Mick Kulikowski

Aug 3, 2010

NC State Gets Grants to Prepare Students for Green Jobs

North Carolina State University received grants totaling $1.7 million from the North Carolina Energy Office to provide undergraduate and graduate students hands-on experience and training for jobs in the state’s energy economy, including “green-energy” fields. 

Jul 16, 2010

Thought for Food

Could perennial grains help feed a burgeoning world population and make the planet safer at the same time? A policy forum paper in the journal Science, titled “Increased Food and Ecosystem Security via Perennial Grains,” co-authored by NC State crop scientist Jim Holland, makes the case in the affirmative. The gist of the paper is that… 

Jul 8, 2010

Researchers Find ‘Key Ingredient’ That Regulates Termite Caste System

A North Carolina State University entomologist has for the first time shown which specific chemicals are used by some termite queens to prevent other termites in the colony from becoming mommies like themselves. In a study published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, NC State’s Dr. Ed Vargo and colleagues from… 

Jun 28, 2010

More Food From Marginal Lands? Perennial Grains Hold Promise Where Annuals Lag

The world needs more food for its growing population, but risks overtaxing the croplands where much of the world’s food is grown. How then to provide more food while keeping a fragile ecosystem safe? A “Policy Forum” paper in the June 25 edition of the journal Science, co-authored by a crop scientist from North Carolina… 

Jun 10, 2010

Protecting the Public

Designing filters that protect transfused blood from nasty proteins. Ensuring the safety of food from farm to fork. And producing “PyroHands” that protect firefighters and first responders. You can get a glimpse of NC State research on safety and security in the hot-off-the-presses edition of Results, the university’s research magazine. See it online here. You’ll also… 

Jun 9, 2010

Turning Up The Heat to Study Climate Change

It’s getting really hot in forests located in Orange County, N.C., and Petersham, Mass. NC State biologist Rob Dunn and colleagues are turning up the heat in Duke Forest and Harvard Forest – the southern and northern edges of many animal species habitats – to  learn more about the effects of climate change, particularly on ants.… 

May 28, 2010

NC State Part of New DOE Hub

North Carolina State University received news Friday that it is part of a team that will receive critical Department of Energy funding to support nuclear energy research.  The team, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will been named an Energy Innovation Hub on Nuclear Modeling and Simulation.  The Nuclear Energy Innovation Hub, which includes universities, industry… 

May 24, 2010

NC State Designated ‘Center of Excellence for Watershed Management’ By EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated North Carolina State University a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management, making it the first such center in North Carolina. The designation will allow NC State, through its Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI), to continue to develop strong partnerships with other institutions, organizations and agencies in efforts to protect… 

May 17, 2010

Looking to Piglets for Clues to Obesity, Osteoporosis

Calcium does a body good – perhaps even more than previously thought. And it took a study of piglets to figure it out. Dr. Chad Stahl, an associate professor of animal science at NC State, presented research recently at the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting showing calcium-deficient piglets with weaker and less dense bones than piglets receiving… 

May 12, 2010

Getting Enough Calcium in Early Life Could Be Key for Optimal Lifelong Bone Health

There’s no denying that people need calcium for strong, healthy bones. But new research from North Carolina State University suggests that not getting enough calcium in the earliest days of life could have a more profound, lifelong impact on bone health and perhaps even obesity than previously thought. During an 18-day trial involving 24 newborn… 

May 10, 2010

Benefits Matter When Ag Workers Lose Their Job

You’ve recently lost your job and you don’t have unemployment insurance. What do you do? In many cases, you probably take the first job you can get, even though it’s not the right fit and most likely pays less than what your peers are earning. Similarly, a new study from Dr. Ivan Kandilov in NC State’s… 

May 5, 2010

Get Back to Work: Unemployment Benefits Matter in Agriculture Job Displacement

Common sense suggests that workers without unemployment insurance will often grab the first job that comes their way, even if the new job is low-paying or not a good career match. Now, a North Carolina State University study suggests that this intuition is true: out-of-work agricultural laborers from small farms that do not provide unemployment… 

Apr 27, 2010

Trudy Mackay Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Dr. Trudy F.C. Mackay of Raleigh, William Neal Reynolds and Distinguished University Professor of Genetics and Entomology at North Carolina State University, has been elected into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s most important scientific societies. Mackay becomes the ninth current NC State faculty member to be elected into the august scientific society.… 

Apr 26, 2010

Woodson to Visit N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis

Dr. Randy Woodson, North Carolina State University’s 14th chancellor, will begin a series of visits across the state to meet with North Carolinians, learn more about the university’s role and reach, and reaffirm the university’s commitment to meeting the state’s needs. On Tuesday, April 27, Woodson will visit the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis,… 

Apr 19, 2010

Take Two … and Lose a Liver

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew that Tylenol – or some other drug – was bad for your health before you took it? To study ways of predicting drug toxicity to humans, Dr. David Threadgill, professor and head of genetics, examined mouse genes. Threadgill and colleagues published a paper in Genome Research that found…