Science & Technology

Barbara A. Schaal, the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in May. Schaal was among the first scientists to use molecular biology-based approaches to understand evolutionary processes in plants.

Biologist Matthew Austin in Arts & Sciences published a study in the American Journal of Botany that describes changes to the flowering time and other important life cycle events in Leavenworthia species, a group of small flowering plants found in glades in Missouri.

As a biology faculty member, Professor Emerita Ursula Goodenough invited non-science majors to understand and reflect on the history of life on Earth. The second edition of her book, The Sacred Depths of Nature: How Life Has Emerged and Evolved, brings the wondrous saga to a new audience.

Ecologist Solny Adalsteinsson, at the Tyson Research Center, and virologist Jacco Boon, at the School of Medicine, are part of a One Health team studying how tick-borne Bourbon virus spreads through the environment, wildlife and people.

A team from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created an acoustic microfluidic method that offers new opportunities to conduct experiments with swimming cells and microorganisms.

Researchers in Amit Pathak’s lab at the McKelvey School of Engineering found that cells learn from past environments to promote future invasions.

Katie Westby, a vector and disease ecologist at Tyson Research Center, applies a strong DEET repellant and wears treated clothing when she’s headed deep into the woods, but uses a lighter touch at home. She warns that pet dogs and cats can also be affected by mosquito bites.

Biologists including Michael Landis in Arts & Sciences worked with researchers from dozens of countries to reconstruct the origin and global spread of butterflies. The resulting butterfly tree of life reveals that they got their start in North America.

Six exceptional undergraduates were recognized with Department of Biology awards, including a new prize named in honor of Garland Allen, who advocated for racial and gender equality in the biological sciences.

Ursula W. Goodenough, a professor emerita of biology, and William B. McKinnon, a professor of earth and planetary sciences, both in Arts & Sciences, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the academy, announced May 2, is considered one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a U.S. scientist or engineer.