presenting active shooter response training, and conducting rape aggression defense classes.  The schedule of their activities is listed here, along with safety tips.

Congratulations are in order for the faculty and staff members who, through their collective efforts, are responsible for recruiting the incoming class of 2018.  The 1,699 first-time students also comprise the most academically prepared freshman class for the third consecutive fall.  Watch highlights about our students in this welcome video.

Dr. Michael Dougan, emeritus professor of history, will speak Wednesday on "From Emancipation to Civil Rights: The Musical March to Freedom."  His presentation, which includes selected freedom songs performed by Terry "Harmonica" Bean, is scheduled for 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.  The lecture and music are presented in conjunction with "Changing America," a traveling exhibit in Ellis Library.  Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, associate professor of history, is the project scholar; details are on the library website.

Dr. Travis Marsico, associate professor of biological sciences, is principal investigator (PI) in Arkansas for a National Science Foundation-funded grant that will support digitization of thousands of plant specimens in university and college herbaria in 12 states.  The result will be a database of plant data from a biodiversity hotspot of the U.S., readily accessible by botanical experts and other researchers through iDigBio.org.

A feature on Evan Lindquist, emeritus professor of art and Arkansas's first Artist Laureate, was published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sunday.  His artwork is featured at five exhibitions: Arkansas Arts Center and M2 Gallery in Little Rock, Adams/Vines Gallery in Blytheville, and Sara Howell Gallery in Jonesboro, along with "Legacy," which is underway at Bradbury Gallery.  The article is on the newspaper's website (paywall), and details about the Bradbury exhibit are in a university news release.