Welcome to the March 2020 Round Up of the Fulbright REVIEW Blog

​​Before we get into this month’s Fulbright REVIEW stories, let me begin by saying how much I appreciate each and every one of you during this time of uncertainty and unprecedented change.

Our faculty and staff have worked diligently to lead us all through this transition. Our students and their families have stuck with us as we quickly pivot to a new way of learning. And our alumni, friends and community members have encouraged and supported us all as we forge this new path together.

As Spring Break comes to a close and we welcome our students back virtually, we all are faced with a new reality while fighting the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

While I may not know how much longer our current circumstances will last, I know that our college leadership team is working hard to support our students and find answers as soon as we can.

I am incredibly proud to be part of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and such an outstanding and committed team of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends who are striving to make our world a better place.

Check out a few of the many ways our folks are making a positive impact during this time:

• Our associate dean Jeannie Hulen worked with the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry team to open an outpost for students, faculty and staff in need at the Ceramics Studio to distribute “grab and go” food and supplies with minimal interaction. Jeannie posts the outpost’s schedule daily to Facebook, can be reached at jhulen@uark.edu, and the Food Pantry is accepting donations online.
• Our Academic Advising Center team and our director of employer relations are still helping students who have concerns about their classes, academic path, or upcoming career plans through appointments available via phone or video chat.
• Our chair of biological sciences, David McNabb, is working with folks across campus in nursing, cell and molecular biology, biomedical engineering and other areas to help frontline medical workers in our community.

More information about these initiatives and other Fulbright College activities can be found on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Our handle is @uarkfulbright on all three.

You can also visit health.uark.edu/coronavirus for the latest information about how Coronavirus/COVID-19 is affecting campus.

I also wanted to share some more good news and stories from across the college such as this Q&A with an outstanding student who is studying the computational neuroscience component of artificial intelligence, and this fantastic colleague who is the heart of our Dean’s Office.

Check out this fascinating research confirming that caffeine increases the ability to focus and problem solve – but doesn’t stimulate creativity. And, meet the students who presented 12 research posters and took home several awards at the 2020 Arkansas Bioinformatics Consortium.

Be sure to help congratulate the doctoral student who won this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition, then learn about the industry-leading software tools our Geosciences students are now using, and how Ice Age ‘protodogs’ may have been the ancestors of today’s contemporary canines.

You can also listen to the latest Short Talks From the Hill podcast featuring an alumnus who helped incarcerated people tell their stories through writing.

As always, we’ll keep providing you with more new stories at fulbrightreview.uark.edu. We hope you’ll stay tuned, and if you have a great story idea, please email us at fulbcomm@uark.edu.

Also know that I am here to help in any way I can.

Please keep in touch and thank you again for your support, friendship and grit as we all navigate this unusual time together!

Sincerely,

Todd Shields, Dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences