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From the College of Natural Sciences
Alumni at Work: George Porter
Computer Science

Alumni at Work: George Porter

On the opening page of his dissertation, which he submitted this past May, computer scientist George Porter cites a passage from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. “The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong,” writes Douglas Adams in Mostly Harmless, “is that when a thing that cann...george_porter_web
Rising from the Rubble
College & Campus

Rising from the Rubble

The new Norman Hackerman Building is beginning to rise from the rubble of the old Experimental Sciences Building (ESB) this year. Named in honor and memory of Dr. Norm Hackerman, chemist, professor and president emeritus of The University of Texas at Austin, the 6-story building will hold modern classrooms and teaching labs for organic chemistry; ...hackerman building
Growing the New School of Human Ecology
College & Campus

Growing the New School of Human Ecology

Cathy Surra, director of the new School of Human Ecology, in front of Gearing Hall. Photo: Christina Murrey The new School of Human Ecology has been established at The University of Texas at Austin, a change in status for the long-standing department within the College of Natural Sciences. The conversion to school status brings human ecology to a...Cathy Surra, director of the new School of Human Ecology, in front of Gearing Hall. Photo: Christina Murrey
Q & A with Kathy Davis
Mathematics

Q & A with Kathy Davis

Photo: Brett Buchanan Professor Kathy Davis is the undergraduate mathematics advisor and associate chair of the Department of Mathematics. She has been on the faculty for 30 years and is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Why math? This is an odd generation that we are living in. We seem to be looking for the roots of everythin...Photo: Brett Buchanan
Cool Class: Bug Boot Camp
Integrative Biology

Cool Class: Bug Boot Camp

Katy Kenny decided to take John Abbott’s Field Entomology class in the summer of 2007 for two reasons. One was that she’d heard from friends that the three week “mini-mester” course, which Abbott teaches just after the spring semester ends, was interesting. The other was that she wanted to overcome her fear of bugs. “It helped,” says Kenny, a biol...katy kenny
Student Profile: Madeline Waggoner
College & Campus

Student Profile: Madeline Waggoner

Photo: Brett Buchanan Madeline Waggoner’s fascination with the biological basis of behavior began during her freshman year at Highland Park High School in Dallas in the classroom of an inspiring teacher. “My teacher, Mrs. Leediker, was just brilliant,” says Waggoner. “By the second semester, when we studied DNA and genetics, I was hooked. I tho...madeline waggoner
Postcard: Peter Thomas
Marine Science

Postcard: Peter Thomas

I’m sorting fish we collected in Florida’s Pensacola Bay estuaries to study the effect that low oxygen levels are having on Atlantic croaker reproduction. Croaker is one of the most common inshore fish along the coasts of the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Low levels of oxygen, known as hypoxia, have been increasing dramatically i...Peter Thomas at MSI
Fusion at Our Service
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
Dry Times
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).
Invisible Waves
Physics

Invisible Waves

This video still of particles suspended in water shows how internals waves can billow and mix water along the continental slope. Hidden beneath the surface of the sea, powerful “internal” waves are shaping the underwater edges of continents and contributing to ocean mixing and climate. Physicists Hepeng Zhang and Harry Swinney simulated such wave...This video still of particles suspended in water shows how internals waves can billow and mix water along the continental slope.