Arts & Sciences

Ellen Damschen & Forest ServiceA new paper on ecological corridors co-authored by Washington University biologists Ellen Damschen and John Orrock in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, was published online Dec. 1 as part of a special issue on movement ecology. This research reveals that by understanding how species move, you can predict if and how corridors work.

A news conference to announce a clean coal initiative with a goal of making St. Louis the nation’s center for clean coal research will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, at Whitaker Hall on the Washington University Danforth Campus. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, along with heads of Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Ameren, will make the announcement.

As President-elect Barack Obama continues to fill key cabinet positions from the ranks of D.C.-based public policy think tanks, a new book by longtime policy adviser Murray Weidenbaum examines how the nation’s top think tanks came to play such critical roles in U.S. politics.

ElginWashington University in St. Louis is in the spotlight for its pivotal role in the Genomics Education Partnership, a collaborative effort to provide research experience in genomics to undergraduate classrooms across the country. At the helm of this mission is Sarah C.R. Elgin, Ph.D., WUSTL professor of biology and professor of education in Arts & Sciences, as well as professor of biochemistry & molecular biophysics and professor of genetics in the School of Medicine.

In an attempt to reinvent itself as a “responsible corporate citizen,” tobacco company Philip Morris has begun an unlikely support of regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, a new study by Peter Benson, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, shows that proposed FDA regulation fails to address the suffering of migrant tobacco workers, the prevalence of smoking and the redistribution of leaf production to the developing world.

*To Kill a Mockingbird*Since its publication in 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has become the best-selling novel of all time and is perhaps the most widely read book exploring race in the United States. In January Washington University’s Edison Theatre will join forces with Metro Theater Company, St. Louis’ foremost professional troupe for young people, to stage an all-ages theatrical production of the civil rights classic.

Photo by David KilperWashington University Dance Theatre, the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present “Common Ground” Dec. 5-7 in Edison Theatre.

Photo by David KilperWashington University Dance Theatre, the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present “Common Ground,” its 2008 concert, Dec. 5-7 in Edison Theatre.

Washington University’s Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host the Fifth Annual Children’s Film Symposium Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21 and 22. Presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis, the festival will feature five screenings as well as introductions and postshow discussions by a […]

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shed light on a basic process that could improve future solar cells. Dewey Holten, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences and graduate student Hee-eun Song have directly measured the rate of hole transfer between identical porphyrin compounds in their ground states. These results are key to understanding the fundamental processes underlying charge separation in this sort of structure and have applications for improving the efficiency of solar cells.