Faculty in the College of Biological Sciences conduct research on a broad range of subjects, from molecules to ecosystems, and make discoveries that improve human health, restore the environment, provide new sources of renewable energy and enhance agriculture. Here you will find a collection of news, features and opportunities for and about CBS faculty.
In 2019, the Nutrient Network (NutNet) achieved a new milestone — 143 sites on six continents. This summer, more than 40 researchers affiliated with the ecological research network attended the NutNet annual meeting hosted by Ecology, Evolution and Behavior professors Elizabeth Borer and Eric Seabloom.
Welcome back to campus! Summer provides some much-needed breathing room to reflect on accomplishments and make plans for the coming year. I hope your summer provided ample opportunity for both activities.
Winter seems like a long ways off, but some are already beginning their migration south. Several thousand monarchs reared on the St. Paul campus are gearing up for their journey to central Mexico.
It sounds like something out of a tree horror movie: After spreading silently below the ground from an infected neighbor, a fungus creeps its way up through a tree’s trunk, choking off its lifeblood and eventually killing it.
Mention the Black Death and visions of overcrowded 14th-century European cities teaming with rats come to mind. Despite the association of plague with crowded cities the disease didn’t originate there. Plague is caused by a bacterium regularly found in flea and rodent populations across Central Asia’s rural areas, where it first appeared.
This time of year is always a little bittersweet. The frenetic activity of April gives way to the quiet focus of finals week, and of course we will soon bid farewell to a class of newly minted graduates. Later this week well over 400 graduating seniors will walk across the stage at 3M Arena to the loud cheers of their peers, family and friends. It’s an inspiring and emotional experience for all. If you want a sense of the emotions evoked by this annual rite of passage, take a moment to watch this year’s commencement video.
April is always an incredibly busy time for all as momentum builds toward the culminating event of the year, commencement. This year, I’m pleased to announce that Plant and Microbial Biology Professor George Weiblen will be our speaker. George has achieved so much as a scholar but also in the areas of conservation and community engagement. He will no doubt serve as an inspiration for our soon-to-be graduates.
In pondering the big questions of life, few are bigger than, ‘Where did we come from?’ Aaron Engelhart and Kate Adamala are undaunted.