Natural Science

Atop the Oregon Cascades, UO team finds a huge buried aquifer

EARTH SCIENCES - Oregon’s Cascade Range mountains might not hold gold, but they store another precious resource in abundance: water. Scientists from the University of Oregon and their partners have mapped the amount of water stored beneath volcanic rocks at the crest of the central Oregon Cascades and found an aquifer many times larger than previously estimated — at least 81 cubic kilometers.

NSF picks the UO to pilot National Quantum Virtual Laboratory

PHYSICS - The National Science Foundation has awarded a one-year, $1 million grant to a team led by University of Oregon researchers exploring practical applications for emerging quantum technologies and working to move discoveries beyond the lab. “Oregon has a small group of proficient researchers leading the way globally in quantum technology," said Brian Smith, a professor of physics and director of the Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular and Quantum Science.

A century beneath the waves

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.

SACNAS delegation helps build more inclusive future

A group of 31 University of Oregon students explored the power of diversity in science at the nation’s largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The UO chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) sent its second annual delegation to the National Diversity in Stem (NDiSTEM) Conference in Phoenix, where they were immersed in cutting-edge STEM technology and research.
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Strange New Worlds

MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS - Miles from any other humans, Katie Linnenkohl and Owen Mitchem—both undergrads majoring in physics—trudge up a darkening path toward the hemispherical structure atop Pine Mountain near Bend, where they’ll spend the night scouring the sky for signs of a world around another star. Their mission: Capture evidence of a suspected planet lurking within the constellation Cassiopeia.

A Journey to Jupiter's Moon

EARTH SCIENCES - Is there a habitable environment beneath the Jupiter moon Europa’s icy crust? CAS Professor Carol Paty is helping NASA find out. Paty, a comparative planetologist who builds numerical 3D models, was brought on board several of the scientific teams to help determine how the Europa Clipper's instruments could best answer key questions about the subsurface ocean: How deep is it? How salty is it? How far beneath the ice does it lie?

Engineering the Future

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - How do we solve big problems like the looming energy crisis? Undergraduate researcher Favour Foday seeks solutions to the work's most pressing problems—like antibiotic resistance in livestock to energy usage—using biochemistry and bioengineering.