NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY - Neuroscience instructor Nicole Dudukovic has a unique insight into her students’ brains, at least when it comes to how they remember what they learn in class. She was recognized for her distinguished teaching with a Herman Faculty Achievement Award, which is presented to faculty who have made significant contributions to student learning at the University of Oregon.

EARTH SCIENCES - Graduate student Annika Dechert at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences and a team of researchers are working on studying the eruption history of South Sister volcano in the Oregon Cascades. The results of the study will inform the way the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory draws up hazards maps for Central Oregon and help shape the way scientists think about other similar volcanoes. The research team published their latest findings in August in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

EARTH SCIENCES - When Clark Honors College senior Erin Morrison set out to witness the historic launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in Florida in mid-October, she had no idea she’d also be facing a Category-5 hurricane. Europa Clipper was supposed to take off on Oct. 10, the same day Hurricane Milton was projected to make landfall over Kennedy Space Center.

PSYCHOLOGY - Lauren Lanning knew she wanted to study psychology when she came to the UO, but was surprised when she also developed a passion for communications during her second year. She now works for the Center of Science Communication Research on the Eugene campus, where she merges her interests to share the most recent scientific discoveries with the public.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE - Undergrad student Matthias De Kok shares his experience as a research assistant intern with Sleep & Health Applied Research Program Lab in Portland.

EARTH SCIENCES - Carol Paty, a comparative planetologist in the College of Arts and Sciences helped develop one of the scientific instruments aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper, which blasted off Oct. 14, on the world’s first mission to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter's moon Europa. Paty, an Earth sciences professor, is a member of the research teams behind two of the nine scientific instruments the spacecraft will use to confirm and measure what scientists strongly suspect is a vast sea of salty water buried under a sheet of ice enveloping the moon’s surface.

CINEMA STUDIES, MATHEMATICS - Abby Lewis, a fourth-year mathematics and cinema studies major, hopes to address the divide between mathematics vs. arts students in her second children’s book, Moose and the Math Fairy, earlier this year. “Math is in patterns, and it’s all around us in the world," Lewis said.

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.

Higher education faces new challenges—from rising costs and a perceived declining return on investment to evolving workforce demands. CAS Dean Chris Poulsen is leading the charge on a new strategy to establish CAS as an innovator and leader in liberal arts education. With a strategic plan, Poulsen sees CAS as a place to prepare students to meet the challenges of a 21st-century world, equipping them with skills and knowledge to set them up for changing workplaces and to excel as global citizens.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Bioengineers and chemists design fluorescent 3D-printed structures with potential medical applications. The discovery emerged from a collaboration between Paul Dalton’s engineering lab in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Ramesh Jasti’s lab in the chemistry and biochemistry department in the UO’s College of Arts and Sciences. The researchers describe their findings in a paper published this summer in the journal Small.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Hear about Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Christopher Hendon's coffee lab, his ongoing quest for better coffee through chemistry, and tips for at-home baristas. Link goes to Spotify.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - On this episode we’re joined by Mike Hahn, professor of human physiology and director of the Bowerman Sports Science Center. The This is Oregon Podcast team discusses his team’s research on distance running, fatigue, and tips to get the most out of your run while avoiding injury. Link goes to Spotify.

PSYCHOLOGY - The College of Arts and Sciences is investing in its Latinx studies courses by hiring nine new tenure-track faculty members. Meet Blanche Wright—a new hire in the Department of Psychology—wants to change that by inspiring Latinx students in the classroom and through mentorship to hopefully become professors.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Vickie DeRose, professor and head of chemistry and biochemistry, has been awarded a creativity extension by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research into the structure and function of ribonucleic acid (RNA) through its interactions with metal ions. Fellow chemist Mike Pluth was awarded an NSF creativity extension in 2023 for his work on the role small sulfur-based molecules play in many biological processes. These molecules were likely key species involved in evolution, especially before there was oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.

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.