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Spring 2023 Redbird Scholar cover showing illustration of nuclear pasta in space
Nuclear pasta: Illinois State’s High Performance Computing cluster is enabling Dr. Matt Caplan to study the inner workings of neutron stars and other mysteries of the universe.

Volume 8 • Number 2 • Spring 2023

Dr. Matt Caplan

Discoveries in the data: High Performance Computing cluster powers cutting edge research

Illinois State’s High Performance Computing cluster is enabling Dr. Matt Caplan to study the inner workings of neutron stars and other mysteries of the universe.

man at typewriter

Essays of Langston Hughes celebrated in new book

A collection of interviews, speeches, and essays from Langston Hughes, edited by Professor Christopher De Santis, is available in a new book.  

man at typewriter

Redbird Media Spring 2023: Latest books from #RedbirdScholar faculty

Check out the latest books from #RedbirdScholar faculty in the spring 2023 edition of Redbird Media.

DeGarmo Hall and sculpture January 2022

Illinois State receives $780,000 grant as part of nationwide network to enhance inclusion, equity in STEM disciplines

Illinois State University is part of a nationwide group of institutions working to make STEM education more inclusive and equitable.

Bars Chocolate , candy sweet, dessert food and cocoa seeds

Dr. Kathryn Sampeck awarded British Academy Global Professorship 

Dr. Kathryn Sampeck is the first from Illinois State University to receive the nearly $1 million award from the British Academy. She will lead a team recentering the study of chocolate with an Indigenous Mezoamerican perspective.

collage of three people

Three named 2022 “Researchers to Know”

Three Illinois State University professors have been named 2022 “Researchers to Know” by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC).

Research being done with a microscope

Manna and Biswas receive NSF grant for cutting-edge experimental physics research 

Dr. Uttam Manna and Dr. Mahua Biswas received a nearly $290,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue research on experimental physics.

Human (animal) cell under microscope. 3d illustration

Dr. Martin Engelke awarded $1.6 million NIH grant for cell physiology studies  

Illinois State University’s Dr. Martin Engelke has received a $1.6 million Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institutes of Health to advance studies on a cellular level.

Grants support cattle, farm, cotton, and concrete research

Check out the latest research and grant news from the spring issue of Redbird Scholar magazine.

A poster excerpt showing circus performers presented onstage as part of The Barnum & Bailey Show, circa 1899. (Image/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.)

Q&A with Angela Yon: Digital exhibit spotlights humanity of circus performers

In this Redbird Scholar Q-and-A, Angela Yon, assistant professor and cataloging and metadata librarian at Milner Library, discusses the interactive digital exhibit, Agency Through Otherness: Portraits of Performers in Circus Route Books, 1875–1925, which is based on the library’s circus route books digital collection.

Concept illustration of the expansion of Illinois State University’s Mennonite Lab Building.

Game changer: Upgrades to nursing simulation space to aid faculty research

Enhancement and expansion of the Mennonite Lab Building will soon remove obstacles to faculty research.

Prolific College of Business researcher keeps close eye on India-based international businesses

Illinois State University is home to one of the most prolific researchers of India’s business world, Dr. Somnath Lahiri, who specializes in international business and management research.

Kee-Yoon Nahm and Dr. Leslie Sloan Orr on stage

Crossroads Project: Bringing diverse voices center stage

Dr. Leslie Sloan Orr and Kee-Yoon Nahm have been diversifying Illinois State’s theatre offerings for years through the Crossroads Project.

Youmi Hong checks on the equipment she is using to investigate underwater disturbances in Six Mile Creek: a hydrophone, a recording device, and turbidity sensors, which she stored in two tubes.

Stream sounds: Grad student listens in on aquatic life to solve underwater mystery

Graduate student Youmi Hong conducted an innovative eco-acoustic study to determine what was causing underwater disturbances in Six Mile Creek.

Mehdi Bennis with Dr. Jan-Ulrik Dahl in a lab

Summer grants offer Illinois State students immersive research experiences

Meet some of the Illinois State student researchers who received FIREbird summer research grants from the Office of Student Research.

student posing in front of Yale library

Illinois State student spends summer researching at Yale

It’s not every day that the opportunity arises to research cancer cells at Yale University, but for Illinois State University junior Erinda Aidoo, it was an everyday activity this summer.

student points at research poster

Molecular and cellular biology student conducts genomic research in Utah

When given the choice to conduct cutting edge research close to home or more than a thousand miles away, senior molecular and cellular biology major Shira Archie said, “I didn’t want to be comfortable.”

Amelia standing in front of a presentation and pointing at her work

A bright opportunity: ISU student studies solar physics at Harvard

When Amelia Korveziroska was accepted for a research internship at Harvard, the junior physics engineering major knew she was going to conduct innovative, scientific research. She didn’t expect to also gain insight into her potential future, connect with new mentors, and discover confidence in herself as a researcher.