News

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Vickie DeRose, professor and head of chemistry and biochemistry, has been awarded a creativity extension by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research into the structure and function of ribonucleic acid (RNA) through its interactions with metal ions. Fellow chemist Mike Pluth was awarded an NSF creativity extension in 2023 for his work on the role small sulfur-based molecules play in many biological processes. These molecules were likely key species involved in evolution, especially before there was oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.

HISTORY - The stories of more than 140 Mexican and Mexican American workers who lived and worked not far from the University of Oregon campus went untold for nearly a century until students in a CAS history class discovered them, countering the white settler-dominant history books of the area. Led by Julie Weise, a history associate professor who focuses on the history of migrations in the Americas, students researched and wrote these local histories as part of a course series called Hidden Histories, which aims to tell the stories of underrepresented communities in Lane County.

POLITICAL SCIENCE - In mid-August, Chandler James, an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, attended the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) as a district-level delegate. This is what he experienced.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - Differences in the way muscles respond to stress could help explain why certain sports injuries are more common in women compared to men, and vice versa, new research from Damien Callahan, an exercise physiologist at the University of Oregon and graduate student Grace Privett. The two published a study in the journal Experimental Physiology that details how the mechanical properties of muscles change in response to exercise in women.

BIOLOGY, OIMB - A century after its origin as a humble camp on the coast, the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology remains on the cutting edge of marine research and restoration. “For undergraduates, OIMB really gives them the opportunity to be totally immersed in their subject,” says retired instructor Jan Hodder, an OIMB alum who began as a student in the 1970s and later joined the faculty. “Because we’re a residential program, students have 24-hour access to the environment.”

PHILOSOPHY - Camisha Russell, an associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Oregon, has been named a Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellow  for 2024. Each year, approximately 12 scholars are selected for the prize, and Russell is the UO’s first faculty member to receive this honor.