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From the College of Natural Sciences
Daniel J Oppenheimer

Daniel J Oppenheimer

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Dan was publications editor for the College of Natural Sciences from 2006-2013. He is now communications manager for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.

Chemistry

Defusing Explosive Situations

Chemisty Professor Jonathan Sessler's laboratory is working with a class of molecules that would detect small amounts of TNT and rapidly change color, signaling the presence of the explosive. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been a devastating weapon against United States armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been more than 81,...Chemisty Professor Jonathan Sessler's laboratory is working with a class of molecules that would detect small amounts of TNT and rapidly change color, signaling the presence of the explosive.
Physics

Q & A with Michael Marder

Michael Marder is a physics professor a co-director of UTeach How long have you been interested in science education? In a way, since I was young. I grew up in Champaign-Urbana, and at the time, the University of Illinois was trying a number of radical education experiments, and I was part of them. In eighth and ninth grade, for instance, I was i...marder_illustration_web
Computer Science

Cool Class: Autonomous Vehicles

Computer scientist Peter Stone’s CS 378 class was launched in the spring of 2007 under unique circumstances. Stone had been asked by the College of Natural Sciences to lead a “research stream” in the Freshman Research Initiative—to teach undergraduates by bringing them directly into the midst of his life as a researcher. He was also, coincidentall...marvin autonomous vehicle
Neuroscience

Model for Angelman Syndrome Developed

AUSTIN, Texas—A model for studying the genetics of Angelman syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes mental retardation and other symptoms in one out of 15,000 births, has been developed by biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. Their research demonstrates that when a particular fruit fly gene, dube3a, is altered, the mutant flies s...
Tags:
Birth Defects Genetics molecular biology health & medicine
Mathematics

Dr. Rath Goes to Washington

When James Rath leaves for Washington D.C. at the end of August to work as a congressional aide, he’ll take with him an unusual qualification—a Ph.D. in mathematics. Rath, a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher in the math department, is going to D.C. as part of the Congressional Fellowship program sponsored by the American Association for the A...
Astronomy

Sarah Miller, Rhodes Scholar

Sarah Miller didn’t find out that she was going to be a Rhodes Scholar in the mail, or on the phone. She was standing shoulder to shoulder with the 20 or so other finalists in the Texas/Louisiana region, many of whom she’d gotten to know and like over the course of an intense weekend of interviews. “It was very reality-show style,” says Miller, an...sarah miller
What the Future Holds
College & Campus

What the Future Holds

We asked faculty from the College of Natural Sciences a big question: "What development in your field is likely to have the greatest impact on the way that we live in the next few decades? How?" Here are their answers: --- J. Strother Moore The Admiral B. R. Inman Centennial EMERITUS Chair in Computing Theory  Department of Compute...
Integrative Biology

Scientists Find New Clues to Explain Amazonian Biodiversity

AUSTIN, Texas--Ice age climate change and ancient flooding—but not barriers created by rivers—may have promoted the evolution of new insect species in the Amazon region of South America, a new study suggests. The Amazon basin is home to the richest diversity of life on earth, yet the reasons why this came to be are not well understood. A team of ...
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Biodiversity Climate Change International Evolution Ecology
Integrative Biology

Into the Field

Ulrich Mueller, recent recipient of the E.O. Wilson award, crouches above a leafcutter ant mound at the Brackenridge Field Lab in Austin. He's been monitoring ants at the lab for a decade in concert with his work in Central and South America. Photo: Marsha Miller. In his acceptance speech for the E.O. Wilson Award at this year’s annual meeting o...Ulrich Mueller at Brackenridge Field Lab
Computer Science

Working on a Wireless World

Every day that computer sciences professor Lili Qiu works to find new ways to make wireless connections faster, more reliable and more accessible is another day that the challenges, and the possibilities, of the wireless world expand. Since arriving at the university from Microsoft in 2005, Qiu has completed a general wireless interference model ...final_lili