Spring Plant Sale Offers Wide Array of Native Plants and Exotic Botanicals
The spring plant sale at UNC Charlotte’s Botanical Gardens is still scheduled for Friday and Saturday, despite a fire on Wednesday night in one of the greenhouse rooms. The spring plant sale is the gardens’ largest sale of the year and its major fundraising event. All proceeds support the greenhouse and gardens’ operations and are needed now more than ever.
The sale is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, and plant lovers can find a wide selection of native plants and exotic botanicals for sale. The selection will include wildflowers, trees and shrubs, perennials, carnivorous plants, orchids, tropicals, and indoor plants.In addition, staff will be available to answer questions. More information: http://gardens.charlotte.edu or 704-687-0721.
The greenhouse and gardens serve as a resource to the campus community, as well as the greater Charlotte community and its visitors. They are part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
When the fire occurred, the Charlotte Fire Department and the UNC Charlotte Department of Police and Public Safety responded. No one was injured in the fire. One of the two Titan Arums — nicknamed Bella — did suffer damage but is expected to recover. Other specialized plants were destroyed.
Reception Honors Faculty for Sponsored Research and Published Books
In December 2011, A Celebration of Faculty Achievement recognized College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty in two categories: those faculty who have received external funding during the previous academic year and those faculty who have published books. 128 faculty members in the College fall into one or the other of these two categories, and in four cases, both categories.
In Theory: Greg Gbur Has Fun with Physics
Theoretical physicist Greg Gbur shares a slice of his life — as nano-optics researcher, teacher, science writer and skydiver.
Five CLAS Faculty Receive Bonnie Cone Fellowships
Five College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) women faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines will receive Bonnie Cone Fellowships from UNC Charlotte ADVANCE to support their scholarship and leadership.
Seeing Through Walls
An article from the summer 2010 issue of Exchange magazine
UNC Charlotte professor Michael Klibanov uses mathematics to see through walls. An oversimplification of the process? Perhaps, but the end result is one that has piqued the interest of the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO). They hope to use Klibanov’s work to detect and identify Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Chemistry Students’ Video Brings National Attention to UNC Charlotte Nano Program
A group of UNC Charlotte chemistry graduate students, armed with nothing but a video camera and a catchy tune, submitted a video called “NanoGirls” to the American Chemical Society (ACS) for their second annual “nano video” contest. Organized as an outgrowth of ACS’ scientific publishing in the area of nanoscale science, the contest seeks creative videos that convey the applications of nanoscience to a broad audience.
The “NanoGirls” video was submitted by chemistry masters student Natalie Herring. The three students in the video are Kevin Major (a third-year student in the nanoscale science PhD program), Jonathan Ligda (a second-year student in the program) and Mikey Hurckes, a chemistry masters student. Chemistry faculty member Jordan Poler also provided some assistance to the students.
The video, which was also posted on the American Chemical Society Web site, is bringing national attention to the university and the nanoscale science program. Winning videos will be announced and displayed at the 238th ACS National Meeting and Exposition Aug. 16-20. Videos will be judged based on votes received on the video Web site.
Ecology Study Discovers City is an “Uber-Forest” for Big Barred Owls
It may be news to its bankers, but Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina and a major center of the American financial industry, is actually an old growth forest.
At least that’s the way the barred owls see it.
Charlotte is famous for having two kinds of green. It is home to two of the nation’s largest banks and its downtown residential neighborhoods and near-suburbs are also known for their lush yards and green streets, lined with large trees. Less well-known is the fact that the city is almost as well populated with large owls – particularly barred owls – as it is with bankers. Harry Potter would feel very much at home.
In fact, the barred owl population in Charlotte is so strong that the city was chosen to be the site for the most extensive barred owl research study that has ever been attempted, with fieldwork going on in the manicured front lawns and gardened back yards of urban and suburban neighborhoods.
Urban wildlife numbers have been increasing in recent decades, notably in populations of squirrels, Canada geese, raccoons and deer, but the appearance of significant urban populations of barred owls, the third largest owl species in the United States, is a surprise to many biologists.
“If you read about barred owls in the textbooks, it says they need large stands of old-growth forest to survive,” notes ecologist and ornithologist Rob Bierregaard of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who has directed the six-year-old research study. “Either the barred owls in Charlotte haven’t read that book or the book is wrong, because they are really here and apparently doing quite well.