Author: Diana Lutz

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.Polar layered deposits exposed in a scarp at the head of Chasma Boreale, a large canyon on Mars.Mars climate history, recorded in ice-rich deposits near the poles, on crater-wall cliffs and ancient sand dunes, is being revealed by a trio of NASA instruments now flying over and rolling across the planet, suggest Washington University in St. Louis researchers playing key roles in the mission.

Himadri B. Pakrasi , Ph.D., has been named the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences. An installation will occur during the 2007-08 academic year.

Jeffrey Marlow is among the 43 young Americans to receive a 2007 Marshall Scholarship, which provides full support for two or three years of study at any British university toward a second bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree. Marlow, a senior in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is WUSTL’s first Marshall Scholar since 1993.

Photo by David KilperLong-overlooked research from the 19th-century explorers provides a benchmark that helped create a composite record of the Missouri River that could aid in flood control.

Four faculty members awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow for scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Aristo, the Washington University robot, uses sensor networks to avoid simulated “fire” – red cups – while navigating near “safe” areas,which are blue cups.Agent 007 is a mighty versatile fellow, but he would have to take backseat to agents being trained at Washington University in St. Louis. Computer scientist engineers here are using wireless sensor networks that employ software agents that so far have been able to navigate a robot safely through a simulated fire and spot a simulated fire by seeking out heat. Once the agent locates the fire, it clones itself – try that, James Bond — creating a ring of software around the fire. A “fireman” can then communicate with this multifaceted agent through a personal digital assistant (PDA) and learn where the fire is and how intense it is. Should the fire expand, the agents clone again and maintain the ring – an entirely different “ring of fire.” More…

Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, has analyzed data from the Lewis and Clark expedition and says it shows that the Missouri River today is but a shadow of what it was two hundred years ago, narrower and more prone to serious flooding.A geologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborator at Oxford University have interpreted data that Lewis and Clark collected during their famous expedition and found that the Missouri River has markedly narrowed and its water levels have become more variable over the past two hundred years. This narrowing, or channeling, created by wing dikes and levees constructed mainly in the 20th century, has put the Missouri River at an increased risk of more damaging floods, the authors say. They blame the fact that the river cannot spread out as it did naturally at the turn of the 19th century, thus forcing water levels higher. More…

Photo by David Kilper

St. Louis area high school biology teachers accepted to the program can earn a master’s degree at no cost.

Photo by Joe Angeles / WUSTL PhotoBruce Backus (left), Washington University assistant vice chancellor of environmental health and safety, and United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.Recognizing the leadership that Washington University in St. Louis has shown in management of hazardous waste and its many environmental initiatives, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), during a visit to Washington University, announced plans to establish a new, national compliance assistance center for colleges and universities.