By the time Nolan Ford was in second grade, he had learned lessons in courage and dedication that would last a lifetime and define a career path. That’s when his sister MacKenzie lost her fight with a rare, deadly form of cancer she had struggled with for most of her life. She was only 9.
When senior Drama and Theatre for Youth major Hannah Smith was selected for a summer internship at The Rose Theater in Omaha, the Waterloo native was thrilled to get the chance to live in a bigger city while pursuing her passion of teaching a new generation the joys of theater.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans but the internship for Smith, whose professor has dubbed her a theater-teaching “rock star,” went virtual. It wasn’t what Smith had planned, but the internship has been a beneficial — and unique — experience, she said.
More than 100 million adults in the U.S. suffer from hypertension, or, high blood pressure, and in recent years, nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. were directly or indirectly caused by the condition.
Abby Weekley, a senior biology major at the University of Northern Iowa, is hoping to change that through her work with UNI alum Dr. Bob Good. Weekley and Good are collaborating on a research project to study how much young people between the ages of 18-25 know about hypertension.
The empty gallon milk jug landed with a thwack as it slapped against the placid surface of a stretch of Dry Run Creek near the Cedar Falls Visitor Center.
The jug, used to capture a sample of water for quality testing, was attached to a string held by University of Northern Iowa junior Logan Gray. He was perched about 15 feet above the creek on a trail bridge, struggling to propel the buoyant plastic container through the stubborn surface tension of the Cedar River tributary.
Sometimes a little destruction is necessary for creation.
That’s certainly true at the University of Northern Iowa’s Textile and Apparel Product Development and Materials Analysis Laboratory - a unique, $3 million state-of-the-art facility brimming with advanced machinery capable of putting every type of stress imaginable on fabric. National retailers use these sorts of tests to create strong, light fabrics.
Normally, Francis Degnin’s bioethics class would be spending the spring semester discussing hypothetical questions of ethics in the medical field.
Instead, they’ve now found themselves discussing real life issues facing doctors and nurses around the globe, as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through nations and overwhelms health care systems.
Degnin, an associate professor in the UNI Department of Philosophy and World Religions, is uniquely positioned to help in this scenario.
University of Northern Iowa junior Ashley Campbell had just made the biggest scientific discovery of her life, but it took a moment for the truth to sink in.
Campbell is part of a group of UNI undergraduates researching the genetic makeup of the chewing louse, a grain-sized parasite similar to lice in humans that makes its home on furry animals. The research, which aims to expand our knowledge of evolutionary biology for use in medical applications, is exacting and sometimes tedious.
At first glance, it looks like something sprung from the mind of Jackson Pollock.
But the vibrant colors strewn across the image represent not the paint strokes of an artist, but the tiny, mineralogical components of a rock. And they were produced by a new set of scientific instruments at the University of Northern Iowa that will give students a deeper, more detailed look into geology than was previously possible.
A deadly outbreak without a cure. Local governments urging residents to stay inside and avoid other people. Medical professionals on the frontlines trying to halt the rapid spread of an infectious disease.
It’s not COVID-19, but the 1924 outbreak of the Black Plague in Los Angeles.
Paige Mathews always knew she wanted to help others. She was pursuing a nursing degree when she unexpectedly discovered her true calling while taking a prerequisite athletic training class.
“I went in and I thought, ‘I’m just gonna’ go and tape some ankles and watch people on the sidelines. It’s gonna’ be so boring,’” said Mathews, now in her second year of graduate studies in UNI’s athletic training program. “Now, I’m still surprised every day of what athletic trainers can do.”
