Congratulations are in order to Dr. Amy Pearce, professor of psychology, Dr. Anne Grippo, professor of biology and associate dean of sciences and mathematics, and Dr. Karen Yanowitz, professor of psychology, who have worked together for a second straight year to plan and organize the Arkansas Science Festival. The festival features a series of educational and entertaining activities on campus and in the community. A news release has details.

Dr. Lauren Schack Clark (at piano), professor of music, and Dr. Sarah Jones-Hayes, instructor in music (with violin), traveled to China for a recruiting and recital tour to benefit the string music program.  They visited Xinghai Conservatory, Shenzhen University, Lingnan Normal University, Southwest University and Shangqiu Normal University, and taught master classes and performed recitals. The tour was organized by John Pate, an A-State alumnus who lives in Guangzhou.

Dr. Elizabeth Hood, distinguished professor of agriculture, received a research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture NIFA program for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture. The $291,000 is for a three-year collaboration with an engineer at the University of Arkansas. Their goal is to understand pinewood extracts' impact on the degradation efficiency of cellulose for biofuel production. Long-term, their work could improve the value of Arkansas forests by creating new markets for less valuable lumber by-products.

Dr. Barbara Warner, assistant professor of political science, was invited by the Université de Montréal to participate in the European Consortium for Political Research in Montréal, Québec, the first time the conference was held outside Europe. She presented a paper on her study of Arkansas and Texas news media coverage of the politics of hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, a technique used by the energy industry to extract oil and gas from shale formations.

Social Science Research, a peer-reviewed journal, has published an article by Dr. Veena S. Kulkarni, associate professor of sociology. Her study used 2009–2011 American Community Survey data to investigate whether wives' earning contributions to household income varies across the six major Asian groups by their ethnicity and immigration status. Results indicate significant inter-group diversity and underscore the relevance of employing multiple conceptual frameworks in understanding earning contributions in Asian families.