September 17, 2024 As Utah’s Great Salt Lake shrinks, exposing more of its playa, concerns grow about the dust the dry lakebed emits. But scientists lack the data to fully understand what pollutants are present in these airborne sediments. Researchers from the University of Utah, including atmospheric scientist Kevin Perry and biologist Michael Werner, are […]
Read MoreAbove: Microbiolites at Bridger Bay on the northwest corner of Antelope Island. Credit: Utah Geological Survey. Biologists Jody Reimer and Michael Werner are part of a 1U4U team that study microbiolites. Six College of Science faculty members are members of winning teams awarded seed grants of up to $50,000 as part of the 1U4U Seed […]
Read More“Innovation in biotechnology is touching on every aspect of our lives, from climate change and agriculture to health and wellness,” Fred Adler, Professor of Mathematics and Biology, Director School of Biological Sciences. Chemistry and biological sciences, which educate a significant number of students that join the biotech and life science sectors, are the top-ranked programs […]
Read MoreSeptember 3, 2024 Above: Colin Dale, 2012 “We’re looking at how deterministic the process of evolution is,” biologist Colin Dale says. “We’ve leveraged that question in this beautiful system, where we’ve got samples that have evolved under near identical conditions in nature.” At the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah, the Dale […]
Read MoreSeptember 3, 2024 “Dream big and take the initiative to put yourself out there. If you’re hesitant or afraid of your goals, that’s okay. Your goals should be big, they should be scary, my goals certainly terrify at times.” Nathan is an undergraduate student double majoring in biochemistry and biology, and he plans to pursue […]
Read MoreAnts are famous for their regimented and complex social behaviors. In the tropics, they are also famous for forming mutualisms with plants. Certain species of trees have conspicuous hollow swellings that house ants, often feeding the ants with specialized ant food. In return, the ants are pugnacious bodyguards, swarming out to aggressively defend the plant […]
Read MoreJuly 18, 2024 Around 1989 an energy company was trying to see if they could plant trees in Guatemala and then use the absorption of carbon from those trees to offset their emissions of a new coal-fired power plant in the United States. It was the dawn of carbon-off-setting, emitting one place and then […]
Read MoreJuly 17, 2024 Why do the vast majority of cancers arise late in subjects’ lives? A traditional explanation in the development of cancers, known as the somatic theory, is a paradigm focused on mutations in individual cells. In this theory a cascade of approximately six mutational changes in a single cell is the source that […]
Read MoreMay 30, 2024 Above: Photo of the wolf captured by Çağan Şekercioğlu on eastern Turkey’s Kars-Ardahan plateau. Photo Credit: Çağan Şekercioğlu Utah biologists track gray wolves with GPS collars and camera traps as their numbers rebound into populated parts of northeast Turkey. After 14 years of gathering and analyzing field data, an international research team […]
Read MoreJune 13, 2024 Above: Mary Fairbanks BS’23, biology A DNA repair system known as the GO DNA repair system removes oxidized guanine. This helps protect the system from mutating, and while scientists understand how it works, the origin of this mechanism isn’t well understood. That’s where the Horvath Lab comes in and, in particular, Mary Fairbanks BS’23. She and […]
Read MoreBacteriophages, viruses that attack and destroy bacteria, are everywhere in the natural world where they play a vital role in regulating microbe populations in ways that are not yet well understood. New research led by the University of Utah and University College London (UCL) has found that plant bacterial pathogens are able to repurpose elements of […]
Read MoreHave you ever wondered how a cell knows whether it’s supposed to be skin or muscle? Or philosophized about “nature vs. nurture,” that is, how contributions from both genetics and the environment influence physical phenotypes? Epigenetics, a relatively new field in biology, helps explain the mechanistic basis for this phenomenon—and is the field I have […]
Read MoreJune 5, 2024 Above: John “Jack” Longino, in the tropics University of Utah professor Jack Longino’s research mainly takes him to Central America, but on the weekend he collects and examines the diverse ant species around him. Jack Longino likes to spend his weekends close to the ground. He often wears a vest that holds […]
Read MoreBy Hannah Meier , PhD Student, School of Biological Sciences Caption: [from left to right]: Tegan Lengyel, a PhD student in the Anderegg lab, investigates the impact of climate change on forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Rebecca Senft, a PhD student in the Aparecido lab, delves into the interaction between global change and invasive species. Hannah Meier, […]
Read MoreFor the 2024 University of Utah student commencement speaker Eron Powell, a love of learning is one of the most important things he is taking away from his time at the U. “Outside of college and into the future, I hope to always be able to educate myself,” Powell said. “We are never complete people. […]
Read MoreApril 2, 2024 by Fred Adler After listening to an egregiously (and quite uncharacteristically) dull math colloquium some years ago, I had a revelation that there are three good reasons to do mathematics: it is important (solves an open problem), it is useful (cures cancer) and it is beautiful. These good reasons are not mutually […]
Read MoreA heart attack will leave a permanent scar on a human heart, yet other animals, including some fish and amphibians, can clear cardiac scar tissue and regrow damaged muscle as adults. Scientists have sought to figure out how special power works in hopes of advancing medical treatments for human cardiac patients, but the great physiological […]
Read MoreMarch 27, 2024 Poet Claudia Rankine, physicist Brian Greene, and neuroscientist and artist Bevil Conway are the keynote speakers for this year’s Utah Symposium in Science and Literature, taking place from April 10-12 at the Eccles Alumni House on campus. Claudia Rankine is the author of “Citizen: An American Lyric,” a New York Times bestseller, […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2024 Brine shrimp and brine flies aren’t the only animals inhabiting the Great Salt Lake. Utah biologists find tiny nematodes in its reef-like microbialites. Julie Jung examines nematodes recovered from Great Salt Lake. Credit: Brian Maffly, University of Utah ^^ Banner video above: “Finding Nematode: How University of Utah biologists founds worms in […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2024 Above: Post-doctoral researcher (Werner lab, School of Biological Sciences) examines nematodes recovered from the Great Salt Lake. Credit: Brian Maffly. Brine shrimp and brine flies aren’t the only animals inhabiting the lake. Utah biologists find tiny nematodes in its reef-like microbialites. Scientists have long suspected nematodes, commonly known as roundworms, inhabit Utah’s […]
Read MoreSophie Caron, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, is the recipient of the College of Science Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award for 2023. Sophie Caron. Banner photo above: the Caron Lab. While Caron is highly regarded for her stunning work in neuroscience research, she is also cherished within the College of Science […]
Read MoreWe have two copies of each chromosome in every cell in our bodies except in our reproductive cells. Sperm and egg cells contain a single copy of each chromosome with a unique mix of genes from our parents, an evolutionary trick to give our offspring genetic variability. The sperm and egg are made during […]
Read MoreSmall 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? […]
Read MoreAssociate Professor of biology Sophie Caron is a 2023 awardee. The University of Utah Presidential Scholar Award supports the work of exceptionally promising mid-career faculty in academic units across campus by providing $10,000 in funding each year for three years to the award winners. In addition to Caron, an internationally prominent neuroscientist, other awardees include […]
Read MoreRead the full issue of OUR DNA 2023, the magazine of the School of Biological Sciences LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Keeping the Past Alive
Read More‘Plants do have immune systems or immune responses, and a lot of people don’t realize that,’ explains Efthymia ‘Effie’ Symeondi. “They have a pretty complicated and well-defined system for responding to pathogens.” The post-doctoral researcher in the School of Biological Sciences is this year’s recipient of the College of Science Outstanding Post-Doc Award. Symeondi’s fascination […]
Read MoreNADKARNI NAMED NATGEO EXPLORER AT LARGE The National Geographic Society has appointed famed University of Utah forest canopy researcher Nalini Nadkarni as a National Geographic Explorer at Large. A Professor Emerita at the School of Biological Sciences, Nadkarni, an ecologist who pioneered the study of Costa Rican rainforest canopies and an avid science communicator, will serve as […]
Read MoreOrchids, mosses, ferns—or epiphytes, defined as nonparasitic plants that grow on other plants—are crucial for Earth’s biodiversity and play essential roles in forests around the world, building habitat in trees for myriad other life forms, from bacteria and insects to birds and reptiles. However, the very attributes that have enabled epiphytes to thrive in forest […]
Read MoreFALL’S FLAMBOYANCE To many, Utah’s fall leaves are a dazzling display of nature’s beauty. To Eleinis Ávila-Lovera, the autumnal switch to reds, yellows, oranges and purples tells a chromatic story of survival. Eleinis Ávila-Lovera. Banner photo: Archie enjoys the fall leaves changing in Millcreek Canyon. Credit: Jessica Taylor “Whenever I see plants outside, I’m always […]
Read MoreANDY THLIVERIS: ‘REMEMBER THE UNDERGRADS’ In December 2022, Andrew Thliveris BS’83 made a special trip to Salt Lake City with his wife Lauren. They joined the School of Biological Sciences in a belated (due to the pandemic) remembrance of K. Gordon Lark who had passed away more than two-and-a-half years earlier in April 2020. […]
Read MoreDOING RIGHT BY RIGHT WHALES More than 50 years ago, Victoria Rowntree, research professor of biology at the University of Utah, was invited by the animal behaviorist Roger Payne to visit his then-new right-whale research project at Península Valdés (PV) in Patagonia, Argentina. Victoria Rowntree, in the field. Banner photo: Instituto de Conservación de […]
Read MoreCLENCHED FISTS AND FULL BEARDS Humans have not evolved to do any one thing. We evolved to make tools. We evolved to tell stories. We evolved to explore and more. And one thing that some scientists are now coming to recognize is that we also evolved to fight — with each other. David Carrier is […]
Read MoreHOW SPIDER MITES QUICKLY EVOLVE RESISTANCE TO TOXINS Although mites are arthropod-like insects, they have eight legs and are more closely related to ticks, spiders and scorpions. The two-spotted spider mite is tiny, hardly half a millimeter long, and is named for the pair of black spots on either side of its partially translucent body. […]
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