Arts & Sciences

Washington University experts offer tips on how to make better and more ethical decisions.

John and Penelope Biggs met in Latin class. Six decades later, their love for classics is still going strong. In April, leading scholars from around the country will present their work as part of the Biggs Family Residency Reunion.

Injecting carbon dioxide deep underground into basalt flows holds promise as an abatement strategy. Now, new research by scientists at Washington University in St. Louis sheds light on exactly what happens underground during the process, illustrating precisely how effective the volcanic rock could be in trapping and converting CO2 emissions.

The history of medicine is “embedded in the DNA of contemporary medical science and medical practice,” said Rebecca Messbarger, director of medical humanities in Arts & Sciences. In this video, Messbarger discusses the importance of medical humanities as well as her own research into the life and work of Anna Morandi Manzolini, one of the most important anatomists of the European Enlightenment.

Raymond E. Arvidson, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will receive the Weidenbaum Center Award for Excellence Medal. The award will be given at a ceremony held during the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy annual dinner April 2. This award honors individuals who have made major contributions to both scholarship and public service. 

Bryce Sadtler, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award by the National Science Foundation. His grant, expected to total more than $610,000 over the next five years, is for research to identify the structural characteristics that make some catalysts better than others for harvesting energy from the sun.

The police shooting earlier this month of Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s Sacramento backyard has renewed protests over officer-involved deaths of unarmed black men, but research led by Washington University in St. Louis suggests young Hispanic men may face an even greater risk of being killed by police, especially in mixed-income neighborhoods with large Latino populations.

Keith Hengen, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, collects more than 20 terabytes of data a day. Through big data, new technology and good coffee, Hengen has set out to discover how systems of neurons interact. And, in doing so, he created a new sort of workspace that is both functional and fun.

Research from the Department of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences advances the understanding of the chemical mechanisms involved with depositing rust and forming polymers, which will allow scientists to more easily manipulate and engineer the structures of the materials they make.

When is the last time a stereotype popped into your mind? If you are like most people, the authors included, it happens all the time. That doesn’t make you a racist, sexist, or whatever-ist. It just means your brain is working properly, noticing patterns, and making generalizations.