Accomplishments: College of Sciences
Arya Udry (Geoscience) co-authored the manuscript "Martian Magmatism from Plume Metasomatized Mantle," which was recently published in Nature Communications. This study shows that the two main types of Martian meteorites (shergottites and nakhlites) could have formed from the same volcanic processes that create volcanoes in Hawaii as…
Daniel Proga (Physics and Astronomy) has been awarded a three-year grant for $464,618 from NASA to study radiation-magnetohydrodynamics of clouds in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Proga and his collaborators will continue their quest to develop a comprehensive and quantitative theory for cloud formation, destruction, and acceleration based on…
Jun Kang (Chemistry and Biochemistry) has been awarded a patent granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the invention “Methods and Compositions for Substituted Alpha-Aminophosphonate Analogues.” This synthetic method would enable a rapid synthesis of bioactive phosphorus-containing compounds and pharmaceuticals under…
Mary Blankenship (Sciences and Brookings Institute) was featured as a guest columnist in the Las Vegas Sun for her opinion editorial, "Lincoln Memorial Reminds Us Who We Are and Can Still Be." She is a student with a double major in chemistry and math as well as a Brookings public policy minor.
Alexis Billings, Katherine Schultz, Eddy Hernandez, W. Elizabeth Jones, and Donald Price (all Life Sciences) had a paper, "Male Courtship Behaviors and Female Choice Reduced during Experimental Starvation Stress," published in Behavioral Ecology this month. The paper stems from work done in Price's laboratory.
Billings, a postdoctoral researcher…
Bernard Zygelman (Physics and Astronomy) has published A First Introduction to Quantum Computing and Information. This book addresses and introduces new developments in the field of quantum information and computing (QIC) for a primary audience of undergraduate students.
Developments over the past few decades have spurred the need…
Mandy Mountain and Dan Thompson (both Life Sciences) earlier this month were awarded the Faculty Award for the UNLV Image of Research for their image entitled Caterpillar of the Endangered Mount Charleston Blue Butterfly Attracting an Ant Mutualist.
Eduardo Robleto (Life Sciences) has been awarded a three-year grant for $428,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study mechanisms of evolution in stressed bacteria. His research team includes international scientists and seeks to understand how microbes, including bacterial pathogens, adapt to inhospitable environments or become…
Jay Nietling (Physics and Astronomy), Katelyn DiBenedetto (Graduate College), Anabel Chavva (Service Learning & Leadership), Sara Tajalli (Writing Center), Shanna Kinzel (Student Union & Event Services), and Jill Zimbelman (Research and Economic Development) are this year's recipients of the Professional Development Awards.
These $500…
Rebecca Martin and Zhaohuan Zhu (both Physics and Astronomy) are part of a multi-institute research team that was awarded a NASA Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks grant. The grant, "Origin of the giant planet dichotomy: Multi-scale modeling of planetary envelope accretion," is for three years and UNLV will receive…
Arya Udry (Geoscience), was awarded two NASA program grants. One is a three-year, $330,540 NASA Solar System Working Program grant titled, "Petrogenesis of Poikilitic Shergottites and Implications for Martian Geochemical Reservoirs." This grant is to study a comprehensive suite of Martian meteorites called the poikilitic…
Aude Picard (Life Sciences) was awarded a Research Infrastructure Grant of $45,000 from the Nevada Space Grant Consortium for her research project “Evaluating the Impact of Oxidation on Biosignatures Preserved in Minerals”. She will study the composition and physical properties of minerals precipitated in the presence of microorganisms and…