News

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.

BIOLOGY - Lauren Hallett, biology associate professor at the College of Arts and Sciences discusses her ongoing work to enhance the climate resiliency of Oregon’s hazelnut farms, which account for 99% of the country's hazelnut production. With the support of a $2 million federal award, Hallett and her lab have designed an agricultural practice using native cover crops and basalt dust amendments to set a new standard for sustainable hazelnut farming.

BIOLOGY - An expert on child and adolescent development and an expert on host-microbe interactions have each been recognized by the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon of the Oregon Health and Science University. Karen Guillemin, professor and Philip H. Knight Chair in biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the Discovery Award for her significant contributions to health-related research.

BIOLOGY - New in 2025, the Coastal Quarter program allows undergraduates from all majors to spend winter term living at the coast and taking classes in marine biology, environmental studies, anthropology and science communication. Out of the nine students who participated this year, five are majoring in either environmental sciences or environmental studies; four are marine biology majors; and one is a sports journalism major.

BIOLOGY - An AI-based imaging system that is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, funded by the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement Inc., is working to monitor bee populations without harming the insects. The technology could solve a key paradox in bee conservation efforts. The collaboration includes CAS biologist Lauren Ponisio.

BIOLOGY - Franklin W. Stahl, a molecular biologist who helped create a methodology to confirm how DNA replicates that was so elegant, it has been remembered for more than five decades as “the most beautiful experiment in biology,” died on April 2 at his home in Eugene. He was a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - The University of Oregon is now home to three new senior members of the National Academy of Inventors, a designation that recognizes visionaries and innovators whose technologies brought, or aspire to bring, a real impact on society. The CAS faculty members are Karen Guillemin, Mike Pluth and Ramesh Jasti.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY - Our health is affected by factors that take root in early childhood and follow us our entire lives. Explore CAS research on a range of health issues, from how sleep affects infant development to what causes age-related memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Read more in the Annual Research Report, out now!

BIOLOGY, PHYSICS - A new study published in the journal mBio shows how one kind of bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, triggers those painful contractions by activating the immune system. The research also finds a more general explanation for how the gut rids itself of unwanted intruders, which could also help scientists better understand chronic conditions like inflammatory bowel disease. The research was led by Julia Ngo, a now-graduated doctoral student in Karen Guillemin and Raghu Parthasarathy’s labs.

BIOLOGY - In 1924, the University of Oregon began teaching marine biology classes in a ramshackle collection of tents in a cove along the southern Oregon Coast. But what started as a couple of professors bringing some students on a summer camp has now become a permanent, year-round marine field station with a hundred years of coastal research and education.

BIOLOGY - Women with a harmful mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have a 60 percent chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives, and a many-fold increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. UO College of Arts and Sciences biologists have uncovered how BRCA1 gene influences fertility. “This is a breakthrough discovery that enables potential therapeutic avenues for understanding how to correct or treat fertility issues in BRCA1 patients,” said Diana Libuda, an associate professor in the Institute of Molecular Biology at the UO.

BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Associate Professor Lauren Hallett is one of three faculty members to receive a Fulbright US Scholar Program award. Hallett will use her Fulbright award to further her research on restoration ecology in Australia and Spain.

OIMB, BIOLOGY - At the Charleston Marine Life Center a growing collection of unique organisms serve as underwater ambassadors between UO researchers, local community partners, and the public. It’s a place where UO scientists share their discoveries with the public and community members rally around the preservation of local marine life.

BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Associate Professor Lauren Hallett and other members of her lab collect data for the Nutrient Network, a web of 130 sites around the world that monitor how nutrient addition affects biodiversity loss. The resulting data will provide a foundation for research that helps predict and reduce this loss.

Three College of Arts and Sciences researchers have received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious honor for early-career faculty members in the past year: Luca Mazzucato (biology, mathematics and physics), Brittany Erickson (computer science and earth sciences) and Julia Widom (chemistry). Known as the CAREER Awards, the organization recognizes and fosters rising stars by funding innovative research.