Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Molecular Lock Helps Power Life on Earth

Barry Bruce and colleagues shine new light on the mechanisms of photosynthesis. Professor Barry Bruce, Associate Professor Rajan Lamichhane, both of the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB), and colleagues co-authored a paper that newly reveals the dynamics of photosynthesis at the cellular level. The team, which included graduate student Sree Kavya…
Scholar Spotlight: Chelsea Mackaman-Lofland

“I study rocks that have been folded, faulted, crumpled up, and otherwise deformed to understand the forces that create mountain ranges and shape Earth’s landscapes.” Chelsea Mackaman-LoflandAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences As an expert in structural geology and tectonics, my research combines a variety of field, analytical, and numerical modeling-based approaches. I…
UT Graduate Student Joins Researchers in Antarctica

Microbiology doctoral candidate Jason Olavesen sailed to the Southern Ocean with an international team investigating microscopic organisms that drive global carbon cycles. Microbiology research took a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, student on a voyage in the Southern Ocean for nearly seven weeks in early 2026. Jason Olavesen, a third-year PhD student in UT’s Department of…
National Geographic Supports UT Research on Hemlocks

Doctoral student Sonja Schmoyer is using drone-based hyperspectral imaging and AI to detect invasive pests that are endangering one of America’s keystone species. The National Geographic Society has awarded a grant to Sonja Schmoyer, a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for research designed to help protect endangered hemlock trees.Schmoyer is one of…
Medic to Medical Researcher

A US Army veteran, doctoral candidate Logan Dunn is driven to research the biochemistry behind neurological disorders. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Logan Dunn has been so passionate about his neurological research that he sometimes starts working in the lab hours before students head to their first class. “I’m so…
Wallace Receives Mary Lynn Glustoff Award

Rhonda Wallace, Chemistry Department staff member since 2003, has been awarded the 2026 Mary Lynn Glustoff Clerical Award for her exceptional service to the department. Rhonda Wallace, the department head administrative associate in the UT Department of Chemistry, received the 2026 Mary Lynn Glustoff Clerical Award. Wallace, who joined the Department of Chemistry in 2003,…
The Fish Were Biting in Ancient Alabama

Research collaboration uses high-tech scanning technology to reveal a bad-luck day for an ancient undersea predator. Header Image: Paeloart by Miles Mayhall The oceans of the Cretaceous of North America teemed with life. Gigantic fish and enormous marine reptiles hunted the Western Interior Sea. A unique new fossil reported today demonstrates rare evidence of direct…
Research Shows Warming Impact on Soil Ecosystem

Within only a few decades of higher temperatures, microbial systems change in ways that disrupt carbon and nutrient cycles. Long-term ecosystem warming changes not only plants but the fungi in the soil below, according to a new study including researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “Hidden mycorrhizal fungi below ground are much more vulnerable…
Scholar Spotlight: Sherwood Richers

“I study some of the most energetic explosions in the universe—those caused by stars collapsing at the ends of their lives, and those resulting from the violent collisions of neutron stars. I focus on how neutrinos drive these explosions and determine how they enrich the universe with many types of elements.” Sherwood RichersAssistant ProfessorDepartment of…
Scholar Spotlight: Xinyue (Evelyn) Zhao

“I use mathematics to understand how things change and grow, like how tumors expand, how ice melts, or how diseases spread. My work helps predict what might happen in these systems so scientists and doctors can make better decisions.” Xinyue (Evelyn) ZhaoAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Mathematics I study partial differential equations, especially free boundary problems, motivated…