Physical activity is essential to fighting obesity, and scientists are constantly working to make this activity more effective and beneficial. A $450,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health will help biology professor Colleen Novak, Ph.D., from Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences better understand how the body allocates energy and burns fat. In her project, “Mechanisms Underlying Contextual Induction of Muscle Thermogenesis,” Novak is studying the biological phenomenon known as thermogenesis — how the body burns caloric energy, turning it into heat. “We are go...

Physical activity is essential to fighting obesity, and scientists are constantly working to make this activity more effective and beneficial. A $450,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health will help biology professor Colleen Novak, Ph.D., from Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences better understand how the body allocates energy and burns fat. In her project, “Mechanisms Underlying Contextual Induction of Muscle Thermogenesis,” Novak is studying the biological phenomenon known as thermogenesis — how the body burns caloric energy, turning it into heat. “We are go...

Kent State University President Beverly Warren delivered the State of the University address on Thursday, Oct. 13. Themed “Living the Kent State Promise,” Warren outlined her vision of a reimagined public research university. “The Kent State Promise should be a comprehensive approach to student success and fulfillment,” Warren said. “We aspire to bring the totality of the resources and reach of one of the nation’s largest research universities to higher education’s most important outcome: more college graduates who have the skills, talent and desire to change the world – who understand that...

The Kent State University Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the Alumni Awards. These awards recognize graduates in the area of leadership, service, character and professional development. “The alumni association is proud to recognize notable, accomplished graduates,” said Lori Randorf, assistant vice president of alumni relations at Kent State. “These awards not only bring distinction to the alumni who receive them, but also to the university as they showcase the contributions Kent State graduates make to their professions and society.” Five alumni awards will be granted alon...

If you’re interested in sharing your writing or artwork with the Kent State Community, consider getting involved with Luna Negra, Kent’s own student-run literary journal. Submissions are now open for both visual arts and writing. Luna Negra has been a staple in the Kent State Community for almost half a century. Its history extends as far back as 1956 under its original name, The Kent Quarterly. Throughout its history, the journal has gone through several changes, and in 1992 rebranded to become what is now Luna Negra. As a voice for the creative community, the publication features vario...

When the Akron Beacon Journal started writing a story on the growing popularity of renting everything from bridal gowns to textbooks, the reporter found Kay Caprez, a senior in Kent State University’s College of Education, Health and Human Services. Caprez opened up about how she has saved money by renting textbooks online since her freshman year. Learn more about Caprez’s renting experience in the Akron Beacon Journal.  ...

Losing inches around your waist could help improve your memory. John Gunstad, an associate professor in Kent State University's Department of Psychology, and a team of researchers have discovered a link between weight loss and improved memory and concentration. This includes losing weight with the help of surgery. The study shows that bariatric surgery patients exhibited improved memory function 12 weeks after their operations. "The primary motivation for looking at surgery patients is that we know they lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, so it was a good group to study," Gunstad ...

Thanks to a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, two Kent State University professors are researching climate change in Alaska.Elizabeth Herndon, Ph.D., and Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Ph.D., assistant professors from Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, spent a week in Fairbanks, Alaska, in June studying how climate change affects the availability of plant nutrients in arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems. The grant teams up two of Kent State’s newest researchers. “I think it’s really great that two early-career scientists were awarded the funds to do this research,”...