Our science departments are committed to creating and disseminating new knowledge in their fields by combining research and teaching. Our 300 faculty members — including fellows of many learned societies and academies — are engaged in research that spans a broad range, from questions about the foundations of quantum mechanics, to the development of cancer cells and the workings of the brain, to work resulting in the spin-off of high-technology companies. Faculty share their excitement about their research with their students, training them to become part of the next generation of scientists who will push the frontiers of human knowledge. Explore majors, minors, concentrations, and academic programs in the Natural Sciences.
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World-Class Faculty in the Natural Sciences
Thien Nguyen
Associate Professor of Computer Science
Thien Nguyen is an expert in natural language processing, or the ability of artificial intelligence to understand, interpret and generate meaningful human language. He aims to enable computers to perform cognitive language-related tasks. His lab is among the first to develop deep learning algorithms for information extraction and text mining in natural language processing and data mining. His research on using natural language processing for multilingual learning earned him a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation.
Nguyen's recent research focuses on programming computers to improve the efficiency and safety of large language models (LLMs) across human languages while extracting valuable information about events like natural disasters, cyberattacks, disease outbreaks, and protests from news articles and other sources. His work seeks to deliver useful insights from diverse data and make these technologies accessible in low-resource languages that lack adequate data sets for training AI models.
Tien-Tien Yu
Associate Professor of Physics, Institute for Fundamental Science
Tien-Tien is a theoretical particle physicist working at the interface of theory and experiment. She is particularly interested in understanding the nature of dark matter, whose existence is known through its gravitational effects on ordinary matter. She co-founded the SENSEI collaboration, an experiment utilizing silicon chips, much like those found in digital cameras, to search for dark matter. She was recently appointed to P5, an advisory group convened once a decade by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation to help determine the next funded projects in particle physics.
On Jan. 14, 2025, Yu was one of nearly 400 scientists and engineers to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest award the US government awards to early career scientists.
A founding member of the group Particles for Justice, Yu is also a leader in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the physics field. In collaboration with the Comics and Cartoon Studies program, Yu created the UO Science and Comics Initiative. Read more about the initiative here.
Santiago Jaramillo
Associate Professor of Biology, Institute of Neuroscience
Santiago Jaramillo leads a research group dedicated to understanding how the brain processes and interprets sounds. Using advanced techniques to monitor and manipulate neural activity in mice, along with computational approaches, he investigates how the brain filters, learns, and assigns meaning to sounds and how brain disorders can affect these processes. His interdisciplinary work, supported by the BRAIN Initiative of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, includes collaborations with psychologists, bioengineers, theoretical neuroscientists, and linguists, with the long-term goal of developing neural interfaces to improve human-to-human and human-to-machine communication.
Beyond the lab, Jaramillo is deeply committed to broadening participation in STEM. He provides hands-on neuroscience experiences to middle school girls through the SPICE program, serves as an advisor for international programs engaging young minds in scientific critical thinking, and mentors college students from a wide range of backgrounds through programs such as NSF STEP-UP, SPUR, and the ESPRIT scholarship for aspiring K-12 science teachers.
School of Computer and Data Sciences
The mission at SCDS is to empower a diverse population of students and faculty working to advance knowledge in computer and data science, train the next generation of scholars, and engage with the wider world to tackle interdisciplinary challenges.
To do this, we start by applying our knowledge and experience at home across the University of Oregon campus.
Research in the Natural Sciences
Natural scientists use data to understand, predict, and work with naturally occurring phenomena on earth and in the universe. From highly controlled experiments in the lab to observations collected in the field, our findings help make sense of the natural world while driving advancements in society and technology that touch everyone. By expanding the limits of human knowledge, we provide a scientific foundation for helping people live better, longer lives.
Explore Other Majors and Minors in the College of Arts and Sciences
Meet our Dean
Welcome to the natural sciences, where our top-flight researchers bring students in to experience the biological, physical, and computational sciences. Working side-by-side with faculty who are equally committed to student success and scientific discovery, students learn valuable critical thinking skills through hands-on research in the lab, field, and classroom—from studying marine biology at the Oregon Institute for Marine Biology on our beautiful campus on the coast to coding advanced systems and analyzing complex data in the School of Computer and Data Science.
The research we’re conducting at the UO makes a tangible difference in our communities, our nation, and the world. For example, our chemists are pioneering the materials and techniques that will inspire the next generation of batteries for energy storage. Our psychologists are developing and testing cutting-edge interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing. Our geologists and environmental scientists are collaborating with governments, tribes, and industry partners to protect communities from earthquakes and wildfires.
You may or may not end up in a science career, but either way these experiences will change the way you experience and interact with the world. A healthy society depends on people who know how to gather evidence and critically analyze data. No matter what field you enter, scientific thinking will help you become a more thoughtful, engaged, and critical citizen in modern society.
We’re excited to explore the natural world with you.
Elliot Berkman
Divisional Associate Dean, Natural Sciences
Happening at CAS
3:30–4:30 p.m.
Not sure where to start with career planning? You’re not alone! Join us for a hands-on workshop that introduces the many resources available to graduate students at the University of Oregon. It’s never too early or too late to start shaping your career path. Learn how to make the most of career tools, campus programs, and professional development opportunities designed to help you explore options, build confidence, and take your next steps forward. Register for this free event at https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/0198e2b551ef7f9fb7c0ca9a85f6e27c to receive the Zoom link.
This is the first of seven events as part of the GradEdge: Midweek Career Workshops series. Join us every Wednesday afternoon this term!
4:30–6:00 p.m.
Myunp Sum Lim Lecture Series in Korean Studies
Performer:
Jordan VanHemert
Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Studies
Northeastern State University
The performance is based on Dr. VanHemert's second album, "Nomad" where he explores concepts of home and what it means to explore Korean American identity through Jazz. In his words, "In this project, I reharmonized several Korean folk and children's songs to present them to new audiences and preserve our musical culture." His band members also bring many different Korean identities.
Event sponsors: the Oregon Humanities Center, Academic Residential and Research Initiatives—Faculty in Residence Program, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.
6:30–8:00 p.m.
The Wayne Morse Center and UO's Political Science Department invite you to join via Zoom or in person.
In the ten years since the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made marriage equality the law of the land, the LGBTQ+ community has achieved unprecedented progress and experienced unfathomable loss. This panel recounts the struggle for marriage equality—at the ballot, in the courts, and in the streets—the immediate response, and the setbacks and new fault lines that have emerged in the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights.
The panel features:
- US District Court Chief Judge Michael McShane who struck down Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2014,
- Nationally recognized LGBTQ+ rights and gun safety advocate Brandon Wolf (Human Rights Campaign), and
- Prof. Alison Gash, head of the UO's Department of Political Science and an academic expert in, among other things, US courts, same-sex marriage, gender, constitutional rights and public policy.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Organic/Inorganic/Materials Seminar Series
Michel Barsoum, Drexel University Host: Matthias Agne
Title: Quantum-Confined 1D Lepidocrocite Titanates and Their Exceptional Properties
Abstract: In 2022, we discovered that reacting >15 Ti-compounds with tetraalkylammonium hydroxides, at 1 atm. and temperatures < 100°C – more recently at room temperature – converts them into truly one dimensional, lepidocrocite-titania, 1DL, nanofilaments ≈ 5×7 Å2 in cross-section. Quantum confinement to 1D, boosts Eg to ≈ 4 eV. With effective specific surface areas >1500 m2/g, some of their properties are outstanding such as record photochemical H2-production with exceptional (>6 months) stability. DFT calculation suggest 1DLs are thermodynamically stable in water; if so, this would be a first for a 1D material. We show excellent OER rates and stabilities. Electrodes made with 1DLs, or their composites, perform well in supercapacitors, S- and Li-batteries. The record adsorption of heavy metal cations and cationic dyes and the photochemical degradation of the latter into CO2 and water is discussed. The ease, low cost, one pot simplicity and scalability of our process cannot be overstated. Last year we made a 1 kg batch in a lab setting.
Bio: Prof. Michel W. Barsoum is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. He is an internationally recognized leader in the area of MAX phases and more recently the 2D solids labeled MXenes derived from the MAX phases. Ten years ago he discovered a new universal mechanism – ripplocation – in the deformation of layered solids. Most recently he discovered a new form on titania: a truly one-dimensional titania. At a core-section of 5×7 Å, this titania is the thinnest possible. With over 550 refereed publications and a Google h index is 151, his work has been cited >136,000 times to date. He has been listed on the Web of Science’s highly cited researchers list from 2018 to the present. According to a recent Stanford University study, he had the highest c-index (combines citations and h-index) in the Materials Science subfield for the last 3 years and is 4th on the all-time list of material scientists in the world. He is a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Society of Engineering Sciences, National Academy of Inventors, fellow of the American Ceramic Soc. and the World Academy of Ceramics. He is the author the books, MAX Phases: Properties of Machinable Carbides and Nitrides and Fundamentals of Ceramics, a leading textbook in his field. In 2020, he was awarded the International Ceramics Prize for basic science by the World Academy of Ceramics. This prize is awarded quadrennially and is one of the highest in his field. The prize was awarded for “… outstanding contribution in opening new horizons in material research and specifically for your pioneering work in MAX phases and their derivatives.”