Arts & Sciences

Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, has been appointed chair of an advisory group that will lead the National Academy of Sciences’ new Gulf of Mexico program, established as part of settlements with British Petroleum and Transocean Ltd. following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The advisory group will help create a strategic vision and guide the program’s development and implementation.

Student Anastasia Sorokina lived in Japan as a small child and always wanted to return. Next year, she’ll get the chance, after being awarded a Boren scholarship. Sorokina just completed her sophomore year at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is double-majoring in comparative arts and international studies, both in Arts & Sciences. Boren scholarships allow U.S. students to study abroad in parts of the world critical to U.S. interests.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, the debut novel of Anton DiSclafani, writer in residence in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, is set for release June 4. The book is a result of a reported seven-figure publisher bidding war, which includes foreign rights in 12 countries, and finds itself on scores of “must-read” summer book lists.

In the June 5 issue of Neuron, WUSTL biologist Erik Herzog and his colleagues report the discovery of a crucial part of the biological clock: the wiring that sets its accuracy to within a few minutes out of the 1440 minutes per day. This wiring uses the neurotransmitter, GABA, to connect the individual cells of the biological clock in a fast network that changes strength with time of day.

Where a child lives makes a difference in how demographics and other factors influence algebra performance, and policies should take into account local variation, research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests. Here, a map illustrates the relationship between the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches and Algebra I scores in Missouri school districts.

For many older adults, the aging process seems to go hand-in-hand with an annoying increase in clumsiness. New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests some of these reaching-and-grabbing difficulties may be caused by changes in the mental frame of reference that older adults use to visualize nearby objects.

Jamie Jordan, principal of Brittany Woods Middle School in the University City School District, accepts one of 20 “What’s Right With the Region!” awards from Focus St. Louis May 9. WUSTL is a key partner with Brittany Woods through the Institute for School Partnership, which conducts training and outreach programs at the school, and the Brown School, where the middle school is part of its urban education initiative.

Bradley L. Jolliff, PhD, is named the inaugural Scott Rudolph Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences.

PARC and I-CARES recently honored three seniors who completed the Certificate in Renewable Energy and the Environment, which allows students to pursue interdisciplinary energy studies in addition to their academic major.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut, will be visiting Washington University in St. Louis the week of May 20 for a round of activities centered on lunar exploration, including a seminar about Schmitt’s geological exploration of the Moon’s Valley of Taurus-Littrow, an “exploration forum” and the review meeting of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera’s team, which is being hosted by WUSTL’s Brad Jolliff.