Science research roundup: November and December 2020

Researchers from Arts & Sciences recently received awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

 

Barbara Kunkel, professor of biology, was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of her distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Kunkel is being honored for important discoveries of how the bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae uses multiple strategies to manipulate its plant host’s hormone biology to promote pathogenesis and disease. Read more from The Source.

Michael Gross, professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences and of immunology and internal medicine at the School of Medicine, received a $750,000 grant from the American Heart Association for interdisciplinary structural studies of iron homeostasis in cardiovascular health. Gross is a co-PI on this project with Weikai Li and Michael Greenberg, both in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the School of Medicine.

Henry Roediger, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and James Wertsch, David R. Francis Distinguished Professor in the Department of Anthropology, received a $750,000 grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF) for collaborative research on collective memory.

Bill McKinnon, professor of Earth and planetary sciences, has been elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The honor highlights McKinnon’s exceptional contributions in Earth and planetary sciences and recognizes him as a global leader and expert committed to the advancement of the geosciences. Each year, the AGU elects fewer than 0.1% of its members to join this prestigious group. Read more from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Michael Landis, assistant professor in the Department of Biology, won a $547,408 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project titled “Modeling the Origin and Evolution of Hawaiian Plants.”

Erik Herzog, Viktor Hamburger Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, received a multi-year $433,125 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research on chronotherapy for glioblastoma.

Kater Murch, associate professor of physics, was awarded $400,000 by the John Templeton Foundation for research on the “Thermodynamics of Quantum Information: Engines, Measurements, and Entropy.”

Krista Milich, assistant professor of biological anthropology, is one of seven faculty members across four undergraduate schools at Washington University in St. Louis to have been honored with a 2020 Emerson Electric Co. “Excellence in Teaching” award. Read more from The Source.

Alexander Seidel, associate professor of physics, was awarded $315,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project on microscopic theories of quantum matter.

Jonathan Losos, William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology, won a $304,455 research grant from the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HSFPO) in support of a project titled “Does Evolution Repeat Itself? Genome Evolution and Phenotypic Convergence in Island Lizards.”

Jeff Catalano, professor of Earth and planetary sciences, was elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA). The honor recognizes Catalano’s outstanding contributions to the advancement of the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology. Each year, the MSA selects at most 0.5% of their members as new fellows. Read more from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Henric Krawczynski, Wayman Crow Professor of Physics, graduate student Andrew West, and their collaborators won $124,211 from NASA for a project titled “Modeling X-ray Polarization in the Strong-field Region around Black Holes.” Read more about Krawczynski's research in The Ampersand.

Research conducted by Jacob Holland-Lulewicz, lecturer in archaeology, was named one of the Top 10 Discoveries of 2020 by Archaeology Magazine. The finding provided evidence that Indigenous people in Oconee Valley (present-day central Georgia) continued to live and actively resist European influence for nearly 150 years. Read more from The Source.

Michael Nowak, research professor of physics, was awarded a $21,046 grant by NASA in support of a project titled “GX-5 as a Probe of the ISM: A Case for Joint NICER Observations.”

Isidro Landa, a graduate student working with Tammy English, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, won a Heritage Research Dissertation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The $2,000 award supports Landa's dissertation on “Socioeconomic Status Self-Concept Clarity and Emotion Regulation Among First-Generation College Students.”

Did we miss something? Contact Shawn Ballardcommunications specialist in Arts & Sciences.