Arts & Sciences

Want more moderate candidates in the general election? Increasing voters’ participation in primary elections is one of the most effective ways to combat hyperpartisanship, says Daniel Butler, an expert in American politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

The National Science Foundation is investing $3 million in a new graduate student training program for aspiring scientists and educators who want to explore careers in quantum science at St. Louis-area research laboratories, private companies and other facilities.

The Washington University Board of Trustees has four new student representatives for the 2022-23 academic year.

Deanna Barch, chair and professor of psychological and brain sciences, has been named vice dean of research in Arts & Sciences. Her new role took effect July 1.

Insect-eating plants have fascinated biologists for more than a century, but how plants evolved the ability to capture and consume live prey has largely remained a mystery. Biologist Ivan Radin in Arts & Sciences and collaborators investigated the molecular basis of plant carnivory in sundews and found evidence that it evolved from mechanisms plants use to defend themselves.

Geoscientist Rita Parai in Arts & Sciences uses noble gas isotopes to better understand the formation and evolution of planetary bodies. Her new modeling study published in PNAS shows that the deep mantle had low concentrations of volatiles like xenon and water when it formed, setting up an internal viscosity contrast with lasting impacts.

Dany Matar, a rising senior, has been named an Astronaut Scholar by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Astronaut Scholarships are awarded to juniors and seniors who are studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics with the intent to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree.

Research from the lab of Patrick Hill in psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences shows a link in older adults between social interactions and having a sense of purpose.

Jacob Schaefer III, the Charles Allen Thomas Emeritus Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died June 27, 2022 in St. Louis. Schaefer was one of the world’s experts in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). He was 83 years old.

Camelina, an oilseed plant grown in modern-day Ukraine, may have been a more important and widespread crop than previously thought, according to collaborators from anthropology and biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Their findings could inform breeding programs to improve this crop for biofuels applications.