| Four young University of Oregon faculty members are 2006 recipients of an Early CAREER Development Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the highest honor bestowed by this federal government agency on scientists and engineers who are beginning independent research careers. Awardees each receive a five-year grant to integrate their research and teaching.
Darren Johnson, assistant professor of chemistry, focuses his nanoscale research on arsenic and lead coordination with long-term applications in environmental remediation, treatment for metal poisoning, and contamination sensing.
Joseph Thornton, assistant professor of biology, studies the evolution of gene function and specializes in phylogenetic methods for analyzing gene families. He also is an expert in environmental health and policy. His grant will help develop new courses, including real-world policy issues and evolutionary biology.
David Schmidt, assistant professor of geological sciences, specializes in fault mechanics and crustal deformation. His research centers on fault friction, stress interactions, and seismotectonics. He plans to use his award to help catalogue aseismic and seismic faults throughout the world and better identify fault characteristics.
Daniel Steck, assistant professor of physics, deals with quantum and atom optics. His research interests are cold-atom physics and measurement and control of quantum systems. A part of his project is outreach to high school teachers and the development of a “mad scientist” course aimed at non-science majors.
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