Arts & Sciences

Logan has won a grant. The project? Make 500 years of colonial pillaging accessible to school children. In other words: Write a Thanksgiving play! So begins, in meta fashion, Larissa FastHorse’s recent Broadway hit, which the Performing Arts Department will present Nov. 21-24 in the Hotchner Studio Theatre.

Duygu Özpolat, an assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, co-authored a study in Nature Communications about the early steps of regeneration in the annelid worm Platynereis.

Washington University in St. Louis seniors Elijah Darden and Isaac Seiler were both Rhodes Scholars finalists, one of the world’s highest academic honors.

Several WashU faculty members contributed to the St. Louis Reparations Commission report, which outlined recommendations for city officials to repair the harm caused by racial injustice.

When the Meramec River flooded, students in the “Geospatial Field Methods” course in Arts & Sciences had an opportunity to study a significant regional event in real time. Bring on the “big drone.”

Rather than dissuade students, shocks such as the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic can cause college students to lean into their education as a pathway to success, according to research by Bronwyn Nichols Lodato in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

WashU biologists, led by Xuehua Zhong in Arts & Sciences, investigated the inner workings of DNA methylation in plants. Their findings could help engineer crops that are more resilient to environmental changes, like heat or drought stress.

Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at WashU, was featured in “Volcano Worlds,” a PBS Nova documentary about the powerful volcanic eruptions that have shaped worlds across our solar system.

Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, will discuss privacy and civil rights issues in health care at a Nov. 13 event hosted by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy.

Biologist Elizabeth Carlen, a postdoctoral fellow with the Living Earth Collaborative at WashU, received a 2024 Spark Award from the Association for Women in Science. The Spark Award highlights students or early-career leaders in STEM who are visible and vocal advocates for diversity and inclusive scientific practices.