Natural Sciences
Stephanie Caddell
Stephanie Caddell is a sophomore studying environmental science in the Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Science within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She studies how to connect the needs of humans with the needs of the environment to protect the earth.
Galápagos: A Gateway for Global Research
For more than 10 years, the UNC Center for Galápagos Studies has been a hub of collaborative research activity spanning many disciplines, with the potential to impact the globe. Diego Riveros-Iregui and Amanda Thompson, the center’s new interim co-directors, strive to use their own experiences from the islands to expand its reach and grow its reputation as a world-renowned research institution.
Disassembling Evolution’s Engine
When a research project centered on evolution within spadefoot toads fell through, Emily Harmon shifted her focus to microscopic swimmers called rotifers. The biology PhD student is studying an animal’s ability to adapt in one generation, which could inform conservation efforts in the face of climate change.
The Smorgasbord Scientist
Why do some organisms live in groups? What influences their cooperation with one another? How do they choose their mates? PhD student Brian Lerch has a lot of questions about ecology and evolutionary biology — and he strives to answer them using math.
Anna Fraser
Anna Fraser is PhD student in the Department of Chemistry within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She designs, synthesizes, and characterizes polymers for water purification.
The Storm that Changed Her
A hurricane in 2010 turned Caela O’Connell’s dissertation plans upside down. It continues to affect her and her research 11 years later as a UNC-Chapel Hill anthropology professor.
A Project of Her Own
Most UNC-Chapel Hill PhD students oversee their own research projects for their dissertations. But Kriddie Whitmore did it in a foreign country — and with the added challenges of a language barrier, bad weather, and limited equipment. This past summer, Whitmore traveled to the Andes Mountains in Ecuador, tackling their demands with incredible tenacity and creativity.
Sifting Through Schoolyard Memories
This summer, UNC-Chapel Hill PhD student Colleen Betti and 80 volunteers rushed to uncover a historic schoolyard that was about to be paved over and transformed into a parking lot. Their mission: to illuminate the overlooked, everyday lives of African American school children from the 19th century.
In Hot Water
Warming ocean waters are one of many climate change consequences, and scientists have observed fish migrating to stay within their preferred temperature range. Janet Nye, a UNC-Chapel Hill marine scientist, wants to understand how a warmer environment will affect these animals to help fisheries better prepare for the future.
Stephanie Smith
Stephanie Smith is a PhD student in the Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. By observing squid, she researches how bacteria acquire and exchange DNA from other bacterial cells — a process called horizontal gene transfer — to improve our understanding of bacterial evolution.
Perseverance in the Páramo
This summer, UNC-Chapel Hill research technicians Liz Farquhar and Tessa Davis traveled to the Andes Mountains in Ecuador for a project in the páramo, a beautiful but challenging ecosystem. While the high altitude and unpredictable weather took time to adjust to, they discovered that the resilience they gained during the pandemic aided them in all the obstacles they faced.
Searching for Sheepshead
Commercial and recreational fishing are important contributors to the North Carolina economy, but there are still lots of unknowns about many fish species. UNC–Chapel Hill PhD student Lewis Naisbett-Jones is trying to unravel some of that mystery by tracking the migration of one popular species in the fishing community: sheepshead.