From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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KU, FBI cybersecurity conference April 4 to include keynote from FBI Director Christopher Wray

LAWRENCE — Members of the University of Kansas community and the public are invited to attend an upcoming cybersecurity conference April 4 that will bring together experts in the field from industry and research. Speakers will include FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran. The event is $25 and is open to the public, but registration is required. Members of the media wanting to cover the conference need to contact Bridget Patton, FBI public affairs specialist, at 816-512-8200 or by email for credentials.

2024 KU First Nations Student Association (FNSA) Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival set for April 13

LAWRENCE — For decades, the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association (FNSA) has hosted the Annual KU FNSA Powwow. The event celebrates the diversity of cultures in the community through dancing, singing and honoring the traditions of Indigenous ancestors. The 2024 FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 13 inside and outside the Lied Center of Kansas.

Study finds media coverage focused on Katherine Johnson’s achievements, treated discrimination as past problem

LAWRENCE — The 2016 film “Hidden Figures” told Katherine Johnson’s story as a brilliant mathematician, a trailblazer who overcame racism and sexism to succeed at NASA in the 1950s and ’60s. That monumental career was again examined in the media following her death in 2020. A new study from the University of Kansas analyzed newspaper coverage of Johnson’s death, finding that media focused on her achievements first but also tended to depict the race- and gender-based discrimination she faced as a problem of the past.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, KU News Service, 785-864-8858, [email protected], @ebpkansas

KU, FBI cybersecurity conference April 4 to include keynote from FBI Director Christopher Wray

LAWRENCE — Members of the University of Kansas community and the public are invited to attend an upcoming cybersecurity conference that will bring together experts in the field from industry and research.

The FBI & KU Cybersecurity Conference: Bridging the Knowledge of Government, Industry Workforce and Research is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 4 at the Kansas Union on KU’s Lawrence campus.

The event is $25 and is open to the public, but registration is required to attend. Members of the media wanting to cover the conference need to contact Bridget Patton, FBI public affairs specialist, at 816-512-8200 or by email for credentials.

Chancellor Douglas A. Girod said that as cybersecurity continues to pose a serious threat to the economy and national security, KU can help address this challenge.

“We are educating the next generation of cybersecurity-minded leaders and continuing our cutting-edge research and tech development in cybersecurity-related fields,” Girod said. “KU has the infrastructure and talent to be a national leader in this space, and this conference is a great way to help us fulfill that role.”

Christopher Wray, FBI director, will be the first keynote speaker at 8:35 a.m.

Conference highlights include:

Keynotes from Wray and Stevan Bernard, chief executive officer for Bernard Global LLC.
Featured speaker U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran.
Remarks from university and FBI leaders.
Top KU researchers discussing the latest research on cybersecurity, including such topics as resiliency, trust and disinformation.
Panel of industry and government stakeholders on best practices and potential threats/attacks.
Breakout sessions on topics like Snake malware and skills for the cybersecurity professional.
Student poster presentations highlighting current KU research.

Additional information is available at the conference website.

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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”

a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.

https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/when-experts-attack

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Contact: Melissa Peterson, University Academic Support Centers, 785-864-7267, [email protected]; Laura Kingston, [email protected]

2024 KU First Nations Student Association (FNSA) Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival set for April 13

LAWRENCE — For decades, the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association (FNSA) has hosted the Annual KU FNSA Powwow. The event celebrates the diversity of cultures in the community through dancing, singing and honoring the traditions of Indigenous ancestors.

This legacy of enriching the local community through Native American traditions and cultural heritage expanded in 2017 with the establishment of the Indigenous Cultures Festival (ICF) through a partnership between FNSA and the Lied Center of Kansas.

The 2024 FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 13 inside and outside the Lied Center of Kansas.

New this year, through KU’s commitment to supporting this long-standing community event that brings all people together for a day of celebration, the powwow will take place on the KU Powwow Grounds at the Lied Center. The committee thanks the KU Operations Team and outgoing Vice Provost Mike Rounds and the Office of the Provost for their dedication and support.

This daylong, family-friendly event will welcome the KU, Lawrence and surrounding communities to participate, share experiences, make connections and learn more about the traditions, culture, history and contemporary topics relating to the Indigenous peoples of North America.

The day includes interactive experiences and educational workshops focused on Indigenous cultures and history, including:

Powwow 101 Presentations by Jancita Warrington (Menominee, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk Nations)
Native Screenwriters Panel featuring Miciana Alise (Tlingit)
Native Fashion Panel featuring Dr. Jessica Metcalfe (Turtle Mountain Chippewa)
Power of Native Theatre featuring Honolulu Theatre for Youth
Ishtaboli (Choctaw Stickball) Interactive Presentation featuring Ron McKinney (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) and the Haskell Stickball Club
Pine Needle Basket Weaving Workshop featuring Amy June Breesman (Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma)
Unveiling of Murals by Navajo/Creek/Yuchi/Seminole artist Steven Grounds

Activities offered during the 2024 KU FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival will be held inside the Lied Center. Attendees planning on staying throughout the powwow are encouraged to bring lawn chairs; available seating will be limited.

Regional Native American artists and artisans will have items for sale in accordance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. Leading the food vendors is longtime vendor Peaches’ Frybread and popular local vendor Monteau’s Indian Tacos. Additional Indigenous-inspired food will be available for purchase throughout the day. During the event, only adult-size T-shirts will be for sale.

All activities on April 13 are free and open to the public. It is recommended guests bring cash to purchase from vendors and lawn chairs for enjoying the powwow. For full and up-to-date details on the Annual FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival, please visit the powwow website or connect with the Facebook event.

For more information, contact Laura Kingston by email.

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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings

Study finds media coverage focused on Katherine Johnson’s achievements, treated discrimination as past problem

LAWRENCE — Without Katherine Johnson, NASA would not have landed a man on the moon.

The 2016 film “Hidden Figures” told Johnson’s story as a brilliant mathematician, a trailblazer who overcame racism and sexism to succeed at NASA in the 1950s and ‘60s. That monumental career was again examined in the media following her death in 2020.

A new study from the University of Kansas analyzed news coverage of Johnson’s death, finding that coverage focused on her achievements first but also tended to depict the race- and gender-based discrimination she faced as a problem of the past.

Steve Bien-Aimé, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications at KU, analyzed 42 news items and opinion pieces following Johnson’s death to determine how her life and career were presented in newspapers.

“To be one of the premier mathematicians sending people to the moon means you are really good,” Bien-Aimé said. “I wanted to know are they talking about that, or that she was a rarity as a Black female NASA mathematician, or that she was a pioneer? Overall, journalists did a pretty good job of presenting her as a brilliant mathematician first.”

Coverage focused first on Johnson as a person. She was at the top of her field, and her expertise was vital to one of the foremost scientific achievements, it noted. Coverage mentioned that she overcame severe racial and gender discrimination.

However, newspapers tended to treat racism and sexism as though they were issues of the past, not problems still facing society today, according to the KU study. Coverage also did not examine why structural racism and sexism were and continue to be problems or who benefits from them.

“Katherine Johnson’s time in science butted right up against Jim Crow and the civil rights era. Some of her most notable NASA work came about a decade after Brown v. Board, but it’s not like a court decision made all discrimination go away,” Bien-Aimé said. “There was not a name put on who did it, or why such discrimination existed. When you avoid that, you also avoid examining how or why structural inequities are built and maintained.”

Coverage of Johnson’s death and career was good at using person-first language, or the fact that first and foremost she was a brilliant mathematician. And while it noted there was underrepresentation of women in the sciences during her career, coverage also lacked citation of other women in discussing her work and legacy, the KU study found. Fewer than half of the news items quoted women who were not Johnson, and many of those that did quoted Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book was the basis for the film “Hidden Figures.”

“The coverage showed she was great at what she did. If you say she was a great Black woman mathematician, you are putting qualifications on how good of a mathematician she was,” Bien-Aimé said. “She was a brilliant mathematician, and those other identities are important, but we should treat her the same as others. She was noteworthy because they don’t go to the moon without her.”

The research, published in the Journal of Black Studies, notes that coverage of Johnson’s death can serve as an example of hegemony, or reinforcing the status quo in that people can assume why the type of discrimination she faced existed. However, that can amount to disavowal, or not addressing difficult topics because the writer or those in today’s society feel they did not cause the issue, Bien-Aimé said. It also presented a missed opportunity to discuss issues such as disparities of women and people of color in STEM fields today.

Such presentations of notable figures are important not only for how they discuss one person and their experiences, but for what they can tell us about current society and journalism, according to Bien-Aimé. He also said that how journalists portray individuals such as Johnson is important because of the shrinking media landscape and how their voices are amplified, whether their coverage is positive, negative or ambivalent.

“Journalists have a tough job, and having to produce more and more content all the time, it is hard to produce more robust stories,” Bien-Aimé said. “But we have to know if we are able to look at these situations and ask, ‘Why is it rare? What makes this a novel event?’”

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Headlines

Contact: Brownie Wilson, Kansas Geological Survey, 785-864-2118, [email protected]

Groundwater measurement results mixed in western, south-central Kansas

LAWRENCE — Preliminary groundwater level measurements compiled by the Kansas Geological Survey show mixed results for western and south-central Kansas in 2023, with some areas in the northwest and west-central part of the state experiencing increases for the first time in three or more years.

“In the Ogallala portion of the High Plains aquifer, the aquifer had a chance to ‘reset’ in 2023, given some timely rains in the summer months,” said Brownie Wilson, KGS water-data manager.

Measurements in those areas reflect a rebound from lower-than-normal groundwater levels caused by the extreme drought conditions seen in 2022.

“Unfortunately, south-central Kansas missed out on those rains, and the dry conditions persist today,” Wilson said.

The KGS, based at the University of Kansas, and the Division of Water Resources (DWR) of the Kansas Department of Agriculture measure water levels in about 1,400 wells every year to monitor the health of the High Plains aquifer and other aquifers in western and south-central Kansas.

Those measurements showed an overall average decline of 0.17 feet last year, marking the fourth straight year of overall declines. Groundwater levels across the region fell 1.9 feet in 2022, about a foot in 2021 and 0.87 feet in 2020.

The High Plains aquifer is a network of water-bearing rock that extends into eight states. In Kansas, the aquifer comprises three components – the Ogallala aquifer, the Great Bend Prairie aquifer and the Equus Beds. Of these, the Ogallala underlies most of western Kansas and consists mainly of the Ogallala Formation, a geologic unit that formed from sediment eroded off the uplifting Rocky Mountains.

Most of the wells in the network monitored by the KGS and DWR are within the boundaries of the state’s five groundwater management districts, which are organized and governed by area landowners and local water users to address water-resources issues.

Northwest Kansas GMD 4, which saw well-above-average precipitation in 2023, experienced the largest increase in water levels, at 0.35 feet, after declines of 1.32 feet in 2022 and 0.55 feet in 2021. Groundwater levels last increased in the district, by 0.61 feet, in 2019. GMD 4 covers Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, and parts of Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Rawlins and Wallace counties. Groundwater there is pumped from the Ogallala aquifer and shallow alluvial sources associated with streams.

Western Kansas GMD 1, where the majority of wells are drilled into the Ogallala aquifer, also saw an overall average increase of 0.27 feet, following declines of 1.13 feet in 2022 and 0.55 feet in 2021. The monitoring program has recorded increases in district water levels only three times since 1996, the last time in 2004. GMD 1 includes portions of Greeley, Lane, Scott, Wallace and Wichita counties. Water levels in the district, one of the first areas of the state to have large-capacity wells drilled in the 1940s-1950s, have fallen to a point that yields for irrigation have greatly diminished.

“Another factor in play is both GMDs 1 and 4 have active enhanced management plans in place to conserve water. Initial studies have shown water users are reducing both total amounts diverted and how much is applied to irrigated fields,” Wilson said.

In Southwest Kansas GMD 3, average groundwater levels declined by 0.19 feet. The region experienced the most severe drought conditions in the state in 2022, with widespread areas receiving 50% to 75% of long-term precipitation averages. The same area in 2023 saw above-average precipitation amounts of up to 150% to 200% of normal. Much of that came during the growing months of April through July.

“The timeliness and gentle nature of the precipitation events allowed many producers to shut down their wells for several weeks, which in turn reduces the overall stress on the aquifer,” Wilson said.

Water levels in GMD 3 declined by 2.83 feet in 2022 and 2.08 feet in 2021. The district includes all or part of Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Meade, Morton, Seward, Stanton and Stevens counties. Most of the wells monitored in the district are drilled into the Ogallala aquifer, except in a few areas where they can also draw from the deeper Dakota aquifer.

Water levels in south-central Kansas saw a second straight year of larger than normal decline rates amid continuing drought conditions.

Equus Beds GMD 2, a significant source of water for Wichita, Hutchinson and surrounding towns, experienced the largest drop at 1.62 feet, after declines of 2.11 feet in 2022 and 0.14 feet in 2021. GMD 2 covers portions of Harvey, McPherson, Reno and Sedgwick counties.

Water levels in Big Bend GMD 5, centered on the Great Bend Prairie aquifer, fell 1.12 feet in 2023, following declines of 2.32 feet in 2022 and 0.81 feet in 2021. GMD 5 includes Pratt and Stafford counties and parts of Barton, Edwards, Kiowa, Pawnee, Reno and Rice counties.

“Despite the prolonged drought conditions and lingering groundwater declines, both districts have a greater potential to recover when the rains do return,” Wilson said.

The KGS measured 577 wells in western Kansas, and DWR staff from field offices in Stockton, Garden City and Stafford measured 221, 264 and 350 wells, respectively, in western and south-central Kansas. Most of the wells, spread over 49 counties, are used for irrigation and have been measured for decades with landowners’ permission.

Measurements are taken primarily in January, when water levels are least likely to fluctuate due to seasonal irrigation. The measurement results, available on the KGS Water Well Levels web page, are provisional and subject to revision based on additional analysis.

The Kansas Geological Survey is a nonregulatory research and service division of the University of Kansas. KGS researchers study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, rocks and minerals, and earthquakes.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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KU Debate qualifies third team for National Debate Tournament

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of junior Jacob Wilkus, Lawrence, and Owen Williams, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, have qualified for the National Debate Tournament in Atlanta from April 5-8. Wilkus and Williams were selected as at-large qualifiers for the National Debate Tournament by the tournament’s selection committee based on their record over the course of the season. They are the third KU pair to qualify for the tournament this year.

Department of Physics & Astronomy professor receives prestigious NSF award for black hole research

LAWRENCE — A prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation will help a University of Kansas scholar continue her groundbreaking research on supermassive black holes. Elisabeth Mills, assistant professor of physics & astronomy, received the five-year, $821,724 grant from the NSF. Along with helping to develop her research, Mills said the award will also support department outreach efforts, like the popular KU AstroNights telescope viewing events, as well as provide important opportunities for KU students.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Scott Harris, KU Debate, 785-864-9878, [email protected], @KansasDebate

KU Debate qualifies third team for National Debate Tournament

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of junior Jacob Wilkus, Lawrence, and Owen Williams, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, have qualified for the National Debate Tournament in Atlanta from April 5-8.

Wilkus and Williams were selected as at-large qualifiers for the National Debate Tournament (NDT) by the tournament’s selection committee based on their record over the course of the season. They are the third KU pair to qualify for the tournament this year. They join seniors Graham Revare, Shawnee; William Soper, Bucyrus; John Marshall, Lawrence; and Jiyoon Park, Topeka; who had already qualified.

To qualify as a third team, a team must be one of the six best third-teams in the country over the season.

“Qualifying for the NDT as a third team is incredibly difficult, and Jacob and Owen earned it with a remarkable season,” said Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of Debate.

The other schools that qualified three teams to the tournament are Dartmouth College, Emory University, Georgetown University, Northwestern University and Wake Forest University. This is the ninth straight year that KU has qualified three teams for the NDT and the 57th consecutive year of qualifying one or more teams to compete at the NDT.

KU has won the National Debate Tournament six times and reached the Final Four 19 times.

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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”

a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.

https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/when-experts-attack

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Contact: Ranjit Arab, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, [email protected], @KUCollege

Department of Physics & Astronomy professor receives prestigious NSF award for black hole research

LAWRENCE — A prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation will help a University of Kansas Department of Physics & Astronomy professor continue her groundbreaking research on supermassive black holes.

Elisabeth Mills, assistant professor of physics & astronomy, received the five-year, $821,724 grant from the NSF for her research on how supermassive black holes grow.

Every galaxy, including our own Milky Way galaxy, has a supermassive black hole at its center, yet very little is known about how black holes gather gas from their surroundings to grow bigger. Mills will use some of the world’s most powerful telescopes — the Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile — to observe supermassive black holes in neighboring galaxies.

She said the goal is to study the gas and dust in the centers of these galaxies to better understand when they might become the next meal for the black holes.

“This work helps us understand how our own Milky Way galaxy has been formed and how the growth of its black hole might change our galaxy in the future,” Mills said.

The NSF’s CAREER Award is the most prestigious awards given to faculty members beginning their independent careers, providing support to advance outstanding research through commitment to teaching, learning and disseminating knowledge. Along with helping to develop her research, Mills said the award will also support department outreach efforts, like the popular KU AstroNights telescope viewing events, as well as provide important opportunities for KU students.

“It gives students in my group the opportunity to make connections with internationally renowned astronomers from all over the world and makes KU visible on an international stage,” she said.

Arash Mafi, executive dean of KU’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, said the award reflects the high caliber of research taking place within the College.

“We are thrilled that the NSF has recognized Professor Mills’ innovative work,” Mafi said. “It is further proof of the world-class research being conducted across the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.”

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Headlines

Rice paddy snake diversification was driven by geological and environmental factors in Thailand, molecular data suggests

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas study of rice paddy snakes in Southeast Asia gives key details to their diversification and natural history, adding molecular evidence that the rise of the Khorat Plateau and subsequent environmental shifts in Thailand may have altered the course of the snakes’ evolution some 2.5 million years ago. The researchers relied on molecular data along with ecological niche modeling, which depended on data about where specimens were located in the field. This approach could help conservation efforts going forward, or predictions of how species might fare in climate change scenarios.

Digital scholarship illuminates life of important medieval poet

LAWRENCE — Tapping into digitized wills and other legal documents, University of Kansas scholar Misty Schieberle unearthed new information about the family and network of medieval poet Thomas Hoccleve, whose financial worries and mental health struggles remain relevant to readers today. “Thomas Hoccleve of London: New Evidence of Hoccleve’s Family and Finances” was published in the journal Studies in the Age of Chaucer.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch

Rice paddy snake diversification was driven by geological and environmental factors in Thailand, molecular data suggests

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas study of rice paddy snakes in Southeast Asia gives key details to their diversification and natural history, adding molecular evidence that the rise of the Khorat Plateau and subsequent environmental shifts in Thailand may have altered the course of the snakes’ evolution some 2.5 million years ago. The findings were published today in the journal Scientific Reports.

Researchers say the implications could help tell the story of diversification more broadly in the region.

“This paper concerns mud snakes typically found in aquatic systems across Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Australia and New Guinea,” said lead author Justin Bernstein, a KU Center for Genomics postdoctoral researcher. “Deeper-level relationships regarding their evolution have recently begun to be studied, particularly through genome-scale data. However, finer-scaled evolutionary patterns remain to be fully revealed.”

Bernstein, who currently serves at the University of Texas-Arlington, said the mud snakes, a family known as the Homalopsidae, are commonly found today in aquatic systems. Bernstein’s newest work on the homalopsids focuses on a subgroup called rice paddy snakes that are commonly found in agricultural fields and freshwaters streams in Southeast Asia.

Although recent research has touched on the diversity of rice paddy snakes, their geographic distribution has touched off scientific speculation: One hypothesis suggests that around 2.5 million years ago, a plateau in Central Thailand, known as the Khorat Plateau, emerged from the ground, leading to the separation and subsequent diversification of snake populations over time. Indeed, molecular data provided insights into the timing of species diversification that aligned with the formation of the plateau.

However, a later genome-scale study challenged this hypothesis by pushing the divergence date backward, predating the plateau’s formation.

“This discrepancy raises questions about the accuracy of different datasets in determining evolutionary timelines,” Bernstein said. “To address this, our paper employs more limited molecular datasets but with more robust analyses and denser sampling to test the hypothesis. Our results suggest that the group indeed diversified after the Khorat Plateau rose, and environmental changes over time further contributed to their divergence.”

Past that, the research team found varied differences in preferred habitats among different snake species using past and present niche models, hinting that other environmental factors might have influenced their routes toward diversification and geographic distribution.

Bernstein’s collaborator included co-author Rafe Brown, KU professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and curator-in-charge of the Herpetology Division at KU’s Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Institute. Other co-authors included Harold Voris and Sara Ruane of the Field Museum in Chicago; Bryan Stuart of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; the late Daryl Karns of Hanover College; Jimmy McGuire of the University of California-Berkeley, Djoko Iskandar of the Institut Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia; Awal Riyanto of the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia; Camilo Calderón‐Acevedo of the State University of New York: College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Marcelo Gehara of Rutgers University-Newark; and J. Angel Soto‐Centeno of Rutgers University-Newark and the American Museum of Natural History.

Bernstein and his collaborators relied on molecular data along with ecological niche modeling to shed new light on the rice paddy snakes, which depended on data about where specimens were located in the field. This approach could help conservation efforts going forward, or predictions of how species might fare in climate change scenarios.

“The whole point of ecological niche modeling, put simply, is if I take, say, 100 occurrence points for those snakes, and then I use 19 environmental data layers that correspond with each point, and compare it to a background — which would be the landscape with its environmental data regardless of snake occurrence points — do we see correlations and patterns?” Bernstein said. “You’re trying to determine the habitat suitability of your species of interest across a broad landscape, including areas where they have not been recorded from.”

He said the environmental data includes variables like temperature differences, seasonality and precipitation at different points in time, such as quarterly, monthly or annually.

“These 19 layers containing the environmental factors are ‘stacked’ in a way that each GPS coordinate — where a snake occurrence record is — has a set of 19 environmental variables associated with it,” Bernstein said.

For instance, via this approach Bernstein said while these rice-paddy snakes don’t exist in the Philippines, there are suitable habitats based off of where they live in Indochina.

“Hypothetically they could live there,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they do. There is no evidence suggesting they are able to get across ocean waters and enter the Philippines, and it would be highly unlikely for that scenario to occur. But the analysis is just indicating there is suitable habitat elsewhere, in addition to where we find them now, and that can be really useful. If it’s a continuous landscape and you haven’t found any individuals of a species in a particular area, but you see high habitat suitability, maybe you can go find a population that is presently unknown to exist.”

The research builds on two of Bernstein’s earlier works. One study combines genetic analyses of older museum specimens’ mitochondrial DNA with fresher genetic samples from recent field collections of mud snakes to learn more about diversity of homalopsids, including rice paddy snakes. The other study is a more focused study that described a new rice paddy snake species and posited the hypothesis of the Khorat Plateau based on current data but lacked the power to test it.

While many species of the mud snakes are drab, Bernstein said others are highly charismatic.

“Some have tentacles as appendages on their face,” he said. “You could find two of the same species in one hole, like a mud lobster hole, where one is white and black, and the other is bright red and black — very striking. Some have speckled yellow bellies, while others are black with bright orange flecks and stripes down their back. And other species have unique behaviors that are not seen in the 4,000-plus species of snakes. They are truly stunning snakes.”

Ultimately, the mud snake’s value may be in serving to show how species, and their morphological diversity, evolves over time, as well as how other organisms may react to changes in the ecosystems they live in.

“I saw a lot of opportunity in them as a model system for investigating biogeography,” Bernstein said. “Honestly, using them more as a model system for understanding how species change or remain stable over time has been really valuable. We have several studies we want to pursue further, and many more in the works, and it all begins with understanding their evolutionary relationships.”

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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”

a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.

https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/when-experts-attack

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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected], @RickHellman

Digital scholarship illuminates life of important medieval poet

LAWRENCE – A fresh round of digital scholarship has revealed new information about the family and London network of late-medieval poet Thomas Hoccleve (1367-1426).

Misty Schieberle, University of Kansas professor of English, recently published “Thomas Hoccleve of London: New Evidence of Hoccleve’s Family and Finances” in Studies in the Age of Chaucer, a journal of the New Chaucer Society.

Schieberle cites evidence she pieced together from centuries-old records, which she translated from their original Latin, showing for the first time that Hoccleve’s father was an aristocratically connected draper, or cloth merchant, operating in London when Hoccleve was born, strongly indicating the poet was born in the city.

Scholars of the period previously thought he might have been born in the village of Hockliffe, about 45 miles north of London, which provided the family surname.

From her studies of wills and other legal documents, Schieberle shows that Hoccleve’s father worked with the prominent merchant William Holbech, a former sheriff and member of Parliament, and had business dealings with John of Gaunt, the uncle of King Richard II. Schieberle suggests that Hoccleve had a likely aunt in William’s wife, Maud Holbech, whose will left Hoccleve a yearly income explicitly in the event that he never obtained what was called a benefice: full-time, permanent employment in the Catholic Church as a priest, the vocation he trained for.

That benefice, with job security that might be likened to a tenured professorship, never materialized. Hoccleve spent his days instead employed as a government secretary who copied and processed royal documents.

At the turn of the 1400s, after years as a bureaucrat, Hoccleve completed his first poem, starting a literary career that would make him one of the most important poets between Chaucer and Shakespeare.

“He’s one of Chaucer’s successors, and he’s one of the men most responsible for creating the image of Chaucer as the father of English poetry,” Schieberle said. “He’s also remarkably frank about some of his struggles, including his financial woes and a mental health crisis and his recovery from it. And so, in addition to writing poetry that engaged with the popular styles and themes of the day, he’s a remarkably personable figure because of what he tells you about his life and his struggles, which a lot of modern readers and students find really approachable.”

Schieberle’s archival work presents new facts about the life of the poet and his family, and it offers a vivid picture of how Maud Holbech’s will acknowledges the financial precarity that Hoccleve complained about in some of his poems.

Schieberle’s research builds on a 2014 reference by fellow scholars who identified the name of Hoccleve’s father from a single legal record. By cross-referencing all the names in that document in newly available digital databases that summarize wills and property records, then tracking down the original, full-text manuscript copies for details on the individuals and transactions, Schieberle identified over a dozen new records that add to scholars’ knowledge about the poet’s life history.

Schieberle said what she found confirms that although Hoccleve rose to be a senior clerk in the Royal Office of the Privy Seal, he was frustrated by the lack of security and recognition that even that managerial position conferred.

“Hoccleve’s inheritance supplemented his income,” Schieberle said, “but it must have also reminded him of opportunities he never received, which gives us even more sympathy for him.”

Schieberle came to study Hoccleve through the other special focus of her research, his then-contemporary writer Christine de Pizan, whose works Hoccleve translated and copied.

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