An MTSU professor’s work to document thousands of years of human history buried along the banks of the Cumberland River leads the latest edition of MTSU Magazine, which is making its cyberspace debut.

Dr. Tanya Peres, associate professor of anthropology at MTSU, graces the cover. Editor Drew Ruble followed Peres and her students as they scoured the prehistoric sites uncovered in the aftermath of the May 2010 Nashville Basin flood.

In addition to the cover story, the new online edition of MTSU Magazine features stories available only at the magazine’s website, www.mtsumagazine.com.

One is Gina Logue’s chronicle of Dr. Carol Boraiko’s installation of solar panels on her Lascassas, Tenn., home. Boraiko not only put her money where her environmentalism is, she invited colleague Dr. Kathy Mathis and her MTSU solar-design class out to the house for an on-site learning experience.

The latest edition of the MTSU television program “Out of the Blue,” as well as videos, web exclusives and much more are available at the site, where readers can keep up with the dynamic activities of the University’s faculty and students.

Other articles featured in the new edition include:

• a look at the work of the MTSU director of bands, Dr. Reed Thomas, and 26 students from the University’s Wind Ensemble, who went to Panama last summer to help train band directors and young musicians in a country with little standardized music education;
• the unveiling of the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research at MTSU, the University’s latest collaboration with the Chinese that entails developing new Western pharmaceuticals based on the proven healing powers inherent in traditional Chinese medicine; and
• a program led by Dr. Philip E. Phillips, MTSU Honors College interim associate dean, to teach literature to inmates in Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, the DeBerry Special Needs Facility and the Tennessee Prison for Women.

The magazine also includes several pages of  “Class Notes,” which provide updates on MTSU alumni all over the world.

MTSU Magazine is distributed twice annually to more than 96,000 alumni readers and is always available at www.mtsumagazine.com. For more information, contact Drew Ruble, senior editor of University publications, at 615-494-7756 or drew.ruble@mtsu.edu.