[641] ‘MTSU On the Record’ heads for the land of Rio and rainforests

MURFREESBORO — Two stellar scholars from MTSU will explain their upcoming research expeditions to Brazil on the next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with graduate students Jennifer Benetti-Longhini and Kevin McDaniel will air from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, June 30, and from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, July 6, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org).

In April, Benetti-Longhini and McDaniel won fellowships from the U.S. Fulbright Student Program, one of the most distinguished awards of its kind in the nation. 

Fulbright fellowships are administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Benetti-Longhini, a Chula Vista, California, native now living in Tullahoma, Tennessee, will spend a year conducting research on butterflies while working with an ecological program funded by the U.S. and Brazil.

“I’ve become more and more interested in the area,” Benetti-Longhini said of the region where she will study. “It contains a large part of the Amazonian Basin, which is the iconic center of biodiversity and has a huge impact on the world as far as climate is concerned.”

McDaniel, a Memphis, Tennessee, native now living and working in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will continue his work mapping prehistoric sites in Brazil through the study of soils.

“People think the soil is so acidic, but you see this rich diversity,” said McDaniel of Brazil’s archaeological history. “Where are the people? It’s just that big empty question. Where did they go? There had to have been people here.”

MTSU has produced 12 Fulbright recipients in the past seven years and 13 altogether.

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to www.mtsunews.com/ontherecord/.

For more information, contact Gina Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.