Natural Sciences News

BIOLOGY - Marine biologist Alan Shanks has a simple trap that allows him to predict the amount of Dungeness crab will be available for fisherfolk. For the past 25 years, Shanks has compared the yields of the winter commercial catch to the baby crabs his water-jug trap collects each summer. He’s found that the number of baby crabs that arrive on the coast can be used to estimate the size of the state’s commercial harvest of adult Dungeness crab years in the future, with a 12 percent margin of error.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - It's August, and the fall term is around the corner, but associate professor Carl Brozek is heading to Japan through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. None of them, including Brozek or the lab in Japan he'll be working in, know that he’ll be there when his research colleagues at Kyoto University get some epic news about their work on structures known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs.

PHYSICS - An assistant professor of physics at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences, Nguyen has been named the 2025 recipient of the American Physical Society’s (APS) Maria Goeppert Mayer Award. Named after a German American theoretical physicist who was co-awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics, this award honors exceptional achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - When he was still an undergraduate, Tucker Orman served in an uncommon role: as first author on a paper published Sept. 4 in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, looking at the factors that affect a scuba diver’s ability to maintain core body temperature. Now a College of Arts and Sciences alumnus, Orman reflects on how experiential learning as a human physiology student and love for scuba diving came together.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - New research from College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) researchers is now suggesting that nicotine withdrawal may also affect the way we breathe. Lila Wollman, an assistant professor and researcher in CAS’s Department of Human Physiology is studying the effects of nicotine withdrawal on the body’s respiratory control. Read more about CAS research in the 2024-25 Annual Report.

PHYSICS - A team of physicists in the College of Arts and Sciences are part of a $1.245 million US Department of Defense research project, along with the UCLA and MIT. The goal of the project is to improve the function of quantum computers. The work is being done in the Oregon Ions Group research lab, which is led by CAS’s 2012 Nobel Prize recipient and Philip H. Knight Distinguished Research Chair David Wineland and physics assistant professor David Allcock.

PHYSICS - University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences physicists Eric Corwin and Ben McMorran were awarded 2025 American Physical Society Fellowships. Corwin was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the physics of the glass and jamming transitions using simulations and experiments. McMorran was recognized for his contributions to electron matter wave physics.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - UO lab spaces are some of the most resource-intensive areas on campus, using two to three times more energy than typical offices and generating unique kinds of waste that aren’t collected through regular recycling streams. The recently launched Sustainable Labs program offers researchers a flexible framework to foster more sustainability in labs.

EARTH SCIENCES - CRESCENT wrapped up its first-ever cohort for the Geoscience Education and Inclusion (GEI) Twinning Program. Over the course of a year, students worked with mentors on fully funded research projects, developing practical skills and presenting their findings to fellow scientists. The program manager, Shannon Fasola, said it offered a unique opportunity because students could focus on research without having to worry about finances. The program included Libby Tonn, a CAS student.

During the summer, 25 faculty members from the college’s Division of Natural Sciences took part in the Mobile Summer Institute for Scientific Teaching. The weeklong workshop offered faculty members ways to transform traditional lectures to be more inclusive and hands on that puts students at the center of learning. It brought together instructors not only from disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and physics—and across the campus.

PHYSICS - During the last week of August, the University of Oregon Eugene campus was home to the Europa Clipper Project Science Group meeting, offering College of Arts and Sciences students a chance to see a space mission team at work and inspire them to become the next generation of planetary scientists.

MATHEMATICS - The University of Oregon will be home to the Functional Analysis in the Pacific Northwest conference, Nov. 8-11. The four-day event aims to bring together a diverse field of mathematicians from around the world and foster an environment for collaboration and exchange of ideas, as well as celebrate influential functional analysis expert William B. Johnson.

PSYCHOLOGY - A new study led by researchers at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with Google Research found little evidence linking smartphone use with mental well-being in adults. Researchers analyzed more than 250,000 days of smartphone usage from more than 10,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and up.