PHYSICS, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY - Physicist Richard Taylor and environmental sociologist Richard York of the University of Oregon examine the beauty and benefits of fractal patterns in the natural world—and the need to protect that world from an ever-growing built environment.

The UO’s Environment Initiative has awarded seed funding to five new teaching projects to support faculty members who have proposed innovative courses and dynamic classroom experiences. The funding supports both research and curricular projects and focuses the intellectual energy and work of faculty, students and community partners on a just and livable future through transdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning.

BIOLOGY, DATA SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - A University of Oregon research team has landed a $3 million federal grant to work with Indigenous and rural communities in Oregon to find ways of reducing climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere in ways that build trust with historically marginalized groups.

ECONOMICS - A new economics study by Kathleen Mullen, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, suggests workers would trade wages for benefits, such as working from home, having schedule flexibility, taking paid time off — and more.

BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, GLOBAL STUDIES - The Incubating Interdisciplinary Initiatives (I3) awards provide up to $50,000 to seed new interdisciplinary research. This year, three awards are funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. Among winners are Jo Weaver (Department of Global Studies), Matthew Barber (Department of Biology and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution), Michael Harms (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Institute of Molecular Biology) and Melanie Spero (Department of Biology and Institute of Molecular Biology).

Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw rock shelter outside of what is now the eastern Oregon town of Riley more than 18,000 years ago. Discoveries at the site have included stone tools and extinct mammal tooth fragments from the Pleistocene Epoch. The pieces of tooth enamel are identified as bison and camel.

ANTHROPOLOGY - Todd Braje earned a doctorate in archaeology at the University of Oregon in 2007, and now he’s been selected to return to the UO to lead the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

ANTHROPOLOGY, ENGLISH, HISTORY, LINGUISTICS, POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY - The College of Arts and Sciences is adding six Latinx studies tenure-track faculty members in several departments as part of the college’s commitment to becoming a premier institution for Latinx studies while meeting student demand for culturally relevant classes.

Among the top items on the day’s docket for the new University of Oregon President Karl Scholz was sending a message to the university community, which included an invitation to a meet-and-greet social July 12 on the EMU Green from 3:30 to 5 p.m.