Arts & Sciences

Orli Sheffey, a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, died by suicide Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. She was 19. A talented student, tenacious journalist and caring friend, Sheffey changed the lives of many members of the Washington University community.

Ryan Valdez, a graduate student working with Petra Levin in Arts & Sciences, won a $105,033 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote diversity in health-related research.

Garrick Ohlsson is a “marvel of virtuosity” (New York Review of Books). Kirill Gerstein is “one of today’s smartest musical thinkers” (Limelight.) On Feb. 27, these renowned pianists will join forces for a special one-night-only performance at Washington University in St. Louis.

Alumna Merissa Nathan Gerson has written a heartfelt roadmap to help us navigate the tumultuous, uneven, often unacknowledged terrain of death and loss.

Chemist Jay Ponder, in Arts & Sciences, received a $152,775 supplemental award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for protein-ion binding research.

Many North American migratory birds are shrinking in size as temperatures have warmed over the past 40 years. But those with very big brains, relative to their body size, did not shrink as much as smaller-brained birds, according to biologists in Arts & Sciences. The study in Ecology Letters is the first to identify a direct link between cognition and animal response to human-made climate change.

Washington University’s Adrienne Davis and Raven Maragh-Lloyd will take part in a panel discussion, co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, about the historic legacy of Ebony and Jet magazines Feb. 17 at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Caitlyn Collins, assistant professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences, will join a panel of experts on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to discuss why millions of people quit their jobs last year and how the “Great Resignation” may shape work in the U.S. for years to come.

Courtney Reichhardt in Arts & Sciences received a $110,000 postdoc-to-faculty transition award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to continue researching the disease.

Kater Murch in Arts & Sciences and collaborators at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis won a $750,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research.