CAS Connection - March 2025 Issue

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From Curiosity to Impact

Our faculty are investigating solutions to some of the world's most pressing issues, 
from AI to Alzheimer's to ice sheet loss in Greenland. Find out about the grant-funded research projects CAS researchers are working on.

 

Experiential Learning  |  Research & Innovation  |  Community Impact  |  Career Preparation  |  Teaching Excellence  |  21st Century Liberal Arts  |  Building Community  |  Good Vibes  |  CAS Spotlights  |  All Stories  |  Past Issues
 

Vera Keller

Research & Innovation

On the Origins of Research Universities

Ever wonder how research universities like UO evolved? It all comes down to one man, according to history prof Vera Keller.

By Codi Farmer

A student studying a manuscript with a magnifying glass

Research & Innovation

What's in a (Scientific) Name?

A PhD candidate’s award-winning essay reveals the role of women in 17th-century scientific research—and what it sometimes cost them.

By Henry Houston

A researcher applying gel to and electrode cap used in tests

CAS Spotlights

Capturing Brain Waves

How does a brain with Parkinson’s disease compare to a healthy brain? Ask undergraduate researcher Cinthia Muñiz Sanchez.

By Bailey Meyers

Collage of new faculty members

Teaching Excellence

New Global Perspectives

Six new faculty members  bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the School of Global Studies and Languages.

By Henry Houston

Kids ducking under table for earthquake drill

Research & Innovation

Before the Shaking Starts

An earthquake early-warning alert can buy you life-saving seconds to drop and take cover—and CAS researchers want to help you make the most of them.

By Nicole Krueger

 

Humanities Take Center Stage

All the world’s a stage for CAS students, whether they’re on the screen, in the classroom, in the lab or beyond. Hear from Dean Chris Poulsen about how humanities programs like theatre arts and cinema studies build valuable skills—and how storytelling fosters an understanding of what it means to be human.

CAS News

three people dressed in Shakespearean costumes
Shakespeare’s beloved comedy opens winter season at University Theatre
THEATRE ARTS — Love, mischief and mistaken intentions take center stage this winter as University Theatre presents “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare. Directed by Jerry Ferraccio, the production marks the grand reopening of Robinson Theatre and runs Feb. 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and March 1.
an illustration of a black hole
CAS physicist finds a black hole spewing more energy than Death Star
PHYSICS - A supermassive black hole with a case of cosmic indigestion has been burping out the remains of a shredded star for four years — and it’s still going strong, new research led by University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences astrophysicist Yvette Cendes. Cendes and her team published findings about this one-of-kind black hole in the Feb. 5 issue of Astrophysical Journal Astrophysicists.
a person sits on a couch in front of a red wall
A researcher takes on one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe
PHYSICS - Fascinated by the unexplored corners of the universe since childhood, physicist Tien-Tien Yu has made dark matter the pillar of her research career. In her quest to understand, she’s co-founded a major experiment in collaboration with physicists at other institutions, all of whom are trying try to bring light to the dark.

All news »

From the Media

an illustration of animals above colorized liquid
The Bloody Palette of the Animal Kingdom Goes Far Beyond Red
Humans are used to seeing red in blood — but red blood isn't universal in the animal kingdom. For some creatures, this vital fluid is purple; in others it’s yellow, green or even white. Smithsonian Magazine spoke with John Postlethwait, a developmental geneticist in the Department of Biology about Antarctic blackfin icefish of the family Channichthyida, the only known vertebrates that don’t make hemoglobin and do not have red blood cells. Their blood is a milky, translucent white. “They really are kind of ghostly," he said.
a group of people stand outside a school
Bend’s Silver Rail Shooter Was Chronically Absent. Then He Disappeared.
Nearly two weeks after the Oct. 15 shooting at a Bend-La Pine school, the shooter's absentee status from school raises questions about who should step in when kids don’t go to school and whether there are enough tools to pull them back to class. “There’s pretty strong evidence that rather than serving a deterring effect for these kids, justice system involvement is actually a promoter of delinquency,” CAS sociologist Stephanie Wiley told Bend Source Weekly.
people in orange shirts stand in a greenway
In a post-CAHOOTS Eugene, peer navigators connect vulnerable people to services
Eugene’s long-running mobile crisis service, CAHOOTS, shut down in the city more than a year-and-a-half ago. KLCC spoke with Rori Rohlfs, CAS data scientist and co-author of recent research about CAHOOTS. The nature of calls for welfare response changed and law enforcement responses changed, Rohlfs said. “After CAHOOTS stopped service, the arrest rate for those calls has doubled,” Rohlfs said.

All media news »

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CAS Connection is produced by the CAS Communications Department and edited by Nicole Krueger.

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