Newsroom Stories

Washington University in St. Louis will host environmental engineering students and faculty from Missouri and Illinois Sept. 20-21 to learn the latest in environmental engineering technologies and to share research. The 18th Annual Mid-American Environmental Engineering Conference will be held Sept. 21 in the Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Hall and is sponsored by the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Leigh E. Schmidt, PhD, delivered the following address during his Sept. 3 installation ceremony as the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Chinese search engine conglomerate Baidu Inc. leads the pack in a new ranking of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. The RQ50 ranking is based on the research quotient (RQ), developed by Anne Marie Knott, PhD, professor of strategy at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School.

Think of it as reverse camouflage. In the wild, animals use color and pattern to disguise themselves from predators. But last spring, a team from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts flipped the calculus. How, they asked, do we keep human observers from disturbing animals in their natural environments?

Scientists at The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine helped lead an international team of researchers who have identified a genetic mutation linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age 50. Shown is an eye with signs of macular degeneration.

Leigh E. Schmidt, PhD, was installed as the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor during a Sept. 3 ceremony in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton places a medallion on Schmidt, who delivered a talk, titled “Mystics, Cranks, and William James.” A historian of American religion, Schmidt joined the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics in 2011.

This year’s Washington University Global Health Week has something for everyone. The public can watch Ethiopian dancers, listen to the melodies of Argentina and attend a lecture by the former president and health minister of Ecuador. Attendees also can buy ethnic food, shop for artisan crafts and ask Global Health Scholars, medical students and undergraduates about their outreach efforts.

Students, staff and faculty are invited to tour the new Harvey Media Center during an open house Sept. 19. Available services include video and audio recording and Polycom video conferencing.

Some wild clones of social amoebas farm the bacteria they eat, but this is a losing strategy if nonfarming amoebas can steal the farmers’ crops. To make the strategy work, the farmers also carry bacteria that secrete chemicals that poison free riders. The work suggest farming is complex evolutionary adaptation that requires additional strategies, such as recruiting third parties, to effectively defend and privatize the crops, the Washington University in St. Louis scientists say.

W​hether it’s Edgar Degas sketching ballerinas or Lou Reed singing about “Romeo and Juliette,” the arts don’t exist in a vacuum. Lines get blurred, influences get shared, inspirations get gloriously tangled. This fall, four WUSTL areas have banded together to create Arts First, a multidisciplinary, campus-wide subscription package.