CNAS News Archives 2019 and beyond
Please note that we started using the UCR News RSS feed and CNAS tagged content on news.ucr.edu and Inside UCR as our CNAS news article archives. Please refer to these resources when searching for recent articles.
CNAS News Archives 2010 - 2018
Please note that at the time these items were posted here, they linked to electronic versions of stories that over time may be removed or changed and some links may have expired.
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CNAS News Archive 2018
December 14, 2018
New property revealed in graphene could lead to better performing solar panels
An international research team, co-led by associate professor of physics and astronomy Nathaniel Gabor at UCR, has discovered a new mechanism for ultra-efficient charge and energy flow in graphene, opening up opportunities for developing new types of light-harvesting devices.
December 12, 2018
UCR physics undergraduate student headed to CERN
Sergio Garcia has an extraordinary opportunity to do hands-on work in one of the most famous centers for scientific research in the world. He will do research during the winter quarter on a particle detector at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
December 12, 2018
Natural mosquito repellent startup wins seed funding
A startup founded by UC Riverside molecular, cell and systems biology professor Anandasankar Ray based on his discovery of natural mosquito repellent compounds, won $50,000 in seed funding in a competition between entrepreneurs from the University of California system.
December 10, 2018
UCR graduate students win grants to do research in the natural reserves
Four graduate students at UCR are among 20 University of California graduate students who will be supported by funding from the UC Natural Reserve System’s 2018-19 Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant Program.
November 27, 2018
Nine CNAS researchers named to 2018 "Highly Cited Researchers List"
Julia Bailey-Serres, Sean Cutler, Pingyun Feng, Chun Ning Lau, Timothy Lyons, Bahram Mobasher, Sang-Youl Park, Naveen Reddy, and Yadong Yin make the 2018 list of the most cited researchers worldwide, compiled by Clarivate Analytics. The list includes 4,058 individuals: the most frequently cited researchers in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences. The list recognizes “researchers whose citation records position them in the highest ranks of influence and impact.
November 19, 2018
Study deepens understanding of how advanced life may have emerged billions of years ago
Thomas Kuhlman, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy who came to UC Riverside from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in July 2018, is the lead author on a study that attempts to explain how advanced life may have emerged billions of years ago.
November 18, 2018
Announcing our CNAS Student Science Slam Winners:
Congratulations to the winners of this year's CNAS Student Science Slam during UCR's Homecoming 2018: Jessica Tingle (1), Alexandria Costatino (2), and Madison Hernandez (3). Please read more on our Alumni and Friends page:
November 17, 2018
UCR homecoming showcases old traditions, cutting-edge science labs:
UC Riverside alumni returned Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17, to see a campus that’s changed in many ways since they graduated. “Science Ambassadors” led tours of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences’ teaching and research labs Saturday.
November 11, 2018
HIV study explains how latent and rebound viruses are related
John Barton, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy and an expert in statistical physics and evolutionary dynamics, is a coauthor on a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that examines how latent HIV viruses – viruses that are inactive and “hiding” within cells – relate to the viruses that restart active infection when patients cease drug treatment.
November 5, 2018
Sydney Glassman studies the effects of changing climates on nutrient-recycling microbes
Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside, Sydney Glassman and her team experimented on the different reactions that microbes show under various temperatures.
November 5, 2018
Physicists name and codify new field in nanotechnology: ‘electron quantum metamaterials’
Nathaniel Gabor, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Riverside and colleague at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, formulate a vision for the field in a perspective article.
November 2, 2018
Physicists explain how large spherical viruses form
A team of physicists and a virologist, led by Roya Zandi, professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UCR, has published a research paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explaining how large virus shells are formed. Their work can also be used to explain how large spherical crystals form in nature.
October 31, 2018
Generous funding to malaria-parasite researcher promises new therapeutic strategies
Karine Le Roch, a professor in the UCR Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, researches the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. She is the PI on two grants from the National Institutes of Health, totaling nearly $6.6 million.
October 26, 2018
Study explains why tall individuals are more prone to cancer
For most cancers, risk increases dramatically with age. But what about the effect of having more cells in the body? Might taller people be more prone to cancer because they have more cells? Leonard Nunney, an evolutionary biologist at UCR, examined data from four large-scale surveillance projects on 23 cancer categories. Study results appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: "Size matters: height, cell number, and a person's risk of cancer".
October 23, 2018
Study provides new insight into why galaxies stop forming stars
A team of UC Riverside-led scientists get best measure yet of why star formation stopped in galaxy clusters in the early universe. A new international study led by astronomer Ryan Foltz, a former graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, has made the best measurement yet of the quenching timescale, measuring how it varies across 70 percent of the history of the universe.
October 23, 2018
Graduate students of the PLPA Outreach Committee hosted first ever Plant Pathology Day on the UCR campus
Students from John W. North High School learn more about careers and opportunities in the plant pathology and STEM field in an event organized by PLPA Outreach Committee graduate students.
October 22, 2018
A warm welcome to new CNAS faculty
Meet the newest faculty members in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences for 2018. We have assembled short biographies and portraits of new CNAS faculty members on our website.
October 22, 2018
Special journal issue looks for new clues about old life
The issue “Early Earth and the Rise of Complex Life" in 'Emerging Topics in Life Sciences' was edited by UCR professors Timothy Lyons and Mary Droser and postdoctoral researcher Kimberly Lau. What came first -- animals or oxygen?
October 19, 2018
The complex societies of bees and beyond
Hollis Woodland, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, talks about the complex societies of bees in a series looking at research on honeybees on NPR's Science Friday.
October 17, 2018
UCR recognizes longtime generosity of Campbell family with building renaming
The University of California, Riverside’s University Laboratory Building is being renamed the “Rochelle and Allison Campbell Hall” in recognition of longtime support from the Campbell family. A ceremony and dedication will be held on October 19, 2018. Rochelle Campbell is the widow of the late Neil Campbell, a well-known biologist and UCR alumnus. Allison Campbell is the couple’s daughter.
October 17, 2018
Researchers identify new approach for controlling dengue fever and Zika virus
A pair of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have succeeded in using CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful tool for altering DNA sequences and modifying gene function, to decrease mosquito body size, moving the research one step closer to eliminating mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and Zika virus.
October 15, 2018
Oldest evidence for animals found by UCR researchers
Scientists have found the oldest clue yet of animal life, dating back at least 100 million years before the famous Cambrian explosion of animal fossils. The study, led by Gordon Love, a professor in UCR’s Department of Earth Sciences, was published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The first author is Alex Zumberge, a doctoral student working in Love’s research group.
October 12, 2018
Nobel laureate Richard Schrock shares the story that changed organic chemistry
UCR professor Richard R. Schrock will give the NSF Distinguished Lecture in Mathematical & Physical Sciences and discuss the work that led to the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Watch the NSF YouTube Live Stream on Monday, Oct. 15, 11 am -12 pm PST.
October 9, 2018
Hook injury caused by catch-and-release hampers feeding performance in fish
In a study published today in The Journal of Experimental Biology, a UC Riverside-led research team shows that mouth injuries caused by hook removal after catch-and-release fishing hamper the ability of fish to capture prey.
October 4, 2018
Rewriting the textbook on how steroid hormones enter cells
A discovery by scientists at UC Riverside may open up new ways to control steroid hormone-mediated processes, including growth and development in insects, and sexual maturation, immunity, and cancer progression in humans.
October 3, 2018
New UCR / Carnegie Science collaboration in Astronomy
The University of California, Riverside, and the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena have established a UCR-Carnegie Graduate Student Fellowship program that will greatly benefit students in the university’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.
October 2, 2018
$2.3 million NIH grant will support efforts to stop mosquito-borne diseases
UCR scientist Naoki Yamanaka, an asst. professor of entomology, has been awarded $2.3 million from the National Institutes of Health’s ‘High-Risk, High-Reward’ program to study the role of steroid hormone transporters in insect development and reproduction.
September 28, 2018
Physicist to use optical trapping methods to study basic properties of solid-state materials
Boerge Hemmerling, an asst. professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, has received a five-year NSF grant of nearly $1 million to study “Nonlinear Optical Properties and Novel Quantum Phases of Polar Molecules in Optical Lattices.”
September 27, 2018
“Sex on the Kitchen Table: The Romance of Plants and Your Food”
The author of the new book, Norman C. Ellstrand, a distinguished professor of genetics and the Jane S. Johnson Endowed Chair in Food and Agriculture at UCR, has been studying plant mating his whole professional career. Book launch party on October 7th, 2018.
September 25, 2018
UC Riverside researchers find potent chemical agents that can thwart cancer metastasis
A UCR research team led by Maurizio Pellecchia (SOM) discovered a way for chemotherapy drug paclitaxel to target migrating, or circulating, cancer cells. Jikui Song, UCR associate professor of biochemistry, collaborated on the research.
September 17, 2018
Golf celebrates the fruits of research at UC Riverside Turfgrass Field Day
Golf industry professionals from various quarters gathered at UCR's annual Turfgrass and Landscape Research Field Day on September 13th at UC Riverside.
September 13, 2018
Picking the perfect pomegranate
In research published earlier this year in the Journal of Food Science, UCR Botany and Plant Sciences postdoctoral scholar John Chater and his colleagues used a consumer sensory panel to find out what traits people liked and disliked about the industry-standard "Wonderful" and six other varieties.
September 12, 2018
UCR news moved to a new website: news.ucr.edu
"UCR Today" has become "UCR News": Beginning Sept. 12, 2018, news of UC Riverside, its students, and its research, can be found on the new news site, news.ucr.edu. All 2018 stories can be found on the new site, stories prior to Sept. 12 will continue to be archived on the UCR Today site.
September 12, 2018
Climate-induced soil changes may cause more erosion and flash flooding
UCR Environmental Sciences Professor Daniel Hirmas and colleagues published a paper in Nature that provides evidence for the rapid evolution of soil macroporosity in response to climate and discusses the implications of these changes in terms of the continental-scale water cycle.
September 11, 2018
New grant from Schmidt Futures will support science teachers and maker-centered learning in underserved California schools
The California Science Project (CSP), supported by CNAS at UCR, has received a $300,000 grant from Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, that will allow CSP to bolster K-12 science education and maker-centered learning in California.
September 4, 2018
Measuring greenhouse gases on the go
A new mobile emissions van allows UCR researchers to track atmospheric emissions anytime, anywhere. Two UC Riverside professors are taking to the road to pinpoint sources of air pollution across California.
September 4, 2018
Global Warming, El Niño could cause wetter winters, drier conditions in other months
UC Riverside Earth Sciences Professor Robert Allen’s research indicates that what precipitation the state does get will be pretty much limited to the winter months, and non-winter months will be even dryer than usual, with little or no rain at all.
August 29, 2018
NASA recognizes Professor's study at the top of Telescope's "Greatest Discoveries" list
Bahram Mobasher, a professor of physics and astronomy, led a research team that used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to make the “Big Baby” galaxies discovery, which has just been ranked as Spitzer’s second most important discovery by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
August 27, 2018
Nobel laureate Barry Barish joins UC Riverside Faculty
Physicist Barry C. Barish, who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of gravitational waves, will join the UCR faculty on September 1. The physicist, whose contributions enabled the first observation of gravitational waves, is the university’s second Nobel Prize winner.
August 27, 2018
Climate Change predicted to bring more extremes to Inland Southern California
Hot, dry weather in Southern California’s inland desert region is projected to become more extreme over the 21st century, according to a report written by researchers at UC Riverside and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that was released today as part of California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment.
August 24, 2018
Biology Professor receives grant to study how fish hunt
Timothy Higham, an associate professor of biology, has been awarded a $294,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Integrative and Organismal Systems (IOS) to study how fish coordinate different body parts to capture prey in water.
August 22, 2018
Getting high on worms
Like mammals, parasitic worms have an endocannabinoid system that may help the worm and the hosts it infects survive by reducing pain and inflammation in the host, according to a “wild” new discovery by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of California, Riverside.
August 14, 2018
Early opaque universe linked to galaxy scarcity
A team of astronomers led by George Becker at the University of California, Riverside, has made a surprising discovery: 12.5 billion years ago, the most opaque place in the universe contained relatively little matter.
August 9, 2018
UCR CNAS Scientists honored by American Geophysical Union
Marilyn Fogel and Timothy Lyons, two scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have been elected fellows of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, a recognition that honors “scientific eminence in the earth and space sciences.” They will be honored as new fellows at AGU's December meeting.
August 9, 2018
Omega Centauri unlikely to harbor life
Omega Centauri — a densely packed cluster of stars in our galactic backyard — is unlikely to be home to habitable planets, according to a study by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, and San Francisco State University. Forthcoming in The Astrophysical Journal, the study was led by Stephen Kane, an associate professor of planetary astrophysics in UCR’s Department of Earth Sciences and a pioneer in the search for habitable planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
August 7, 2018
Top-performing soil microbes could be key to Sustainable Agriculture
UCR research will help agronomists breed plants that attract their own growth-promoting microbes -- A study on Acmispon strigosus, a plant in the pea family, showed a 13-fold growth increase in plants that partnered with a highly effective strain of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Bradyrhizobium.
July 22, 2018
Sue Wessler Co-chairs Major Report On Advancing Science in Food, Agriculture
Professor Wessler, who is the Neil and Rochelle Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovation in Science Education at UC Riverside, and Home Secretary, US National Academy of Sciences, co-chaired the report recently released by the National Academies Press: Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030.
July 2, 2018
Nobel Laureate Richard Schrock Joins Chemistry Faculty
Schrock, who received his BS in Chemistry from UCR, will return to his alma mater to share his groundbreaking work and mentor students and faculty.
June 18, 2018
Two New Creatures Discovered from Dawn of Animal Life
Professor of Paleontology Mary Droser led the research to find the fossils, which have been named after President Barack Obama and Sir David Attenborough.
June 6, 2018
Neuroscientist Receives Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience
Hongdian Yang is UC Riverside’s first recipient of the prestigious fellowship.
June 1, 2018
Ten UC Riverside Professors Receive NSF CAREER Awards
The awards support early career leaders in research and education.
May 30, 2018
Distant Moons May Harbor Life
UCR researchers have identified 121 giant planets that may have habitable moons.
May 29, 2018
See Videos from the 2018 Science Lecture Series
Videos from the 2018 Science Lecture Series: "Are We Playing God?" are all up for view.
May 25, 2018
Physicist to Discuss Dark Matter on Facebook Live
Space.com will interview UC Riverside's Flip Tanedo on May 30 to discuss NOVA Wonders episode “What’s the Universe Made of?”
May 24, 2018
How Do Insects Survive on a Sugary Diet?
Study offers clues to how aphids capitalize on relationship with beneficial bacteria through changes in gene expression linked to DNA methylation
May 18, 2018
Research Offers New Insights Into Malaria Parasite
CNAS Professor Karine Le Roch has received a new NIH grant of $3.2 million to continue work on Plasmodium falciparum.
May 17, 2018
UCR Plant Cell Biologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Sean Cutler becomes ninth CNAS faculty member elected to the prestigious academy.
May 17, 2018
Battling Bubbles: How Plants Protect Themselves from Killer Fungus
UCR research led by Hailing Jin, professor of microbiology and plant pathology, show how plants fight against infections by delivering protective molecules into fungi using bubble-like exosomes.
May 16, 2018
11 UCR Students Awarded National Science Foundation Fellowship
UCR students awarded fellowships for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students pursuing research-based graduate and doctoral degrees.
May 16, 2018
Remembering Professor James Sims
Professor James J. (Jim) Sims, Emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology died peacefully at home on March 11, 2018 after a four-year battle with metastatic prostate cancer.
May 16, 2018
Two CNAS faculty awarded by the Pacific Branch of Entomological Society of America (PBESA)
William Walton and Alec Gerry from the CNAS Entomology Department were recently announced as winners of the PBESA 2018 awards.
May 17, 2018
In Memory of Robert Stephen White
R. Stephen (Steve) White, a Distinguished Professor of Physics (now Physics and Astronomy) at UC Riverside until he retired in 1990, passed away peacefully on April 8, 2018 in Santa Barbara after a series of illnesses.
May 16, 2018
Search for Life Beyond the Solar System Topic of Faculty Research Lecture
Timothy Lyons, Distinguished Professor of Biogeochemistry, will deliver the 66th annual lecture at UC Riverside.
May 10, 2018
Science Fair Aimed at Spanish-Speaking Families Set for May 19
“Fiesta Familiar: Explorando La Ciencia Juntos” at UC Riverside will include activities such as smelling the universe, touching meteorites, and getting a close look at the DNA molecule.
May 3, 2018
Atmospheric Seasons Could Signal Alien Life
CNAS researchers are using seasonal changes in the Earth’s atmosphere to guide their search for life outside the solar system.
May 3, 2018
CNAS Student Receives Prestigious Fulbright Award
Phong Au-Hong, a senior in entomology, has received a Fulbright Award to help support English language development in immigrant and refugee students living in Germany.
May 3, 2018
UCR Graduate Student Headed to Oak Ridge National Lab
Victor Fung, a graduate student in chemistry, is one of 60 students from across the country selected for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program.
May 2, 2018
CNAS Professor Rediscovers Insect Lost For 105 Years
Little is known about elusive beetle species, despite role in wildflower pollination.
May 2, 2018
Food and Wine Tasting Fundraiser to be Held May 20th
Primavera in the Gardens is the annual fundraiser for the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens, benefiting new garden installations, opportunities for student workers, community enrichment activities, and educational programs each year.
April 30, 2018
NOVA Wonders Episode to Feature UCR Expert on Dark Matter
UC Riverside’s Flip Tanedo is featured in the NOVA Wonders episode “What’s the Universe Made of?” airing May 30 on PBS; will participate in Harvey Mudd College panel to discuss the episode on May 2.
April 30, 2018
Researchers Move Toward Understanding Deadly Citrus Disease
In a paper published Monday in Nature Communications, a team led by Professor Wenbo Ma reported a significant breakthrough in understanding the disease mechanism of HLB. Also covered by Press Enterprise.
April 26, 2018
Office of Naval Research Grant Funds Research on Photomechanical Materials
A team of researchers, including CNAS Prof. Christopher Bardeen, have been awarded a $7.5 million, 5-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Naval Research to study the properties and applications of light-powered materials.
April 19, 2018
UC Riverside Astrophysicist Part of TESS Planet Finder Team
Stephen Kane, an associate professor of planetary astrophysics at UC Riverside and a Guest Investigator on the TESS Mission, witnessed the takeoff from the launch viewing site in Cape Canaveral.
April 16, 2018
Professor Zhiwei Zhang Selected as Fellow of Major Statistical Organization
Professor Zhiwei Zhang has been selected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) for his outstanding contributions to statistical methodology.
April 16, 2018
CNAS Students Win Goldwater Scholarship Award
CNAS students Renata Kootz and Nicholas Pham named Goldwater Scholars.
April 16, 2018
UCR Recipients for the 2018 NSH GRFP
11 CNAS Students Receive Prestigious NSF Grants.
April 13, 2018
Newly Identified Bacteria May Help Bees Nourish Their Young
UCR Researchers have identified three bacteria that may help prevent spoilage of the pollen that wild bees provide for their offspring.
April 12, 2018
To Impress Females, Costa's Hummingbirds "Sing" With Their Tail Feathers
Research led by Assistant Biology Professor, Christopher Clark, shows how male Costa's control the acoustics of a tail song produced during high speed dives.
April 12, 2018
Faster, Cheaper Wastewater Treatment Through Improved Oxidation Reactions
CNAS Chemistry Professor Yadong Yin and fellow researchers have developed a simple way to improve Advanced Oxidation Processes.
April 5, 2018
Public Symposium to Showcase How UCR’s Stem Cell Therapies Help Patients
This event aims to give the public an opportunity to learn about the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the world’s largest institution dedicated to bringing the future of cellular medicine closer to reality.
April 5, 2018
Dean Uhrich Helps Promote California Science in Nation's Capital
CNAS Dean Kathryn Uhrich joined a delegation to Washington D.C. visiting more than 30 congressional offices to brief lawmakers and staff on Agriculture and Natural Resource research in California.
April 2, 2018
Microbiome Study Suggests Marine Nematodes Are Not Picky Eaters
UCR research finding no relationship between nematodes species and microbial profile suggests marine worms don't have a restrictive diet.
March 15, 2018
UC Riverside Launches Air Quality and Climate Change Training Program
ACT program will train students and professionals to measure air quality and climate change and meet growing workforce needs.
March 14, 2018
UCR Researchers Receive Grant to Improve Pollinator Health
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research award will identify best management practices to protect bees.
March 14, 2018
Spring Garden Market and Plant Sale Set for April 7
UCR Botanic Gardens sale will include thousands of plants, including rare and unusual varieties.
March 14, 2018
Physics Student Awarded Outstanding Paper Award
Physics grad student Fatemeh Barati won the Ken Hass Outstanding Student Paper Award at a recent national conference.
March 7, 2018
$1 Million Gift Empowers Next Generation of Scientists
Undergraduate research is benefactor of gift from Rochelle Campbell and Professor Sue Wessler.
February 26, 2018
UCR Magazine Covers the Inspiring Story of CNAS Alum/Researcher
Biochemistry alumnus and CNAS researcher Bassam Theodory ’17 and his family dropped everything to escape Syria. Now the former transfer student wants to become a doctor like his dad, who is back treating patients in Aleppo.
February 22, 2018
A Citrus Love Affair
As the curator of UC Riverside’s Citrus Variety Collection, Tracy Kahn has handled fruits as big as a person’s head, and as small as a pea.
February 21, 2018
Tropical Trees use Unique Method to Resist Drought
UCR research may alleviate concerns about impact of drought on Amazonian trees, which play a critical role in regulating the global climate.
February 16, 2018
UCR Professor Selected as Sloan Research Fellow
CNAS faculty Sandra Kirtland Turner is among 126 outstanding early-career researchers honored across eight fields.
February 14, 2018
Molecular Biochemist Katayoon Dehesh Profiled in The Scientist
The director of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology talks about her escape from Iran during the height of the Iran-Iraq War, her path to UC Riverside, and her goal to help women and girls around the world through education initiatives.
February 12, 2018
UCR Plant Pathology Graduate Students Receive Mathre Education Endowment Fund
Plant Pathology graduate students Gabriel Ortiz, Claudia Castro, Derreck Carter-House, Antara Chakravarty and Nichole Ginnan have been awarded a grant from the American Phytopathological Society Foundation through the Mathre Education Endowment.
February 9, 2018
Feast on Facts during Food Evolution Screening on March 16th
There will be a a free public screening of Food Evolution, a science-based investigation into the controversy of GMOs. Followed by a panel discussion which includes the film's producer and director, Academy Award Nominee Scott Hamilton Kennedy.
February 8, 2018
Biologists Decipher a Key Piece of the Odor Detection Puzzle in Flies, Mosquitoes
UC Riverside study led by Associate Professor Anandasankar Ray, offers a path to safer products to protect against disease-carrying mosquitoes, and chemicals to control crop-damaging pests.
February 7, 2018
Scientists Crack Structure of Enzyme Complex Linked to Cancer
UC Riverside study led by Associate Professor Jikui Song offers important information for understanding "de novo DNA methylation"
February 6, 2018
Four UCR Undergraduates Awarded Prestigious Research Fellowships
CNAS Biology undergraduate students Benjamin Meza, Diana Medina-Yerena, Alejandro Quinones, and Sabrina Stulting have won fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)'s Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP).
February 5, 2018
Mapping the First Family Tree for Tropical Forests
Janet Franklin, Distinguished Professor of Biogeography, worked among an international team of researchers that unraveled the evolutionary history of the world's tropical forests.
February 5, 2018
Researchers Receive $1M for Project Challenging Long-Standing Paradigm in Endocrinology
CNAS faculty Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka, Naoki Yamanaka, and Frances Sladek receive W.M. Keck Foundation's award which will support research focused on steroid hormone transport in cells.
February 2, 2018
The Science Behind the Scenes of 'Basmati Blues'
UCR geneticist Norman Ellstrand lent his scientific expertise to a musical romantic comedy centered around genetically modified rice.
February 2, 2018
Gillian Wilson to Serve as Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Gillian Wilson, a professor of physics and astronomy, has been named senior associate vice chancellor for research and economic development at UC Riverside, in the Office of Research and Economic Development (RED).
January 24, 2018
For Global Invasion, Argentine Ants Use Chemical Weapons
Assistant Professor Dong-Hwan Choe leads research on how compounds produced by Argentine ants are used to recruit nestmates and incapacitate opponents.
January 19, 2018
Distinguished Professor Named Interim Editor-in-Chief of PNAS
Natasha V. Raikhel, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Plant Cell Biology and former director of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology (IIGB), has been named interim editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
January 12, 2018
UCR Professor Develops the Newest Weapon for the Citrus Industry
Mikael Roose, professor of genetics in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, shares an insect trap being developed to catch Asian citrus psyllids, which can spread the huanglongbing [HLB] bacteria among citrus trees.
January 10, 2018
Department of Earth Sciences to Host "Are We Alone?" Lecture Series
The search for alien life defines a new era of space exploration. Learn how scientists hope to find life beyond Earth, and explore what that means for humanity.
January 2, 2018
Genetic Changes Help Mosquitoes Survive Pesticide Attacks
UCR study shows how intensive pesticide use is driving mosquito evolution at the genetic level.
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CNAS News Archive 2017
December 19, 2017
UCR Researchers Identify Nontraditional Sites for Future Solar Farms
Equivalent of 183,000 football fields of nonagricultural land identified in study aiming to ease competition between farmers, conservationists, and energy companies.
Read more
December 8, 2017
Four CNAS Faculty Named to Most Highly Cited List
Julia Bailey-Serres, Sean Cutler, Timothy Lyons and Yadong Yin make the 2017 list of the most cited researchers worldwide compiled by Clarivate Analytics
December 5, 2017
Marilyn Fogel Appointed Inaugural Wilber W. Mayhew Endowed Chair in Geo-Ecology
Marilyn Fogel, a professor of Earth Sciences, was appointed the inaugural holder of the Wilbur W. Mayhew Endowed Chair in Geo-Ecology at a Nov. 30 symposium and naming ceremony. See photos from the event here.
December 5, 2017
Researchers Show How Insect Food Choice can be Manipulated
Applications of UC Riverside study could include controlling spread of mosquito-borne diseases and damage to agricultural crops.
December 4, 2017
CNAS Shines a Light on Plant Growth and Development
UCR CNAS researchers have discovered how plants respond to changes in light at the molecular level.
November 20, 2017
CNAS Professor Sean Cutler Named AAAS Fellow
Sean Cutler, a professor of plant cell biology at the University of California, Riverside, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
November 17, 2017
Wired Magazine Covers Gene-Editing on Mosquitoes at UCR
Wired magazine and others highlight a study led by Omar Akbari, assistant professor of entomology, and his team's successful development of transgenic mosquitoes through the use of gene-editing technologies.
November 16, 2017
NASA is Studying Earth to Find Signs of Life on Distant Planets
Newsweek highlights research by Stephen Kane, associate professor of Earth sciences, and his participation in a Reddit AMA on the search for life on other planets by NASA Earth scientists.
November 15, 2017
How and Why Blood Clots Shrink
UCR CNAS research elucidating how blood clots contract could help in the development of new treatments for heart attack and stroke.
October 9, 2017
Revolutionizing the Way Solar Energy is Collected
A research team led by Assistant Professor of Physics Nathaniel M. Gabor has developed a photodetector- a device that senses light- which could have broad impact on the efficiency of solar energy collection. The study appears in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
October 6, 2017
Symposium Launches New Microbiome Initiative for UCR
The UCR Microbiome “Initiative,” a new program meant to bring researchers together who focus on the microbiome from around the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) and the School of Medicine (SOM), held its Inaugural Symposium and Datablitz on Sept. 27.
October 2, 2017
CNAS Study Shows the Upside and Downside of Genetically Modified Soybean Oil
Research led by Professor of Cell Biology and Divisional Dean for Life Sciences Francene Sladek has tested a genetically-modified soybean oil used in restaurants and found that while it induces less obesity and insulin resistance than conventional soybean oil, its effects on diabetes and fatty liver are similar to those of conventional soybean oil. The findings were published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. Read moreSeptember 14, 2017
New Findings on the Effects of Third-hand Smoke Exposure
The research, lead by Manuela Martins-Green, Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, found that exposure effects health as early as one month after initiation, and worsens overtime.
September 8, 2017
CNAS Researchers Are on the Forefront in the Fight Against a Deadly Citrus Disease
With the recent discovery of Huanglongbing (HLB) in Riverside, a disease that has decimated citrus trees in Florida, CNAS faculty have been working with government and industry officials to detect and fight the disease while pioneering new ways to treat infected trees and prevent HLB's spread.
August 28, 2017
New Article by Professor Janet Franklin Highlights Impact of Global Warming on Ecosystems
The article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looks at the disappearance of certain bird species in the Bahamas during a warming event 12,000 years ago.
August 15, 2017
New Center to Fight Vector-Borne Diseases
An $8 Million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a new joint research center with UC Davis, the Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases.
August 8, 2017
Entomologist Hollis Woodard in New York Times ScienceTake Video
The CNAS assistant professor of entomology discusses "Why do bees buzz?"
July 20, 2017
Three CNAS Faculty Among Those Chosen for NSF Early Career Awards
Asst. Prof. of Chemistry Boniface Fokwa, Asst. Prof. of Physics and Astronomy Nathaniel Gabor and Asst. Prof. of Mathematics Yulong Xing are awarded grants in recognition of their promising research and education excellence.
July 19, 2017
Team Led by CNAS Entomologist Wins $14.9 Million Grant to Combat Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes
Funded by a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Assistant Professor of Entomology Omar Akbari will lead research efforts on how advanced gene editing technologies can control mosquitos.
July 14, 2017
Dean Kathryn Uhrich Elected To College of Fellows for Controlled Release Society
The honor from the country's leading professional organization for delivery science and technology, was given to Uhrich, a chemist, for her "innovative research on polymers for controlled release applications [which] has advanced the field."
July 6, 2017
CNAS Climatologist Predicts More Rain for California in the Coming Years
Robert Allen, associate professor in the Earth Sciences department, with graduate student Rainer Luptowitz, published an article in the journal Nature Communications, showing that despite predictions of a drier climate due to global warming, California will actually get wetter in the years ahead.
June 26, 2017
Molecular Biochemist Named to German National Academy of Sciences
Katayoon Dehesh, known for her work on how stress signals are sensed in plants, joins an academy whose past members include Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.
May 5, 2017
UC Riverside Geneticist Named Royal Society Foreign Member
Susan Wessler, a distinguished professor of genetics at the University of California, Riverside, has been named a foreign member of the Royal Society, the leading science academy of the United Kingdom, whose past membership includes Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.
May 4, 2017
CNAS Names New Divisional Dean of Life Sciences
Frances Sladek, professor of cell biology and toxicologist, has been named the Divisional Dean for Life Sciences in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS). Her three-year appointment begins July 1, 2017.
April 25, 2017
CNAS Scholarship Recipients Announced
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Executive Committee announced the recipients of the 2016 – 2017 CNAS scholarships. Among the recipients were two CNAS Science Ambassadors, Amanda Tedesco and Abigail Burr and UCR's recent Goldwater Scholar, Shannon Sweitzer.
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CNAS News Archive 2016
December 14, 2016
Pirrung Elected to National Academy of Inventors
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Michael C. Pirrung is among 11 University of California innovators who were recently elected to the National Academy of Inventors for “. . . creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.”
Read moreDecember 8, 2016
SHINES to Host Workshop on Spintronics and Thermal Transport
With support from the Vice Chancellor for Research, UCR's Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) on Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES) will hold a workshop at UCR’s Palm Desert Center on January 12-13, 2017. The workshop will focus on the most recent development at the frontiers of spintronics and thermal transport in nano-materials and nano-devices.
Read moreNovember 10, 2016
Wilson Named Interim Deputy Director of UC Observatories
Professor of Physics and Astronomy Gillian Wilson has been named interim deputy director of UC Observatories, a multi-campus astronomical research unit with headquarters on the UC Santa Cruz campus. The unit operates the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton near San Jose, technical labs at UC Santa Cruz and UCLA, and is also a managing partner of the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The appointment comes just months after Wilson was named chair of the University of California Observatories Advisory Committee.
Read moreJuly 11, 2016
Study Shows Lingering Toxic Effects of Oil Pollution on Development of Fish Embryos and Larvae
In the first experiment evaluating the effects of oil from the three-million-barrel leak from the Deep Water Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Professor of Aquatic Ecotoxicology Daniel Schlenk found that the weathering of the oil produced significant changes in gene expression related to critical functions in Mahi embryos and larvae.
Read moreJuly 11, 2016
Study of Cloud Records Demonstrates Effects of Climate Change
A research team that includes Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences Robert Allen analyzed satellite cloud records and discovered that cloud storm tracks are moving toward the Earth’s poles, subtropical zones are expanding and cloud tops are moving higher in the atmosphere. The study, “Evidence for Climate Change in the Satellite Cloud Record,” appears in the July 11 edition of the journal Nature.
Read moreJuly 8, 2016
Why Do Galaxies Stop Creating Stars?
Using a large sample of around 70,000 galaxies, a team of researchers led by astronomers Behnam Darvish and Bahram Mobasher focused on the effects of external and internal processes that influence star formation activity and may have found an explanation for why galaxies stop creating stars.
Read moreJune 30, 2016
Mohideen Named Divisional Dean of Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy Umar Mohideen has agreed to serve as Divisional Dean of Physical Sciences and Mathematics for the college, effective July 1, 2016. He will replace Professor of Chemistry Cindy Larive, who has been chosen to serve the university as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.
Read moreJune 14, 2016
Morales '11 Recognized with UC Global Food Initiative 30 Under 30 Award
Fortino Morales III (B.S., environmental science, 2011), manager of UCR's R’Garden, has been recognized by the UC Global Food Initiative for his work at the 3-acre community garden on campus, which serves as a source of food, food education and community engagement.
Read moreJune 6, 2016
Citrus Research Foundation and UCR Team Up to Fight Citrus Killer
California Citrus Research Foundation and UCR launched an effort Monday, June 6 that will result in construction of a new facility to be used by researchers to fight a disease devastating the citrus industry. The research partnership aims to protect California’s $3.3 billion citrus industry from Huanglongbing, the citrus disease.
Read moreMay 19, 2016
Larive Named Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Paul D’Anieri has announced that Cindy Larive, Professor of Chemistry and Divisional Dean for Physical Sciences and Mathematics in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, has agreed to serve as UCR's next Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education effective July 1, 2016.
Read moreMay 17, 2016
Study Advances Understanding of Colon Cancer and Colitis
A new study led by Professor of Cell Biology and Toxicologist Frances M. Sladek explains how the distribution of two forms of a transcription factor in the colon influence the risk of disease. Both forms are important and require an appropriate balance between them in the gut. The next step in the research is to identify foods that disrupt this balance and those that help preserve it.
Read moreMay 5, 2016
Exploiting Male-Killing Bacteria to Control Insects
A team of scientists including Assistant Professor of Entomology Omar Akbari have discovered a key mechanism that drives a bacteria that kills male insects, a development that could potentially be exploited to control insect pest species in the future. In a paper published in Current Biology, they describe how the bacterium Spiroplasma initiates male killing by directly targeting the dosage compensation complex of an organism, which equalizes gene expression between the males and females.
Read moreMay 4, 2016
Renowned Biologists to Give Free Public Talk on Earth’s Tipping Point
Biologists Anthony D. Barnosky and Elizabeth A. Hadly will deliver the John A. and Betty C. Moore Science as a Way of Knowing lecture on Thursday, May 12, 2016. Free and open to the public, their hour-long talk is titled “Tipping Point for Planet Earth – How Close Are We to the Edge?” and will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the UCR Extension Center.
Read moreMay 3, 2016
Chen to Deliver Faculty Research Lecture on Small RNAs
Distinguished Professor of Botany and Plant Sciences Xuemei Chen will deliver the 64th annual Faculty Research Lecture titled, “Small RNAs – Small but Powerful” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on June 6 in the Genomics Auditorium. Small RNAs were the “dark matter” in biology until the early 2000s, when they were found to be universally present in animals and plants. In the past 15 years, efforts in the research community have unveiled many secrets of these enigmatic molecules and have begun to harness their power.
Read moreMay 3, 2016
Bailey-Serres Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Professor of Genetics Julia Bailey-Serres has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her excellence in original scientific research. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Bailey-Serres learned of her election May 3, 2016, during the academy’s 153rd annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Read moreApril 27, 2016
Bacteria Beneficial to Plants Have Spread Across California
A recent study led by Associate Professor of Biology Joel Sachs and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that a strain of beneficial nitrogen-fixing bacteria has spread across California, demonstrating that beneficial bacteria can share some of the same features that are characteristic of pathogens. The bacteria, called Bradyrhizobium, form tumor-like nodules on the roots of plants and are able to “fix” nitrogen by breaking it down and rendering it into forms that plants can easily metabolize.
Read moreApril 25, 2016
College Saddened by Loss of Robert Haddon
Robert Cort Haddon, UCR distinguished professor of Chemistry and of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, passed away April 21, 2016. He was awarded the American Physical Society’s James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials in 2008 and named by Thomson Reuters as one of the “best and brightest minds of our times” in 2014.
Read moreApril 19, 2016
More Natural History Training Needed, Survey Shows
A survey by scientists from three UC campuses and led by Cameron Barrows, associate researcher at the Center for Conservation Biology, shows that only 11 percent of early career scientists felt their academic training alone provided the needed exposure to natural history, which can be defined as the observation of organisms in their natural environment.
Read moreApril 19, 2016
Physics and Astronomy Hosts Public Events About Dark Matter, Mercury Transit
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is holding a Cosmic Wednesday discussion on April 27 about dark matter, along with a viewing of the rarely-seen Mercury transit. Designed to educate the community about science in an accessible way, the Cosmic Wednesday lecture will feature Professor George Becker, who will discuss computer-generated simulations of dark matter--a special kind of matter that doesn’t emit light or magnetic or electric fields.
Read moreApril 18, 2016
Self-healing Polymer Could Lead to Artificial Muscle
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chao Wang is co-author of a study published in Nature Chemistry that describes a new polymer that can stretch to 100 times its original length, and even repair itself if punctured. It can also twitch by exposing it to an electric field, causing it to expand and contract, making it potentially useful as an artificial muscle.
Read moreApril 18, 2016
All Ants on Deck
Like humans, ants work together to enhance their response to emergency situations with different members of the group carrying out different tasks. A team of scientists that includes Assistant Professor of Entomology Jessica Purcell has found that a species of ant that clusters together to form rafts to survive floods exhibits memory and repeatedly occupies the same position during raft formation.
Read moreApril 12, 2016
$1M NSF Grant Will Help Sophomores Persist in Science
UCR has received a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to provide scholarships, academic support, research experience and internships for a group of sophomores majoring in science. The program builds on the highly successful Freshman Scholars Learning Communities program developed at CNAS.
Read moreApril 6, 2016
Reznick Among Three UCR Scholars Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship
Distinguished Professor of Biology David Reznick is among 175 persons in the U.S. awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for 2016. Also honored from UCR are Laila Lalami, professor of creative writing, Fred Moten, professor of English and poetry. Reznick is an evolutionary biologist whose groundbreaking research found that an individual’s response to environmental conditions may predict evolutionary changes in future generations.
Read moreApril 4, 2016
Study Shows How Broadbills Use Their Wings to Create Sounds to Mark Territory
A study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology by Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher J. Clark demonstrates that Broadbills, birds found in some parts of Africa, produce a startlingly loud sound that they make with their wings to mark off territory. Clark was able to demonstrate that that it is not the outermost wing feathers but the ones just inside of these feathers that make their klaxon-like sound.
Read moreMarch 30, 2016
Study Finds Wide-Reaching Impact of Nitrogen Deposition on Loss of Plant Diversity
Professor of Plant Ecology Edith B. Allen is among a group scientists who studied more than 15,000 sites across the U.S. and discovered that human activity is leading to nitrogen deposition in levels the decrease soil health and diversity of plant species in 24 percent of the sites they examined. Among the causes of this diminishing plant diversity are fossil fuel combustion, agricultural fertilizer application and livestock waste.
Read moreMarch 30, 2016
Researchers to Study Contaminants from Treated Wastewater on Food Produce
Jay Gan, a professor of environmental chemistry, and John Trumble, a distinguished professor of entomology, have been awarded a $749,631 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study the human and ecological health impacts of water reuse and conservation practices. University researchers will use the funds to measure levels of contaminants in vegetables irrigated with treated wastewater.
Read moreMarch 30, 2016
New Tumbleweed Species Rapidly Expanding Range
Two invasive species of tumbleweed have hybridized to create a new species that Professor of Genetics Norman C. Ellstrand and his former graduate student Shana R. Welles found has dramatically expanded its geographic range in California in just a decade. They believe the invasive species Salsola ryanii could spread beyond California to other states.
Read moreMarch 29, 2016
Scientists Unlock Genetic Secret that Could Help Fight Malaria
Omar Akbari, an assistant professor of entomology, is among group of scientists who have discovered a long-hypothesized male determining gene in the mosquito species that carries malaria, laying the groundwork for the development of strategies that could help control the disease. This is significant because male mosquitoes offer the potential to develop novel vector control strategies to combat diseases, such as malaria and the zika and dengue viruses, because males do not feed on blood or transmit diseases.
Read moreMarch 21, 2016
Humans Releasing Carbon 10 times Faster Than Any Time in Past 66 million Years
New research published in Nature Geoscience by Professor of Earth Sciences Andy Ridgwell and two co-authors looks at changes of Earth’s temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) since the end of the age of the dinosaurs. Their findings suggest humans are releasing carbon about 10 times faster than during any event in the past 66 million years.
Read moreMarch 17, 2016
Close Leads Team on $1.6M Grant to Sequence Cowpea Genome
Professor of Genetics Timothy Close is leading a team of UCR scientists on a nearly $1.6-million grant from the National Science Foundation to sequence the genome of the cowpea and further research developing superior cowpea breeding lines. The cowpea, which also includes black-eyed peas, is one of the most widely grown legume crops in the world and number one source of protein in the human diet in sub-Saharan Africa.
Read moreMarch 2, 2016
Spinning Better Electronic Devices
A team of researchers led by Professor of Physics Jing Shi have demonstrated for the first time the transmission of electrical signals through insulators in a sandwich-like structure, a development that could help create more energy efficient electronic devices. The research results, published in Nature Communications, are the first first major collaborative result from the SHINES (Spins and Heat In Nanoscale Electronic Systems) center, which is funded with a $12-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Read moreMarch 1, 2016
New Method Developed to Stop Argentine Ants
Graduate student Kevin Welzel and Dong-Hwan Choe, assistant professor of entomology and assistant cooperative extension specialist, are co-authors of a new paper describing research results showing bait that includes ant pheromones can be nearly twice as effective as bait without them in controlling Argentine ant populations.
Read moreFebruary 18, 2016
Akbari Co-Authors Paper on State of Engineered Gene Drives
In a highly innovative and technical review, Assistant Professor of Entomology Omar Akbari and his graduate students have published a paper in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics that examines the different gene drives systems, analyzes the pros and cons of each and applications associated with them, and also surveys the safety and regulatory issues associated with them. Engineered gene drives have the potential to spread desirable genes throughout wild populations or to suppress harmful species.
Read moreFebruary 8, 2016
Funning Co-Authors Paper on Potential for Double Earthquakes
A team of researchers including Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Gareth Funning has published a paper in journal Nature Geoscience that describes how an earthquake rupture on one thrust fault can trigger a second earthquake on another thrust fault much further away than previously thought. The finding could have severe implications for the Los Angeles area and other regions in the world.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2016
Bailey-Serres and Yin Named Among World's Most Influential Scientists
CNAS scientists Juilia Bailey-Serres (botany and plant sciences) and Yadong Yin (chemistry) have been named to the Thomson Reuters 2015 list of “some of the best and brightest minds of our times.” The 2015 list focuses on contemporary research achievement using highly cited papers in journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection during the 11-year period 2003-2013 and defined as those that rank in the top 1 percent by citations for field and publication year..
Read moreJanuary 19, 2016
Watching Electrons Cool in 30 Quadrillionths of a Second
Nathan Gabor and Joshua C. H. Lui, assistant professors in the Department of Physics, are among the co-authors of a paper published recently in Nature Physics titled, “Tuning ultrafast electron thermalization pathways in a van der Waals heterostructure.” It describes a new process the research team developed that could have applications in visual displays, solar cells and photodetectors.
Read moreJanuary 13, 2016
Tracy Kahn Appointed Givaudan Endowed Chair
Tracy Kahn, curator of UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection, has been appointed the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection Endowed Chair. The appointment, which went into effect July 1, 2015 and runs through June 30, 2020, allows the collection to be supported and maintained in perpetuity.
Read moreJanuary 12, 2016
Distinguished Professor Mark S. Alber to Join UCR’s Department of Mathematics
Distinguished Professor Mark S. Alber will join the faculty in the CNAS Department of Mathematics effective June 30, 2016. Professor Alber is currently the Vincent J. Duncan Family Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Notre Dame.
Read moreJanuary 11, 2016
Backyard Chickens Harbor Many Parasites
A study in the Journal of Medical Entomology by graduate student Amy Murillo and Professor of Entomology Bradley Mullens demonstrates that backyard chickens are infested by a greater diversity of mites and lice than cage-raised chickens.
Read moreJanuary 5, 2016
Emeritus Faculty Members Chalmers and Oatman Pass Away
The CNAS community was saddened to learn of the loss of two emeritus colleagues: Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Bruce Chalmers, who passed away December 11; and Professor Emeritus of Entomology Earl Oatman, who passed away December 13. Professor Chalmers joined the Department of Mathematics in 1976 and retired in 2008. Professor Oatman was hired at UCR in 1962 to work in Biological Control, served for a time as chair of the Division of Biological Control, and retired in 1988.
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CNAS News Archive 2015
December 11, 2015
Physicist Uses 3D-printing Technology to Better Understand the Universe
Miguel Aragón-Calvo, a visiting assistant researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is using 3D-printing technology to create models of structures in the universe in order to better understand how the universe has evolved.
Read moreDecember 8, 2015
Ying Named to Lead $1.69-million President’s Research Catalyst Award
Assistant Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry Samantha Ying will serve as principal investigator on a $1.69-million President’s Research Catalyst Award for cutting-edge research in the soil microbiome. Ying’s award, announced Dec. 7 by University of California President Janet Napolitano, is one of four totaling more than $4.8 million selected from more than 180 proposals.
Read moreDecember 3, 2015
Candlelight Vigil to Honor Graduates Killed or Injured in San Bernardino Shooting
Three graduates from the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences are among those who will be honored during a candlelight vigil for victims of the tragic shooting in San Bernardino earlier this week. The vigil will begin Friday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. near the center of campus.
Read moreDecember 3, 2015
Baez to Discuss “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” at CMS Meeting
Professor of Mathematics John Baez will deliver a public lecture titled, “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything,” at the 2015 winter meeting of the Canadian Mathematical Society, in Montreal, Canada, on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. The CMS winter meeting is the primary annual mathematics meeting in Canada and is expected to draw 500 participants.
Read moreNovember 16, 2015
Entomology Professor Receives National Teaching Award
Professor of Entomology Timothy Paine has received an award for innovative teaching methods and service to students from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Paine received the Excellence in College and University Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences award at the 128th APLU Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Read moreNovember 9, 2015
A Warmer World Will Be a Hazier One
Using a suite of computer models, a new study led by Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences Robert Allen finds that most aerosol species (tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere) will increase under climate change associated with greenhouse-gas-induced warming. This will affect air quality and alter the Earth’s radiative balance by either scattering or absorbing sunlight.
Read moreNovember 5, 2015
Managed Bees Spread and Intensify Diseases in Wild Bees
A new study by postdoctoral researcher Peter Graystock (lead author), Assistant Professor of Entomology Quinn McFrederick and others shows that the introduction of large populations of managed bees to an area can have a deleterious effect the health of the wild bees living there.
Read moreNovember 3, 2015
Researchers Identify New Route for Release of Steroid Hormones
A new paper published by the journal Cell by Assistant Professor of Entomology Naoki Yamanaka and others concludes that the conventional “free diffusion” model of steroid hormone release should be revisited based on their study of how fruit fly endocrine organs use tightly regulated signaling pathways to manage the process.
Read moreNovember 2, 2015
Oil-Based Pesticides Most Effective at Killing Contents of Brown Widow Spider Egg Sacs
Pesticides in oil-based formulations are better than water-based formulations at penetrating the silk fibers of brown widow spider egg sacs, according to a new study published in the Journal of Economic Entomology by CNAS entomologists Dong-Hwan Choe and Rick Vetter.
Read moreOctober 30, 2015
Chari Named Fellow of American Mathematical Society
Professor of Mathematics Vyjayanthi Chari is one of only 50 mathematical scientists from around the world who have been named fellows of the American Mathematical Society for 2016. Chari is honored for her contributions to the theory of quantum groups and affine Lie algebras and for service to the mathematical community.
Read moreOctober 29, 2015
Study Spells Out Why Some Insects Kill Their Mothers
A new study published in New Biology by entomologist Kevin J. Loope, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Assistant Professor Erin Wilson Rankin, describes Loope’s observations of female worker wasps who kill their colony’s queen when the genetic makeup of the colony makes it favorable to do so.
Read moreOctober 19, 2015
New Study Describes Environmental Impact of Utility-Scale Solar Energy Projects
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that utility-scale solar power installations in California are having direct and indirect effects on ecosystems and recommends prudent decision-making in the siting of installations. Authors of the paper include Rebecca Hernandez, former junior specialist in the Center for Conservation Biology at UCR, and Michael Allen, director of the center and professor and chair of plant pathology and microbiology.
Read moreOctober 7, 2015
"Alternative Earths" Is Topic of Free Public Lecture
Distinguished Professor of Biogeochemistry Timothy Lyons will give a free lecture titled, “Alternative Earths? What Our Planet’s History May Tell Us About Life in the Universe,” on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. in Bourns Hall Room A265.
Read moreOctober 6, 2015
Kathryn Uhrich Named Dean of the College
Kathryn Uhrich, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, has been named dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences it was announced today. She will start January 1, 2016.
Read moreOctober 6, 2015
CNAS Welcomes 30 New Faculty to its Ranks
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences welcomes 30 new faculty to its ranks this year, bringing the total number to more than 300 across 13 departments in 3 divisions.
Read moreOctober 1, 2015
CNAS Expertise to be Showcased at Long Night of Arts & Innovation
Faculty and students from CNAS will part of a series presentations and demonstrations at the City of Riverside’s Long Night of Arts & Innovation from 5 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, Oct. 8, in downtown Riverside.
Read moreSeptember 30, 2015
Traps Created with 3-D Printing Aid in Studies of Avocado Pest
A team of CNAS scientists are using 3-D printing to rapidly and cost-effectively produce specially designed traps to help capture and study the polyphagous shot hole borer, an insect that is damaging avocado and other species of trees in Southern California.
Read moreSeptember 29, 2015
Scientists Sequence Genomes of Microscopic Worms Beneficial to Agriculture
A team led by Assistant Professor of Parasitology Adler Dillman has sequenced the genomes of a group of nematodes (microscopic round worms), providing information that can assist in developing them into more effective parasitic biological control agents in the fight against agricultural insect pests.
Read moreSeptember 23, 2015
Santiago Receives NSF Grant to Study Plant Survival and Mortality Mechanisms During Extreme Drought
Associate Professor of Botany and Plant Sciences Louis Santiago has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how trees and shrubs respond to extreme drought. Now in the fourth year of drought, California’s trees and shrubs are experiencing mass mortality quickly and rapid changes in vegetation cover are leading to loss of biodiversity, opportunities for invasive species, and novel ecosystems with entirely new plant communities.
Read moreSeptember 23, 2015
Emma Aronson Receives Two Grants from NSF
Emma Aronson, an assistant professor of plant pathology and microbiology, has received two grants from the National Science Foundation for conducting research on projects aimed at generating a greater understanding of the microbial role in biogeochemical cycling.
Read moreSeptember 23, 2015
Alec Gerry Receives Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension from the Entomological Society of America
Alec C. Gerry, a professor of veterinary entomology and extension specialist has been selected to receive the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension from the Entomological Society of America (ESA). He will be presented with the award at the ESA’s annual meeting in November 2015.
Read moreSeptember 21, 2015
Bailey-Serres Co-Authors Study on Growing Rice Under Water
A team of scientists including Julia Bailey-Serres, professor of genetics and director of the Center for Plant Cell Biology, recently published a study unlocking the secret to just how rice seeds might be able to survive when grown under water. The study, published in the leading scientific journal Nature Plants, identified a gene that controls the availability of sugar to a growing seed shoot—especially when under flooded conditions.
Read moreSeptember 16, 2015
Plant Species’ Responses to Climate Change Altered by Novel Competitors
A new study by Assistant Professor of Plant Ecology Jeffrey M. Diez and others provides the first empirical evidence that competition among alpine plant species in response to changing temperatures is more important to their survival than the direct effects of temperature. The study was published online by the journal Nature.
Read moreSeptember 16, 2015
Physics and Astronomy to Host Events Surrounding Lunar Eclipse
Members of the Department of Physics and Astronomy will host a series of events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25-27, to educate the community about using telescopes and to view the lunar eclipse on Sunday evening. It will be the last total lunar eclipse in California until 2018.
September 15, 2015
CNAS Learning Communities Recognized by Department of Education and White House
The U.S. Department of Education and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics has recognized the success of the CNAS Freshman Scholars Learning Communities by naming the program one of 232 Bright Spots in Hispanic Education for its ongoing efforts to close the achievement gap for students and ensure their success in STEM fields.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2015
Reznick and Team of Researchers Illustrate Real-Time Evolution in Study of Guppies in Trinidad
Distinguished Professor of Biology David Reznick and an international team of researchers have published a paper detailing their work in identifying how populations of guppies in Trinidad rapidly evolve in response to changes in their environment. Their findings appeared Aug. 19 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Read moreSeptember 10, 2015
Wilson and Team of Astronomers Discover Prolific Star-Generating Cluster of Galaxies
Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Interim Divisional Dean Gillian Wilson is part of a team that has discovered a distant cluster of galaxies in the universe that are forming stars at a rate 800 times that of our own Milky Way. The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Read moreAugust 28, 2015
From Icy Tomb to Global Warming: Public Lecture Will Discuss Earth’s Climate History
Harvard University Professor Emeritus of Geology Paul Hoffman will deliver a free public lecture titled, "Earth’s Astonishing Climate History," on Thursday, September 24, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the UCR Extension Center. Co-sponsored by the Department of Earth Sciences and the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the lecture is free and open to the public (no charge for parking).
August 28, 2015
Gill Elected Fellow of Entomological Society of America
Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and entomologist Sarjeet Gill has been elected a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Gill is one of only 10 persons elected to this honor this year.
Read moreAugust 25, 2015
Sequencing of Barley Genome Achieves New Milestone
Professors Tim Close (Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, CNAS) and Stefano Lonardi (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering) have sequenced large portions of the barley genome that together contain nearly two-thirds of all its genes. This new information will not only expand geneticists’ knowledge of barley’s DNA but will also help in the understanding, at the genetic level, of wheat and other sources of food.
Read moreAugust 24, 2015
Department of Chemistry Ranked 41st in the World
The Department of Chemistry at CNAS jumped from being ranked 47th in the world in 2014 to 41st in 2015, according to the recently released Academic Ranking of World Universities. The rankings are based on prestigious awards won by alumni or faculty and three separate indices of the number of researchers cited, the number of citations and the impact factors of the journals where their work is cited.
Read moreAugust 19, 2015
Computer Models Show Significant Tsunami Strength for Ventura and Oxnard
A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters demonstrates that a tsunami caused by an earthquake along two Southern California faults near Ventura has the potential to refract, rotate and inundate the Ventura/Oxnard area. The first author of the study is Kenny J. Ryan, a graduate student working with the co-author, Professor David D. Oglesby in the Department of Earth Sciences.
Read moreAugust 4, 2015
Flowers Can Be Dangerous to Bees?
In addition to serving as a source for pollen and nectar for bees, flowers can also pose a grave danger by providing a platform for parasites, according to a study in the online journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B co-authored by Peter Graystock, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Entomology.
Read moreJuly 31, 2015
Jenerette to Participate in New Urban Water Innovation Network
Darrel Jenerette, an associate professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, will participate in the newly established Urban Water Innovation Network, a partnership of 14 academic institutions funded by a $12-million NSF grant to address the challenges threatening urban water systems in the United States and around the world. Jenerette’s expertise is in the area of urban biodiversity, vegetation-based regional cooling and water requirements for urban vegetation..
Read moreJuly 27, 2015
CNAS Researchers Discover Way to Boost Solar Power by Using Infrared Spectrum
Department of Chemistry professors Christopher Bardeen and Ming Lee Tang have discovered a way to upconvert infrared photons from the sun, enabling them to be utilized by photovoltaic solar panels in a process that can boost efficiency by up to 30 percent.
Read moreJuly 22, 2015
Study Shows Soybean Oil Is Greater Factor in Obesity and Diabetes Than Fructose
A study by Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience Frances M. Sladek and Assistant Project Scientist Poonamjot Deol shows that soybean oil, which has grown to account for 60 percent of the edible oil consumed in the United States, has a stronger impact on the development of obesity and diabetes than fructose, a sugar commonly found in soda. The increase in soybean oil consumption jn recent decades mirrors the rise in obesity rates in the United States.
Read moreJuly 22, 2015
GMOs: All Facts, No Fiction
Faculty from CNAS and UC Davis will be part of a discussion, “GMOs: All Facts, No Fiction,” on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, from 6–7:30 p.m. at the UCR Extension Center. Moderating the discussion will be Greg Jaffe, Director of Biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. The event is free, open the the public and hosted by the Global Food Initiative at UCR.
Read moreJune 26, 2015
Why Are Seabirds Abandoning Their Ancestral Nesting Grounds in Gulf of California?
Professor of Botany and Plant Sciences and Director of the UC MEXUS program Exequiel Ezcurra is co-author of a new study describing why seabirds are abandoning their ancestral nesting grounds on Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California without nesting. Warming oceanographic conditions and fishing pressure are driving them away.
Read moreJune 26, 2015
Physics and Astronomy Hosts Eighth Annual Summer Physics Academy
The Department of Physics and Astronomy hosted its eighth annual Summer Physics Academy last week, providing a weeklong workshop that trains and equips local high school physics teachers with practical and conceptual physics lessons, hands-on activities, curriculum and technology to use in their own classrooms. The academy’s goal is to reach out to local high school students through their teachers so that the students are encouraged to learn physics and be prepared for physics courses at the college level.
Read moreJune 25, 2015
Study by Garland Points to Benefits of Exercise During Childhood
A study published in Physiology & Behavior by Professor of Biology Theodore Garland demonstrates the positive impact that exercise done early in life can have on the health of adults, including a tendency to continue to exercise voluntarily and achieve a reduction in body mass.
Read moreJune 22, 2015
Safe Repellents That Protect Fruit From Spotted Wing Drosophila Found
Associate Professor of Entomology Anandasankar Ray and graduate student Christine Krause Pham have identified a safe repellent that protects fruit from insects like the spotted wing Drosophila, which it lays its eggs inside ripe berries, and, when its larvae emerge there, the fruit is destroyed. The repellant uses Butyl anthranilate, a pleasant-smelling chemical compound produced naturally in fruits in small amounts.
Read moreJune 18, 2015
Wessler Named Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovation in Science Education
Distinguished Professor of Genetics Susan R. Wessler, a passionate advocate for spreading the excitement of doing genomics research to undergraduate students, has been named the Neil A. and Rochelle A. Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovation in Science Education. The endowed chair was established through a generous gift from Rochelle A. Campbell, a longtime supporter of science education at UCR.
Read moreJune 17, 2015
Mobasher, Grad Students Part of International Team That Discovers Universe’s Brightest Galaxy
Professor of Physics and Astronomy Bahram Mobasher and his graduate students Behnam Darvish and Shoubaneh Hemmati are part of a team that has discovered by far the brightest galaxy yet found in the early universe and found strong evidence that examples of the first generation of stars lurk within it. Along with astronomer David Sobral of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, they peered back into the ancient universe to a period known as reionization that is approximately 800 million years after the Big Bang.
Read moreJune 12, 2015
CNAS Faculty Recognized at Chancellor’s Awards Reception
Several members of the CNAS faculty were recognized at the 2014-2015 Faculty Awards Reception held on May 26 at Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox’s residence. The celebration also recognized faculty members who received significant national and Senate awards in the past academic school year.
Read moreMay 27, 2015
Public Talk to Discuss Sugar Aversion in Cockroaches
Coby Schal, an international expert in urban entomology from North Carolina State University, will give the 2015 Alfred M. Boyce Lecture at UCR on Monday, June 1, on the topic of cockroaches, specifically their aversion to sugar. The lecture is presented by the CNAS Department of Entomology and will take place in the Genomics Building Auditorium beginning at 4:10 p.m.
Read moreMay 18, 2015
Study Proposes Common Mechanism for Shallow and Deep Earthquakes
Harry W. Green II, distinguished professor of the Graduate Division in UC Riverside’s Department of Earth Sciences, led a team that published a new study in Nature Geoscience that demonstrates how a universal sliding mechanism operates for earthquakes of all depths – from the deep ones all the way up to the crustal ones. The study has the potential to help develop improved computer models for earthquake shaking danger.
Read moreMay 13, 2015
Science of Food and Health Series Concludes with Lecture on Nutrition and Immunity
Ilhem Messaoudi, an associate professor in the Division of Biomedical Sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, will deliver a free public lecture titled, “What You Eat is How You Feel: Nutrition and its Impact on Immunity and Health” on Thursday, May 21 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the UCR Extension Center.
Read moreMay 7, 2015
College Saddened by Passing of George K. Helmkamp
George K. Helmkamp, who was the second person hired in chemistry in 1953, died March 28, 2015, at the age of 94. Described as a “Renaissance man” for his many talents, he was an accomplished wood worker who designed and built UC Riverside’s mace, which is carried at the head of the procession during the university’s academic ceremonies.
Read moreMay 1, 2015
Mobasher is Lead Investigator on $4.5-Million "Big Data" Grant from NASA
Professor of Physics and Astronomy Bahram Mobasher is the principal investigator on a nearly $4.5 million grant from NASA to develop research, education, training and collaborative opportunities in big data and visualization. The five-year research project, called “Fellowships and Internships in Extremely Large Data Sets” (FIELDS), will train underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields to address a critical shortfall in the workforce essential for future NASA missions.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Seeds of Change: UCR’s Healthy and Sustainable Food Initiative Will be Subject of Lecture May 7
The next lecture in the The Science of Food and Health series will feature Cheryl Garner, executive director of UCR Dining, Conference and Catering Services, and Neal Malik, registered dietician, UCR Dining Services, as they discuses “Seeds of Change: UCR’s Healthy and Sustainable Food Initiative,” on Thursday, May 7, at the UC Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Ave.
Read moreApril 20, 2015
Science of Food and Health Lecture Series Resumes April 23
“Food Security for Africa: The Cowpea Story From Lab to Plate” is the topic of the next free public lecture in the CNAS series titled The Science of Food and Health. The lecture will be given by Professor of Nematology Philip Roberts, Professor of Genetics Timothy Close, and Jeff Ehlers, a program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will take place Thursday, April 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the UC Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Avenue.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
Calling All Citizen Scientists!
Researchers in the Center for Conservation Biology are seeking volunteers for a project that aims to study the impact of climate change on plants and animal life in Joshua Tree National Park. The volunteers would help in conducting surveys of plants, birds and reptiles in the park and are being sought most immediately for Friday, April 17, and Friday, April 24.
Read moreApril 8, 2015
Inaugural Annual Insect Fair to be Held April 18
A diverse collection of insects will be on display at the inaugural Annual Riverside Insect Fair in downtown Riverside on Saturday, April 18. Organized mainly by the University of California, Riverside Entomology Graduate Student Association and the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, the fair will take place on Mission Inn Avenue between Orange Street and Lemon Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Physicists Celebrate Restart of Large Hadron Collider at CERN
Faculty, researchers and students from the CNAS Department of Physics and Astronomy are participating in the restart of the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, as it begins a new generation of high-energy experiments following two years of upgrades and repairs. UCR is a founding member of CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), a large particle-capturing detector that was instrumental in the discovery of the Higgs boson.
Read moreMarch 31, 2015
Science Lecture Series Begins April 9
The Science of Food and Health is the theme of the CNAS Spring 2015 Science Lecture Series which kicks off April 9 with a lecture titled, “Feeding Botswana: From Field to Lab to Vaccine,” by UCR alumnus Larry Grill, dean of research and director of the Vaccine Research Center at Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, Calif.
Read moreMarch 20, 2015
Li Awarded Prigogine Medal for Contributions to Study of Ecological Systems
Professor of Ecology Bai-Lian (Larry) Li has been awarded the Prigogine Gold Medal by the Wessex Institute of Technology. The medal is given to a leading scientist in the field of ecological systems and will be presented to Li on June 3, 2015, at the 10th International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development at the Politecnic University of València, Spain.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
How Healthy Is Genetically Modified Soybean Oil?
According to a study done by Professor of Cell Biology and Toxicologist Frances Sladek and Assistant Project Scientist Poonamjot Deol, genetically modified soybean oil is as unhealthy as conventional soybean oil, but with one benefit: it doesn’t cause resistance to insulin.
Read moreFebruary 27, 2015
Report Demonstrates Factors Leading to Prevalence of Tetrapod Swim Tracks in Fossils in Utah
Professor of Paleontology Mary L. Droser and her former graduate student Tracy J. Thomson have published a report in the journal Geology that concludes a unique combination of factors in Early Triassic delta systems resulted in the production and unusually widespread preservation of the swim tracks of tetrapods (four-footed land-living vertebrates). Factors include delayed ecologic recovery, depositional environments and tetrapod swimming behavior. The Early Triassic period followed the largest mass extinction event in Earth’s history.
Read moreFebruary 20, 2015
Chari Named Twice to Mathematics Publication’s Most Highly-Cited Articles List
Professor of Mathematics Vyjayanthi Chari has been highlighted twice in a list of most highly-cited articles published in the International Mathematics Research Notices. Chari’s research paper “Characters and blocks for finite-dimensional representations of quantum affine algebras” (along with a coauthor) ranked 3, while her paper “Braid group actions and tensor products” ranked 21. Chari is an expert in representation theory, a fundamental area of mathematics used to understand abstract algebraic ideas by representing them as matrices.
Read moreFebruary 18, 2015
Lyons Named Geochemical Fellow
Timothy Lyons, distinguished professor of biogeochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences, has been named a 2015 Geochemical Fellow by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. The honorary title is awarded to outstanding scientists who have made major contributions to the field of geochemistry. Lyons, his research group, and UCR colleagues explore the evolving compositions of the early atmosphere and oceans.
Read moreFebruary 17, 2015
Wessler and UC Colleagues Develop Faculty Learning Community to Improve STEM Education
Along with colleagues from three other UC campuses, Distinguished Professor of Genetics Susan R. Wessler is developing an interconnected Faculty Learning Community to allow faculty to share proven, successful methods that improve undergraduate biology instruction. Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) the project is designed to increase the number of students pursuing STEM majors by making courses more inspiring and learning more collaborative, active and engaging.
Read moreFebruary 17, 2015
Solving This Scientific Problem Could Put $500 in Your Pocket
Professor of Geology Nigel Hughes is part of a team using crowdsourcing to help answer an ancient, unsolved question about the origin of circular rings formed nearly one-half billion years ago in seabeds in Wisconsin. A $500 cash prize will be given to the person with the most plausible solution.
Read moreFebruary 11, 2015
New Species of Hummingbird?
A research team that includes Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher J. Clark has proposed in a research paper published in this month’s issue of The Auk that two subspecies of hummingbird found in the Bahama Achipegligo should be recognized as two separate species. They propose that one of them, both commonly known as the Bahama Woodstar, should be renamed the Inaguan Lyretail because of its distinct characteristics..
Read moreFebruary 6, 2015
Project Will Measure Cardiac Output to Identify Impact of Hydrocarbons on Ocean Fish
Daniel Schlenk, professor of aquatic ecotoxicology in the Department of Environmental Sciences, is co-principle investigator of an initiative to investigate the impact of the release of hydrocarbons into the ocean by using sophisticated techniques to study the cardiac output of two varieties of predatory fish in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read moreFebruary 5, 2015
Mobasher to Share Journey into Depths of Space and Time
Professor of Physics and Astronomy Bahram Mobasher will give a free public talk titled, “Let There Be Light: The History of the Universe from the First Billion Years to the Present,” on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m., in rooms 205-206 of Winston Chung Hall.
Read moreFebruary 4, 2015
Cutler-led Team Reports Discovery That Improves Drought Tolerance in Plants
A team led by Assistant Professor of Plant Cell Biology and Chemistry Sean Cutler reports in the journal Nature that drought tolerance in plants can be improved by engineering them to activate water-conserving processes in response to an agrochemical already in use — an approach that could be broadly applied to other parts of the same drought-response pathway and a range of other agrochemical.
Read moreJanuary 27, 2015
Researchers Identify Natural Plant Compounds That Work Against Insects
An international team of researchers led in the U.S. by Distinguished Professor of Entomology Alexander Raikhel have discovered potent compounds in plants that counteract the action of juvenile hormone antagonists (JHANs) in mosquitos that can lead to mortality for their larvae, specifically by retarding the development of ovaries.
Read moreJanuary 26, 2015
CNAS Research Team Discovers New Way to Make Graphene Magnetic
In a study published by Physical Review Letters, Professor of Physics Jing Shi and his research team describe an ingenious new way they have discovered to induce magnetism in graphene while also preserving graphene’s electronic properties.
Read moreJanuary 22, 2015
Cardé Study Describes Mosquito "Sit-and-Wait" Ambush Strategy
A study led by Distinguished Professor of Entomology Ring Cardé shows that females of the malaria-spreading mosquito tend to obtain their blood meals within human dwellings and that they use a “sit-and-wait” ambush strategy, landing on human skin when fluctuations in carbon dioxide indicate a human is present. Read more
January 20, 2015
Raikhel-led Team Discovers miR-8 Effect on Mosquito Reproduction
Distinguished Professor of Entomology Alexander Raikhel and a team from UCR have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that describes how they identified microRNA-8 (miR-8) as an essential regulator of mosquito reproductive events and how its depletion hinders egg development and disposition.
Read moreJanuary 14, 2015
Dean Yates Travels to China With UCR Leadership to Explore Partnerships
CNAS Dean Marylynn V. Yates accompanied Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox and other leaders from UC Riverside as they visited Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan and Beijing in China recently to meet with university leaders, business people and government officials as they sought out new research and education partnerships.
Read moreJanuary 14, 2015
Seismic Experiment in Alaska Could Shed Light on Slow Earthquakes
Abhijit Ghosh, an assistant professor of geophysics in UC Riverside’s Department of Earth Sciences, is leading a team of seismologists and volcanologists in an experiment in Alaska to help better describe the characteristics of the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, one of the most seismically active regions in the world that is also home to many active volcanoes.
Read moreJanuary 13, 2015
Research Study Breaks Ground in Understanding Insect Chemistry
Jocelyn G. Millar, a professor of entomology and chemistry, has published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that describes a new method of understanding the hydrocarbon molecules that differentiate insects and their roles in colonies and that could potentially be used to disrupt their behavior.
Read moreJanuary 7, 2015
Higham Study Shows Evolutionary Adaptations Can Be Lost, New Ones Gained
Assistant Professor of Biology Timothy Higham has published a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that says evolution can downgrade or entirely remove adaptations a species has previously acquired. They found that a species of geckos in which the adhesive system was either lost or simplified saw elevated rates of evolution related to morphology and locomotion.
Read moreJanuary 5, 2015
Arachnids Get Bad Rap for Human Bacterial Infections
A team of scientists led by entomologist Richard S. Vetter has data-mined the history of publications on spider envenomations and concluded that the evidence for spider-vectored infection is scanty. After examining reports of thousands of spider bites of many species worldwide, they found almost no mention of infection associated with the arachnid-inflicted injury.”
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CNAS News Archive 2014
2014-12-02 | In a paper in Biology Letters, Assistant Professor of Biology Timothy E. Higham and William J. Stewart, a postdoctoral researcher in his lab show for the first time that dead geckos can adhere to surfaces with the exact same strength as living ones.
2014-12-02 | In a study published by Nature Communications, a team led by Professor of Chemistry Jadong Yin describes fabricating a novel rewritable paper based on the color switching property of commercial chemicals called redox dyes.2014-11-30 | Research by Professor of Biogeochemistry Timothy W. Lyons shows oxygen levels were only 0.1 percent of today’s levels for roughly billion years before rise of animals, thus delaying their appearance.
2014-11-20 | In a paper published in Astrophysical Journal, astronomy professors Behnam Darvish and Bahram Mobasher highlight the role played in the evolution of the universe by thread-like “filaments” in a cosmic web that connects galaxies.
2014-11-19 | In a paper published in Nature Communications, Hailing Jin, a professor of plant pathology and microbiology, and colleagues report that the structure of the small RNA plays an important role in the small RNA sorting.
2014-11-14 | Undergraduates Unique Bañares and Azeem Rahmanat spend summer doing evolutionary biology research in Brazil.
2014-10-31 | Botany and Plant Sciences Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Rae Eberwein awarded graduate fellowship of $84,000 for two years by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.2014-11-10 | Bill Mayhew, Founding Member of UC Riverside, Died on September 19th, Aged 94
2014-10-28 | Molecular Geneticist Awarded McClintock Prize
2014-10-27 | Odor Molecules Monitor Pest That Spreads Devastating Citrus Diseases (Ray)
2014-10-16 | Department of Chemistry Named Among Top 50 in the World
2014-10-16 | Department of Physics and Astronomy Hosts Viewing of Solar Eclipse Oct. 23
2014-10-14 | What Goes Up Must Come Down
2014-10-09 | UCR-Lead Team Will Seek Ways to Identify Life on Other Planets (Lyons)
2014-10-08 | CNAS Welcomes 15 New Faculty to its Ranks
2014-09-19 | Project Launched to Study Evolutionary History of Fungi (Stajich)
2014-09-10 | Field Day to Focus on Turfgrass (Baird)
2014-09-08 | In Pursuit of Unknown Assassin Bugs (Weirauch)
2014-09-04 | Research Shows Declining Levels of Acidity in Sierra Nevada Lakes (Sickman)
2014-08-22 | Five UC Riverside Scientists Among World's Most Influential Scientific Minds
2014-08-21 | Undergraduates to Show Videos of Their Research in Materials Science (Bartels)
2014-08-20 | Symposium Showcases the Best in Undergraduate Research (Cardullo)
2014-08-13 | Statistical Model Predicts Performance of Hybrid Rice (Xu)
2014-08-04 | Ecology Research Paper Wins National Award (Fahimipour)
2014-07-31 | ACS Volunteer Service Award Given to UCR Chemist (Larive)
2014-07-16 | USDA Head of Research to Lay Out Research Support Priorities
2014-07-09 | Microbiologist Receives National Recognition (Stajich)
2014-07-09 | Biologists Link Sexual Selection and Placenta Formation (Reznick)
2014-07-08 | Solar Energy Gets a Boost (Bardeen)
2014-07-02 | Nine Junior Faculty Receive National Recognition
2014-07-01 | UC Riverside's Food Expertise on Display in New UC Global Food Initiative (Mauk)
2014-06-30 | Summer Institute Focuses on Undergraduate STEM Education (Hyman)
2014-06-26 | Let There Be Light: Chemists Develop Magnetically Responsive Liquid Crystals (Yin)
2014-06-24 | Summer Physics Academy Draws Local High School Teachers to UC Riverside (Simani)
2014-06-19 | Spotlight on Important Agricultural Pests (Walling)
2014-06-19 | UC Riverside to Lead New Energy Frontier Research Center Project (Shi)
2014-06-07 | Prediction for Southern California's 2014 Fire Season (Minnich)
2014-06-12 | Grant to Entomologist Will Advance Research on African Malaria Mosquito (White)
2014-06-09 | World-Famous Lichen Expert Volunteers at UCR's Herbarium (Knudsen)
2014-06-02 | UCR Senior Accepted at Nine Medical Schools (Ohan)
2014-05-30 | Why Care About Natural History Collections?
2014-05-29 | Retention of Students in STEM Fields Receives Major Financial Boost
2014-05-28 | Entomologist's Talk Will Discuss Mosquitoes and Diseases They Transmit (A. Raikhel)
2014-05-23 | UC Riverside Research Reaps Benefits for Rice Farmers Worldwide (Bailey-Serres)
2014-05-21 | Public Talk at UC Riverside to Focus on Chronic Kidney Disease Affecting Farm Workers
2014-05-12 | Paleontologists Discover New Fossil Organism (Droser)
2014-05-06 | Studying Earthquakes and Faults from Space (Funning)
2014-05-01 | New Revolutionary Sensor Links Pressure to Color Change (Yin)
2014-04-30 | Ten CNAS graduate students win Graduate Research Fellowships from NSF
2014-04-18 | What Does Past Global Warming Teach Us?
2014-04-14 | Driven to High-energy Excellence (Richards)
2014-04-10 | Fishy Business: An Exchange with Brazil (Reznick)
2014-04-09 | UCR Physicists Involved in Upgrade at CERNs Large Haldron Collider (Clare, Wimpenny)
2014-04-07 | Scientists Generate 3D Structure for the Malaria Parasite Genome (Le Roch)
2014-03-18 | Conference to Turn Spotlight on Urban Pests (Choe)
2014-03-17 | Climatologists Offer Explanation for Widening of Tropical Belt (Allen)
2014-03-13 | UC Riverside: Brainiac Facts You Didn't Know
2014-02-19 | Breakthrough in Drought Tolerant Crop Research (Cutler)
2014-02-19 | The Ups and Downs of Early Atmospheric Oxygen (Lyons)
2014-02-12 | The Deep History of Life
2014-02-12 | Chemistry Senior Wins National Award
2014-02-06 | From Riverside to Sochi: UCR Alum Butner to Pilot Two-Man Bobsled at Winter Olympics
2014-02-06 | Longtime Supporters Leave $1.3 Million to Botanic Gardens
2014-01-30 | Third-hand Smoke Shown to Cause Health Problems (Martins-Green)
2014-01-23 | World's First Magma-enhanced Geothermal System Created (Elders)
2014-01-16 | UC Riverside Develops a Unique Ecological Institute (Droser)
2014-01-15 | Public Talk to Discuss History of Animals (EDGE)
2014-01-07 | Hubble Unveils a Deep Sea of Small and Faint Early Galaxies (Siana)
2014-01-06 | Novel "Attract-and-kill" Approach Could Help Tackle Argentine Ants (Choe)
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CNAS News Archive 2013
2013-12-11 | Scientists Discover Chemical Modification in Human Malaria DNA (Le Roch)
2013-12-05 | New Invasive Beetle-fungus Complex Found in Riverside and San Diego Counties (Eskalen)
2013-12-05 | How Mosquitoes Are Drawn to Human Skin and Breath (Ray)
2013-11-25 | Chemistry Graduate Student Receives 2013 SACNAS Award (Larive, Beecher)
2013-11-20 | Geneticists Receive Funding to Improve Citrus Production and Health (Roose and Close)
2013-11-14 | Nine-banded Armadillo: A Model Organism for Vision Disorders (Springer)
2013-10-28 | New Book Addresses Consequences of Drought in Arid Regions (Schwabe)
2013-10-23 | UC Riverside Astronomers Help Discover the Most Distant Known Galaxy (Mobasher, Reddy)
2013-10-18 | Discovery of Higgs Boson Wins 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics (Hanson)
2013-10-18 | Producing Electricity From Natural Geothermal Steam (Elders)
2013-10-11 | Nine New Faculty Join CNAS
2013-10-09 | Scientist Honored by City of Riverside (Ray)
2013-10-03 | CNAS Subject Areas Bring High Rankings to UCR
2013-10-02 | Scientists Find Insect DEET Receptors, Develop Safe Alternatives to DEEP (Ray)
2013-10-01 | Eating Insects: Like Them Stir Fried or Curried? (Hoddle)
2013-09-19 | Geologists Simulate Deep Earthquakes in the Laboratory (Green)
2013-09-16 | Research Project to Capture Infrared View of Distant Universe (Siana, Reddy)
2013-09-12 | Entomological Society of America Honors Stouthamer and Paine
2013-09-12 | Annual Symposium Brings Out the Best in Undergraduate Research (Cardullo)
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CNAS News Archive 2012
2012-05-10 | Earth 101: Where Does Your Water Come From? (Schlenk)
2012-05-04 | Physicist Awarded 2012 Bardeen Prize (Varma)
2012-05-01 | Plant Cell Biologist Receives Top Scientific Honor (N. Raikhel)
2012-04-20 | Entomologist to Weigh In on Bee Documentary (Yanega)
2012-04-12 | Earth 101: Measuring Our Carbon Footprint (Santiago)
2012-04-03 | Earth 101: What Can Hollywood Teach Us About Our Planet? (Holt)
2012-03-29 | Data Mining in Deep Space (Mobasher)
2012-03-29 | Earth 101: Is Earth Overpopulated? (Cardullo)
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CNAS News Archive 2011
2011-04-19 | UC Riverside Biologist Elected to American Academy of Arts and Science (Reznick)
2011-02-28 | UC Riverside Water Center Director Publishes Book on Water Policy (Dinar)
2011-02-10 | UC Riverside Geneticist Elected Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences (Wessler)
2011-02-07 | 2011 Jane Block Distinguished Seminar, "The Impact of Climate Change on the Plants and Animals of Thoreau's Concord"
2011-01-12 | Astronomers Identify Most Distant Galaxy Cluster (Mobasher)
2011-01-10 | Tango Mandarins to Appear This Month in Produce Aisles (Roose)
2011-01-10 | Eminent Citrus Biologist Walter Reuther Dead at 99
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CNAS News Archive 2010
2010-08-24 | Holt To Receive Ecke Award from San Diego Botanic Gardens
2010-08-24 | Chemistry Makes List of Top 75 in the World
2010-08-24 | CNAS Faculty Make Big Gaines in New Grants and Contracts
2010-01-08 | Plant Scientist's Research Ranked on Top Ten Breakthrough List for 2009 (Cutler)
2010-01-07 | Biologist's Lab at UC Riverside Is a Hummingbird Health Spa (Altshuler)
2010-11-04 | Cell Biologist Receives $1.7M NIH Grant to Study Malaria Parasite (Le Roch)
2010-10-25 | CNAS Scientists Address Red Palm Weevil Threat in State
2010-10-18 | Conventional Understanding of Earth's Deep Water Cycle Needs Revision (Green)
2010-10-13 | Physicists Pave the Way for Faster "Spin Computer (Kawakami)
2010-09-16 | UC Riverside is Platinum Sponsor of National Conference Attracting High-Achieving Minority Students
2010-09-13 | Would a Molecular Horse Trot, Pace, or Glide Across a Surface? (Bartels)
CNAS in the Media Archive 2015 - 2019
At the time these items were posted here, they linked to electronic versions of stories that over time may be removed by the publisher or moved to areas of their websites requiring a paid subscription.
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CNAS in the MEDIA Archive 2015 - 2019
- May 30, 2019 - NPR Speaks with David Eastmond, professor and toxicologist in the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology, about what to make of glyphosate, or Roundup, and its ability to cause cancer.
- May 28, 2019 - BYU Radio Speaks with Kerry Hanson, research chemist, about what to make of sunscreen following a Food and Drug Administration proposal that most brands are ineffective.
- May 25, 2019 - Sierra Magazine Features Hollis Woodard, an assistant professor of entomology, in an article about how a shrinking diet could mean consequences for bumblebees and their nests.
- May 17, 2019 - The New York Times Speaks with Jim Adaskaveg, a professor of plant pathology, about a controversial pesticide being used on citrus trees infected with citrus greening disease.
- May 1, 2019 - University Herald Features Marilyn Fogel, an endowed professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in an article about the historic number of women recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
- April 17, 2019 - University of North Dakota Alumni Review highlights the accomplishments and efforts of Dean Kathryn Uhrich.
- April 9, 2019 - PRESS ENTERPRISE - Showcases Carl Mautner's accidental "superbloom" in his Riverside home. The UCR math professor planted wildflower seeds 3 years ago.
- March 19, 2019 - Forbes Speaks with Edward Schwieterman, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences, about a new twist in the search for extraterrestrial life.
- March 19, 2019 - Press Enterprise Talks with Georgios Vidalakis; a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, and director of the citrus protection program, about citrus greening disease.
- March 18, 2019 - Science FridayTalks with Richard Minnich, professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, about the so-called "super bloom" and which three factors have to line up just right to produce this desert phenomenon (SoundCloud).
- March 15, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle Highlights the $3.5 million gift from Givaudan to the UCR Citrus Variety Collection.
- March 14, 2019 - Live Science Features John Baez, professor in the Department of Mathematics, in a lineup for Pi Day of nine numbers you’ve probably never heard of.
- March 13, 2019 - Curbed Los Angeles Speaks with Doug Yanega about the increase of butterflies in Southern California.
- March 7, 2019 - Chemical and Engineering News Distinguished professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, Timothy Lyons, talks about how minerals in Earth’s early oceans affected the habitability of the planet.
- February 26, 2019 -Science Magazine Features Mikeal Roose, professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, in an article about how the gene that makes petunias red also makes lemons sour.
- February 1, 2019 - Scientific AmericanStephen Kane, associate professor in the UCR Department of Earth Sciences, co-wrote an article about why we need a new mission to Venus.
- January 16, 2019 - Science NewsAdler Dillman, assistant professor in the UCR Department of Nematology, speaks in an article about a bacterial compound as effective as DEET in warding off mosquitos.
- January 2, 2019 - New York TimesStephen Kane, Associate Professor of Planetary Astrophysics at UCR, on planet eccentricity and the upcoming perihelion.
- November 30, 2018 - New York Times
Professor Mary Droser from the Department of Earth Sciences speaks about the Ediacaran ecosystems that made up up the planet 635 million years ago. - November 17, 2018 - The San Bernardino Sun
UCR homecoming revisits old traditions and welcomes cutting edge science labs - November 15, 2018 - Air Talk
CE Biotechnology specialist and geneticist Alan McHughen talks about "gene-edited foods" that are to become public next year. - November 15, 2018 - KERA Think Radio
Professor of genetics Norman C. Ellstrand speaks about the details of plant reproduction. - November 15, 2018 - Air Talk
CE Biotechnology specialist and geneticist Alan McHughen talks about "gene-edited foods" that are to become public next year. - November 9, 2018 - Space.com
Postdoctoral researcher Edward Schwieterman speaks about the possibility of early life on Earth being purple. - November 6, 2018 - NPR KVCR
Kurt Schwabe, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences, speaks about concern over water availability as more people move to the Inland Empire - November 1, 2018 - Live Science
Live Science and others speak to a professor in the Department of Biology, Leonard Nunney, regarding why taller people are more at risk of cancer. - October 29, 2018 - FORBES
Forbes interviews associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences Steven Kane about the relationship between exo-Venus simulations and NASA's TESS data. - October 26, 2018 - CBC Radio
Postdoctoral researcher Edward Schwieterman of the Department of Earth Sciences talks about how early life could have been purple. - October 11, 2018 - NEWSWEEK
Tim Higham, assoc. professor in the Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, discusses why catch-and-release fishing could make it harder for fish to eat - October 6, 2018 - SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Holly Bik, asst. professor in the Dept. of Nematology, is featured in an article about why the world’s simplest animal, an “amorphous blob,” reveals hidden diversity - October 3, 2018 - SCIENCE MAG
Stephen Kane, assoc. professor in the Dept. of Earth Sciences, speaks about new evidence for the first known moon outside our solar system - September 20, 2018 - SCIENCE MAGAZINE
Mary Droser, professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, speaks about the “enigmatic blob” that has surfaced as one of the Earth’s earliest animals - September 17, 2018 - FORE
Golf celebrates the fruits of research at UC Riverside Turfgrass Field Day. - September 14, 2018 - POPULAR SCIENCE
Theodore Garland, UCR distinguished professor of biology, on why an ancient gene mutation may have destined humans to be good runners. - September 12, 2018 - LA TIMES
Jocelyn Millar, professor in the Department of Entomology at UCR, explains how a certain beetle has evolved to infiltrate bees’ nests. - September 8th, 2018 - NPR
John Chater, a postdoctoral scholar in the UCR Department of Botany and Plant Sciences suggests Americans to taste a rainbow of pomegranate. - August 31, 2018 - WIRED
Meera Nair, UCR assistant professor of biomedical sciences, speaks about how researchers have identified a parasitic worm that’s dosing its prey with endocannabinoids. - August 27, 2018 - InlandEmpire.us
Physicist Barry C. Barish, who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of gravitational waves, will join the UCR faculty on Sept. 1. - July 5, 2018 - The San Bernardino Sun
UC Riverside lands its first Nobel Prize-winning professor, Richard Schrock - June 22, 2018 - Press Enterprise
UC Riverside professor wins $3.2 million grant for her malaria research - May 30, 2018 - Space.com
Particle Physicist Flip Tanedo of UC Riverside discusses what the universe is made in this exclusive interview on FB Live. - May 5, 2018 - The San Bernardino Sun
UC Riverside study lead by CNAS Professor Wenbo Ma may help save California’s $2 billion citrus industry. - May 6, 2018 - Astrobiology Magazine
CNAS researchers show how Ediacara Biota flourish in bacterially rich marine habitats. - May 2, 2018 - Insectessociaux
Assistant Professor of Entomology Hollis Woodard has an interview as a social insect scientist. - May 1, 2018 - California Farm Bureau
Palm weevils appear to be spreading north, and UCR entomologish Mark Hoddle is working to keep that from happening. - April 12, 2018 - Nature
A Current Biology paper by Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher Clark on Hummingbird Signals was covered in Nature, LA Times, The Atlantic, Science News, and Gizmodo. - April 10, 2018 - Life Science
Simeon Bird, Professor in Physics and Astronomy, shares his thoughts in Life Science's article about dark matter and black holes. - February 26, 2018 - Science Magazine
A research team at the University of California, Riverside has discovered a way for chemotherapy drug paclitaxel to target migrating, or circulating, cancer cells, which are responsible for the development of tumor metastases. - January 29, 2018 - People Behind the Science Podcast
Dr. Joel Sach shares information about his life and his research on a podcast with People Behind the Science - February 6, 2018 - The Press-Enterprise
PE shares article about UCR researchers Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka, Naoki Yamanaka, and Frances Sladek's W. M. Keck Foundation-funded project that will challenge a long-standing paradigm in endocrinology. - November 16, 2017 - Newsweek
Newsweek highlights research by Stephen Kane, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences, and his participation in a Reddit AMA on the search for life on other planets by NASA Earth scientists. - November 16, 2017 - Wired
Wired and others highlight a study led by Omar Akbari, assistant professor of entomology, and his team's successful development of transgenic mosquitoes through the use of gene-editing technologies. - November 6, 2017 - Science Magazine
Stephen Kane, astronomer from UC Riverside, has tracked subtle changes in pixels on pictures of planets to detect potential life. - August 4, 2017 - CNN
The article on CNN's website "What Purple Can Tell Us About Life on Other Planets," was inspired by and links directly to a review paper first-authored by a NASA Postdoctoral fellow on Professor Timothy Lyon's lab, Eddie Schwieterman. Prof. Lyons, Stephanie Olson (an Earth Sciences grad student), and several others in the NASA Astrobiology team are also co-authors on the paper and/or quoted in the story. - July 13, 2017 - National Geographic
Christopher Clark, assistant professor of Biology, was featured in a National Geographic article about the pattern of hummingbird flight. - November 22, 2016 - The Sun
Jodie Holt, professor of plant physiology emeritus and interim director of UCR’s Botanic Gardens, was featured in a story about plans for improvements and growth of the gardens and its outreach to the campus and local communities. - October 7, 2016 - New York Times
The New York Times chronicled the work of a group of UCR researchers led by Assistant Professor of Entomology S. Hollis Woodard that traveled to the north of Alaska in search of the Arctic Bumblebee. - June 29, 2016 - KABC-TV
Extension Specialist Mark Hoddle is featured in a story about the threat posted by the South American Palm Weevil, which is an increasingly potent pest attacking decorative and date palm trees in the region. - May 28, 2016 - The Los Angeles Times
Associate Professor of Biology Joel Sachs is quoted in a story titled, “Will microbes save agriculture?” in which he comments on the long-term efficacy of using microbes to combat plant diseases. - May 19, 2016 - The Atlantic
Kerry Knudsen, curator of the collection of more than 15,000 specimens of lichens in UCR’s herbarium, is profiled in a story about how he transitioned from an anarchist construction worker to a world-renowned scientist who probably knows more about lichens than anyone alive today. - May 12, 2016 - National Geographic
Assistant Professor of Geology Nicolas Barth is featured in a story and video about systematically exploring and mapping the longest sea cave in the world in New Zealand. In addition to being the world record holder, the cave has some impressive formations that can provide a record of climate through time, similar to what tree rings provide. - April 29, 2016 - The Press-Enterprise
Jose Wudka, professor of physics and astronomy and chair of the Academic Senate’s Riverside Division, published an opinion piece refuting claims by the California’s State Auditor’s that UC admissions policies favor out-of-state students and limit access for Californians. - April 23, 2016 - National Public Radio
NPR’s Scott Simon interviews Assistant Professor of Entomology Jessica Purcell, who discusses her research on ants that join together to form rafts with their bodies during floods. - April 21, 2016 - Smithsonian
In a story titled “What Does a Dying Forest Sound Like?” that describes the sounds made by trees suffering desiccation from drought and extreme heat, Associate Professor of Physiological Ecology Louis Santiago discusses the phenomenon and how different varieties of trees respond to these conditions. - April 11, 2016 - Los Angeles Times
The Times featured UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection and curator Tracy Hahn in a story about the Swiss flavoring company Givaudan and its use of the collection to sample and choose citrus flavors. - February 22, 2016 - National Public Radio
NPR featured the research of Associate Professor of Entomology Anandasankar Ray in a story about how the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus like to attack humans’ feet and ankles. - February 3, 2016 - Chicago Tribune
Distinguished Professor of Entomology John Trumble is quoted in a story about how global warming is causing fleas and ticks to develop more rapidly and in new areas of the U.S., leading to an increase in pet illnesses from Lyme disease and heartworm. - February 1, 2016 - The Scientist
Natasha Raikhel, Ernst and Helen Leibacher Endowed Chair and distinguished professor of plant cell biology, is profiled in The Scientist, where she describes surviving a horrific plane crash with her family that led to their emigrating to the U.S. from their native Russia. - January 26, 2016 - The Guardian
Professor and Vice Chair of Entomology William Walton is quoted in story about mosquitos serving are vectors for the Zika virus, which is rapidly spreading and has been called a global emergency by the World Health Organization.
- December 8, 2015 - Smithsonian
Smithsonian Magazine talks to Distinguished Professor of Entomology Mike Rust about new research that sheds light on the role of bacteria in cockroach behavior. - December 7, 2015 - Al Jazeera
Ph.D. student Monique Williams is interviewed in the lab of Professor Prue Talbot, where she discusses her research into the health risks associated with the use of e-cigarettes. - December 3, 2015 - Los Angeles Times
Professor of Entomology J. Daniel Hare, who serves as chair of the system-wide UC Faculty Senate, comments in story about a proposal by a coalition led by California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom to include computer sciences coursework in the requirements for UC and CSU admission. - November 20, 2015 - Riverside Press-Enterprise
The P-E featured the work of UC Riverside climatologist Robert Allen, who was recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change. He published that climate change will worsen air pollution because aerosols would linger longer and build up in the skies above much of the United States, Europe and Asia by 2100. - November 16, 2015 - Riverside Press-Enterprise
The P-E featured the work of postdoctoral researcher Peter Graystock, who has shown that diseases found in managed beehives have spread widely as hives are moved to pollinate commercial crops. Those diseases have spread to wild bees and are likely leading to a decline in their populations throughout the country. - November 3, 2015 - Science Daily
CNAS entomologists Dong-Hwan Choe and Rick Vetter were featured in a story about their recent research study that shows oil-based pesticides are more effective than water-based pesticides at killing the contents of brown widow spider egg sacs. - October 31, 2015 - HUFFINGTON POST
The Huffington Post highlights research by Cheryl Hayashi, professor of entomology, in an article about the numerous applications of spider silk and how Hayashi’s research is helping scientists to better understand spider silk properties and innovative ways of using the material. - October 27, 2015 - KQED SCIENCE
Assistant Professor of Biology Chris Clark is featured in a story about what makes owls so quiet and deadly as birds of prey. The story and video take an extensive look at the shape and texture of the owl’s wings and feathers, which help make it such an effective hunter. - October 13, 2015 - KPCC
Professor of Ecology and Director of UC MEXUS Exequiel Ezcurra is quoted in a Southern California Public Radio story about the efforts of Senator Diane Feinstein to create three new national monuments in the California desert. He points out that fragile desert ecosystems need protection from damage that can be irreversible. - September 30, 2015 - LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Times describes the work of Research Ecologist Cameron Barrows in a story about efforts to have the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service list the Joshua tree as an endangered species. Climate change is dramatically limited the area where they can survive and their loss is having an impact on other desert plant and animal species. - September 8, 2015 - KPPC
The work of CNAS entomologists was featured in a story by KPPC (Southern California Public Radio) that showed how 3-D printing was allowing them to quickly and economically generate custom traps for studying the polyphagous shot hole borer, an insect that is killing trees in Southern California. - September 1, 2015 - INDIA WEST
Indiawest.com published a story about Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and entomologist Sarjeet Gill being named fellow of the Entomological Society of America. - August 31, 2015 - THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed Julia Bailey-Serres, professor of genetics and plant cell biology, about a recent study that makes plants glow with the aid of genetic implants to help researchers better understand plant root systems. - August 31, 2015 - THE WASHINGTON POST
The Washington Post highlighted the research by Prue Talbot, professor of cell biology, in a story about the health risks associated with e-cigarettes and flavor additives. - August 26, 2015 - THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
The L.A. Times talks to Richard Cardullo, associate vice provost of undergraduate education and professor and Howard H Hays Jr. Chair in the Department of Biology, in an article examining the thoughts and preparations of professors and instructors in California as they begin the new school year and the different methods they use to keep students interested and engaged. - August 22, 2015 - NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
NPR and several other outlets interviewed Douglas Yanega, entomologist and senior museum scientist, about the upcoming Burning Man Festival in Nevada and how swarms of three different kinds of insects invaded the area. - August 19, 2015 - THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Times was among numerous outlets that covered a new study co-authored by Professor of Geophysics and Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences David Oglesby and graduate student Kenny Ryan that reveals an increased risk for a post-earthquake tsunami in the Santa Barbara-Ventura counties area. - August 13, 2015 - THE WASHINGTON POST
Professor of Entomology Anandasankar Ray was featured in a story about the hyper-sensitive sense of smell ants have and how they were trained in the lab to distinguish between hydrocarbons that differed by only one atom. - August 10, 2015 - NEW YORK TIMES
The New York Times highlights research by Anandasankar Ray, associate professor of entomology, in an article about recently-developed mosquito repellents, and how the Kite Mosquito Patch developed by Ray’s lab has shown the most promise, in terms of safety and effectiveness. - August 3, 2015 - NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
NPR featured a study by Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience Frances M. Sladek and Assistant Project Scientist Poonamjot Deol that shows that soybean oil, which has grown to account for 60 percent of the edible oil consumed in the United States, has a stronger impact on the development of obesity and diabetes than fructose, a sugar commonly found in soda. - July 30, 2015 - LOS ANGELES TIMES
Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist and Assistant Plant Pathologist Akif Eskalen is quoted in a story about the polyphagous shot hole borer, a tiny beetle that has infected thousands of trees in Orange County with a deadly fungus. - July 29, 2015 - THE HUFFINGTON POST
In an essay published by the Huffington Post, CNAS Professor of Geology Nigel Hughes describes the threat posed by anti-science and pseudoscience advocates who are threatening to undo centuries of progress in understanding our natural world. He describes how this is exemplified by the recent murders of three science writers in Bangladesh. - July 28, 2015 - TIME MAGAZINE
Listing it as #3 on the day’s collection of best Ideas and Innovations, TIME featured the research of Department of Chemistry professors Christopher Bardeen and Ming Lee Tang, who have discovered a way to use infrared photons from the sun to potentially boost solar panel efficiency by up to 30 percent. - July 25, 2015 - PRESS ENTERPRISE
Physics and Astronomy professors John Ellison and Bahram Mobasher were featured in a story about their research into the big and small features of our universe, from sub-atomic particles in CERN’s large hadron collider in Switzerland to the first known example of the earliest generation of stars and Earth-like planets in nearby solar systems. - July 21, 2015 - OUTSIDE MAGAZINE
Outside magazine quotes Cameron Barrows, a researcher in the Center for Conservation Biology, in a story about how climate change and California’s historic drought have combined to fundamentally transform Joshua Tree National Park’s delicate ecosystem and how Joshua trees could lose 90 percent of their range within the park by the end of the century. - July 16, 2015 - PRESS ENTERPRISE
The Riverside Press-Enterprise published a story that included Dong-Hwan Choe, assistant professor of entomology, and Kevin Welzel, entomology graduate student, about Marvel’s newest film, “Ant-Man,” and how the film promotes a better awareness and appreciation for ants. Welzel was also invited to answer questions about ants during the red-carpet premier of the movie in June. - May 27, 2015 - PRESS ENTERPRISE
The Riverside Press-Enterprise features Professor of Earth Sciences Richard Minnich in a story about the likelihood of a catastrophic fire in the Inland mountains, where drought-affected forests could worsen a wildfire. - Professor and Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences David Oglesby is quoted in a story in National Geographic about the magnitude 7.3 aftershock that hit Nepal on May 12, 2015, on the heels of the magnitude 7.8 quake that killed more than 8,000 people two weeks earlier.
- May 5, 2015 - LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Times quotes Professor of Entomology Timothy Paine in a story titled, “Drought kills 12 million trees in California's national forests.” Paine discusses the deadly impact of the bark beetle, which takes advantage of the inability of pine trees to produce the stick resin that normally repels them when there is sufficient moisture present. - April 27, 2015 - PRESS-ENTERPRISE
The Press-Enterprise published a story about SISTERS (Success in Science and Technology: Engagement with Role Models), a mentoring program created by CNAS Science Ambassador Roselyn Tran to get University Heights Middle School students engaged and enthused about STEM subjects in school, and as a possible career path. - April 15, 2015 - FORTUNE
Fortune magazine quotes Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and Research Toxicologist David Eastmond in a story about the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s report that states glyphosate, used is Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, “probably” causes cancer. - March 30, 2015 - FORBES
Forbes published a story about Associate Professor of Plant Cell Biology and Chemistry Sean Cutler, his work to help make plants more drought-resistant and the timeliness of his research as California endures its worst drought in history. - March 23, 2015 - NPR
National Public Radio covered the annual Explorers Club dinner at the Museum of Natural History in New York, where renowned astrophysicist and host of Cosmos Neil deGrasse Tyson feasted on a variety of insects. Among them were cockroaches supplied by labs in the Department of Entomology at CNAS. - March 18, 2015 - KPCC
National Public Radio affiliate KPPC featured the use of Reddit by CNAS faculty to collect possible solutions to an age-old mystery of how circular fossils were formed in Wisconsin’s ancient sea beds. The creators of three possible solutions shared a $600 cash prize for being most plausible. - March 11, 2015 - USA TODAY
Professor and Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences David Oglesby is quoted in a story about a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey that the estimated risk of a magnitude-8 or larger earthquake in California in the next 30 years has increased to 7 percent, up from 4.7 percent in the previous assessment in 2008.. - March 9, 2015 - SMITHSONIAN
Smithsonian magazine quotes Sean Prager, an assistant specialist in the Department of Entomology, who describes research that demonstrates a moth shows a preference for the kind of plant where it mated for the very first time and will return to that plant species to mate again. - March 3, 2015 - PRESS ENTERPRISE
Professor of Entomology and Vice Chair of the University of California Academic Senate Dan Hare co-authored an op-ed that points out problems with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s plan for changes in the state’s public university system. - February 27, 2015 - SCIENCE DAILY
UCR paleontologists have determined that a unique combination of factors in Early Triassic delta systems resulted in the production and unusually widespread preservation of the swim tracks. - February 25, 2015 - PRESS ENTERPRISE
UCR students and members of the Riverside community were offered an opportunity to view the sun “up close” thanks to telescopes set by the CNAS Department of Physics and Astronomy. - February 23, 2015 - PESTWEB
Allison Hansen, Ph.D. ’09, who is now an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Illinois, is profiled as a “real-life female star of entomology.” - Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher Clark is featured in a story about Inagua Lyretail (Calliphlox lyrura), a hummingbird found in the Bahamas that should be categorized as its own species instead of being a subspecies of the Bahama woodstar.
- February 10, 2015 - TECH TIMES
The work of a team led by Associate Professor of Plant Cell Biology and Chemistry Sean Cutler is featured in this story about a novel way to “reprogram” plants to be more drought-tolerant. - February 4, 2015 - DAILY PLANET (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)
Professor of Biology Cheryl Hayashi is featured in this segment about using spider silk and the shell of a shrimp to develop lighter, stronger materials for a variety of applications from body armor to football helmets. - January 22, 2015 - SCIENCE NEWSLINE
Recent work by Distinguished Professor of Entomology Ring Cardé is discussed in this story about how mosquitoes adopt a sit-and-wait ambush strategy by sensing changes in carbon dioxide levels as an indicator of nearby prey. - January 9, 2015 - WEBMD
The Information and Resources section of WebMD uses a report co-authored by former Department of Entomology Staff Research Associate Richard Vetter in saying that skin infections caused by spider bites are highly unlikely and that a lack of understanding about it leads to unnecessary fear of arachnids. - January 2, 2015 - LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Times Science section describes research by Professor of Biology that demonstrates how some species of geckos have lost the sticky footed adaptations of their ancestors in order to accommodate changes in their environments.
CNAS Student Success Stories 2015 - 2019
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CNAS Student Success Stories 2016 - 2019
June 4, 2019
CNAS GSAs win 2019 UCR Student Life Awards
The Graduate Student Associations of Evolution, Ecology Organismal Biology (EEOB) and Plant Pathology as well as the Dynamic Genome Outreach Group were awarded multiple UC Riverside Student Life awards, acknowledging excellence in science outreach, education, and community service.
Big congratulations to all winning GSA officers, students, and supporting faculty and staff!
February 21, 2019
UCR student researcher takes smoking personally
Careen Khachatoorian, a sixth-year Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology graduate student, studies the dangers that come with smoking e-cigarettes and the residue left behind by it. In one of the studies, Khachatoorian found the electronic cigarette aerosol from a vape shop left detectable traces of ECEAR on cotton and terrycloth towels placed inside a nearby business. In another study, she looked at fabrics left inside vape shops and vaping homes, also finding ECEAR. The film left behind is sometimes visible, she said.
December 12, 2018
UCR physics undergraduate student headed to CERN
Sergio Garcia has an extraordinary opportunity to do hands-on work in one of the most famous centers for scientific research in the world. He will do research during the winter quarter on a particle detector at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator. At CERN, Garcia will work on a combination of hardware work for the CMS muon system and analysis work on a search for four top quark production, a rare standard model process. He will thus have a unique opportunity to physically work on part of the largest science experiment in the history of humanity, while also contributing to an actual research analysis on recent data.
December 1, 2016
Soto Awarded SACNAS Student Presentation Award
Undergraduate student Joselyn Soto was awarded a SACNAS Student Presentation Award for her presentation, “Morphological and Functional Consequences of Hippocampal Demyelination and Remyelination-Induced Recovery,” at 2016 SACNAS: The National Diversity in STEM Conference in Long Beach, Calif., Oct. 13-15. In addition to her research in the lab of Associate Professor SeemaTiwari-Woodruff in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Soto is a member of the MARC-U STAR program and serves as a CNAS Science Ambassador, Supplemental Instruction leader in the UCR Academic Resource Center, and participated in the UCR School of Medicine’s FastStart program.
Read moreAugust 29, 2016
Chen Awarded HHMI International Student Research Fellowship
Yu-Chieh “David” Chen, a graduate student in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program who works in the lab of Anupama Dahanukar, an associate professor of entomology, has received one of 20 International Student Research Fellowships Program awarded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research will focus on insects, including, butterflies, moths, and flies, that undergo dramatic changes in the nervous system during metamorphosis. Chen will receive $86,000 over two years from HHMI.
Read moreJuly 14, 2016
Neema Adhami Awarded UC Smoke and Tobacco Free Fellowship Award
Neema Adhami, a graduate student working with Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience Manuela Martins-Green, is one of only four students (and one of only two graduate students) to receive the new UC Smoke and Tobacco Free Fellowship Award. The goal of the fellowships, open to all UC undergraduate and graduate students, is to develop the next generation of leaders in reducing the harms and social costs from smoking and use of tobacco products worldwide.
Read moreJune 30, 2016
UC President Recognizes CNAS Grads for Service
University of California President Janet Napolitano recognized recent graduates and members of the CNAS Science Ambassadors Hanni Schoniger and Jade Zamorano among the UC graduates who made the most of opportunity through public service. They created Change in Scientific Importance for Youth to motivate middle and high school students to go to college and pursue careers in STEM fields.
June 1, 2016
CNAS Students Recognized at Honors Convocation
Students from the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences were recognized at the 30th Annual Honors Convocation hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Education in the University Theatre on Monday, May 23, 2016.
Read moreMay 27, 2016
Welcome Members of the 2016 MacREU at R’side
Thanks to the generous support of the National Science Foundation and Semiconductor Research Corporation, we’re pleased to welcome the 2016 participants in the Materials Connection Research Experience for Undergraduates at UC Riverside (MacREU R’side). The program is led by Professor of Chemistry Ludwig Bartels.
April 8, 2016
CNAS Students Win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
CNAS graduate students Riley Bottom (neuroscience), Marissa Ann Gionet-Gonzales (chemistry), Jesse Tamayo (chemistry), Aaron Martinez (geosciences), and Ida-Louise Pairs (chemistry) are among the UCR recipients of prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Rearch Fellowships for 2016.
Read moreMarch 22, 2016
Graduate Student Irene Shivaei Leads Team Tracing Star Formation Rates in Distant Galaxies
Combining spectra recorded by the MOSFIRE high-resolution near-infrared spectrometer at the W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes with infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Herschel Space Observatory, and optical images of the Hubble Space Telescope, a team lead by graduate student Irene Shivaei has created a complete multi-wavelength picture of galaxies. Their results help to build the foundations of galaxy evolution studies that ccan help predict a physical quantity (in this case, the star-formation rate) of a distant galaxy from the light that telescopes capture.
Read moreFebruary 17, 2016
CNAS Students Earn HHMI EXROP Fellowships
Undergraduates students Jaime Coronado, Thomas Rodriguez and Alyssa Rodriguez (biochemistry majors) and Katherine Espinoza (neuroscience major) have won fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), administered by the Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP). The fellowship provides opportunities for students to participate in cutting-edge research over the summer in top labs across the country. All four students also participate in the University Honors Program.
Read moreFebruary 8, 2016
Richards Awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Connor Richards, a fourth-year physics major, has been awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, one of the most prestigious international scholarships in the world. He is one of about 40 American students who received the award, and he is the first UCR student to be granted the award. He will read for a Master of Advanced Study in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge.
November 5, 2015
Connor Richards Named Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Fourth-year physics undergraduate Connor Richards recently became the first UCR student in more than a decade to be named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the nation. If selected for the scholarship, he plans to pursue a Masters of Advanced Study in applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in quantum fields and fundamental forces at Imperial College. Working with Professor of Physics Owen Long, Richards has spent the last three years conducting research, including traveling to Switzerland to work with CERN.
October 13, 2015
Learning Communities Improve GPAs and Graduation Rates
Learning communities at CNAS and the other colleges on campus bring together small groups of first-year students, placing them in many of the same classes and providing extra academic support. As a result, CNAS students in learning communities have GPAs one-third point higher and graduation rates nearly twice those of their fellow students.
August 27, 2015
RISE Summer Symposium Features Student Research Presentations
Students who participated the 10-week summer research program at CNAS demonstrated their dedication, commitment and hard work by giving oral and poster presentations of their work at the 2015 RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Symposium on August 27, 2015. Students who participated were members of the HSI-STEM Pathway Summer Bridge to Research Program, the Learning Communities CNAS Scholars Program and the Dynamic Genome Scholars Program.
August 12, 2015
CNAS Graduate Students Win Entomology Awards
Department of Entomology graduate students Erich Schoeller, Aviva Goldmann (pictured, left), Fatemeh Ganjisaffar, Adena Why, Amelia Lindsey (pictured, right) and Christopher Shogrenave have been awarded Robert van den Bosch Scholarships offered by the Center for Biological Control at UC Berkeley. The scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, may be used for graduate student salary, tuition and fees, laboratory help, supplies or travel for research.
Read moreJuly 9, 2015
Graduate Student, Jeanette Rapicavoli publishes article about plants improving immune system to fight off pathogens
Jeanette Rapicavoli, a PhD Graduate student and winner of the GradSlam competition, published an article about helping plants to fight off pathogens by improving their immune system. Just as humans have received vaccines to treat human diseases, "defense priming" will also be used on plants to improve their immune system. By doing this Rapicavoli says we can save California itself over a $100 million dollars in saving crops. Her research is primarily towards the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that hurts the grape and wine industry.
Read moreJuly 6, 2015
Earth Sciences Grad Students Contribute to NASA’s Search for Life in the Universe
Six graduate students from the Department of Earth Sciences were among more than 700 researchers reporting on NASA’s ongoing exploration of life in the universe at the biennial Astrobiology Science Conference held at the Chicago Hilton in June 2015. “Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life,” was the theme of the weeklong, international gathering, known as AbSciCon 2015. The students are part of the newly funded NASA project “Alternative Earths” led by their advisor, Professor Timothy Lyons.
Read moreJuly 1, 2015
Grad Student Kevin Welzel Serves as Expert at Ant-Man Premiere
Entomology graduate student Kevin Welzel was standing among Hollywood stars Monday, June 29, at the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Welzel, invited by Walt Disney Studios, stood alongside a giant formicarium – or ant house – to answer questions red carpet attendees had about ants. The 27-year-old Fontana native is a big Marvel fan.
Read moreJune 24, 2015
Undergraduate Discovers New Firefly Species
The Entomology Research Museum at the CNAS announced the discovery of a new species of firefly from Southern California, collected by an undergraduate student as part of his semester’s insect collection. Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist, said the student, Joshua Oliva, obtained one specimen of the new species while collecting near Topanga, Calif.
Read moreJune 13, 2015
CNAS Commencement 2015
On June 13, 2015, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded the Class of 2015 their degrees. The commencement was held on Pierce Lawn.
June 8, 2015
A Challenging Path and a Desire to Give Back
Julian Hartzell’s path to the degree he’ll earn in biochemistry in June 2015 wasn’t typical: he couldn’t live on campus, pull an all-nighter, or pick up fast food whenever he wanted. That’s because he lives with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness with no cure. Julian is now applying to medical schools, hoping to become a specialty physician concentrating on gastro immunology. He wants to serve the community that has been there for him. “I want to work with people who are going through the same thing. And I want to come back to this area because there are few specialists here.”
Read moreJune 5, 2015
Ceremony Recognizes 2015 CNAS Honors Students
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognized the 137 students who will graduate with honors in 2015 with a ceremony in the Spieth Hall Courtyard on Friday, June 5.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Grad Student Jeannette Rapicavoli to Represent UCR at UC GradSlam Competition
Jeannette Rapicavoli, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology working with Assistant Professor Caroline Roper, was named overall winner and recipient of the Audience Choice Award and a $5,000 fellowship at UCR’s GradSlam competition, where participants have three minutes to explain their research to non-experts. She will represent UCR when she competes with winners from the other UC campuses at the University of California’s GradSlam competition on May 4.
April 30, 2015
CNAS Grad Student Jessica Diaz Lobbies for Research at State Capitol
Jessica Diaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences (photo, right), was among a group of University of California students who joined UC President Janet Napolitano at the state capitol to highlight the value graduate research brings to the state. They were part of the annual event Graduate Research Advocacy Day, which brings delegates from each campus to the capitol for a day of informal chats with lawmakers, who have often invited researchers back to Sacramento to tap their expertise on critical issues.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Neuroscience Graduate Student Association Hosts Brain Awareness Day
To increase the public’s awareness of how the brain functions and to bring people up to speed with progress made in brain research, the Neuroscience Graduate Student Association at UCR hosted Brain Awareness Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Grad Students Organize 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, aspiring and professional scientists gathered at UCR to share research and interest in the integrative field of geobiology. The 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium, organized for and by graduate students, displayed current work within geology, geochemistry, biology, astrobiology, microbiology, oceanography, paleobiology, paleoecology and environmental sciences.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
CNAS Grads Working to Increase Graduation Rates in Poor Urban Schools
Recent CNAS graduates Michelle Ramon (biology) and Alex Owens (mathematics) are among 131 UCR graduates postponing their graduate school and career plans to participate in City Year, a program designed to mentor students and increase graduate rates in poor, inner-city schools. UCR leads the nation in the number of graduates who serve communities through City Year.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships
Undergraduate and graduate students at CNAS have been awarded several prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship, Fulbright Fellowship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and summer research fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
Graduate Students Coach Local High School Students for Regional Science Olympiad
A team of 23 CNAS graduate students are volunteering their time to coach grade 5-10 students at the Riverside STEM Academy as they prepare for the 2015 Inland Empire Science Olympiad, a rigorous academic interscholastic competition that covers biology, Earth sciences, chemistry, physics and technology.
Read moreFebruary 2, 2015
Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship
Heather Hulton VanTassel, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Kurt Anderson, has achieved the high honor of being selected as a 2014 Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change. VanTassel studies how species respond to environmental disturbances, such as fire and non-native grass species.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2015
Undergrads Awarded Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowships by HHMI
Undergraduates Alberto Corona (cell, molecular and developmental biology), Jenna Roper (bioengineering) and Jack Wang (biochemistry) have won prestigious fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to do cutting-edge research this summer for ten weeks in top laboratories in the country. Each $5,000 fellowship covers all travel and housing costs, supports full-time research mentored by an HHMI scientist anywhere in the United States as well as attendance at two annual HHMI meetings.
Read moreJanuary 16, 2015
Graduate Students Present E-cigarette Research at FDA Workshop in the Capitol
Monique Williams and Rachel Behar, who research e-cigarettes under the guidance of Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology and neuroscience, were invited by the Food and Drug Administration to participate in a public workshop focusing on e-cigarettes and public health in Washington, D.C., in December 2014.
Read moreNovember 5, 2015
Connor Richards Named Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Fourth-year physics undergraduate Connor Richards recently became the first UCR student in more than a decade to be named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the nation. If selected for the scholarship, he plans to pursue a Masters of Advanced Study in applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in quantum fields and fundamental forces at Imperial College. Working with Professor of Physics Owen Long, Richards has spent the last three years conducting research, including traveling to Switzerland to work with CERN.
October 13, 2015
August 27, 2015
RISE Summer Symposium Features Student Research Presentations
Students who participated the 10-week summer research program at CNAS demonstrated their dedication, commitment and hard work by giving oral and poster presentations of their work at the 2015 RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Symposium on August 27, 2015. Students who participated were members of the HSI-STEM Pathway Summer Bridge to Research Program, the Learning Communities CNAS Scholars Program and the Dynamic Genome Scholars Program.
August 12, 2015
CNAS Graduate Students Win Entomology Awards
Department of Entomology graduate students Erich Schoeller, Aviva Goldmann (pictured, left), Fatemeh Ganjisaffar, Adena Why, Amelia Lindsey (pictured, right) and Christopher Shogrenave have been awarded Robert van den Bosch Scholarships offered by the Center for Biological Control at UC Berkeley. The scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, may be used for graduate student salary, tuition and fees, laboratory help, supplies or travel for research.
Read moreJuly 9, 2015
Graduate Student, Jeanette Rapicavoli publishes article about plants improving immune system to fight off pathogens
Jeanette Rapicavoli, a PhD Graduate student and winner of the GradSlam competition, published an article about helping plants to fight off pathogens by improving their immune system. Just as humans have received vaccines to treat human diseases, "defense priming" will also be used on plants to improve their immune system. By doing this Rapicavoli says we can save California itself over a $100 million dollars in saving crops. Her research is primarily towards the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that hurts the grape and wine industry.
Read moreJuly 6, 2015
Earth Sciences Grad Students Contribute to NASA’s Search for Life in the Universe
Six graduate students from the Department of Earth Sciences were among more than 700 researchers reporting on NASA’s ongoing exploration of life in the universe at the biennial Astrobiology Science Conference held at the Chicago Hilton in June 2015. “Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life,” was the theme of the weeklong, international gathering, known as AbSciCon 2015. The students are part of the newly funded NASA project “Alternative Earths” led by their advisor, Professor Timothy Lyons.
Read moreJuly 1, 2015
Grad Student Kevin Welzel Serves as Expert at Ant-Man Premiere
Entomology graduate student Kevin Welzel was standing among Hollywood stars Monday, June 29, at the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Welzel, invited by Walt Disney Studios, stood alongside a giant formicarium – or ant house – to answer questions red carpet attendees had about ants. The 27-year-old Fontana native is a big Marvel fan.
Read moreJune 24, 2015
Undergraduate Discovers New Firefly Species
The Entomology Research Museum at the CNAS announced the discovery of a new species of firefly from Southern California, collected by an undergraduate student as part of his semester’s insect collection. Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist, said the student, Joshua Oliva, obtained one specimen of the new species while collecting near Topanga, Calif.
Read moreJune 13, 2015
CNAS Commencement 2015
On June 13, 2015, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded the Class of 2015 their degrees. The commencement was held on Pierce Lawn.
June 8, 2015
A Challenging Path and a Desire to Give Back
Julian Hartzell’s path to the degree he’ll earn in biochemistry in June 2015 wasn’t typical: he couldn’t live on campus, pull an all-nighter, or pick up fast food whenever he wanted. That’s because he lives with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness with no cure. Julian is now applying to medical schools, hoping to become a specialty physician concentrating on gastro immunology. He wants to serve the community that has been there for him. “I want to work with people who are going through the same thing. And I want to come back to this area because there are few specialists here.”
Read moreJune 5, 2015
Ceremony Recognizes 2015 CNAS Honors Students
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognized the 137 students who will graduate with honors in 2015 with a ceremony in the Spieth Hall Courtyard on Friday, June 5.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Grad Student Jeannette Rapicavoli to Represent UCR at UC GradSlam Competition
Jeannette Rapicavoli, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology working with Assistant Professor Caroline Roper, was named overall winner and recipient of the Audience Choice Award and a $5,000 fellowship at UCR’s GradSlam competition, where participants have three minutes to explain their research to non-experts. She will represent UCR when she competes with winners from the other UC campuses at the University of California’s GradSlam competition on May 4.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
CNAS Grad Student Jessica Diaz Lobbies for Research at State Capitol
Jessica Diaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences (photo, right), was among a group of University of California students who joined UC President Janet Napolitano at the state capitol to highlight the value graduate research brings to the state. They were part of the annual event Graduate Research Advocacy Day, which brings delegates from each campus to the capitol for a day of informal chats with lawmakers, who have often invited researchers back to Sacramento to tap their expertise on critical issues.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Neuroscience Graduate Student Association Hosts Brain Awareness Day
To increase the public’s awareness of how the brain functions and to bring people up to speed with progress made in brain research, the Neuroscience Graduate Student Association at UCR hosted Brain Awareness Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Grad Students Organize 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, aspiring and professional scientists gathered at UCR to share research and interest in the integrative field of geobiology. The 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium, organized for and by graduate students, displayed current work within geology, geochemistry, biology, astrobiology, microbiology, oceanography, paleobiology, paleoecology and environmental sciences.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
CNAS Grads Working to Increase Graduation Rates in Poor Urban Schools
Recent CNAS graduates Michelle Ramon (biology) and Alex Owens (mathematics) are among 131 UCR graduates postponing their graduate school and career plans to participate in City Year, a program designed to mentor students and increase graduate rates in poor, inner-city schools. UCR leads the nation in the number of graduates who serve communities through City Year.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships
Undergraduate and graduate students at CNAS have been awarded several prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship, Fulbright Fellowship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and summer research fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
Graduate Students Coach Local High School Students for Regional Science Olympiad
A team of 23 CNAS graduate students are volunteering their time to coach grade 5-10 students at the Riverside STEM Academy as they prepare for the 2015 Inland Empire Science Olympiad, a rigorous academic interscholastic competition that covers biology, Earth sciences, chemistry, physics and technology.
Read moreFebruary 2, 2015
Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship
Heather Hulton VanTassel, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Kurt Anderson, has achieved the high honor of being selected as a 2014 Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change. VanTassel studies how species respond to environmental disturbances, such as fire and non-native grass species.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2015
Undergrads Awarded Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowships by HHMI
Undergraduates Alberto Corona (cell, molecular and developmental biology), Jenna Roper (bioengineering) and Jack Wang (biochemistry) have won prestigious fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to do cutting-edge research this summer for ten weeks in top laboratories in the country. Each $5,000 fellowship covers all travel and housing costs, supports full-time research mentored by an HHMI scientist anywhere in the United States as well as attendance at two annual HHMI meetings.
Read moreJanuary 16, 2015
Graduate Students Present E-cigarette Research at FDA Workshop in the Capitol
Monique Williams and Rachel Behar, who research e-cigarettes under the guidance of Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology and neuroscience, were invited by the Food and Drug Administration to participate in a public workshop focusing on e-cigarettes and public health in Washington, D.C., in December 2014.
Read moreNovember 5, 2015
Connor Richards Named Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Fourth-year physics undergraduate Connor Richards recently became the first UCR student in more than a decade to be named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the nation. If selected for the scholarship, he plans to pursue a Masters of Advanced Study in applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in quantum fields and fundamental forces at Imperial College. Working with Professor of Physics Owen Long, Richards has spent the last three years conducting research, including traveling to Switzerland to work with CERN.
October 13, 2015
Learning Communities Improve GPAs and Graduation Rates
Learning communities at CNAS and the other colleges on campus bring together small groups of first-year students, placing them in many of the same classes and providing extra academic support. As a result, CNAS students in learning communities have GPAs one-third point higher and graduation rates nearly twice those of their fellow students.
August 27, 2015
RISE Summer Symposium Features Student Research Presentations
Students who participated the 10-week summer research program at CNAS demonstrated their dedication, commitment and hard work by giving oral and poster presentations of their work at the 2015 RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Symposium on August 27, 2015. Students who participated were members of the HSI-STEM Pathway Summer Bridge to Research Program, the Learning Communities CNAS Scholars Program and the Dynamic Genome Scholars Program.
August 12, 2015
CNAS Graduate Students Win Entomology Awards
Department of Entomology graduate students Erich Schoeller, Aviva Goldmann (pictured, left), Fatemeh Ganjisaffar, Adena Why, Amelia Lindsey (pictured, right) and Christopher Shogrenave have been awarded Robert van den Bosch Scholarships offered by the Center for Biological Control at UC Berkeley. The scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, may be used for graduate student salary, tuition and fees, laboratory help, supplies or travel for research.
Read moreJuly 9, 2015
Graduate Student, Jeanette Rapicavoli publishes article about plants improving immune system to fight off pathogens
Jeanette Rapicavoli, a PhD Graduate student and winner of the GradSlam competition, published an article about helping plants to fight off pathogens by improving their immune system. Just as humans have received vaccines to treat human diseases, "defense priming" will also be used on plants to improve their immune system. By doing this Rapicavoli says we can save California itself over a $100 million dollars in saving crops. Her research is primarily towards the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that hurts the grape and wine industry.
Read moreJuly 6, 2015
Earth Sciences Grad Students Contribute to NASA’s Search for Life in the Universe
Six graduate students from the Department of Earth Sciences were among more than 700 researchers reporting on NASA’s ongoing exploration of life in the universe at the biennial Astrobiology Science Conference held at the Chicago Hilton in June 2015. “Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life,” was the theme of the weeklong, international gathering, known as AbSciCon 2015. The students are part of the newly funded NASA project “Alternative Earths” led by their advisor, Professor Timothy Lyons.
Read moreJuly 1, 2015
Grad Student Kevin Welzel Serves as Expert at Ant-Man Premiere
Entomology graduate student Kevin Welzel was standing among Hollywood stars Monday, June 29, at the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Welzel, invited by Walt Disney Studios, stood alongside a giant formicarium – or ant house – to answer questions red carpet attendees had about ants. The 27-year-old Fontana native is a big Marvel fan.
Read moreJune 24, 2015
Undergraduate Discovers New Firefly Species
The Entomology Research Museum at the CNAS announced the discovery of a new species of firefly from Southern California, collected by an undergraduate student as part of his semester’s insect collection. Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist, said the student, Joshua Oliva, obtained one specimen of the new species while collecting near Topanga, Calif.
Read moreJune 13, 2015
CNAS Commencement 2015
On June 13, 2015, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded the Class of 2015 their degrees. The commencement was held on Pierce Lawn.
June 8, 2015
A Challenging Path and a Desire to Give Back
Julian Hartzell’s path to the degree he’ll earn in biochemistry in June 2015 wasn’t typical: he couldn’t live on campus, pull an all-nighter, or pick up fast food whenever he wanted. That’s because he lives with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness with no cure. Julian is now applying to medical schools, hoping to become a specialty physician concentrating on gastro immunology. He wants to serve the community that has been there for him. “I want to work with people who are going through the same thing. And I want to come back to this area because there are few specialists here.”
Read moreJune 5, 2015
Ceremony Recognizes 2015 CNAS Honors Students
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognized the 137 students who will graduate with honors in 2015 with a ceremony in the Spieth Hall Courtyard on Friday, June 5.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Grad Student Jeannette Rapicavoli to Represent UCR at UC GradSlam Competition
Jeannette Rapicavoli, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology working with Assistant Professor Caroline Roper, was named overall winner and recipient of the Audience Choice Award and a $5,000 fellowship at UCR’s GradSlam competition, where participants have three minutes to explain their research to non-experts. She will represent UCR when she competes with winners from the other UC campuses at the University of California’s GradSlam competition on May 4.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
CNAS Grad Student Jessica Diaz Lobbies for Research at State Capitol
Jessica Diaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences (photo, right), was among a group of University of California students who joined UC President Janet Napolitano at the state capitol to highlight the value graduate research brings to the state. They were part of the annual event Graduate Research Advocacy Day, which brings delegates from each campus to the capitol for a day of informal chats with lawmakers, who have often invited researchers back to Sacramento to tap their expertise on critical issues.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Neuroscience Graduate Student Association Hosts Brain Awareness Day
To increase the public’s awareness of how the brain functions and to bring people up to speed with progress made in brain research, the Neuroscience Graduate Student Association at UCR hosted Brain Awareness Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Grad Students Organize 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, aspiring and professional scientists gathered at UCR to share research and interest in the integrative field of geobiology. The 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium, organized for and by graduate students, displayed current work within geology, geochemistry, biology, astrobiology, microbiology, oceanography, paleobiology, paleoecology and environmental sciences.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
CNAS Grads Working to Increase Graduation Rates in Poor Urban Schools
Recent CNAS graduates Michelle Ramon (biology) and Alex Owens (mathematics) are among 131 UCR graduates postponing their graduate school and career plans to participate in City Year, a program designed to mentor students and increase graduate rates in poor, inner-city schools. UCR leads the nation in the number of graduates who serve communities through City Year.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships
Undergraduate and graduate students at CNAS have been awarded several prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship, Fulbright Fellowship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and summer research fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
Graduate Students Coach Local High School Students for Regional Science Olympiad
A team of 23 CNAS graduate students are volunteering their time to coach grade 5-10 students at the Riverside STEM Academy as they prepare for the 2015 Inland Empire Science Olympiad, a rigorous academic interscholastic competition that covers biology, Earth sciences, chemistry, physics and technology.
Read moreFebruary 2, 2015
Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship
Heather Hulton VanTassel, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Kurt Anderson, has achieved the high honor of being selected as a 2014 Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change. VanTassel studies how species respond to environmental disturbances, such as fire and non-native grass species.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2015
Undergrads Awarded Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowships by HHMI
Undergraduates Alberto Corona (cell, molecular and developmental biology), Jenna Roper (bioengineering) and Jack Wang (biochemistry) have won prestigious fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to do cutting-edge research this summer for ten weeks in top laboratories in the country. Each $5,000 fellowship covers all travel and housing costs, supports full-time research mentored by an HHMI scientist anywhere in the United States as well as attendance at two annual HHMI meetings.
Read moreJanuary 16, 2015
Graduate Students Present E-cigarette Research at FDA Workshop in the Capitol
Monique Williams and Rachel Behar, who research e-cigarettes under the guidance of Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology and neuroscience, were invited by the Food and Drug Administration to participate in a public workshop focusing on e-cigarettes and public health in Washington, D.C., in December 2014.
Read moreNovember 5, 2015
Connor Richards Named Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Fourth-year physics undergraduate Connor Richards recently became the first UCR student in more than a decade to be named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the nation. If selected for the scholarship, he plans to pursue a Masters of Advanced Study in applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in quantum fields and fundamental forces at Imperial College. Working with Professor of Physics Owen Long, Richards has spent the last three years conducting research, including traveling to Switzerland to work with CERN.
October 13, 2015
Learning Communities Improve GPAs and Graduation Rates
Learning communities at CNAS and the other colleges on campus bring together small groups of first-year students, placing them in many of the same classes and providing extra academic support. As a result, CNAS students in learning communities have GPAs one-third point higher and graduation rates nearly twice those of their fellow students.
August 27, 2015
RISE Summer Symposium Features Student Research Presentations
Students who participated the 10-week summer research program at CNAS demonstrated their dedication, commitment and hard work by giving oral and poster presentations of their work at the 2015 RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Symposium on August 27, 2015. Students who participated were members of the HSI-STEM Pathway Summer Bridge to Research Program, the Learning Communities CNAS Scholars Program and the Dynamic Genome Scholars Program.
August 12, 2015
CNAS Graduate Students Win Entomology Awards
Department of Entomology graduate students Erich Schoeller, Aviva Goldmann (pictured, left), Fatemeh Ganjisaffar, Adena Why, Amelia Lindsey (pictured, right) and Christopher Shogrenave have been awarded Robert van den Bosch Scholarships offered by the Center for Biological Control at UC Berkeley. The scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, may be used for graduate student salary, tuition and fees, laboratory help, supplies or travel for research.
Read moreJuly 9, 2015
Graduate Student, Jeanette Rapicavoli publishes article about plants improving immune system to fight off pathogens
Jeanette Rapicavoli, a PhD Graduate student and winner of the GradSlam competition, published an article about helping plants to fight off pathogens by improving their immune system. Just as humans have received vaccines to treat human diseases, "defense priming" will also be used on plants to improve their immune system. By doing this Rapicavoli says we can save California itself over a $100 million dollars in saving crops. Her research is primarily towards the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that hurts the grape and wine industry.
Read moreJuly 6, 2015
Earth Sciences Grad Students Contribute to NASA’s Search for Life in the Universe
Six graduate students from the Department of Earth Sciences were among more than 700 researchers reporting on NASA’s ongoing exploration of life in the universe at the biennial Astrobiology Science Conference held at the Chicago Hilton in June 2015. “Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life,” was the theme of the weeklong, international gathering, known as AbSciCon 2015. The students are part of the newly funded NASA project “Alternative Earths” led by their advisor, Professor Timothy Lyons.
Read moreJuly 1, 2015
Grad Student Kevin Welzel Serves as Expert at Ant-Man Premiere
Entomology graduate student Kevin Welzel was standing among Hollywood stars Monday, June 29, at the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Welzel, invited by Walt Disney Studios, stood alongside a giant formicarium – or ant house – to answer questions red carpet attendees had about ants. The 27-year-old Fontana native is a big Marvel fan.
Read moreJune 24, 2015
Undergraduate Discovers New Firefly Species
The Entomology Research Museum at the CNAS announced the discovery of a new species of firefly from Southern California, collected by an undergraduate student as part of his semester’s insect collection. Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist, said the student, Joshua Oliva, obtained one specimen of the new species while collecting near Topanga, Calif.
Read moreJune 13, 2015
CNAS Commencement 2015
On June 13, 2015, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded the Class of 2015 their degrees. The commencement was held on Pierce Lawn.
June 8, 2015
A Challenging Path and a Desire to Give Back
Julian Hartzell’s path to the degree he’ll earn in biochemistry in June 2015 wasn’t typical: he couldn’t live on campus, pull an all-nighter, or pick up fast food whenever he wanted. That’s because he lives with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness with no cure. Julian is now applying to medical schools, hoping to become a specialty physician concentrating on gastro immunology. He wants to serve the community that has been there for him. “I want to work with people who are going through the same thing. And I want to come back to this area because there are few specialists here.”
Read moreJune 5, 2015
Ceremony Recognizes 2015 CNAS Honors Students
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognized the 137 students who will graduate with honors in 2015 with a ceremony in the Spieth Hall Courtyard on Friday, June 5.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Grad Student Jeannette Rapicavoli to Represent UCR at UC GradSlam Competition
Jeannette Rapicavoli, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology working with Assistant Professor Caroline Roper, was named overall winner and recipient of the Audience Choice Award and a $5,000 fellowship at UCR’s GradSlam competition, where participants have three minutes to explain their research to non-experts. She will represent UCR when she competes with winners from the other UC campuses at the University of California’s GradSlam competition on May 4.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
CNAS Grad Student Jessica Diaz Lobbies for Research at State Capitol
Jessica Diaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences (photo, right), was among a group of University of California students who joined UC President Janet Napolitano at the state capitol to highlight the value graduate research brings to the state. They were part of the annual event Graduate Research Advocacy Day, which brings delegates from each campus to the capitol for a day of informal chats with lawmakers, who have often invited researchers back to Sacramento to tap their expertise on critical issues.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Neuroscience Graduate Student Association Hosts Brain Awareness Day
To increase the public’s awareness of how the brain functions and to bring people up to speed with progress made in brain research, the Neuroscience Graduate Student Association at UCR hosted Brain Awareness Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Grad Students Organize 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, aspiring and professional scientists gathered at UCR to share research and interest in the integrative field of geobiology. The 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium, organized for and by graduate students, displayed current work within geology, geochemistry, biology, astrobiology, microbiology, oceanography, paleobiology, paleoecology and environmental sciences.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
CNAS Grads Working to Increase Graduation Rates in Poor Urban Schools
Recent CNAS graduates Michelle Ramon (biology) and Alex Owens (mathematics) are among 131 UCR graduates postponing their graduate school and career plans to participate in City Year, a program designed to mentor students and increase graduate rates in poor, inner-city schools. UCR leads the nation in the number of graduates who serve communities through City Year.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships
Undergraduate and graduate students at CNAS have been awarded several prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship, Fulbright Fellowship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and summer research fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
Graduate Students Coach Local High School Students for Regional Science Olympiad
A team of 23 CNAS graduate students are volunteering their time to coach grade 5-10 students at the Riverside STEM Academy as they prepare for the 2015 Inland Empire Science Olympiad, a rigorous academic interscholastic competition that covers biology, Earth sciences, chemistry, physics and technology.
Read moreFebruary 2, 2015
Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship
Heather Hulton VanTassel, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Kurt Anderson, has achieved the high honor of being selected as a 2014 Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change. VanTassel studies how species respond to environmental disturbances, such as fire and non-native grass species.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2015
Undergrads Awarded Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowships by HHMI
Undergraduates Alberto Corona (cell, molecular and developmental biology), Jenna Roper (bioengineering) and Jack Wang (biochemistry) have won prestigious fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to do cutting-edge research this summer for ten weeks in top laboratories in the country. Each $5,000 fellowship covers all travel and housing costs, supports full-time research mentored by an HHMI scientist anywhere in the United States as well as attendance at two annual HHMI meetings.
Read moreJanuary 16, 2015
Graduate Students Present E-cigarette Research at FDA Workshop in the Capitol
Monique Williams and Rachel Behar, who research e-cigarettes under the guidance of Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology and neuroscience, were invited by the Food and Drug Administration to participate in a public workshop focusing on e-cigarettes and public health in Washington, D.C., in December 2014.
Read moreAvila-Lovera Awarded USAID Fellowship for Research in Venezuela
Eleinis Avila-Lovera, a Ph.D. candidate working under the direction of Associate Professor of Physiological Ecology Louis Santigao, has been selected for a U.S. Agency for International Development fellowship co-sponsored by the UC Global Food Initiative. Working with the Universidad Central de Venezuela, she will return to her native country to study cultivating cacao in an agroforestry system.
Read more -
CNAS Student Success Stories 2015
November 5, 2015
Connor Richards Named Marshall Scholarship Finalist
Fourth-year physics undergraduate Connor Richards recently became the first UCR student in more than a decade to be named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic honors in the nation. If selected for the scholarship, he plans to pursue a Masters of Advanced Study in applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in quantum fields and fundamental forces at Imperial College. Working with Professor of Physics Owen Long, Richards has spent the last three years conducting research, including traveling to Switzerland to work with CERN.
October 13, 2015
Learning Communities Improve GPAs and Graduation Rates
Learning communities at CNAS and the other colleges on campus bring together small groups of first-year students, placing them in many of the same classes and providing extra academic support. As a result, CNAS students in learning communities have GPAs one-third point higher and graduation rates nearly twice those of their fellow students.
August 27, 2015
RISE Summer Symposium Features Student Research Presentations
Students who participated the 10-week summer research program at CNAS demonstrated their dedication, commitment and hard work by giving oral and poster presentations of their work at the 2015 RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Symposium on August 27, 2015. Students who participated were members of the HSI-STEM Pathway Summer Bridge to Research Program, the Learning Communities CNAS Scholars Program and the Dynamic Genome Scholars Program.
August 12, 2015
CNAS Graduate Students Win Entomology Awards
Department of Entomology graduate students Erich Schoeller, Aviva Goldmann (pictured, left), Fatemeh Ganjisaffar, Adena Why, Amelia Lindsey (pictured, right) and Christopher Shogrenave have been awarded Robert van den Bosch Scholarships offered by the Center for Biological Control at UC Berkeley. The scholarships, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, may be used for graduate student salary, tuition and fees, laboratory help, supplies or travel for research.
Read moreJuly 9, 2015
Graduate Student, Jeanette Rapicavoli publishes article about plants improving immune system to fight off pathogens
Jeanette Rapicavoli, a PhD Graduate student and winner of the GradSlam competition, published an article about helping plants to fight off pathogens by improving their immune system. Just as humans have received vaccines to treat human diseases, "defense priming" will also be used on plants to improve their immune system. By doing this Rapicavoli says we can save California itself over a $100 million dollars in saving crops. Her research is primarily towards the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that hurts the grape and wine industry.
Read moreJuly 6, 2015
Earth Sciences Grad Students Contribute to NASA’s Search for Life in the Universe
Six graduate students from the Department of Earth Sciences were among more than 700 researchers reporting on NASA’s ongoing exploration of life in the universe at the biennial Astrobiology Science Conference held at the Chicago Hilton in June 2015. “Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life,” was the theme of the weeklong, international gathering, known as AbSciCon 2015. The students are part of the newly funded NASA project “Alternative Earths” led by their advisor, Professor Timothy Lyons.
Read moreJuly 1, 2015
Grad Student Kevin Welzel Serves as Expert at Ant-Man Premiere
Entomology graduate student Kevin Welzel was standing among Hollywood stars Monday, June 29, at the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s Ant-Man at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Welzel, invited by Walt Disney Studios, stood alongside a giant formicarium – or ant house – to answer questions red carpet attendees had about ants. The 27-year-old Fontana native is a big Marvel fan.
Read moreJune 24, 2015
Undergraduate Discovers New Firefly Species
The Entomology Research Museum at the CNAS announced the discovery of a new species of firefly from Southern California, collected by an undergraduate student as part of his semester’s insect collection. Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist, said the student, Joshua Oliva, obtained one specimen of the new species while collecting near Topanga, Calif.
Read moreJune 13, 2015
CNAS Commencement 2015
On June 13, 2015, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded the Class of 2015 their degrees. The commencement was held on Pierce Lawn.
June 8, 2015
A Challenging Path and a Desire to Give Back
Julian Hartzell’s path to the degree he’ll earn in biochemistry in June 2015 wasn’t typical: he couldn’t live on campus, pull an all-nighter, or pick up fast food whenever he wanted. That’s because he lives with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic illness with no cure. Julian is now applying to medical schools, hoping to become a specialty physician concentrating on gastro immunology. He wants to serve the community that has been there for him. “I want to work with people who are going through the same thing. And I want to come back to this area because there are few specialists here.”
Read moreJune 5, 2015
Ceremony Recognizes 2015 CNAS Honors Students
The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognized the 137 students who will graduate with honors in 2015 with a ceremony in the Spieth Hall Courtyard on Friday, June 5.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
Grad Student Jeannette Rapicavoli to Represent UCR at UC GradSlam Competition
Jeannette Rapicavoli, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology working with Assistant Professor Caroline Roper, was named overall winner and recipient of the Audience Choice Award and a $5,000 fellowship at UCR’s GradSlam competition, where participants have three minutes to explain their research to non-experts. She will represent UCR when she competes with winners from the other UC campuses at the University of California’s GradSlam competition on May 4.
Read moreApril 30, 2015
CNAS Grad Student Jessica Diaz Lobbies for Research at State Capitol
Jessica Diaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences (photo, right), was among a group of University of California students who joined UC President Janet Napolitano at the state capitol to highlight the value graduate research brings to the state. They were part of the annual event Graduate Research Advocacy Day, which brings delegates from each campus to the capitol for a day of informal chats with lawmakers, who have often invited researchers back to Sacramento to tap their expertise on critical issues.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Neuroscience Graduate Student Association Hosts Brain Awareness Day
To increase the public’s awareness of how the brain functions and to bring people up to speed with progress made in brain research, the Neuroscience Graduate Student Association at UCR hosted Brain Awareness Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Read moreApril 16, 2015
Grad Students Organize 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, aspiring and professional scientists gathered at UCR to share research and interest in the integrative field of geobiology. The 12th Annual Southern California Geobiology Symposium, organized for and by graduate students, displayed current work within geology, geochemistry, biology, astrobiology, microbiology, oceanography, paleobiology, paleoecology and environmental sciences.
Read moreApril 15, 2015
CNAS Grads Working to Increase Graduation Rates in Poor Urban Schools
Recent CNAS graduates Michelle Ramon (biology) and Alex Owens (mathematics) are among 131 UCR graduates postponing their graduate school and career plans to participate in City Year, a program designed to mentor students and increase graduate rates in poor, inner-city schools. UCR leads the nation in the number of graduates who serve communities through City Year.
Read moreApril 6, 2015
CNAS Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships
Undergraduate and graduate students at CNAS have been awarded several prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship, Fulbright Fellowship, Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and summer research fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Read moreMarch 5, 2015
Graduate Students Coach Local High School Students for Regional Science Olympiad
A team of 23 CNAS graduate students are volunteering their time to coach grade 5-10 students at the Riverside STEM Academy as they prepare for the 2015 Inland Empire Science Olympiad, a rigorous academic interscholastic competition that covers biology, Earth sciences, chemistry, physics and technology.
Read moreFebruary 2, 2015
Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship
Heather Hulton VanTassel, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Kurt Anderson, has achieved the high honor of being selected as a 2014 Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change. VanTassel studies how species respond to environmental disturbances, such as fire and non-native grass species.
Read moreJanuary 29, 2015
Undergrads Awarded Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowships by HHMI
Undergraduates Alberto Corona (cell, molecular and developmental biology), Jenna Roper (bioengineering) and Jack Wang (biochemistry) have won prestigious fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to do cutting-edge research this summer for ten weeks in top laboratories in the country. Each $5,000 fellowship covers all travel and housing costs, supports full-time research mentored by an HHMI scientist anywhere in the United States as well as attendance at two annual HHMI meetings.
Read moreJanuary 16, 2015
Graduate Students Present E-cigarette Research at FDA Workshop in the Capitol
Monique Williams and Rachel Behar, who research e-cigarettes under the guidance of Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology and neuroscience, were invited by the Food and Drug Administration to participate in a public workshop focusing on e-cigarettes and public health in Washington, D.C., in December 2014.
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