Arts & Sciences

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.

Twelve recent alumni of Washington University in St. Louis earned Fulbright awards to travel abroad to conduct research or teach English. The program recognizes talented scholars and leaders who are committed to promoting global collaboration and understanding through research and teaching.

New approaches to help save animals from extinction may come from experts outside of the traditional natural science disciplines. The Living Earth Collaborative invites social scientists, political scientists, engineers and other experts from the university community who would like to be involved in efforts to help with conservation projects to participate in a July 21 social event.

A team that received early support from the Living Earth Collaborative was awarded a $633,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate pollination in orchards across the city of St. Louis. They will examine how factors such as human population density, socioeconomic status, soil type and surrounding vegetation impact insect numbers and fruit yield.

It’s a grim milestone. More than 1 million Americans have died due to COVID-19. In this video, Rebecca Messbarger, director of medical humanities in Arts & Sciences, discusses “Requiem of Light,” a citywide memorial that she conceived and organized for the thousands of St. Louisans lost to the pandemic.

Living Earth Collaborative postdoctoral fellow Matthew Austin published new research finding that climate change is affecting how violets reproduce.

Geoscientists Walid Ben Mansour and Douglas A. Wiens in Arts & Sciences received a grant from the National Science Foundation to determine the thermal and compositional structure of Antarctica using seismic, gravity and topography data and petrological modeling.

Experts from Washington University in St. Louis offer perspectives on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the impact it will have on American law, people and politics.

Alex Meshik, research professor of physics and a faculty fellow in the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences in Arts & Sciences, won a $690,521 NASA grant.