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Emily Mayer – Support, leadership opportunities and friends for life

May 13, 2025 Originally from Tennessee, moving across the country was daunting, but it also was the start to a transformative journey filled with leadership, discovery, and lasting connections. From the beginning, biology felt like a natural fit. “Both of my parents studied microbiology, so I grew up viewing the world through a microscopic lens,” […]

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Denise Dearing Awarded Governor’s Medal

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May 7, 2025 Salt Lake City—The office of the Governor of Utah announced that University of Utah biologist M. Denise Dearing is this year’s recipient of the prestigious 2025 Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology in the Academia/Research category. The selection for this significant honor follows a rigorous process involving peer nominations, evaluation by […]

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Broader antibiotic use could change the course of cholera outbreaks

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May 2, 2025 Cholera kills thousands of people and infects hundreds of thousands every year—and cases have spiked in recent years, leaving governments with an urgent need to find better ways to control outbreaks. Current public health guidelines discourage treating cholera, a severe diarrheal disease caused by waterborne bacteria, with antibiotics in all but the most […]

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Humans of the U: Marlon Lopez

“Growing up in an immigrant household where my parents instilled the importance of education.” “Language and culture have always been important in my family and integral to my upbringing and life at home. I was born in the U.S. My parents immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2002, looking for employment and educational […]

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Woodrats’ immunity to snake venom changes with the weather

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Adapted from a press release produced by the University of Michigan. The power of a rattlesnake’s venom to incapacitate its prey may depend on more than just its potency, or even the prey animal’s tolerance for the poison. According to a new study published Tuesday in Biology Letters, it also depends a bit on the weather. “Even across […]

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A rigorous, collaborative approach to science

March 19, 2025 Above: Stanley Maloy “The atmosphere in the lab was really phenomenal,” post-doctoral researcher alumnus Stanley Maloy recalls of his time in what is now the University of Utah’s School of Biological Sciences. “People talked to each other and argued with each other and made suggestions to each other. I thought it was […]

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Cecil Samuelson: U Honorary Doctorate

March 13, 2025 Above: Cecil O. Samuelson Equal parts University of Utah and Brigham Young University, Cecil Samuelson has managed to bleed purple throughout his long career as a higher education leader and physician. A three-time alum of the U, Samuelson worked as a rheumatologist, medical school dean and as the U’s vice president of […]

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College of Science Student Research on Capitol Hill

Last week, a select group of students from the University of Utah and Utah State University showcased their research to Utah state legislators and community members at the 25th annual Research on Capitol Hill (ROCH). This event offers a glimpse into the groundbreaking work happening in labs across the state and on the University of Utah campus. […]

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National Donor Day: A student’s transplant journey

Sophie Hansen received her first liver transplant as a teenager, an experience that drives her passion for medical research and patient care. Now a senior in the School of Biological Sciences, Hansen navigates the challenges that come with having a chronic illness as a college student. National Donor Day on Feb. 14 recognizes the impact of […]

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Humans of the U-Megan Duval, Longino Lab

January 29, 2025 Above: Megan Duval in the Longino lab, School of Biological Sciences “Through research, I’ve been able to find a community at the U, build relationships with mentors, learn valuable research skills and I’ve worked with some really amazing ants in some really cool places! I first became interested in ants when I […]

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Biology professor shaping study of chromosome dynamics

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2024 GSA Awards Seminar Series. Parental chromosomes separate during meiosis and segregate into sex cells, like sperm or egg, transferring genetic information to the next generation. For successful inheritance to occur, chromosomes must communicate with each other to ensure they remain intact throughout the process. Ofer Rog, who is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at […]

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Biden Honors Early-Career Scientists

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January 23, 2025 Above: William Anderegg In his last week in office, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. William Anderegg, professor of biology and director of […]

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New Bio Faculty: Plant Ecologist Luiza Aparecido

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January 13, 2025 Above: Luiza Aparecido Luiza Aparecido is a new assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences and an expert in plant ecophysiology, focusing on how plants respond to a changing climate. Born and raised in the São Paulo State in Brazil, her journey to the University of Utah is rooted in her […]

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Riley Peck BS’09 named new DWR director

January 13, 2025 Above: New DWR Director Riley Peck Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Joel Ferry named Riley Peck as the new director for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, effective Monday, Jan. 13. A resident of Eagle Mountain, Utah County, Peck started working for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in 2006 […]

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Woodrats use ‘quantity over quality’ as a Detox plan

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January 9, 2025 Above: A woodrat (N. lepida) between two food staples; juniper (left, ancestral diet) and creosote bush (right, new diet for the species). Woodrats are one of the only animals that can tolerate large quantities of creosote, a shrub with leaves coated in a chemical cocktail of poisonous resin. The critter’s constitution has […]

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Coyote numbers are often higher in areas where they are hunted

January 9, 2025 Above: Trap camera photo of a coyote recorded in the Wasatch Mountains in October 2019. Credit: Austin Green. Counterintuitive findings are based on images from hundreds of trap cameras deployed in nationwide campaign to document wildlife. Coyote populations across the United States are influenced by a number of factors, but surprisingly their […]

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2024 Lark Lecturer – Paul Keim

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In October, Paul Keim, one of the longest-serving postdoctoral researchers in the lab run by the late K. Gordon Lark, was tapped to present the annual Lark Lecture at the School of Biological Sciences Science Retreat.One of this year’s distinguished alumni awardees, Keim was a natural pick for the distinction, not only because of his […]

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2024 OurDNA Magazine

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Our DNA has now been posted on the college website here and the full screen ISSUU link is available here. This issue features articles about our new faculty, Eleinis Avila-Lovers, Nicholas Vierra and uiza Aparecido. Outstanding research by the Karasov, Werner, Ehleringer, Dale, Gagnon and Clayton/Bush labs, student profiles and other exciting milestones.

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Tailocins: The next generation of antibiotics

Talia Backman – Ph.D. student, School of Biological Sciences, shares a micrograph of tailocins. From multicellular organisms, like us humans, to single-cell bacteria, living things are subject to attack by viruses. Plants, animals and even bacteria have evolved strategies to combat pathogens, including viruses that can threaten health and life. Talia Backman, a University of Utah […]

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Access Scholar-Ella Bleak

November 18, 2024 Above: Ella Bleak Ella Bleak’s journey as a self-proclaimed science nerd started at a young age. Her inner nerd was fostered by high school chemistry and biology teachers, and having a professor in developmental biology with a PhD from the U as a neighbor didn’t hurt, either.  That led her to discover ACCESS […]

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As climate warms, California wildfires are becoming more severe, killing more trees

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California’s Caldor Fire burned more than 220,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada in 2021, destroying more than 1,000 structures. Photo by Acacia England, U.S. Forest Service. U biologist Jon Wang, with UC Irvine colleagues, uses satellite imagery to document the growing destructiveness of Western wildfires since 1980. Wildfires continue to damage California’s forests as human-driven […]

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Christmas trees and climate change

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Small choices can make a big impact this holiday season, starting with your Christmas tree! As Douglas firs and white pines appeared in lots around Salt Lake City, Natalie Vickers, a junior pre-occupational therapy major and video intern at the School of Biological Sciences, got curious—how does the tree-trimming tradition fit into a changing climate? […]

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Biology Student Stories: Mia Sheneman

Finding Success as a Transfer Student: Support Systems and Determination “I am a transfer student from Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) where I received my Associate of Science in Pre-Health Sciences. It was much easier for me to get involved in U of U campus life than I had anticipated — and it’s been so […]

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SACNAS STEM

University of Utah SACNAS cohort in Puerto Rico. Left to Right: Benning Lozada, Palepoi Gilmore, Parker Guzman, Lorelei Sole, Nayma Hernandez, Laura Rupert, Chelsea Bordon, James “Jim” Ackerman (University of Puerto Rico Campus Río Piedras) Bottom: Rodolfo Probst and Felis catus. Not pictured: Fatima Serratos. Photo credit: Luz. An undergraduate extension of the University of Utah chapter of the Society for the […]

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