“We wanted those spaces to not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also biodiverse to attract pollinators and be areas that the community can actually be proud of,” says Sohyun Park, associate professor of landscape architecture.

Students presenting their work

Students presenting their work

Students presenting their work

Students presenting their work

Students presenting their work

Landscape architecture students worked on a section of the 56-mile trail that runs through the Newhallville neighborhood of New Haven. The students’ plans focused on multiple sites spanning six blocks between Thompson Street and Bassett Street, including a nursery, pocket park, bird observation station, and adjacent green spaces.

The landscape architecture program, in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), employs a “vertical studio” model. This means sophomores and juniors work side-by-side on the site analysis, program development, and planting design.

“We wanted to integrate community co-design and engagement opportunities,” Zahra Ali, a Ph.D. candidate in landscape architecture and instructor for the site analysis course says. “It also gave them multiple opportunities to engage the site throughout different seasons.”

Students worked closely with CPEN to understand what the community wanted from the site.

“It was really valuable for us as a grassroots organization to collaborate with these young people with design skills, computer skills, and knowledge about the site’s needs. Then we see their renderings reflect our suggestions – it was really valuable in terms of showing others what this could look like,” Doreen Abubakar, CPEN’s founder, says.

The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail runs from New Haven all the way up to Suffield on the Massachusetts border. The trail follows the route of the historic Farmington Canal, which was built in the early 19th century and later became a railroad. Now the trail is accessible to hikers and cyclists.

This history became a central feature of many design plans, at community members’ suggestions.

Kathleen Cropley ’27 (CAHNR) worked on the site between Brewster Street and Ivy Street along the trail. Cropley’s plan converted old train cars into planting beds.

“They can’t really dig into the soil, and it’s not really good for growing plants,” Cropley says. “So, we thought adding some planting boxes would be important and incorporating the history could be a really good idea.”

Cropley’s design also included trail-side chess tables to encourage community engagement.

Community members also emphasized their desire to have more colorful plants along the trail as well as the need for them to be easily maintained by CPEN’s volunteers. Both considerations were figured prominently in the students’ designs.

Kylie Damble ’28 (CAHNR) developed a plan for the nursery site where community members can buy ornamental plants and produce. The site includes a greenhouse, planting beds, recreational spaces, and beehives for honey production. Damble’s plan includes a repurposed shipping container as a trailside cafe.

“I really loved this experience because we got to have on-site visits with the community, so we were able to get a lot of feedback,” Damble says.

Damble says she worked to incorporate community concerns about making the area family friendly into her design through features such as a recreational table and making sure the beehives were placed far from where children would be playing and learning.

This project marks the beginning of a collaboration between the landscape architecture program and CPEN, which has opportunities to develop designs for other areas throughout the town.

“We really appreciate the collaboration with local communities,” Park says. “We just wanted to continue building the partnership with long-lasting care and trust.”

CPEN members came to the Storrs campus in April for an exhibition of all the projects.

“We were blown out of this world when we came up for the exhibit,” Abubakar says.

CPEN and three partner organizations received a grant from the Public Land Trust to enact the design plans for the bird observation area.

“This was the start of a grassroots program, and working directly with the students and faculty gave us access to technology and knowledge to create things we can actually use. It’s really exciting,” Abubakar says.

This work was supported through a three-year USDA Capacity Hatch Grant administered by the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station. The grant began in 2024. Through the grant, UConn’s program has worked with communities in New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, and New London.

Cropley says she values the hands-on, community-oriented approach the landscape architecture program takes.

“We can be told ‘this is how you design things’ — but actually taking people’s ideas and making them your own and bringing their ideas to life is something that you can’t learn in a classroom,” Cropley says. “Going to these sites and actually talking to real community members provides something that you wouldn’t be able to do just sitting in a classroom with your professor.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Fostering Sustainable Landscapes at the Urban-Rural Interface.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

Jeffery is the Director of Pharmacy Services at Integrated Care Partners, a physician-led, clinically integrated network responsible for Hartford Healthcare’s value-based practice transformation. Jeffery is responsible for managing Medicare Part D Star pharmacy quality measures and population health management, and supporting an integrated care-management team and employed medical group. Jeffery is also a Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. His area of expertise is senior care pharmacy. He is currently the second vice president of the Connecticut Pharmacist Association.

“Hundreds of physicians, care team members and patients devote their time and expertise to advancing ABIM’s mission by serving on governance,” said Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, President and CEO of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation. “They bring much needed perspective and guidance, ensuring that ABIM Board Certification remains meaningful, relevant and valuable to physicians and the public alike.”

ABIM Governance comprises more than 350 board certified physicians, patients, patient advocates and interprofessional healthcare team members on more than 50 boards and committees.

About the American Board of Internal Medicine

Since its founding in 1936, certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 20 subspecialties. Nearly 300,000 physicians are certified by ABIM, representing more than a quarter of all doctors in the United States. Patients whose doctors demonstrate more medical knowledge and judgment through ABIM certification and Maintenance of Certification have better prognoses on a host of outcomes. Visit the ABIM Blog to learn more and follow ABIM on LinkedIn and Instagram. ABIM is a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties.

We are writing to share several updates regarding the Office of Global Affairs.

Following 14 years of leadership as Vice President for Global Affairs, Dan Weiner has decided to transition from his administrative role and return to the faculty. We would like to take this opportunity to recognize his many contributions to the University and share plans for the future leadership and organization of Global Affairs.

Hired as vice provost and appointed vice president in 2015, Dan has played a central role in shaping Global Affairs and advancing UConn’s international engagement. Under his leadership, Global Affairs grew into an essential part of the University’s academic and research enterprise, helping connect UConn students, faculty, staff, and partners with opportunities around the world.

The impact of that work can be seen across the University today. Last year alone, UConn hosted more than 3,000 international students and visiting scholars, a reflection of the vibrant global community that enriches our campuses. A record 1,022 UConn students studied abroad in more than 40 countries, and the University now maintains more over 170 institutional partnerships across 56 countries. These connections expand opportunities for learning, research, and collaboration to prepare our students to become global citizens and enable our faculty and staff to become thought leaders across the world.

Just as importantly, Global Affairs has become a critical source of support for the University’s international community. Through its work with international students, visiting scholars, faculty, and staff, the office has helped ensure that UConn remains a welcoming and globally connected institution. Dan’s leadership, together with the contributions of Associate Vice President for Global Affairs Ngozi Taffe and the entire Global Affairs team, has been instrumental in building that foundation.

We are grateful for Dan’s leadership, and his many contributions to the University. We are fortunate that he will remain a member of the UConn community, as he returns to the faculty. He plans to focus on his scholarship and continue advancing the Abrahamic Programs Initiative, in addition to co-directing the new Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Global Antisemitism at UConn.

We are pleased to announce that Ngozi has agreed to serve as interim vice president for global affairs effective August 23.

Ngozi brings extensive leadership experience and a deep commitment to advancing UConn’s global mission. In her current role as associate vice president for global affairs, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the University’s international strategy, expanding global partnerships, strengthening international research collaborations, and enhancing opportunities for student and faculty engagement around the world.

As interim vice president, Ngozi will provide strategic leadership for the Office of Global Affairs, overseeing UConn’s global initiatives, international partnerships, mobility programs, and efforts to advance the University’s international reputation and impact. She will continue to champion innovative approaches to global learning, research, and engagement.

Prior to joining UConn in 2014, Ngozi spent nearly 20 years working in the private and aerospace sectors managing large-scale programs and international operations. She is a three-time UConn graduate, having earned her Bachelor of Science, MBA, and Ph.D. at UConn. During her tenure at UConn, she spearheaded several enterprise system implementations and launched the Tuition Model Program, which gives our students leverage in studying abroad through our UConn signature semester programs.

As part of this transition, Global Affairs will become part of the Division of Academic Affairs, and Ngozi will report directly to the provost, while continuing Global Affairs representation on the president’s senior leadership team.

This change recognizes the close connection between the work of Global Affairs and the University’s academic mission.

Please join us in thanking Dan for his years of leadership and service and in welcoming Ngozi to this role.

Sincerely,

Radenka Maric
President

Pamir Alpay
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in partnership with institutions abroad. They engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for future partnerships between institutions.

Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.

The Fulbright Specialist program, distinct from the scholar program, utilizes a project-based model in which highly qualified American academics and professionals share their expertise with institutions overseas while addressing shared challenges that benefit American communities and the world.

Specialists, who represent a wide range of professional and academic disciplines, share their knowledge, skills, expertise, and innovative ideas through two-to-six-week projects requested by foreign receiving institutions in over 150 countries and other areas.

The following are the UConn faculty members who earned a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award for 2026-27:

Richard Christenson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, who received a Fulbright Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) Scholar Award. This prestigious fellowship funds mid-career to senior academics, professionals, and researchers pursuing collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that further the interests of the trilateral AUKUS security partnership. His research will span both the United Kingdom and Australia over a six-month period.

Christenson is also the co-director of the National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology.

David Lund, a professor of marine sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will perform his Fulbright research in Norway. He will work with colleagues at the University of Bergen to develop a new technique to reconstruct sea ice extent in the geologic past, leading to a better understanding of its impact on ocean circulation, nutrient cycling, and marine ecosystems.

“Bergen is a leading international center of marine science research, focused on the Arctic and North Atlantic,” says Lund. “Collaborating with scientists with Bergen will lead to new insights about the role of sea ice in ocean-atmospheric dynamics and provide an unprecedented opportunity for my lab group to explore new research avenues.”

Luyi Sun, a Board of Trustees distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the College of Engineering, will be doing his Fulbright research in South Korea. His research will be focused on functional hybrid materials, and he will also teach a course on advanced polymer processing.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected as a Fulbright Scholar, and I am truly excited to begin this meaningful opportunity,” says Sun. “I look forward to engaging with new colleagues, exchanging ideas across cultures, and contributing to the Fulbright mission.”

The following are the UConn faculty members who have recently been named Fulbright Specialists:

Thomas Cooke, an emeritus professor in geography, sustainability, community and urban affairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, returns to the Fulbright program after being a Fulbright Scholar in 2014-15, where he visited the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Moshe Gai, a professor of physics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will pursue a specialist project in Romania with fellow colleagues. This project will be built upon the relationships formed through his 2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award, which enabled him to spend five months at the University Polytechnica of Bucharest, where he taught both on the graduate and undergraduate level.

“The Fulbright Specialist program presents me with an opportunity to extend my international collaboration,” says Gai. “It is a source of sorely needed international travel funds that are now becoming more and more scarce.”

In Bucharest, Gai also developed his research program on the world’s highest intensity laser of the Extreme Light Infrastructure Nuclear Physics. The graduate class he developed during his time in Bucharest has now been approved for a new special topic course, Quantum Physics of Stars, that will be taught at UConn.

Elizabeth Hintz, an associate professor of communications in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will pursue a specialist project in Finland in 2027. She was a Fulbright Scholar in 2025-26 at Tampere University in Finland.

Natalia Smirnova, an assistant professor-in-residence of economics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will pursue a project helping students from international partner institutions develop financial, economic, and career literacy. Her career has spanned government, academia, and nonprofit sectors. She became interested in serving as a Fulbright Specialist because she would like to share her expertise in economic and financial literacy education, as well as career readiness skills development, with an institution of higher learning abroad.

“A significant portion of young people around the world lack basic financial knowledge,” says Smirnova. “This precludes them from meeting real-life challenges when they reach adulthood. Since economic and financial literacy education is proven to enhance life skills, it is imperative to find creative ways to infuse this material into curricula of all levels of educational attainment.”

Smirnova plans to offer a variety of training activities, such as a series of seminars, master classes, and professional development workshops focusing on economic education, financial literacy, and career readiness. She is currently seeking an international institution to deliver her proposed projects.

It wasn’t forest when the sisters were born, though, likely around the same time the United States itself was born, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Instead, the forest was farmland – a part of Connecticut’s agricultural landscape at the time.

And the two ancient sisters were then just young white oak trees, establishing themselves a few short yards away from each other before growing to sprawling height and offering shade to the livestock raised in their field.

Today, the two white oaks still stand in the forest, surrounded by the smaller trees and saplings – maples and aspens and birch – that have grown up around them in the last 60 years or so, as abandoned pasture slowly became forest again.

The two massive trees bear the scars of their long history. Decaying lower limbs. Thick bark. Knotted and gnarled trunks.

But high above the ground, branches full of their distinctive round-lobed leaves still stretch over the forest canopy, contributing to an ecosystem of birds, insects, and wildlife as they have for more than two centuries.

And as they will for centuries more, if Thomas Worthley, a UConn Extension professor of forest sustainability, has any say in it.

Because as ancient as they are, even as they and the country prepare to celebrate their coinciding 250th birthdays, the trees could potentially be just middle-aged, explains Worthley, who has spent his career working in both private and academic settings, and has been with UConn Extension in various capacities for the past 30 years.

“White oak is a unique species in that it’s one of the trees that has the longest lifespan in our part of the world,” Worthley says. “Given the opportunity, given a good site, given protection and proper weather and climate and fertility and so forth, a white oak tree can live to be 500 years old.”

White oak is a unique species in that it’s one of the trees that has the longest lifespan in our part of the world. Given the opportunity, given a good site, given protection and proper weather and climate and fertility and so forth, a white oak tree can live to be 500 years old. — Thomas Worthley, UConn Extension professor of forest sustainability

A short walk from where the ancient sisters reside on the Fenton Tract, a new generation of Quercus alba spread their first leaves in black plastic pots under wood-and-wire A-frames behind the Horsebarn Hill Science Complex.

The 100 or so tiny white oak seedlings are the result of acorns that Worthley collected last fall from a few old white oak trees, most notably the known descendant, or scion, of Connecticut’s legendary Charter Oak that lives at the Nathan Hale Schoolhouse in East Haddam.

These tiny, newly germinated seedlings, and their ancient counterparts in the UConn Forest, are all part of an effort Worthley is leading at UConn to highlight the important historic, economic, and ecological role of the white oak tree as Connecticut commemorates the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding this year.

A Storied History

Before the two ancient trees in the UConn Forest were even acorns, an exceptionally large example of a white oak grew in Hartford until it fell in a storm in 1856.

State legislation signed in 1947 officially designated the white oak as Connecticut’s state tree, but the reason stems from events that allegedly happened with that storied oak tree in 1687.

“The most commonly retold story in Connecticut history is the story of the Charter Oak,” says Andy Horowitz, an associate professor of history at UConn and Connecticut’s state historian.

In 1680s, that already ancient oak stood strong as the king of England, James II, sent his agent, Edmund Andros, to Connecticut. Andros, Horowitz explains, was to be named governor of the new Dominion of New England, which would assert royal control and take away the independence that the Connecticut colonists had come to expect through decades of self-government granted to them by the colony’s unique charter.

“The Royal Charter of 1662 is an essential document in the history of Connecticut,” says Horowitz, “and it was important because it gave the Connecticut colonists an extraordinary degree of autonomy from the British crown. It gave them the right to elect their own governor, elect representatives, make their own courts – basically to govern themselves, which was uncommon in the American colonial experience.”

In 1687, Andros came to Connecticut, and his warrant was to take back the charter.

The legend goes, Horowitz says, that when Andros arrived in Hartford, there was a meeting that went from the afternoon into the night, as Connecticut’s colonial governor, Robert Treat, gave a long speech.

“In the course of the speech, as it got dark outside, so the story goes, all the candles in the building were extinguished,” Horowitz recounts. “Felicitous wind, good luck, subterfuge – we don’t know. But in the darkness, the charter that had secured Connecticut’s self-government was secreted out the window. And this man named Wadsworth took it and hid it in an oak tree down the road. This tree is what we’ve now come to call the Charter Oak.”

Putting the charter in the tree didn’t stop King James II from asserting that stronger control over Connecticut, Horowitz notes.

“But it certainly symbolized Connecticut’s resistance to that move,” he says. “The charter and the autonomy and independence and political rights that it allowed really cemented and defined Connecticut’s expectations for liberty and self-government.”

And the terms, rights, and freedoms spelled out in Connecticut’s charter were fundamental to what were ultimately included in the Declaration of Independence.

“That tradition of having written rights, a sort of constitutional fundamental law, certainly helped to inspire the U.S. Constitution of 1789,” Horowitz says, “and I think it’s one of Connecticut’s proudest contributions to the United States.”

After it fell in 1856, seedlings from the Charter Oak were planted around the state. The wood from the fallen tree was used to make a number of artifacts that still exist today, including the frame of a copy of the Royal Charter of 1662 housed in the Museum of Connecticut History in Hartford and the famous “Wishing Chair” – a highly ornate chair carved from the oak that resides on the dais in the third-floor Senate Chamber of the State Capitol building.

It’s this history that’s inspired Worthley to raise awareness of the importance of the white oak – and not just as a hiding place for foundational governing documents – this year.

“2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Worthley says, “and we felt it was appropriate to recognize the role that white oak played in that history.”

An Ecological Champion

White oak differs from other species of oak trees not just in how long the trees can live, but in the economic and ecological value it adds to the landscape.

“When the conductive tissue on the outside of the white oak tree eventually becomes heartwood, the tree forms a kind of tissue called tyloses that plug up all the pores in the wood and makes that wood kind of watertight,” explains Worthley, a characteristic that made white oak ideal for making things like whiskey barrels and kegs, buckets, and even ships.

Connecticut white oak is highly valuable even today for those purposes, Worthley says.

But even when a white oak ages beyond its ideal lumber years – like the ancient white oaks in the UConn Forest – the value they offer in the forest ecosystem is hard to quantify.

The deep fissures that sometimes develop in the trunk, the kind that can be so helpful when trying to hide a royal charter, also offer a nesting place for owls and woodland mammals.

The very surface of the tree serves as a host for many of the creepy crawlies so vital to a forest habitat.

“The old white oaks, especially those that have been around for a while, that have thick bark with lots of nooks and crannies, lots of branches, lots of leaves, will support thousands and thousands of caterpillars,” says Worthley. “Almost 500 species of caterpillars can be found on white oak trees in Connecticut, and in turn, that supports a wide diversity of birds and other animals.”

While annual acorn crops vary significantly based on spring weather conditions, and often decrease in quantity as a tree ages, white oak acorns – easily distinguished on the forest floor from other species of oak in that the nut separates from the cap as it drops from the tree – are a particularly prized food source for a number of forest inhabitants.

White oak acorns contain fewer bitter tannins than red oaks. The acorns also begin to germinate as soon as they drop off the tree, Worthley explains, so they quickly convert stored starches into sugars to support a potential new tree’s growth, giving them a sweeter taste.

“Lots and lots of animals like to eat white oak acorns,” says Worthley. “The deer, the turkeys, the squirrels, the chipmunks, and many, many birds will eat acorns. Having an abundant crop of acorns is good for the diversity of the wildlife, but also will help to ensure the future of the species itself, in having acorns that germinate and become established and grow.”

White oaks have been historically valued as shade-giving pasture trees because of their sprawling architecture in open areas.

But both young and old white oak trees face new and growing challenges in modern times, as weather and climate patterns change and as invasive plants and insects have entered the picture.

Here I am, a white-haired gentleman. I’ll never see that tree that’s being planted today that will grow for another 250 years, but I care very deeply that it happens. — Worthley

“If we want to perpetuate oak in general in our environment, and white oak in particular,” says Worthley, “then we need to take some management actions to help that oak overcome some of the barriers and some of the challenges that we have in the environment today that have to do with pests, that have to do with invasive insects, that have to do with climate change, and that have to do with all of these things that weren’t factors 100 or 200 years ago.”

A Learning Opportunity

The two ancient white oak trees on the Fenton Tract aren’t unusual in Connecticut – you can find very old trees here and there all around the state, says Worthley.

But what is unusual about the trees in the Fenton Tract is how many ancient white oaks can be found in a relatively small area – there’s nearly a dozen of them, intermixed with younger oaks and other trees, both native and non-native.

“It is unusual to find as many of these very old trees all in one place like we have there,” says Worthley, and so, as part of efforts to highlight the importance of the white oak this year, Worthley and a team of faculty and students are building a publicly accessible Ancient White Oak Heritage Trail on the Fenton Tract.

“It’s not a long trail, and it’s not a difficult walk, so what I’m hoping we can create with this trail is a place where people might go briefly for some peace and some quiet and some contemplation, who enjoy the benefit that they derive from going and just personally interacting with some old trees,” Worthley says.

The trail is already accessible on Horsebarn Hill, though still under construction. Signage and benches, as well as a few footbridges – largely utilizing lumber milled from non-native and highly decay-resistant black locust trees harvested from the site – will be installed on the trail over the next several months.

Undergraduate students at UConn are contributing to the effort, offering educational opportunities for members of the UConn community as well as the general public who want to learn more about the forest management efforts underway on the tract.

A recent trail walk, the first of a series of walks Worthley plans to lead through the year, welcomed nearly two dozen community members to learn about not only the ancient trees but also the many forest and invasive management considerations underway on the tract.

“The trail is just a piece of a larger stand restoration effort that’s going on there, with wildlife habitat enhancement in mind,” Worthley says. “And so, we’re hoping to create a space where there’s some very impressive old trees that people can engage with, but also be able to have some interaction with bird life and animal life and so forth that will come as a result of the management activities we have going on there.”

Worthley and his team also want to know where other ancient white oaks are living in Connecticut. They’ve launched an online survey where anyone in Connecticut can identify and enter details about their favorite old white oak trees. The survey data will be used to collect the locations and create an online map pinpointing the location of these old white oak trees.

And then there’s the seedlings – the roughly 100 baby white oak trees currently growing in those pots on Horsebarn Hill.

Worthley is working in partnership with the nonprofit Connecticut Humanities and its America 250 Connecticut program to distribute the seedlings, including many direct descendants of the original Charter Oak, to community partners around the state later this year.

Worthley hopes the communities that plant one of these white oak seedlings will recognize the longevity and the connection to history that the trees represent.

“I hope they have a connection to the efforts that people made in the past to assert their self-government and their autonomy, their sense of liberty later on with the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the Constitution,” Worthley says, “and that they symbolically can carry on that legacy and perhaps even have an individual tree that will grow for another 250 years for somebody to talk about in the future.”

An Enduring Story

“It’s really important to think about the stories we tell about ourselves and what we mean to tell people with them,” says Horowitz, the state historian.

The story of the Charter Oak, he notes, is striking in how it has endured as one of the most oft-recited pieces of Connecticut history.

“When I see the oak show up on UConn’s campus, or when we celebrate the relics of that tree, or we try to replant the descendants of the Charter Oak,” Horowitz says, “I see these as ways of recommitting to that proud tradition of trying to safeguard our liberties the best we can in Connecticut.”

For Worthley, the celebration of our nation’s founding this year offers a prime opportunity to recognize the white oak, to retell the story of the happenings in Hartford in 1687, and to educate as many people as possible about the significance of these often-overlooked ancient trees that still stand tall in the Connecticut landscape.

“What I have hoped for this project is that, as many people as we possibly can, I would like to educate them to be able to recognize and identify a white oak tree,” Worthley says. “For people in the position to grow a white oak tree, I would like to be able to share the information they need to do just that, to bring that white oak seedling along to a sapling, and then along to a bigger tree, and nurture it in the process.”

Because today’s saplings will be tomorrow’s ancient sisters, growing yards apart in a forest, hopefully inspiring a new generation of foresters and conservationists and backyard aficionados, providing shade and shelter, as the country tiptoes on in its own long history through the next 250 years.

“Here I am,” says Worthley, “a white-haired gentleman. I’ll never see that tree that’s being planted today that will grow for another 250 years, but I care very deeply that it happens.”

Worthley’s white oak projects are generously supported by the nonprofit Hampshire Foundation. For more information, visit hampshirefoundation.org.

For more information about Extension Forestry efforts to support and promote white oak heritage, visit ctforestry.cahnr.uconn.edu/extension-forestry/whiteoak. Use the online survey here to add your favorite white oak tree in Connecticut to the interactive map Extension Forestry is building.

The award recognizes Liu’s innovative work at the intersection of fluid dynamics, nonlinear systems, and control theory while supporting a research and education program that could improve the performance and efficiency of technologies ranging from aircraft to data centers.

Liu’s project, “CAREER: Nonlinear Stability, Input-Output Analysis, and Control of Time-Varying Wall-Bounded Shear Flows,” will develop new mathematical frameworks to better understand fluid flows that change over time, a longstanding challenge in engineering that affects everything from transportation and energy systems to electronics cooling.

“Many engineering systems operate under conditions where fluid flows change over time, such as the accelerating and decelerating stages of transport vehicles, active flow control for drag reduction, and thermal management of electronic devices,” Liu explains. “In these applications, time-dependent flow behavior can significantly influence drag, heat transfer, and system reliability, while existing analysis frameworks are mostly limited to steady or slowly time-varying flows.”

By developing new nonlinear analysis tools, Liu aims to give engineers the ability to more accurately predict and control these complex, time-dependent flows.

Fluid flow plays a critical role in countless engineering systems, yet many existing models assume conditions remain relatively constant over time. Liu’s research challenges that assumption by focusing on time-varying shear flows, fluid motions that evolve dynamically and are common in real-world applications.

His work builds on years of research spanning his doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University, postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, and his research program at UConn. Supported by the UConn Research Excellence Program and collaborations with undergraduate researchers, Liu’s team has already produced several promising results that laid the foundation for the NSF CAREER proposal.

“The proposed research is novel in that it will develop new nonlinear analysis tools specifically tailored to time-varying shear flows for which existing methods based on linearization or steady-flow assumptions fail to capture essential transient and nonlinear effects,” Liu says. “These tools will, for the first time, enable rigorous characterization of nonlinear stability and input-output properties in time-varying shear flows.”

The research could have far-reaching impacts across multiple industries. Better understanding and control of fluid behavior may lead to safer aircraft operations during takeoff and landing, more fuel-efficient transportation systems, improved cooling technologies for high-performance electronics, and lower energy consumption in data centers. The analytical tools developed through the project could also be applied to cardiovascular blood flow, tidal currents, and advanced manufacturing processes.

For Liu, receiving the CAREER Award represents more than recognition of his research accomplishments, it marks a defining moment in his academic career.

“This NSF CAREER Award is a very important milestone and turning point in my early career stage, and it is also my first federal grant,” Liu says. “This award will provide me with stable support to develop my career as an outstanding researcher and educator, demonstrating commitment to teaching, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge.”

He adds that the award reinforces his commitment to integrating research and education while helping advance the mission of both the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering and the University.

Four UConn College of Engineering professors earned the NSF CAREER Award in 2026, three being from the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing.

A hallmark of every NSF CAREER Award is the integration of research with education, and Liu’s proposal places students at the center of that mission.

His project is closely tied to the Fluid Learning, Outreach, And Transition (FLOAT) education program, which introduces students at every stage, from elementary school through graduate school, to engineering and fluid dynamics.

Through UConn Boat Camp, Liu introduces fifth- and sixth-grade students to concepts such as drag and buoyancy while guiding them through the process of building electric boats. He also mentors high school students through the Avon High School Achieve Internship Program, providing hands-on research experiences that expose them to engineering at an early stage.

At UConn, Liu also advises the UConn Electric Boat Club as students design and build an electric boat for the Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) competition. In the classroom, he plans to incorporate discoveries from the CAREER project into undergraduate and graduate coursework, giving students direct exposure to cutting-edge research while preparing them to solve the next generation of engineering challenges.

Laurencin’s audience with the Pope touched upon a number of topics including the work of Black Inventors in shaping the world. He discussed the importance of mentorship and presented the Pope with his autobiography book entitled “Success is What You Leave Behind.”  Laurencin also met with leaders of the Pontifical Academy for Life and discussed the future of Regenerative Engineering and its potential to address healthcare challenges. The visit highlighted the international recognition of Regenerative Engineering and its role in improving human life through scientific Innovation, and Laurencin’s Regenerative Convergence approach.

Laurencin has made seminal contributions to tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, nanotechnology, stem cell science and biophysics. He founded Regenerative Engineering, a convergence-based discipline that integrates materials science, stem cell science, physics, developmental biology, and clinical medicine to regenerate tissues and organs and improve health.

He is the first surgeon in history elected to all four major U.S. national academies. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, he was recognized as the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. He has received many of the highest recognitions across science, engineering, and medicine, including the Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society, the Simon Ramo Founders Award, the highest honor of the National Academy of Engineering, and the Dickson Prize in Medicine.

At the University of Connecticut, Laurencin serves as the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine. He is professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of Biomedical Engineering. He is the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, an Institute created and named in his honor.

In recognition of his global contributions, Laurencin was bestowed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Lucia, conferred under the auspices of King Charles III through the Governor General of St. Lucia.

The recommendations were presented at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s 77th Clinical Symposia & AT Expo in Philadelphia and stem from two national task force statements led by KSI experts. A full event recording is available.

“Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a leading cause of sudden death in sport and especially among American football lineman. Additionally, occupational heat stress is a growing public health concern,” says AJ Duffy, NATA president. “Athletic trainers are uniquely qualified experts in heat safety. The two new NATA Task Force statements demonstrate how their competency in this area translates directly to protecting football players and workers alike.”

The guidance addresses two growing concerns: exertional heat stroke among football athletes – particularly linemen – and heat stress in occupational settings. Together, the recommendations provide evidence-based strategies for improving safety, emergency preparedness, and heat mitigation practices across schools, sports programs, and workplaces.

“This work reflects years of research focused on understanding who is most at risk and how we can better prevent heat-related tragedies,” says Rebecca Stearns, chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute and associate professor-in-residence of kinesiology at UConn. “When organizations implement comprehensive prevention, monitoring, and emergency response strategies, we can significantly reduce the risk of exertional heat stroke fatalities.”

Stearns chaired the task force behind Preventing Exertional Heat Stroke Death in American Football Linemen, which highlights the unique risks faced by this population. According to the statement, linemen account for more than 90% of exertional heat stroke fatalities at the secondary school and collegiate levels. The recommendations call for position-specific conditioning, structured acclimatization periods, environmental monitoring, and stronger emergency action planning.

Among the key strategies is the use of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), a measurement that combines temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation to assess environmental heat risk. Stearns noted that Texas recently adopted a WBGT policy for all University Interscholastic League schools, expanding heat-safety protections to millions of student-athletes.

A second task force statement, led by Christianne Eason, president of sport safety and education at the Korey Stringer Institute and assistant professor-in-residence in UConn’s Department of Kinesiology, focuses on heat stress in occupational settings.

The statement outlines recommendations to help employers protect workers as extreme heat events become more frequent and intense. The guidance includes environmental monitoring, heat acclimatization protocols, hydration and cooling access, emergency planning, and safe return-to-work procedures following heat illness.

“Heat stress affects not only health and safety, but also workforce sustainability and productivity,” Eason says. “Employers can take practical steps now to reduce risk and better protect workers, particularly in high-heat environments.”

The event also featured Kelci Stringer, founder of the Korey Stringer Institute and wife of former Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer, whose death from exertional heat stroke in 2001 inspired the creation of the institute. Since its founding, KSI has become a national leader in research, education, advocacy, and policy development related to exertional heat illness and sudden death in sport.

“We all have a role as parents, coaches, sports medicine team members, and school representatives to ensure youth athletes have the best care and that continued health and safety guidelines are reviewed, adopted and implemented,” says Stringer. “This then extends to every level of sport and ensures best protocols are in place.”

The Korey Stringer Institute (KSI), established in 2010 at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in memory of NFL player Korey Stringer, provides research, education, advocacy, and consultation to maximize performance, optimize safety, and prevent sudden death for the athlete, warfighter, and laborer. The institute is housed within UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) in the Department of Kinesiology, and includes a satellite laboratory, KSI at the University of North Florida in the Brooks College of Health (KSI at UNF), to extend its research and outreach impact.

Naming or designating things helps create a distinct sense of place. In the case of a state rock, Thorson says it also serves as a powerful tool not only to help connect students with where they live, but also forge new connections with global and Connecticut-specific concepts. For example, without rock, we would have nowhere to live, and no elements to make our bodies with.

In the early stages of adding Connecticut to the list of 35 states that already have a designated rock, Mansfield’s state representative suggested that working with students would be a key element for a successful proposal. This, says Thorson, added another crucial dimension to the learning process, because students would receive lessons in civics and learn how decisions make their way through the legislative process.

Thorson connected with Mansfield Middle School teacher Raechel Alteri, who integrated the idea into her geology lesson plan. Thorson visited all seventh-grade science classes where he gave a short presentation to introduce concepts along with a list of seven candidate rocks. With so many potential choices, he set three criteria for the students to help students decide which rock to vote for.

“We had three very clear criteria. First, is it beautiful or not? The second is utility and that’s important. A crystal of garnet, for example, may be beautiful, but it’s also useful for making sandpaper and abrasives and a million other things,” says Thorson. “The third criteria is distinctiveness, in other words, does it represent the state, regardless of whether it’s beautiful or useful, whether symbolically or otherwise.”

The students learned about the candidate rocks important to Connecticut. After deliberation, they voted for Housatonic Marble, from which the state capitol building is made. He says that was a key aspect for why the students overwhelmingly voted for this dazzling rock over the others. Along the way, students looked at rock classification, mapping, and geochronology, to learn more about how the state’s unique geology controls its terrain and the history guided by that terrain. The geology lessons also introduced the concept of evolution, which cuts across many topics, from human culture to distant planets, to the carbon cycle here on Earth, says Thorson. In this case, marble is a carbonate rock, a group comprising the most abundant reservoir of carbon on Earth, playing a key role in the planet’s carbon cycle.

“Carbon is element number six on the periodic table. When combined with oxygen and calcium, we get the mineral calcite, which plays an important role in art, architecture, industry, to agriculture. Our state rock impacts all of that. These are the things that kids can talk about in a seventh-grade science class,” says Thorson, “and they all link back to geology.”

This draws on a key element in this teaching approach called anchoring phenomenon, Thorson explains, or things that the students are already familiar with, for example that they live on a habitable planet with air they can breathe, thanks to Earth’s carbon cycle.

“In contrast, our nearest neighboring planets are both uninhabitable based on differences in the carbon cycle, which are in turn driven by the presence or absence of carbonate rock, such as limestone and marble. Marble as our state rock connects to our state climate,” says Thorson.

Following on from these lessons, representatives from the seventh-grade class officially testified about their detailed proposal to the Connecticut General Assembly with great success on March 13th, and the measure was made official when House Bill 5534 was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont on May 19, 2026.

Sharing Success 

Now the goal is to share the lessons learned along the way to help more teachers help their students make the same connections. As head of Neag’s Department of Curriculum Instruction, Campbell suggests designing a curriculum that could be easily integrated into existing lessons over the course of a couple of days.

“We talked about creating a three- or four-day lesson where teachers wouldn’t have to pull something out of their curriculum or replace a unit. Instead, they could put this in as a locally relevant, timely lesson to learn about different concepts. I think it would probably raise questions about the geology that most students might not be as curious about if they were not brought up,” says Campbell.

Campbell explains that Connecticut has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and he and his research team are working to make science more authentic by presenting topics students may be uncertain about, and where they can use their current knowledge to connect new ideas to their everyday understandings. The example connecting the state rock to the global carbon cycle is one case of how students may start to develop more sophisticated understandings of these topics.

When designing curriculum, Campbell says they start with a complex, puzzling phenomenon with multi-faceted explanations so that students are challenged to weave together many concepts to arrive at a stronger claim. Housatonic Marble serves as an effective anchor.

“Western sciences largely understand something by isolating it, studying it, and then you’ve separated it from all the connections and relationships, and you’ve set yourself up to exploit it and ignore the connections,” says Campbell.

Andrews will be working on designing the curriculum, and as a geoscience major, Campbell says she is well-prepared for the task. Andrews previously created a similar learning unit centered around the impact Hurricane Katrina had on carbon cycling in New Orleans.

“We cannot talk about science without considering the socio-environmental impacts. Tackling this through an asset-based framework shapes the way for students,” says Andrews.

The project highlights another important point, Campbell says, that many states bypass geology instruction all together. He feels that this could be an important moment where people reconnect with the geological features that shape our lives as much as we shape them, and our sense of connection to everything around us.

“If there’s any way for us to be an exemplar for other states to start highlighting their own intersections between geology and how they live in the culture that’s formed, that would definitely be a dream for me,” says Campbell. “It is a potential landslide moment where we could raise the attention about earth science in the state. I think teachers would appreciate it. There is a need for high-quality instructional materials.”

Though Connecticut has adopted the NGSS as a guide, Campbell explains, and each school determines performance expectations for each grade, and this is where there is some flexibility, and uncertainty, comes in, showing the need for resources like these, and the curriculum they are designing will have enough flexibility so educators anywhere can use it to help students explore their local environments.

“There are some open science lessons out there that that teachers can use, but districts are left to pull those together and decide if it’s coherent for the students to experience,” says Campbell. “There is always a tension in putting amazing curriculum out there nationally, but local place matters, so you want to be careful about how much you prescribe a curriculum that’s designed for the nation, because local learning should be part of that.”

Besides helping students learn how to think critically, arrive at group decisions, and present their case before state lawmakers, this story is also an example in how UConn, as a land grant university engages with and helps the community, and beyond.

“This shows how we are doing more than just research, we are contributing to the state’s future. We now have a state rock, whereas we didn’t have one before,” says Thorson. “It was extremely successful, in part because the teachers and administrative staff were so good, and the students all worked together.  It is a case study that can be replicated in the 14 remaining states that don’t yet have a rock, and which can be replayed in all the rest.”

“I want to contribute to drug discovery, pharmacokinetics, and get that experience because it’s going to be useful back home,” Moyo says.

Back home is Zimbabwe, where Moyo grew up and lived a dozen lives, saved one, and hopes to positively affect even more.

“Funny enough, when I was younger, I wanted to be a doctor of trauma,” says Moyo. After a car accident at age 5 left her with a dislocated leg, the doctor said she wouldn’t walk again, but she defied the odds.

Around age 10, Moyo developed a boil. Having won a science book as a science fair prize, she read up on the painful bump. “I didn’t know which type of microbes caused the boil, but I was so fascinated by it, and that’s when I wanted to be a microbiologist.”

When she was 12, Moyo enrolled in a computer science certificate program. In high school, she excelled in biology, accounting, and communications. A teacher said she should not waste her English skills: “Become a lawyer.” (She never seriously considered it.)

She got hooked on a Korean TV show about doctors in a cardiothoracic surgery unit and was fascinated by school anatomy lessons on the heart, thorax, and lungs. “So I was, like, I want to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.”

Read on for more.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and was able to spend time with loved ones. Due to the holiday week and many team members taking well-deserved vacation time, this week’s CEO Update will be brief, highlighting a few key updates. 

This week, I held a retreat with our senior leadership team as well as the leadership team from UConn Health Waterbury Hospital. It was a wonderful opportunity for our teams to come together, strengthen relationships, share ideas, and engage in meaningful discussions about our exciting future. The retreat fostered collaboration, alignment, and a shared commitment to advancing our mission, positioning us for continued success and growth in the years ahead. 

We covered a lot of ground in our retreats but a core message regarding the UConn Health Community Network was the key priorities over the next 2-3 years.

I am proud to share that UConn John Dempsey Hospital has once again been recognized by the American Heart Association with its prestigious Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. This recognition marks our 10th consecutive year earning the Gold Plus designation, a remarkable milestone that reflects our commitment to providing timely, evidence-based stroke care and achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients. This accomplishment is a testament to the exceptional talent, dedication, and teamwork of our physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, rehabilitation specialists, and support staff who work together every day to deliver life-saving care.

In addition to the Gold Plus award, our hospital also received the Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognitions, highlighting our ability to rapidly treat eligible stroke patients and provide the highest standard of care for individuals with complex health needs. Stroke remains a leading cause of death and long-term disability in the United States, making rapid diagnosis and treatment critical. These honors underscore UConn Health’s role as a trusted leader in stroke and cardiovascular care and reinforce our commitment to serving the people of Connecticut with excellence, compassion, and innovation. Congratulations and thank you to everyone whose efforts made this achievement possible.

As we end the week, I’d like to share this patient letter:

I wanted to send you a quick note to let you know that my mother was an inpatient at UConn this past week following an acute illness. From the Emergency Department through her stay on the third floor, your team was phenomenal. 

My mother has dementia, and every nurse and nursing assistant she encountered treated her with remarkable kindness, patience, and dignity. I’d especially like to recognize Jaime, the nursing assistant who stayed with my mom for nearly 12 hours, keeping her engaged, comforted, and happy. That level of compassion he offered made an immeasurable difference to our family.

I’d also like to acknowledge her nurses on the 3^rd floor of the tower—Ediyta, Dan, Rachel, and especially Callie Corbett, who was nothing short of a godsend. Callie balanced firm direction with kindness, humor, and genuine compassion. She exemplifies the very best of nursing and left a lasting impression on all of us.

As with any hospitalization, there were the usual challenges with medical coordination and discharge planning, and it was an exhausting week for our family. But throughout it all, your staff consistently embodied a patient-centered, loving approach that brought comfort to a very weary patient and family. Please extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who cared for my mother. Their professionalism and humanity were extraordinary, and I hope they know how much they meant to us.

Thank you for all you do.

Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Health

Dear Dr. Andy

After finishing my annual SABA Compliance training I was thinking about why doesn’t UConn Health have a master license for a password manager that all us employees can load onto our phones to use to help make our systems more secure? I use one for home use, and it comes with an extension for every type of web browser. We have the Duo Mobile for when I have to remote into my desktop or log in with my NetID to make sure I am who I say I am. It would be nice if it had some sort of password function, to create and store very complex passwords to prevent any sort of hacking.

We do appreciate it’s a challenge having so many systems/passwords. As our CIO Rick McCarthy reports, our information technology and cybersecurity teams have actively researched several leading commercial solutions and fully recognize their clear security benefits; Rick’s group has worked to reduce the number of passwords by integrating systems into our Active Directory authentication (e.g. computer login and Epic have the same password). However, rolling out an enterprise password manager at this scale has proven challenging for reasons related to cost, training and support, technical capability, and HIPAA compliance.

So the bottom line is, we’re not there yet. Rest assured, strengthening authentication and reducing password-related risks remains a high priority. We continue to actively monitor the market for solutions that better balance security, usability, cost, and supportability.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and thank you for raising this.

Have something you want to ask Dr. Andy? Submit your question on The Hub.

Hub Highlights

UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus for 10th Consecutive Year.

Faculty and student researchers from the UConn Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing shared new findings on maternal and family sleep health at SLEEP 2026, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, held June 7–11 in Baltimore.

The conference is considered the premier international meeting for sleep and circadian science, bringing together researchers and clinicians from around the world to advance sleep medicine and sleep health.

Representing UConn were Nancy S. Redeker, Ph.D., RN, FAHA, FAAN; Eileen Condon, Ph.D., RN; Yashika Sharma, Ph.D., RN; and doctoral student Kelley LaFleur, MSN, RN.

The team presented research examining how family relationships, caregiving responsibilities, and maternal well-being influence sleep health among mothers and young children.

“These presentations highlight the importance of understanding sleep within the context of family life,” said Redeker. “Our work seeks to develop interventions that are practical, accessible, and responsive to the needs of diverse families.”

Understanding Sleep Challenges Among Mothers

In a late-breaking abstract, doctoral student Kelley LaFleur and colleagues explored the experiences of mothers who serve as primary caregivers for children ages 1 to 6.

Through in-depth interviews with Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial mothers, researchers identified multiple, overlapping factors that contribute to disrupted sleep, including stress, anxiety, competing caregiving responsibilities, and challenges related to their children’s sleep routines.

Participants emphasized the need for flexible, culturally responsive behavioral sleep interventions that incorporate stress-reduction strategies, developmental guidance, and opportunities for peer support.

The findings provide a framework for designing interventions that address the realities of daily caregiving demands and promote sustainable sleep health for families.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health through grant R01HL168770.

Examining the Connection Between Mothers’ and Children’s Sleep

A second late-breaking presentation examined sleep patterns among preschool-aged children and their mothers using a novel analytical approach known as the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model.

Researchers analyzed 7 days of sleep data collected via actigraphy and found significant associations between maternal and child sleep patterns.

The study found that a mother’s sleep schedule influenced her child’s sleep timing on subsequent nights and that maternal mental health factors, including stress, anxiety, and depression, were linked to lower sleep quality in children.

Researchers also found that stronger emotional support systems were linked to longer sleep duration for both mothers and children. The findings underscore the importance of viewing sleep as a shared family experience rather than an individual behavior.

Building the Future of Sleep Research at UConn

The research presented at SLEEP 2026 reflects UConn Nursing’s growing leadership in sleep and symptom science and aligns with plans for expanded sleep research capabilities in the School’s new academic building.

Scheduled to open in 2027, the new facility will include dedicated research spaces designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

“The future sleep research laboratory planned for our new building, DeLuca Hall, represents an exciting opportunity to expand interdisciplinary collaboration and accelerate discoveries that improve health outcomes across the lifespan,” said Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson, Ph.D., RN, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN. “By bringing together experts in nursing, behavioral science, technology, and data analytics, we will create an environment where faculty and students can work side-by-side to advance innovative sleep research, address health disparities, and translate evidence into meaningful solutions for individuals, families, and communities.”

Plans for a future sleep research laboratory will create new opportunities for faculty and students to advance the science of sleep health. The space will support interdisciplinary research and provide hands-on training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, preparing the next generation of nurse scientists to tackle complex health challenges.

As sleep continues to emerge as a critical factor influencing cardiovascular health, mental health, and overall well-being, UConn researchers are working to translate scientific discoveries into practical solutions that improve the lives of individuals and families.

Additional presentations by UConn researchers at SLEEP 2026 explored a range of topics in sleep health and symptom science, further demonstrating the School’s commitment to addressing complex health challenges through innovative research.

For more information about research at the UConn Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing visit nursing.uconn.edu.

Get With The Guidelines^® – Stroke

This is the tenth consecutive year that UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital has received the Gold Plus award.

“This honor is a reflection of the talent, dedication, and teamwork of our clinical staff,” said Dr. Andy Agwunobi, CEO of UConn Health. “We are proud to provide Connecticut residents with access to quality, evidence-based stroke and cardiovascular care that continues to save lives.”

In addition to the Gold Plus award, UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital received the following awards from the American Heart Association:

• • Stroke Honor Roll Elite
  • Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
  • Heart Failure Silver Plus with Target: Heart Failure Optimal and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll
  • Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Gold with Target: Type 2 Diabetes
    

The Honor Roll Elite award is given to hospitals that have met specific criteria that reduce the time between an eligible patient’s arrival at the hospital and their treatment with thrombolytic therapy.

The Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll ensures that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to stroke.

Hospitals receiving the Heart Failure Optimal award meet specific criteria that improve medication adherence, provide early follow-up care and coordination, and enhance patient education. The optimal designation means that a hospital has performed 50% or better for defect-free care.

The STEMI Receiving Center Gold recognizes a hospital’s commitment to providing rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), considered more severe and life-threatening than other types of heart attacks.

Stroke is the number four cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain is blocked by a clot or ruptures, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching brain tissue. When this happens, brain cells begin to die. Early detection and rapid treatment are critical to improving survival, minimizing disability and supporting faster recovery.

“Emergency managers have to prioritize life-threatening situations first,” notes Juliana Barrett, extension educator emerita with Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension. “That means individuals and families need to be ready to take care of themselves, especially in the early stages of an emergency.”

Understanding El Niño’s Local Impact

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern driven by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Pacific. When sea surface temperatures rise significantly, weather patterns shift across the globe.

In Connecticut, the effects typically become more noticeable by mid- to late summer, as residents already experienced in early July. Conditions include:

• Higher-than-average temperatures and humidity
• Additional heat waves, often peaking in mid-July
• Drier early summer conditions, increasing drought risk
• Greater wildfire potential in dry areas
• Periods of intense rainfall that can lead to flash flooding

While these shifts may seem unpredictable, they share one common thread: they increase the likelihood of disruptions that can affect daily life, including power outages, poor air quality, and travel hazards.

A Common Gap: Lack of Basic Preparedness

Despite growing awareness of climate-related risks, many residents remain unprepared for even short-term disruptions, including basic emergency supplies such as flashlights, batteries, and stored drinking water.

Preparedness can feel overwhelming or even unsettling, which causes many people to delay action. However, even small steps can make a meaningful difference.

Five Steps to Get Started

UConn Extension experts recommends a simple, practical approach to preparedness:

1. Identify a Trusted Information Source

Not everyone relies on the same channels for news and updates. Some residents trust local television, while others rely on social media or direct alerts. The key is to choose a reliable source and check it regularly during extreme weather events.

2. Build a Basic Emergency Kit

Start with widely available, affordable items:

• Flashlights and extra batteries
• Drinking water (at least one gallon per person per day)
• Shelf-stable food
• A battery-powered or hand-crank radio
• Phone chargers or backup power sources

3. Plan for Power Outages Year-Round

How you respond to a power outage depends on the season:

• Summer: Prepare for heat by identifying cooling centers and ensuring access to drinking water
• Winter: Focus on staying warm safely, including extra blankets and alternative heat sources if available

Thinking through these scenarios in advance can reduce stress when outages occur.

4. Sign Up for Emergency Alerts

Many municipalities and the state offer alert systems that provide critical updates. However, not all towns use the same platforms, and adoption varies. Residents should sign up for both local and statewide notifications whenever possible.

5. Check on Neighbors

Preparedness is also about community. Older adults in particular may benefit from additional support during extreme weather events. Extension has found strong interest from organizations serving older adults, where demand for preparedness information continues to grow.

Why Individual Preparedness Matters

Connecticut’s emergency management system is facing increasing pressure. With 169 municipalities, preparedness efforts vary widely, and many local programs rely on limited staff or volunteers. As extreme weather events become more frequent, gaps in capacity are becoming more apparent.

“We’re seeing fewer people responsible for more preparedness work,” Barrett says. “That makes individual readiness even more important.”

At the same time, progress is being made. Utilities and emergency systems have improved significantly since major storms like Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy, with better forecasting and communication tools now in place. Still, those systems work best when residents are also prepared.

UConn Extension is working to simplify preparedness through workshops, printed materials, and online resources tailored to local communities. These programs focus on practical, actionable steps that people can take without significant time or expense.

“Even if you’re not ready to create a full emergency plan, just start thinking about it,” Barrett advises. “That awareness alone is a critical first step.”

Extreme weather is becoming more interconnected, with heat, drought, heavy rainfall, and air quality issues often occurring in combination. Preparing for one type of event can help build resilience for others.

UConn Extension has other resources that can help communities and businesses be prepared. The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is a nationwide community of Extension professionals that UConn Extension participates in. UConn’s EDEN website has resources for farms, municipalities, and residents to prepare for weather-related disasters.

With El Niño expected to influence conditions throughout the season, now is an ideal time to take simple, proactive steps. Preparedness does not require perfection. It starts with a flashlight, a plan, and the understanding that readiness begins at home.

UConn Extension is part of the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and fulfills the land-grant mission of translating the university’s research for the public. UConn Extension’s statewide locations and programs help serve all 169 Connecticut municipalities. Programs include health and wellbeing, agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, and positive youth development. UConn Extension provides answers you can trust on issues ranging from health and wellness to agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, and positive youth development. 

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“Those who knew Sung Yeul knew his gentleness, humility, and sincerity. He was a respectful and collegial presence in our department, someone whose kindness was felt in everyday conversations as much as in formal collaborations,” says ECE department head Liang Zhang. “In conversations of the last week, my fellow faculty recall his thoughtfulness, his steady support for students, and his quiet dedication to the people around him. His passing is a profound loss for UConn Engineering, his family, and the broader power electronics and clean energy research community.”

Park joined UConn in 2009 after earning his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Virginia Tech. At UConn, he built an active research program in power electronics, energy conversion, renewable energy integration, battery management systems, microgrids, smart-grid applications, grid resiliency, and cyber-physical power systems. His work addressed some of the most important challenges facing modern society: how to make electric power systems cleaner, smarter, more reliable, and more resilient.

Through the Smart Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Lab, Park mentored undergraduate and graduate students in research that connected theory, hardware, experimentation, and real-world energy applications. His projects were supported by federal agencies and industry partners and reflected both technical depth and practical relevance. In 2015, he received the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and in 2025 he was named the Charles H. Knapp Associate Professor. He also served as Director of the Real-Time Digital Simulator Lab at the UConn Eversource Energy Center, where his leadership helped advance research in power-grid simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and resilient energy infrastructure.

Park’s impact was especially visible in the students he taught, advised, and encouraged. Colleagues and students remember him as a caring mentor who gave generously of his time, supported student projects, and took pride in seeing students grow as engineers and researchers. His involvement with senior design and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Future Energy Challenge gave students opportunities to apply classroom learning to complex, competitive, and meaningful engineering problems. His students described him as compassionate, dedicated, and deeply invested in their academic and personal success.

Beyond his research and teaching, Park contributed to the broader community through interdisciplinary clean-energy initiatives that connected engineering education with sustainability, public service, and hands-on learning. He was part of the faculty team behind UConn’s solar-powered STEAM tree, a project that brought together engineering, art, materials science, ecology, and community engagement to create a visible symbol of sustainability on campus. He also served as the faculty advisor to an ECE senior design team involved in the Keney Clock Tower Restoration Project in Hartford, guiding students who worked with the City of Hartford and Capital Preparatory Magnet School on renewable-energy feasibility for the historic clock tower and nearby park lighting. In both efforts, Park helped students see how power electronics and clean-energy technologies could serve communities in practical and meaningful ways.

“As we mourn this loss, we also honor a life of purpose and service,” says UConn College of Engineering dean JC Zhao. “Sung Yeul’s legacy will continue through the students he mentored, the research he advanced, the collaborations he strengthened, and the many lives he touched through his kindness and dedication. He will be deeply missed and remembered by the UConn community.”

Park is remembered by his wife, Song Suk Cho, and their four children: Youngjin Daniel Park, Sungjin Caleb Park, Soojin Sharon Park, and Taejin Joseph Park.

UConn’s Genome Ambassador Program and Sacred Heart University’s Project Limulus teamed up to tag horseshoe crabs crawling onto the beach in Stratford on June 16. Fortunately, the crabs are all over, scrabbling along the pebbled bank near the edge of the seagrass as well as four feet deep in the rising tide. Jo-Marie Kasinak, director of Project Limulus, describes finding horseshoe crabs as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” experience, in which you can get as wet and muddy as you (don’t) want. Some students start peeking into the large concrete reef balls high and dry on the beach, looking for horseshoe crabs that waited too long to swim out and got stuck inside during the last high tide.

“The males are smaller. They use their boxing gloves to latch onto the females to swim to shore for mating,” says Kasinak, referring to the specially shaped claws male horseshoe crabs have. She mentions that horseshoe crabs are not monogamous, and that in Delaware Bay one female was found with 19 males hanging onto her. It’s not quite that crazy out here in this salt marsh now managed by the Audubon Society. But we’ve already found one mating pair, and we’re looking for more.

Horseshoe crabs have scooted around Earth’s coastal waters for the last 450 million years. They existed before the dinosaurs, before any land animals at all. Which probably explains why they crawl onto beaches to mate and lay eggs; land predators weren’t a thing back then. Multiple epochs later, they still spend late spring and summer in and around the beaches and salt marches from Maine to Florida, then head out into deeper water for the colder months. Scientists don’t know too much about what they do out there.

Which is why we’re out here tagging them. Crabs tagged here in Stratford are most commonly reported along nearby beaches within a five-kilometer radius, although some have traveled as far south as Florida. The actual tagging process involves picking up a crab, driving an awl into its shell far enough from the edge to avoid it sticking off the side but close enough to the edge to avoid the brain, and then shoving a tag into the hole. It’s like an earring, or at least that’s how the researchers describe it.

When the awl goes in, most crabs bleed a little. Their blood is pale blue, and goes for more than $60,000 per gallon in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s used to test the cleanliness and sterility of vaccines and certain medical equipment, clotting immediately upon encountering the slightest contamination.

The crabs are picked up on mid-Atlantic beaches during mating season, bled, and then returned to the beaches weakened. Some of them manage to mate and lay eggs and survive, but some don’t, and the blood harvest is contributing to the decline in horseshoe crab numbers.

“There is a synthetic product made in yeast” to replace horseshoe crab blood, “but a lot of companies don’t trust it,” says Jay Podziewski ’27 (CLAS). The undergraduate molecular biology major is doing a Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) project this summer experimenting with how to grow horseshoe crab amoebocytes—the cells in the blood that clot to reveal bacterial contamination—in the lab. If scientists can figure out how to grow them in the lab instead of in a crab, they might be able to produce a product much closer to real horseshoe crab blood than the current yeast synthetic. “If we’re successful, it should have an easier time getting approved,” Podziewski says. And fewer crabs would need to be bled.

UConn marine genomicist Kate Castellano is Podziewski’s advisor on the project. She was on the team at UConn’s Institute for Systems Genomics that sequenced the horseshoe crab’s genetic code, publishing it in 2025.

“There are multiple factors in the horseshoe crab’s blood that cause the clotting,” Castellano says. Since the synthetic product produced by yeast was using only a single gene to produce a single clotting factor, “maybe it wasn’t working as well as it could because it was missing factors,” she says. Podziewski’s project will create a tool to better understand the biology of the cells, and see whether these other factors are required to make the test more sensitive.

One of the students manages to dig a small male horseshoe crab out of a reef pot, where he had buried himself to keep his gills moist during the last low tide. He is promptly tagged and released. Then two students walk over with a mating pair. The female is large. She has a hole in her shell, and is missing a few claws, but she’s carrying loads of eggs and has very light-colored eyes, a sign of relative health and youth. The researchers try to figure out if the hole in her shell is from a previous tagging or not.

“This seemed like a super cool way to experience field work in a different field,” says Jillian Taormina, taking a break from crab hunting. Taormina is doing a stint of post baccalaureate research on human genomics in Deborah Bolnick’s lab at UConn before moving on to graduate study at the University of Maine Farmington this fall. “It’s fascinating to see how different fields interact; I can definitely take some of this with me,” Taormina says.

The salt marsh we’re standing on was formerly owned by Remington Arms, which used it as a shooting range at one point. Later Dupont bought Remington, and tried to environmentally remediate the property, but reminders of the past still emerge from the muck on a regular basis. This writer found a piece of a clay pigeon, still painted safety orange. UConn multimedia specialist Syd Herdle picked up some shot casings as well as a discarded drone, a decidedly more modern piece of garbage.

It’s reassuring that even in this imperfectly repaired environment, the crabs still come and breed. All in all, the students tag 17 horseshoe crabs in two hours, and numerous other breeding pairs are spied but elude the researchers.

Other creatures come, too. A birder stopping by to catch glimpses of shorebirds walks over and asks what we’re doing, and whether she can help. Anyone can volunteer. The interested can check out Project Limulus or join in other UConn Genome Ambassador projects to learn more about horseshoe crabs, genetics and the scientific process.

“That’s what the exhibitions in this gallery are really about, trying to find ways to bring together pieces that would seem to be as different as possible,” says Douberley, curator and academic liaison at the William Benton Museum of Art.

So then, what could possibly bind together a picture of Abraham Lincoln and his family, the photograph “La Conquistadora (Our Lady of Peace) at the Trinity Nuclear Test Site Near Socorro, New Mexico,” and a portrait of Marilyn Monroe?

Simple, Douberley says: “The America 250 celebration seemed like a perfect opportunity for the Benton to show off our collection of American art, which is one of the strengths of the collection.”

Chock-a-block with photographs, paintings, sculpture, and other media, “Encounters with the Collection: Exploring America at 250” ponders such quintessential themes of the American dream, East meets West, civil rights, and urban renewal.

“We went through lots of ways to organize the exhibition and realized we needed different points of access for people, so we went broad and decided to think about what the word ‘America’ can mean,” Douberley says. “America is a place, an identity, and an idea.”

Places, People, and Dreams

Douberley has put on display such iconic locations as Yosemite National Park in an Ansel Adams photograph and the Blue Ridge Mountains in a William Louis Sonntag painting, alongside Martin Johnson Heade’s “Rye Beach, New Hampshire,” painted just before the Civil War.

Many New England vacationers might recognize the horseshoe-shaped beach, but the sketch’s focus is the burst of red sky off in the distance: “What you think of this painting has a lot to do with what you think is going on in the sky. Is it a sunrise? Is it a sunset? Is there a fire? Any of those things could be true, and there’s no indication in the title,” Douberley says.

The neighboring piece, “Louisiana,” blends the themes of place and identity, as artist Sarah Sense quite literally weaves pictures of Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Marilyn Monroe together into a paper tapestry.

Douberley says “Louisiana,” the newest addition to the Benton’s collection, represents two sides of Sense’s identity, the Native American Chitimacha and Choctaw side and the nonindigenous side. Kind of a “cowboy and Indians” mash up, the wall tag reads.

“When I’ve talked to groups about this image, we talk about how weaving the images together actually makes it harder to see them, and it’s harder to tell what’s here. Maybe that says something to you about history, identity, and our place within this story – that it’s complicated,” Douberley says.

As visitors have come through the exhibition, which has been open since last summer and closes Aug. 2, she adds that she’s seen people gravitate to the other side of the room toward Jack Levine’s painting “The Political Arena.”

The canvas depicts two men in a fight, presumably a boxing or wrestling match, with a throng of onlookers ringside. On the walls above their heads, signs read: “Kansas,” “Nevada,” and “Idaho.”

It’s meant to bring on lots of questions, Douberley says. What are the signs? Is this a sporting event? Could this be a political convention? There are no answers in the exhibition, although one might deduce their own if they know Levine’s art is famous for his political and social commentaries.

A hand-colored lithograph of Pocahontas also has drawn attention, Douberley says, if only for the replica 1616 engraving that’s printed on the wall label. It’s the only surviving image of her, and the lithograph and engraving look nothing alike.

“And then there’s ‘Path of the Axe,’” Douberley says of the winter landscape from Albertus Eugene Jones that depicts a clearcut forest. “I’ve had really great conversations with students about this one. There was one student who told me they liked it because you don’t see the axe, and how something not even in the painting could change the landscape and make such a big impact.”

Douberley says she used as her inspiration for the exhibition a set of five prints from artist Indiana, who’s best known for his pop art “Love” image with the famously slated O. The Benton owns “Demuth American Dream No. 5” but has never displayed together all five silkscreens.

In the lead up to the exhibition over the last few years, Douberley says she took notice of various news stories about the American dream, whether it still exists and whether it’s achievable.

“Being on a university campus, centering this idea of the American dream made a lot of sense for the exhibition. The American dream, of course, has its own history and is something that gets reformulated and rethought by different generations,” she says.

What’s American?

Though this exhibition closes in about a month, the Benton will continue to mark the semiquincentennial in its next show, “Encounters with the Collection: Reframing America at 250.”

Its theme comes from a conversation Douberley says she had with a visitor to “Exploring America at 250” who asked her about photographer Tseng Kwong Chi, with his “Niagara Falls, NY” on display, and what made him an American artist if he was born in Hong Kong.

Douberley says she couldn’t answer whether he was a naturalized citizen or had a green card. Turns out, he was Canadian.

“It made me reflect on how American artists are claimed as much as they are born,” she says. “He is characterized in our collection as ‘American’ and some of that has to do with the fact he’s best known for taking America as his subject – and that characterization is common in the art world. But it made me think about other instances, other stories in our collection that might question and expand what we consider American art.”

She says a person’s nationality is a basic way that museums categorize artists. When someone is added to a database, their nationality automatically gets added. But for many artists, especially contemporary ones, a single – or even two – nationalities might not be fully descriptive.

“This is the launch point for the next America 250 exhibition,” she says.

It’ll include a painting from Benjamin West, an 18th century artist who spent most of his career in England painting for King George: “He’s always considered an American artist, but you could just as easily say he’s a British artist,” she says.

Work from Dutch American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning also will be on display, along with Native American artists such as Natalie Ball, whose work comes courtesy of the Art Bridges Foundation, which through museum partnerships and other efforts seeks to put American art on display.

“Our focus with these exhibitions has been on giving people opportunities to find their own way into American art and decide what celebrating the 250th means to them,” Douberley says. “The heart of our democracy is asking questions and doing that relative to art is a way to celebrate.”

“Encounters with the Collection: Exploring America at 250” will be on display at the William Benton Museum of Art until Aug. 2. “Encounters with the Collection: Reframing America at 250” will open Sept. 1 and run until Aug. 1, 2027. They are part of America 250 CT, administered by CT Humanities.

Morgaen Donaldson, Associate Dean for Research and the Phillip E. Austin Endowed Chair at UConn’s Neag School of Education, is an author on a major new report showcasing how public school principals learn throughout their careers. This study addresses the research gap by asking public school principals to share information about their in-service learning opportunities, including the frequency of those opportunities, their subject matter, and their usefulness. 

Donaldson partnered with Jason A. Grissom and Michelle Doughty of Vanderbilt University, as well as Jessica G. Rigby and Stephanie R. Forman of the University of Washington, for this national study, supported by the Wallace Foundation. Together, the researchers examined the current landscape of professional learning for principals: what they learn, how they learn it, and how well it meets their needs. Further, they developed recommendations for school districts to help support their leaders, who in turn can best support their faculty, staff, and students.

“Principals’ professional learning is so important because they are really the primary drivers of schools,” says Donaldson. “They shape the culture. They shape teacher learning and teacher quality … That’s what makes it so shocking that there’s so little research on this topic.” 

Donaldson and her research team worked with data from surveys administered to principals from across the country, as well as qualitative interviews with principals from Connecticut, Washington, and Tennessee. The large data set allowed them to track differences across geographic regions, school district characteristics (whether rural or urban), and principal demographics. 

The idea for this project began to take root after Donaldson led an evaluation of Connecticut’s pilot teacher and principal evaluation program in 2012. She found that, while the state was proactively assessing and addressing the development needs of teachers, principals’ learning often felt like “an afterthought.”

“Connecticut has a history of doing great work on professional development and professional learning for educators,” Donaldson says. “So if it’s an afterthought in Connecticut, it’s likely to be an afterthought in other places too.” 

Donaldson and her team discovered that this was a recurring theme, affecting principals across the country.  

Principals’ professional learning is so important because they are really the primary drivers of schools. They shape the culture.

When asked about their professional learning opportunities, principals tended to respond by talking about their daily duties, rather than discussing how and what they learned.  

It seemed that principals’ professional learning was falling through the cracks. They were expected to do their jobs “in various degrees of isolation” and often received limited training or support. 

“This work highlights how often we assume what principals know, or what they can figure out,” rather than ensuring they have the proper educational resources available to them, Donaldson says. 

Informal vs. Formal Learning

One important finding from the study was the significance of informal learning opportunities that principals pursued on their own. They sought out the latest publications in education research and read them on their own time; they listened to education leadership podcasts; they formed group chats with other principals, sharing challenges and receiving social and professional support. Principals tended to cite these strategies as key drivers for their professional success. 

In terms of formal opportunities, principals said that the most common, and useful, topic for professional learning was instructional leadership, or helping teachers to improve their instruction. 

“Principals really enjoyed this and found this useful for their development,” says Donaldson. 

But principals reported having relatively few opportunities to learn about other critically important leadership practices, including building collegial relationships among teachers and staff; maintaining a safe and productive school climate; managing school resources strategically; and ensuring that all students have equitable opportunities to learn.

What Districts Can Do

Overall, 67% of principals in the study said they felt satisfied with their learning. Still, about half (52%) reported that they did not receive enough learning opportunities. This highlights a major area where districts can improve the resources offered to principals. 

“When a district convenes principals,” such as at a summit or district meeting, “the urge might be to just get things done, and cross things off the list,” says Donaldson. “But it’s so important to ask people what they need to learn, and then to provide it. A lot of school districts are under tremendous pressure....but districts should really carve out time to support principals in learning.” 

Some groups in the study reported more professional learning opportunities than others. For example, early-career principals were often supported by mentoring programs specifically designed for them.  

Additionally, the researchers found that Black principals reported more learning opportunities, even when controlling for all other factors such as their school’s location. From this study, Donaldson says, it’s not immediately clear why this is the case – opening up an avenue for further research. 

“I hope this report highlights the complexities of the job,” Donaldson says. “Sure, people can figure things out on their own, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing things in a way that makes the school as effective as possible. If we prioritize principals’ learning more, maybe we could support them in becoming better practitioners, faster and more comprehensively.”