Renner gives invited seminar in the United Kingdom
Michael Renner, professor of biology and psychology, gave an invited seminar at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom as part of the institution’s Primate Conservation Seminar Series. His seminar, “A multiple-fronts approach to restoring a rain forest remnant: Tales from Gishwati National Park, Rwanda,” presented his work to make the Gishwati Forest Reserve in Rwanda sustainable. He has worked with the Great Ape Trust and a Rwandan NGO, Forest of Hope Association, to protect the national park, which was nearly destroyed by deforestation in the post-genocide era of Rwanda. Projects, many of which have involved Drake students and professors—most notably Keith Summerville—have included:

• Testing methods of reforestation to provide food sources for the native wildlife
• The development of plans to create a wildlife corridor between Gishwati and Mukura, another forest remnant a few miles away
• Developing methods to prevent and mitigate crop-raiding, in which wildlife from the forest—primarily chimpanzees—come out onto adjacent agricultural lands for food. Crop-raiding causes great resentment of the reserve among local populations
• Several community development projects, including supporting the development of a beekeeping industry, craft cooperatives, creating community libraries, creating opportunities for local folks to share their indigenous cultural practices with visitors, and others.

Radostina Purvanova co-authors paper on work relationships
Positive work relationships are key to flourishing at your job, according to a new paper co-authored by Radostina Purvanova, associate professor of management and international business.
The paper, published in the Academy of Management Journal in August—and featured last week by the London School of Economics—is based on interviews with more than 200 employees across a variety of industries. Read more about Radostina’s work in the Drake Newsroom.

Drake students participated in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition on Oct. 29-30 at the University of Iowa. Drake had 25 finalists (all of whom are eligible to compete in the National Competition), and 22 semi-finalists.

—Kayla Jenkins, College of Arts & Sciences

Top marketing students at Drake and Creighton University will compete this month to tee up exciting promotional ideas for a major Midwest golf event.

The marketing competition sponsored by Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration is called the Murphy Cup, and each year it brings teams of students from Drake and Creighton together in a contest to solve a real-world problem for a major organization. Previous clients include Yahoo!, Better Homes and Gardens, and Nike.

This year, from Nov. 17 to 19, the young minds will take a swing at increasing awareness and attendance for the 2017 Solheim Cup. The most prestigious tournament in women’s professional golf is a global, match-play event akin to the Ryder Cup. It will be held at  Des Moines Golf and Country Club Aug. 14-20, 2017. Read more about the project here.