other news

  • Innovation Award Yields New Materials for Efficient and Cost-Effective Solar Energy Panels

    Conductive Compounds Inc. (CCI), manufacturer of specialty conductive inks since 1994 in Hudson, recently completed a two-year project in partnership with chemical engineering professors at UNH to develop stable, cost-effective metallic nanoparticles which produce more conductive solar energy panels when used on silicon wafers and increase efficiency in other print applications. The project was funded by Conductive Compounds, a NH Innovation Research Center (NHIRC) Innovation Grant, matched by Conductive Compounds and federal NSF EPSCoR dollars. 

    “We did not have the internal resources to address the unique requirements for synthesizing nanoparticle materials,” said Don Banfield, CEO of Conductive Compounds Inc. “Armed with UNH’s experienced technical personnel and well-equipped lab facilities, the NHIRC grant has allowed us to explore another complimentary product line to our existing portfolio. As we continue working on commercializing a process for making these inks,...

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  • Climate Change Beliefs of Independent Voters Shift with the Weather, UNH Study Finds

    There’s a well-known saying in New England that if you don’t like the weather here, wait a minute. When it comes to independent voters, those weather changes can just as quickly shift beliefs about climate change. 

    New research from UNH finds that the climate change beliefs of independent voters are dramatically swayed by short-term weather conditions. The research was conducted by Lawrence Hamilton, professor of sociology and senior fellow at the Carsey Institute, and Mary Stampone, assistant professor of geography and the New Hampshire state climatologist. The research is presented in the article “Blowin’ in the Wind: Short-Term Weather and Belief in Anthropogenic Climate Change” in the American Meteorological Society journal Weather, Climate, and Society.   

    “We find that over 10 surveys, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart and firm in their beliefs about climate change. Independents fall in between these extremes, but their beliefs appear...

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  • UNH Lodging Index Ticks Up in December

    U.S. lodging executives were more optimistic about general business conditions in December than the prior month, according to the UNH Lodging Executives Sentiment Index (LESI) for the current month ending December 2012. The index increased from 50.1 in November 2012 to 53.8 in December 2012.  

    “This increase results from lodging executives’ positive opinions of the present general business conditions for their properties, as well as their positive sentiment for how they view general business conditions 12 months in the future. Expectations about room reservations during the same 12-month period also inched upward,” said Nelson Barber, associate professor of hospitality management, who manages the index. 

    Fifteen percent of lodging executives indicated current business conditions were good, an improvement from the 7 percent in November 2012, while 69 percent indicated conditions were normal, down from 79 percent during the same period. Fifteen percent of...

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  • UNH Center Launches Direct Care Career Guide

    The university’s Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL), a collaboration between UNH’s Institute on Disability and New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice, has launched a free online tool that provides information and career guidance to current and potential direct-care workers in New Hampshire. The Direct Care Career Guide was developed through the CACL’s DirectConnect project, which is funded by a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.  

    The Direct Care Career Guide is an easy-to-use interactive career resource tool for individuals interested in entering the direct-care field or advancing their career in direct care. The guide identifies direct-care career opportunities tailored to fit individual needs, preferences, and career aspirations.  

    “This is a significant step in raising awareness of this important workforce,” says Jennifer Rabalais, DirectConnect project director. “It is important that we continue to...

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  • It’s Official: 2012 Broke Record for Warmest Year in New Hampshire

    It may be snowy and cold outside, but Granite Staters should have no trouble remembering how hot it was last year. In fact, just-released climate statistics now show that 2012 was the warmest year for New Hampshire since official records began in 1895, according to Mary Stampone, assistant professor of geography and the N.H. state climatologist.  

    It was also the warmest year for the Northeast region, with state records broken in eight  of the 12 Northeastern states: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. 

    The average temperature of 47.2 degrees Fahrenheit in New Hampshire was about 4 degrees above the average for the period of 1895 to 2012 and broke the previous record of 46.6 degrees set in 1998, Stampone said. 

    “This new record makes 2012 the third consecutive year to rank as one of the 10 warmest since 1895 and the eighth since 1990. Four of the top 10 warmest years since...

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  • Rural Children in Child Welfare System More Likely to be Given Psychotropic Medication

    Rural children in the child welfare system who authorities suspect have been abused are significantly more likely to have been prescribed psychotropic medication than their urban peers, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at UNH. 

    The new research is presented in the Carsey Institute brief “Psychotropic Medication Use Among Children in the Child Welfare System” conducted by Wendy Walsh, research associate professor of sociology at the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center, and research associate at the Carsey Institute, Marybeth Mattingly, director of research on vulnerable families and research assistant professor of sociology at UNH. 

    Psychotropic medications usually are given to children to address emotional and behavioral problems. Some disorders treated with these medications include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, autism spectrum disorder, mental retardation or developmental delay, depression, anxiety,...

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  • Warmer Soils Release Additional CO2 into Atmosphere; Effect Stabilizes Over Longer Term

    Warmer temperatures due to climate change could cause soils to release additional carbon into the atmosphere, thereby enhancing climate change – but that effect diminishes over the long term, finds a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, from UNH professor Serita Frey and co-authors from the University of California-Davis and the Marine Biological Laboratory, sheds new light on how soil microorganisms respond to temperature and could improve predictions of how climate warming will affect the carbon dioxide flux from soils. 

    The activities of soil microorganisms release 10 times the carbon dioxide that human activities do on a yearly basis. Historically, this release of carbon dioxide has been kept in check by plants’ uptake of the gas from the atmosphere. However, human activities are potentially upsetting this balance.   

    Frey and co-authors Johan Six and Juhwan Lee of UC-Davis and Jerry Melillo of the Marine Biological...

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  • Curl up with a Good Book this Spring at UNH-Manchester

    The public is invited to join the UNH Manchester Library and Manchester Historic Association for the spring book group series, “Books in the Mill: A Year of Booker Reads.” The selected titles are all international Man-Booker award winning novels.  

    For more information, call the UNH Manchester library at 603-641-4173. Programs are held on Thursdays in the library mezzanine from 6:30-8 p.m. Visit http://manchester.unh.edu/campuslife/events for more information about this series or other events on campus. 

    “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Thursday, Feb. 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

    A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself...

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  • Research Profile: Larry Mayer – Picturing the Arctic Ocean Floor

    When most people think of exploration in the 21st century, they picture telescopes, space shuttles and unmanned rovers. But there’s plenty left to explore here on Earth, in the oceans that cover more than two-thirds of the planet’s surface. In fact, 95 percent of this region remains unseen by humans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    These uncharted waters have long fascinated Larry Mayer, a professor of earth science and ocean engineering at UNH. Over the past three decades, he has participated in more than 90 research cruises, logging a total of over six years at sea. “The ocean is full of all kinds of mysteries once you start looking,” says Mayer, the founding director of UNH’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping.  

    And Mayer’s research has also yielded some answers with important economic and environmental implications. Since 2003, he’s led or co-led nine expeditions in the...

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  • UNH Institute to Coordinate Improved Children’s Health Care in N.H.

    The New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice at UNH has been tapped to coordinate development of the state’s first child health improvement partnership, or CHIP. The Endowment for Health awarded NHIHPP a nine-month grant to develop the infrastructure for this new collaboration of public and private health care partners aimed at improving the quality of children’s health care in the state.  

    With the grant, for more than $30,000, the NHIHPP will develop an operational plan to implement the CHIP model in New Hampshire, drawing on success of CHIPs in other states, including Vermont. In addition, the NHIHPP will secure resources for the CHIP to undertake child health improvement projects. 

    “Despite being one of the healthiest states in the nation, New Hampshire has many opportunities to improve the health of its children,” says NHIHPP deputy director Jo Porter, who is principal investigator for the project. Dr. Alison Holmes, a pediatrician...

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  • UNH Invites Businesses to Participate in Corporate Consulting Project Program

    The Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at UNH invites businesses to submit corporate consulting projects to be completed by graduating MBA students.

    As the capstone course for the MBA program, consulting projects should be challenging, with workloads set at a professional level. Student teams will work 40 hours a week on the projects for five weeks during May and June 2013. Since 2003, 287 students have completed 163 projects with more than 86 companies.

    In the past, students have developed an IT disaster recovery plan for a national business; analyzed and monitored the implementation of a new sales tool to determine its effectiveness in terms of customer profitability and retention; assessed current fuel forecasting and distribution inefficiencies as well as proposed and managed remedial actions; and researched and analyzed the effectiveness of a company’s marketing and sales strategies, providing recommendations to increase sales and revenue.

    ...

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  • Family Business Succession Is Topic of UNH Business Event Feb. 5

    The issues of succession often are challenging for family businesses. The UNH Center for Family Business will address this complex topic Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, at the business event “The Five Key Issues in a Successful Family Business Succession.”  

    The program begins at 8:30 a.m. at New Hampshire Distributors, 65 Regional Way, Concord. Registration and coffee begins at 8 a.m. Lunch and networking will follow at noon.  

    This program will present a five-step model for succession and a panel of professionals and family business executives who have successfully used the model. The program will be presented by Everett Moitoza of Moitoza Consulting. 

    RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The program is available to members of the Center for Family Business at no charge. Nonmembers will be charged a special one-time trial registration fee of $99 per person or $250 per family. To register or become a member of the UNH...

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  • Same Names, New Addresses

    Due to the construction of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, and the removal of Verette and Hersey Houses, the address of Health Services has changed from 12 Ballard Street to 4 Pettee Brook Lane to reflect the realignment of the old Ballard Way.

    According to the UNH Energy and Campus Development Office, the change will make it more effective for departments assisting in 911 and mutual aid calls. Health Services main phone number remains the same: 2-9355.

    The address for Wolfe House, where the Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program (SHARPP) is located is changing to 2 Pettee Brook Lane. That phone number is 2-3494.

    The Paul College address is 10 Garrison Avenue. The opening celebration and ribbon cutting for the new school will be April 12, 2013.The UNH Police Department relocated early in the construction process to 18 Waterworks Road, next to Gregg Hall. The phone number is 2-1427.

     

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  • Bridging the Digital Divide: Broadband and the New Hampshire Economy

    The third in Cooperative Extension’s Issues and Ice Cream series will focus on “Bridging the Digital Divide: Broadband and the New Hampshire Economy.”  

    The event takes place Jan. 29 from 12:30-2 p.m. in room 334 of the MUB. 

    Twenty-seven percent of New Hampshire residents don’t have broadband internet, defined by the FCC as “high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than the traditional dial-up access.”  

    Join us for a discussion about what broadband access, or lack thereof, means to New Hampshire. Our panel will discuss the implications of the digital divide, outline what’s happening to improve broadband access and use across the state, and convey what the implications of broadband expansion are for economic development, telemedicine, and educational attainment. 

    The event, coordinated by Cooperative Extension’s community and economic development team, includes Cooperative Extension program team leader Charlie...

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  • N.H. Author Series Presents Author Joseph Monninger Jan. 27

    The N.H. Author Series, hosted by the Friends of Dimond Library, will present award-winning author Joseph Monninger Sunday, Jan. 27, at 2 p.m. in the Dimond Library 5th Floor Reading Room. Local author and humorist Rebecca Rule will interview Monninger in front of a live audience.

    The program is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Click here to register.

    Monninger has published 11 novels and three non-fiction books, including the memoir “Home Waters.” His newest book “Margaret from Maine” was released in December. In 2008, his young adult novel “Baby” received the best children’s literature award by the Peace Corps Writers, and “Hippie Chick” was awarded a blue ribbon by The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. His third young adult novel, “Finding Somewhere”, was selected as a top book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews.

    A professor of English at...

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