• New Natural Sciences and Math Faculty for Fall 2025

    New Natural Sciences and Math Faculty for Fall 2025

    New faculty members bring their research perspective to the UT natural sciences and math community. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee New faculty members joining the college’s Division of Natural Sciences and Math this fall contribute groundbreaking perspectives across research and scholarship areas, building upon the wide research spectrum of UT’s cutting-edge community of scientists…

  • Faculty Stars Align Through Hiring Constellation

    Faculty Stars Align Through Hiring Constellation

    New faculty members fill strategic roles as hiring constellation takes form. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee Faculty members joining the college in fall 2025 bring new, interdisciplinary perspectives in a variety of academic fields, research topics, and creative activity. Some of these new faculty faces arrive as part of a strategic hiring constellation: “Envisioning…

  • UT Part of Mars Team Finding Possible Sign of Life

    UT Part of Mars Team Finding Possible Sign of Life

    Professor Linda Kah is among the researchers working with NASA to capture images and data that may show ancient microbial life on the Red Planet. A professor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is part of the scientific team that has identified a potential sign of early life on Mars. Linda Kah, the Kenneth R.…

  • Scholar Spotlight: Ehsan Lor Afshar

    Scholar Spotlight: Ehsan Lor Afshar

    “I study the things people care about most, and how those things shape our lives, choices, and feelings.” Ehsan Lor AfsharAssistant Teaching ProfessorDepartment of Anthropology My work explores how changes in what we value—especially when something important loses its worth—can make people feel out of place or disconnected from their home and community. My research…

  • Crowded Conditions Muddle Frogs’ Mating Choices

    Crowded Conditions Muddle Frogs’ Mating Choices

    New animal research shows female treefrogs may not get the mate they likely want in crowded environments, and those conditions may hamper evolution. Female treefrogs prefer a mate with an impressive call, but the crowded environments give unattractive males an edge, according to a new international study led by Assistant Professor Jessie Tanner of the…

  • Humanities Grant Funds UT Research on Medieval Poet

    Humanities Grant Funds UT Research on Medieval Poet

    Associate Professor Ryan Perry is researching one of the most prolific English poets and enabling UT graduate students to train as medieval scholars. Associate Professor R. D. (Ryan) Perry has received a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for research to create a new scholarly edition about one of the most…

  • Scholar Spotlight: Billy You Bun Lau

    Scholar Spotlight: Billy You Bun Lau

    “My research helps us understand how the brain adapts under healthy conditions and what might go wrong in brain disorders.” Billy You Bun LauAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Psychology and NeuroscienceDepartment of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology I study how the brain changes with experience, such as when a mouse learns from a mother to care…

  • UT’s Rising Stars of Microbiology

    UT’s Rising Stars of Microbiology

    UT microbiology faculty and graduate students collaborate for research reviews in a leading microbiology journal. Three Department of Microbiology faculty members were nominated and selected this year for the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) “Rising Star in the Field of Host-Microbe Interactions,” a competitive initiative to feature review articles by top researchers for a special…

  • Scholar Spotlight: Irene Guerinot

    Scholar Spotlight: Irene Guerinot

    “My most important objective is to challenge, motivate, encourage, and inspire my students to think about their world, in new ways and with a scientific perspective.” Irene GuerinotTeaching Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Physics and Astronomy  Some of my students are physics, math, and engineering majors diving deep into the subject. Others are studying fields like biology,…

  • Melodies of the Middle East

    Melodies of the Middle East

    October 17, 2025 – 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.) Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902 The Arab American Club of Knoxville (AACK) and the University of Tennessee’s Middle East Studies program invite you to a night of glamour, fun, and live Middle Eastern music. Free and open to the public;…