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From the College of Natural Sciences
Lee H Clippard

Lee H Clippard

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Lee is the Director of Communications for the college. He holds a B.S. in Biology from UT and an M.S. in Entomology from UW-Madison. He lives in East Austin with his partner, their dog, and a garden full of plants and bugs.

Physics

Fusion at Our Service

(L to R) Mike Kotschenreuther, Swadesh Mahajan, Prashant Valanju and Erich Schneider. Photo: Marsha Miller Fusion has long been pursued as a pure and virtually inexhaustible source of energy. It is fusion reactions, after all, that power the stars. When fusion—the joining of two similar atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus—occurs in an uncon...(L to R) Mike Kotschenreuther, Swadesh Mahajan, Prashant Valanju and Erich Schneider
Integrative Biology

Dry Times

Images from a thermal camera show that the German Arabidopsis plants transpire less and are hotter (bottom three). This contrasts with the German plants that have a key section of chromosome from Cape Verdean plants. They transpire more and are much cooler (top three). Any farmer or gardener worth their salt understands the power of water to giv...Images from a thermal camera show that the German Arabidopsis plants transpire less and are hotter (bottom three). This contrasts with the German plants that have a key section of chromosome from Cape Verdean plants. They transpire more and are much cooler (top three).
Integrative Biology

Troubled Waters: A rare desert spring ecosystem considered one of Mexico's 13 natural wonders is threatened

Sprawling across a cactus-studded valley in México's Chihuahuan Desert is a place like no other on the planet.

Chemistry

Bard Named Distinguished Scientist by Southeastern Research Association

The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) today announced that Allen Bard, the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, will receive its 2009 Distinguished Scientist Award.

College & Campus

Bolnick, Wallingford Become HHMI Early Career Scientists

Two University of Texas at Austin biologists join 50 of the nation's best early career science faculty to focus on their boldest and potentially transformative research ideas with support from a new initiative from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Molecular Biosciences

Biologist Studies Evolution of HIV

AUSTIN, Texas--Dr. Sara Sawyer, an evolutionary biologist, will use a $120,000 grant from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) to study how the HIV virus and the cells it attacks have evolved together over time. The goal of her research is to discover new targets for drugs. When HIV infiltrates cells, the virus hijacks its host's genetic m...
Tags:
Finance Evolution health & medicine infectious disease molecular biology
Marine Scientists to Assess Arctic Ocean Environment
Marine Science

Marine Scientists to Assess Arctic Ocean Environment

AUSTIN, Texas — Through a $2.9 million, three-year grant from the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a team led by University of Texas at Austin marine scientists will assess the biological and chemical conditions on the seabed of the Chukchi Sea before the area opens for offshore oil drilling. The contract from the MMS (U.S. Department of the Int...
Tags:
Biodiversity Finance Climate Change Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Nuclear Fusion-Fission Hybrid Could Destroy Nuclear Waste And Contribute to Carbon-Free Energy Future
Physics

Nuclear Fusion-Fission Hybrid Could Destroy Nuclear Waste And Contribute to Carbon-Free Energy Future

AUSTIN, Texas — Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most of the transuranic waste produced by nuclear power plants. The invention could help combat global warming by making nuclear power cleaner and thus a more viable replacement of carbon-heavy energy...
Tags:
Energy, Environment and Sustainability Particle Physics
Sibling Rivalry
College & Campus

Sibling Rivalry

Here’s what happens when you put some of the world’s smartest and most creative physicists in the same mental space with some of the world’s greatest bacteriologists: Border maintenance among warring colonies of bacteria is explained by applying a little math. That, my friends, is science at work. Physicists Harry Swinney and Avraham Be’er, coll...
Tags:
Microbiology Organismal Biology
Why Hybrids Grow Bigger
Molecular Biosciences

Why Hybrids Grow Bigger

AUSTIN, Texas—Hybrid plants, like corn, grow bigger and better than their parents because many of their genes for photosynthesis and starch metabolism are more active during the day, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin in a new study published in the journal Nature. Their research has relevance in many areas of agriculture, a...
Tags:
Genetics Biodiversity molecular biology