College of Science Research Programs Are Irrepressible
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Dr. Erin Bobeck, left, of the Department of Biology and her Ph.D. student, Max McDermott |
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Looking back at a year of achievements |
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The 2020-2021 academic year was full of major achievements, milestones and surprises. The global pandemic upended many of our plans, but our students, faculty and staff forged ahead with perseverance and resilience. We invite you to look back on our achievements and celebrate outstanding efforts. |
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To our Recent Graduates: Thank you for the innovation
and energy you brought to the College of Science. You Matter.
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USU Chemists Advance
Solar Energy Storage and
Sea Water Desalination Technology
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Increasing demand for electrification in rural areas poses challenges, but also creates opportunities for development of decentralized electrification systems. Compared with conventional electrical grids based on large, centralized power generation stations commonly used in developed countries, a decentralized approach offers lower capital cost, a smaller footprint and nimble deployment. In addition, the need for fresh water drives the need for scalable and affordable desalination technology.
Utah State University scientists are driving efforts aimed at these global challenges.
Aggie chemists Tianbiao “Leo” Liu, Bo Hu and Maowei Hu are among authors of a paper published July 13, 2020, in Nature Materials...
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Taking the Bait: USU Computer
Scientist Awarded NSF Secure
and Trustworthy Cyberspace Grant
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If you’ve spent any time online, you’ve seen it: Flashy advertisements, fake news or enticing headlines that distract and lure you down Internet paths you wish you hadn’t pursued.
Utah State University computer scientist Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen is the recipient of a $899,000 National Science Foundation Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program grant aimed at detecting these Web vulnerabilities and developing effective and usable defenses.
Al-Ameen is lead investigator of the grant, of which more than $314,000 goes to USU, to develop novel techniques to detect video-based clickbait, and to study user behavior on social media, to design effective warning systems...
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Fang-tastic: USU Biologist
Reports Amphibians with
Snake-like, Venomous Dental Glands
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Utah State University biologist Edmund ‘Butch’ Brodie, Jr. and colleagues from São Paulo’s Butantan Institute report the first known evidence of oral venom glands in amphibians. Their research, supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, appears in the July 3, 2020, issue of iScience.
“We think of amphibians – frogs, toads and the like -- as basically harmless,” says Brodie, emeritus professor in USU’s Department of Biology. “We know a number of amphibians store nasty, poisonous secretions in their skin to deter predators. But to learn at least one can inflict injury from its mouth is extraordinary.”
Brodie and his colleagues discovered the oral glands in a family of caecilians, serpent-like creatures related to frogs and salamanders...
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USU Mathematicians
Unravel a Thread of String Theory
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Simply put, string theory is a proposed method of explaining everything. Actually, there’s nothing simple about it. String theory is a theoretical framework from physics that describes one-dimensional, vibrating fibrous objects called “strings,” which propagate through space-time and interact with each other. Piece by piece, energetic minds are discovering and deciphering fundamental strings of the physical universe using mathematical models. Among these intrepid explorers are Utah State University mathematicians Thomas Hill and his faculty mentor, Andreas Malmendier.
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Jaws of Death: USU
Eastern Paleontologist Names
Giant, Prehistoric Marine Lizard
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Some 92 to 66 million years ago, as the Age of Dinosaurs waned, giant marine lizards called mosasaurs roamed an ocean that covered North America from Utah to Missouri and Texas to the Yukon. The air-breathing predators were streamlined swimmers that devoured almost everything in their path, including fish, turtles, clams and even smaller mosasaurs.
Coloradoan Gary Thompson discovered mosasaur bones near the Delta County town of Cedaredge in 1975, which the teen reported to his high school science teacher. The specimens made their way to Utah’s Brigham Young University, where, in 1999, the creature that left the fossils was named Prognathodon stadtmani.
“I first learned of this discovery, while doing background research for my Ph.D.,” says newly arrived Utah State University Eastern paleontologist Joshua Lively...
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Research on Remote: USU Chemistry Grad Students Awarded Prestigious Internships |
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An unprecedented three Utah State University doctoral scholars were selected last spring for highly competitive internships, for summer 2020, offered by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nikita Fedik, Maksim Kulichenko and Nikolay Tkachenko, all students of Professor Alex Boldyrev in USU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, immediately began preparations for moving, temporarily, to the storied, U.S. Department of Energy facility’s community, situated in northern New Mexico.
“The chances of being selected for this internship are slim and I was so excited to pursue this amazing opportunity,” Tkachenko says. “We all began searching for summer housing and organizing travel arrangements.”
Alas, just weeks after receiving the exciting news, the COVID-19 pandemic progressed and the students learned they wouldn’t be able to travel to Los Alamos, after all. But that didn’t mean to the internships were cancelled...
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Understanding Ozone in Uintah Basin |
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Utah State University’s (USU) Bingham Research Center has teamed up with local oil and gas industry partners to address emissions of pollution that can lead to high wintertime ozone. Recently, the group has received two corporate donations, each providing $25,000 to help further research on understanding of wintertime inversion in Utah’s Uintah Basin. USU’s research is aimed towards mitigating ozone impacts while minimizing costs to industry.
These contributions will help empower the BRC to provide reliable modeling data that can be used by state and federal regulators. As inversions affect several regions of Utah, most inversions in Utah are classified due to their particulate matter. In addition to meteorological ozone factors, the Uintah Basin is chemically different. Despite the differences, BRC’s models and data can still be applied to other areas experiencing ozone challenges and can help inform mitigation strategies and solutions...
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USU Biologist Uses
Machine-Learning Approach to
Track Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes
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You might not like mosquitoes, but they like you, says Utah State University biologist Norah Saarman. And where you lead, they will follow.
In addition to annoying bites and buzzing, some mosquitoes carry harmful diseases. Aedes aegypti, the so-called Yellow Fever mosquito and the subject of a recent study by Saarman and colleagues, is the primary vector for transmission of viruses causing dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika, as well as yellow fever, in humans.
“Aedes aegypti is an invasive species to North America that’s become widespread in the United States,” says Saarman...
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Research Excellence:
Ten Aggies Honored in
NSF Grad Research Fellow Search
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Ten Utah State University scholars are honorees of the prestigious 2021 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship search. The Aggies, whose awards are collectively valued at about $690,000, are among nearly 2,000 students selected from more than 13,000 applicants nationwide.
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These are just highlights
of many great stories of our student,
faculty, staff and alumni efforts!
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Stay in touch this summer!
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