Bruce Pfeiffer, assistant professor of marketing in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics (WSBE), has conducted extensive research about how people react to celebrities once they know their personal viewpoints.

He has found that those who are most vocal about political, religious, and social causes may pay with decreased popularity and reduced income.  The more the public knows about celebrities’ personal views, the less we like them, according to Pfeiffer.

A multidisciplinary team led by UNH researchers will engage over 2000 rural and indigenous youth in afterschool programs across New England in which they will map sustainable practices (MSP) within their communities.

The goals of the project are to (1) strengthen the connection for youth between science and their home and community lives, and (2) research whether the program improves science achievement in traditionally underachieving groups.

The UNH Institute on Disability (IOD) and the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services will collaborate on a new program to promote and maximize health, prevent chronic disease, improve emergency preparedness, and increase the quality of life of individuals with disabilities.

The New Hampshire Disability and Public Health Project is funded by a three-year, $900,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Key federal agencies will communicate their annual updates on research priorities and budgets in a free, week-long Federal Research Update webinar series that will be broadcast live from Washington D.C. from Monday, October 29 through Friday, November 2, 2012.

Viewers will be able to watch any or all of the individual 90 minute presentations throughout the week. The format will allow for questions from participants around the nation.

Agencies that will present updates are:

NFL Charities, the charitable foundation of the National Football League owners, has awarded a grant to UNH faculty member Erik Swartz to
further his ongoing research on the implications of football helmet, facemask, and shoulder pad design on emergency care for injured
players. 

Swartz, associate professor of athletic training in the department of kinesiology, received $62,521; his is one of 15 NFL Charities grants
totaling more than $1.5 million that support sports-related medical research.

Victoria Banyard, professor of psychology, will join researchers from Sewanee University and Marquette University to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Laws of Life Essay Contest, to determine if the world-wide project, sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, has a lasting impact on participants.

The study has been funded by a more than $1.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Sewanee University.

Rachel Trubowitz and Brigitte Bailey have published new books that focus on the contribution of women to society in the 17th and 19th centuries.

A baboon chased Assistant Professor of Geography Joel Hartter into the Indian Ocean in South Africa. In Uganda, hippos chewed grass underneath his tent—while he was in it. He has stumbled upon armed poachers, outrun an elephant, and almost died from African Spotted Fever in the worst case doctors had ever seen. Apparently, it's all in a day's work for Hartter, who has conducted research in Africa for the last eight summers.

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UNH researchers Dale Barkey (chemical engineering) and Xiaowei Teng (chemical engineering) and their partner Don Banfield (CEO) of Conductive Compounds Inc. in Hudson, NH, recently received $450,000 from the National Science Foundation to help produce more conductive and cost-effective solar panels. The three-year grant, under the GOALI (Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry) program, will support the engineering of nanoparticles of silver suitable for screen-printing onto photovoltaic solar panels.

Do you drive a car? Drink out of soda cans? Use a washing machine? Travel by plane?  If so, UNH Mechanical Engineering Professor Brad Kinsey’s research could have an impact on your daily activities.