BIOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE - Imagine a drug that could temporarily reenergize plasticity in the brain to treat autism or schizophrenia, or even help an adult’s aging brain pick up a new language or learn to play a musical instrument.

BIOLOGY - A research team led by University of Oregon biologist Lauren Ponisio has uncovered how native bee species may be best equipped to survive intensive agricultural practices and climate change in California’s Central Valley.

PHYSICS - Three University of Oregon educators who have worked to bring innovation and excellence to their teaching are this year’s recipients of fellowships from the Tom and Carol Williams Fund for Undergraduate Education.

Four interdisciplinary teams have been awarded seed funding through the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation to pursue interdisciplinary research projects. The Incubating Interdisciplinary Initiatives awards, known as I3 awards, will provide up to $50,000.

CINEMA STUDIES - Another rising filmmaker with a chance to take home an Oscar will make a virtual visit to the UO and offer cinema studies students and the campus community an inside look at how big-screen movies are made.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - A new UO study is examining the effects of opioids on an understudied population: developing infants. Human physiology associate professor Adrianne Huxtable is focusing her newest research project on the effects of opioids during pregnancy on essential breathing circuits.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - During the tumultuous summer and fall of 2020, a photojournalist needed more than cameras and lenses to cover the news. Kevlar jackets, ballistic helmets, and gas masks were also standard operating equipment.

ENGLISH - Anne Helen Petersen knows a little bit about Millennials. She is one. And when her BuzzFeed article, “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation,” went viral in 2019—surpassing seven million readers and becoming the online news platform’s most-read article of the year—she knew she’d hit a nerve.

A University of Oregon program that provides education to incarcerated Oregonians is expanding with a boost from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, one of the largest supporters of the arts and humanities in the United States.

PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY - Nicole Wales will probably not be the only University of Oregon senior graduating this June with dreams of becoming a science professor. And there will also be others who represent the first in their family to attend college. What really sets Wales apart, though, are the challenges she overcame just to get to the university, let alone thrive as a scholar and researcher.

ENGLISH - Kara Clevinger is playing to strengths of the online realm, bringing students together for courses—she teaches composition and 19th-century American novels—and also the human connections people need to be healthy, especially in a time of isolation.

INDIGENOUS, RACE & ETHNIC STUDIES - Academic residential communities are helping give students a place to live and learn with other students with similar interests, identities and majors.