Natural Sciences News

BIOLOGY, CINEMA STUDIES, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, GEOGRAPHY - From animals to adhesives to DJ food stamp, students in First-year Interest Groups follow their fascinations and create community.
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - Thanks to an anonymous donor, the Department of Human Physiology in the UO’s College of Arts and Sciences now has a director of internships and has so far provided stipends for 61 undergraduate students to get paid, hands-on experience. 
EARTH SCIENCES - Research led by Rebecca Dorsey, an Earth sciences professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, led research that reveals the dynamics of seismically active faults on either side of the Strait of Messina and how they interact to create a narrow marine passage filled with geologic hazards.
COMPUTER SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY - The University of Oregon jumped to a tie for 98th in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings for best national universities. The College of Arts and Sciences landed at 71st in computer science, 88th in economics and 51st in psychology.
COMPUTER SCIENCE - The 2023 Oregon Cyber Resilience Summit, the UO's sixth annual gathering of cybersecurity experts and practitioners, is Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Erb Memorial Union. UO students, staff and faculty members can register for free.
BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - The Hallett Lab is collecting samples to test a new, more sustainable way to farm hazelnuts. Steve Haring, a postdoctoral researcher in the Hallett Lab, is studying what happens when cover crops, such as native wildflowers, are used as beds around the trees.
EARTH SCIENCES - The Greek island Santorini is known for its scenic beauty and the filming location for the hit ABBA-fueled musical Mamma Mia. However, geophysicist Emilie Hooft is interested in the underwater volcanoes that created the island about 3,600 years ago. For the past 10 years, Hooft has been studying those underwater volcanoes using state-of-the-art imaging.
EARTH SCIENCES - A new, innovative earthquake center, led by the University of Oregon, is receiving a five-year, $15-million grant from the National Science Foundation, to understand the Cascadia subduction zone and improve earthquake resiliency in the Pacific Northwest.
PHYSICS - Physicist Richard Taylor and environmental sociologist Richard York of the University of Oregon examine the beauty and benefits of fractal patterns in the natural world—and the need to protect that world from an ever-growing built environment.
NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY - David McCormick is now at the heart of a booming happiness enterprise at the UO, aiming to restore those connections and inspire students to examine how their minds mold reality. His science-based course, Happiness: A Neuroscience and Psychology Perspective, is one of the most popular electives on campus.
BIOLOGY - When gut bacteria isn't in the right place, it can lead to abnormal bacterial behavior and gut inflammation, according to a study by a team of researchers led by UO microbiologist Jarrod Smith in the laboratory of biology professor Karen Guillemin published July 28 in the journal Cell Host and Microbe. The findings point to possible mechanisms behind intestinal conditions like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
EARTH SCIENCES - Federal lawmakers tour the capabilities of the ALERTWildfire high-speed camera system, which allows state agencies to prioritize resources in fighting wildfires.
The UO’s Environment Initiative has awarded seed funding to five new teaching projects to support faculty members who have proposed innovative courses and dynamic classroom experiences. The funding supports both research and curricular projects and focuses the intellectual energy and work of faculty, students and community partners on a just and livable future through transdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning.
BIOLOGY - Chris Doe's lab is featured in the National Institutes of Health's Director's Blog. In the post, the author explores an image of a larval fruit fly's developing nervous system. The fruit fly provides clues into the development and repair of the human nervous system.
BIOLOGY - A University of Oregon research team has landed a $3 million federal grant to work with Indigenous and rural communities in Oregon to find ways of reducing climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere in ways that build trust with historically marginalized groups.