D'Lyn Ford

Dec 11, 2013

Tree Change: Is Raleigh Becoming More Like Baltimore?

Could Raleigh, proudly known as the City of Oaks, end up having much less tree cover, like Baltimore? Though it’s not likely that Raleigh will have to rethink its New Year’s Eve drop of the giant acorn any time soon, planners and policy makers need to take steps to prevent the City of Oaks from… 

Oct 18, 2013

NC State Shelton Forum to Focus on Strategic Leadership

George Bodenheimer, executive chairman of ESPN Inc., and retired four-star Gen. Ann Dunwoody, who managed the Army’s global supply chain in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be the keynote speakers for NC State University’s General Hugh Shelton Leadership Forum on Friday, Nov. 8, at the McKimmon Center. The forum, now in its 12th year, will focus on… 

Oct 16, 2013

NC State to Hold Open House for Prospective Students on Oct. 19

North Carolina State University will welcome thousands of prospective students and their families to campus during its annual Open House from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. High school students, transfer students, families, school counselors and teachers can visit the campus and learn about academic programs and student life at the state’s… 

Oct 15, 2013

The Housing Bomb: 5 Questions With Nils Peterson

Are we building our way to ruin? That’s the premise of a provocatively titled new book released this month: The Housing Bomb: Why Our Addiction to Houses Is Destroying the Environment and Threatening Our Society. Lead author Dr. Nils Peterson, associate professor of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at NC State, focuses his research on the… 

Oct 4, 2013

NC State Wins $4.7 Million Grant to Expand Rural School Leadership Program

North Carolina State University will use a $4.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand its efforts to train principals and assistant principals for hard-to-staff school districts in the northeastern region of the state. Thirteen districts will benefit from an expanded North East Leadership Academy (NELA), which offers specialized instruction in school… 

Oct 3, 2013

Slow Burn: Fall Foliage Taking Its Time

No, it’s not another sign of the federal government shutdown. North Carolina’s hardwood trees are taking their time to change colors this fall because of a low-stress growing season that included plenty of moisture and mild temperatures, a North Carolina State University expert says. “Growing conditions have been good, so trees have postponed shutting down… 

Sep 10, 2013

School Reform in a Vacuum: 5 Questions With Lance Fusarelli

When it comes to the state of our schools, Americans don’t have confidence that the kids are all right. Dr. Lance Fusarelli, professor of education policy at NC State University, took an in-depth look at trends in children’s well-being. His article, “School Reform in a Vacuum: Demographic Change, Social Policy, and the Future of Children,” ranked… 

Aug 19, 2013

NC State Experts Can Discuss K-12 Back to School Topics

As students and teachers across the state head back to class this fall, experts with North Carolina State University’s College of Education can offer helpful information on a range of topics. Learn what Common Core standards and new literacy requirements mean for North Carolina families. Experts also have timely advice on dealing with bullying in… 

Aug 15, 2013

New Carnivore in the Cloud Forest

A two-pound mammal that looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear has a claim to fame as the first new carnivore species discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years. Today, scientists in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh unveiled the olonguito (oh-lin-GHEE-toe), a member of the same family as raccoons, coatis,… 

Aug 12, 2013

Trust and Towns in Transition

Near the Blue Ridge Parkway, three North Carolina towns have grown rapidly as jobs shifted from mining and timber to hospitality and tourism. In Macon County, natural resource-based jobs plummeted from 10 percent to almost zero in the last 35 years. Meanwhile, service-industry employment in the Franklin area topped 30 percent. It’s the kind of… 

Aug 6, 2013

Battery Design Gets Boost From Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a new flexible nano-scaffold for rechargeable lithium ion batteries that could help make cell phone and electric car batteries last longer. The research, published online in Advanced Materials, shows the potential of manufactured sheets of aligned carbon nanotubes coated with silicon, a material with a much higher… 

Jul 15, 2013

NC State Elects Board of Trustees Officers, Welcomes Two New Members

During its July 10 meeting, the North Carolina State University Board of Trustees elected Ben Jenkins as chair, Jim Owens as first vice chair, Jimmy Clark as second vice chair and Gayle Lanier as secretary. Jenkins is former vice chairman and president of Wachovia Corporation’s general banking group. He earned his bachelor’s degree in textile… 

Jul 3, 2013

Powerful Animal Tracking System Helps Research Take Flight

Call it a bird’s eye view of migration. Scientists are taking a fresh look at animal movement with a big data approach that combines GPS tracking data with satellite weather and terrain information. The new Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA) system, featured in the journal Movement Ecology, can handle millions of data points and serve… 

Jun 27, 2013

Mapping Out How to Save Species

In stunning color, new biodiversity research from North Carolina State University maps out priority areas worldwide that hold the key to protecting vulnerable species and focusing conservation efforts. The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pinpoints the highest global concentrations of mammals, amphibians and birds on a scale that’s 100… 

Jun 10, 2013

Hairpin Turn: Micro-RNA Plays Role in Wood Formation

For more than a decade, scientists have suspected that hairpin-shaped chains of micro-RNA regulate wood formation inside plant cells. Now, scientists at NC State University have found the first example and mapped out key relationships that control the process. The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of June 10, describes…