Science & Technology

Research led by Bronwen Konecky in Arts & Sciences takes an important step toward reconstructing a global history of water over the last 2,000 years.

Rajan Chakrabarty at the McKelvey School of Engineering received funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science program to explore how physical and chemical properties of aerosols are distributed vertically in the air. The research will help develop and evaluate atmospheric models.

Ashlynn Berry is one of 60 graduate students from across the country — and the only one in Missouri — selected to participate in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) fellowship program.

Washington University scientists have documented 10 different bat species in our area, including several threatened and endangered bats.

Biologist Himadri Pakrasi in Arts & Sciences, who studies how cyanobacteria contribute to the chemistry of life, will lead a $5 million effort to develop technology to convert atmospheric nitrogen into fertilizer. Yinjie Tang and Yixin Chen at the McKelvey School of Engineering are co-investigators on the project.

Kara Andres, a Living Earth Collaborative postdoctoral researcher, used eDNA to follow invisible trails of genetic information from fish. While her original study probed the Great Lakes, her recent work is focused on microbial communities in local waterways.

A National Science Foundation research traineeship led by William Yeoh at the McKelvey School of Engineering will prepare investigators at the convergence of computational, environmental and social sciences.

The Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis will host Aryn Baker, Time magazine’s senior international climate and environment correspondent, for a public forum and reception Sept. 26.

Researchers working with Randall Martin at the McKelvey School of Engineering quantified changes in global air pollution from fine particulate matter. They found that global PM2.5 exposure decreased steadily from 2011 to 2019, largely driven by rigorous air quality management in China and slower growth in other regions.

Atmospheric scientists led by Jian Wang, at the McKelvey School of Engineering, analyzed data from an Arctic expedition and found that blowing snow is a source of sea salt aerosols, impacting Arctic climate models.