“These findings are significant as they are consistent with purported human health benefits of kombucha tea, which include protection against metabolic diseases, improved liver function, and reduced fat accumulation.” — Rob Dowen, PhD
Read more about the study in Medical News Today and PLOS Genetics
Through a new NSF Engines award, Carolina and nine partners will develop a plan for a 42-county Agricultural Tech Innovation Corridor, boosting innovation and access for underserved agricultural communities across North Carolina.
Agriculture is a cornerstone of North Carolina’s economy and provides a livelihood for a significant portion of its population. But most of the research and technological innovations that could benefit and grow the $103 billion industry are housed within companies and universities in more urban areas of the state.
The project, called the Climate-Responsive Opportunities in Plant Science (CROPS) initiative, includes researchers from Carolina, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Duke University, East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, and Wake Forest University. It also incorporates specialists and county agents from the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, industry leader N.C. Biotechnology Center, the non-profit research institute RTI International, and the North Carolina Community College System.
“Through this broad collaboration, we will supercharge our agriculture sector by leveraging the unique strengths of our partners and sparking innovation that benefits the entire state,” said Carolina Eminent Professor of Convergent Science Gregory Copenhaver who serves as the University’s lead on the project. “CROPS envisions a future of climate-resilient agriculture in rural North Carolina, leading to a new generation of empowered and prosperous small- and midsized farms that contribute to thriving rural communities.” READ MORE
Whale Shark and Ecotourism Management – Nowadays, ecotourism with wildlife has witnessed unprecedented growth, attracting tourists seeking immersive experiences with nature. However, when ecotourism guidelines are not well-established, human behaviour can induce stress in animals. When you spend time with these giant animals, you start to notice that some are shyer than others, and this behaviour can be related to previous experiences with boats or swimmers. READ MORE
The Copenhaver lab has published a collaborative review in Nucleus entitled Heterochromatin in plant meiosis, which describes how regions of chromosomes can be packaged into a dense state called heterochromatin that is associated with gene silencing. The review focuses on how those processes are regulated during the reproductive cycle in plants. READ MORE
That’s right – THREE! We have the best faculty, and everyone knows it!
Drumroll…
Congratulations to:
By student body referendum in 1989 and initiation of a special student fee, the Student Undergraduate Teaching Awards were established to recognize outstanding undergraduate instruction by both faculty and teaching assistants. A committee comprised of students reviewed the teaching nominations on the basis of demonstrated and consistent teaching excellence, success in positively affecting a broad spectrum of students both in and outside the classroom and creation of a dynamic learning environment.
The Hige Lab has worked with the Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership every summer since 2021. The program connects a K12 educator with a mentor in a research or industry setting. The goal is to equip the educator to act as a bridge between the skills taught in the classroom and the ways students may apply those skills in their future workplaces.
In the summer of 2024, the Hige Lab will host its fourth Kenan Fellow. The Hige Lab’s fellows were supported by funds from a National Science Foundation grant awarded to the lab, and the lab continues to support past fellows with classroom visits.
Pictured here is Drew Davidson, a member of Toshi Hige’s lab, visiting the classroom of Christine Sudzina Schut, the lab’s 2023 Kenan Fellow. With the support of the Hige Lab, Ms. Sudzina produced a series of inquiry-based sessions that used fruit flies to enhance the seventh-grade science standard of observing life cycles.
Gregory Copenhaver, director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for Convergent Science, has been named a 2024 senior member by the National Academy of Inventors in recognition of his work as both an innovator and a mentor to future inventors.
The National Academy of Inventors comprises over 250 universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes across the globe and includes over 4,000 individual inventor members. The NAI announced this newest group of 124 senior members, the largest class to date with members from 60 member institutions, on Feb. 27.
Senior members are active faculty, scientists and administrators from the academy’s member institutions who have demonstrated remarkable innovation-producing technologies that have a real impact on society. They are also fostering success in patents, licensing and commercialization while continuing to educate and mentor the next generation of inventors.
Collectively, Copenhaver and his academy peers are named inventors on over 1,000 U.S. patents. READ MORE
College of Arts & Sciences Dean Jim White announced the two newest scholars in our Working on Women in Science (WOWS) initiative, which is dedicated to professional advancement in the sciences in the College. Congratulations to Professors Laura Mersini-Houghton in physics and astronomy and Karin Pfennig in biology.
As WOWs Scholars, they will serve two year-terms, receiving annual grants to pursue initiatives of their choosing, and working in close partnership with Associate Dean for Research and Innovation Kelly Giovanello and Senior Associate Dean for Natural Sciences Jaye Cable. Their appointments begin July 1.
Karin Pfennig is a behavioral and evolutionary ecologist who blends field and laboratory work to understand the role of behavior in the origins and distribution of biodiversity. She and a team of faculty and scientists have started a new collaborative organization, the Carolina Biodiversity Collaborative, to develop solutions to the global biodiversity crisis.
She has a strong record of advancing women in the sciences, including work with national programs such as Girls Advancing in STEM. Here at UNC, she has served as a peer mentoring circle facilitator for female junior faculty as part of the Targeting Equity in Access to Mentoring (TEAM) ADVANCE program. She has served in several leadership roles at UNC-Chapel Hill, including service as a member and chair of the Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee and as biology’s associate chair for academic affairs. She is a graduate of the University’s Academic Leadership Program.
Dean White looks forward to learning what initiatives Professors Mersini-Houghton and Pfennig will take on in their new role as WOWS Scholars.
Dr. Drew Davidson is an F32 award recipient who used the funding opportunity to investigate context-dependent behaviors in animals. The F32 funding opportunity supports the research training of promising postdoctorates early in their postdoctoral training period.
The NIH BRAIN Initiative funding portfolio enables the collaborative and multidisciplinary research necessary to help us understand the brain’s complexities. Dr. Drew Davidson received a BRAIN Initiative F32 Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship award to support his research on associative learning. The F32 program rewards promising postdoctorates early in their careers by enhancing their research training in project areas that advance the goals of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. This article is part of a series that highlights the careers of NIH BRAIN Initiative F32 grantees. READ MORE
Biologists Celia Shiau and En Yang at UNC-Chapel Hill have been awarded a competitive Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) grant to tackle unsolved grand challenges in neurodegenerative diseases and fundamental neuroscience. The awards were announced on Feb. 21.
The scientists received a 2024 CZI Neuroscience Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Award for their project “Mapping Cholesterol Dynamics across Brain-wide Neural Circuits.” This is only the second cycle of these awards since 2018. The awards are given to a pair of investigators and their teams to use innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to tackle new and bold directions of neuroscience.
The CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network brings together experimental scientists from diverse research fields to accelerate fundamental neuroscience and neurodegenerative disease research that leads to the development of new strategies for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.