Arts & Sciences

“Aperture,” the 2020 Washington University Dance Theatre concert, will begin streaming via the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18. Typically presented in Edison Theatre, the annual event has been reimagined for this year as a “Dance for the Camera” film festival.

Dust-related electrochemistry can reshape Martian surface materials with physical and chemical changes observable after only hundreds of years. Similar electrical effects may be instrumental on Venus and Europa, according to new work from Alian Wang in Arts & Sciences.

Garrett Duncan, associate professor of education and of African and African American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, died Dec. 8, 2020, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was 59.

LFR International, a nonprofit founded by Zach Eisner, a senior studying biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, and Peter Delaney, a 2018 alumnus, received the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its work in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Research conducted by Jacob Holland-Lulewicz, lecturer in archaeology in Arts & Sciences, was named one of the Top 10 Discoveries of 2020 by Archaeology Magazine.

Increased funding for Head Start — the largest federally funded, early childhood development program in the United States — is needed to support families during the COVID-19 recession and to ensure a more stable economic recovery, according to research involving a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

By publishing their method in the journal Nature Protocols, chemists including Michael Gross, who has a joint appointment in Arts & Sciences and the School of Medicine, have opened doors for fellow scientists to better address research questions related to Alzheimer’s disease, the COVID-19 pandemic and more.

Meredith Jackrel, in Arts & Sciences, studies protein misfolding and how it leads to disease. She is collaborating with Jai Rudra at the McKelvey School of Engineering to develop amyloid-inspired vaccine technologies specifically tailored for seniors. The approach could be relevant to COVID-19 as the elderly are particularly susceptible to its severe complications.

Comedian Julia Lindon writes, hosts a podcast and acts. She also recently created a TV pilot inspired by her own ‘coming-of-age and coming out’ experiences in New York. The show, Lady Liberty, is streaming now.

Jeff Catalano, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, was elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America. The honor recognizes Catalano’s outstanding contributions to the advancement of the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry and petrology.