Research Round-Up
Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences engage in world-class research, scholarship, and creative work that expands the frontiers of knowledge to create a more just, prosperous, and sustainable future. Their work strengthens the reputation of our university and makes an impact on the lives of Tennesseans and our global community.
UT Leads World in Polymer Science Ranking
UT researchers in fields including chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, biosystems engineering, and forestry are investigating polymers through a variety of fundamental scientific problems with real-world impact—from designing and creating new advanced materials to improving industrial processes to creating sustainable biofuels.
UT Professors Investigate Solutions for “Forever Chemicals”
Shawn Campagna, professor and associate department head in chemistry, and Frank Loeffler, Governor’s Chair professor in microbiology, have made a discovery that could lead to new capabilities for managing environmental contamination. Their work explores a potential avenue for decreasing broad contamination with these chemicals.
Annette Summers Engel, professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, is the principal investigator for a multi-institutional team that received a National Science Foundation grant to study methane emissions in coastal wetlands, which play an important role in climate change.
When office-job workers at home during the pandemic turned to day trading with cryptocurrencies and word spread of easy money, the market exploded. In May 2022, however, it collapsed – spectacularly. What causes new trends to come crashing down is the subject of new research from Alex Bentley, professor of anthropology.
Investigating New Digital Authorities
Sergey Gavrilets, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to research the emergence of new digital authorities on social media. The big question he wants to answer? “How are contemporary social media changing human social and cultural evolution?”
New Research Suggests Heat Waves Could Lead to Avian Population Decline
Understanding how birds respond to climate change is a critical area of research that Elizabeth Derryberry, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and her colleagues are racing to understand, including the increased prevalence and intensity of heat waves and how heat impacts the behavior and physiology of Zebra finches.
Faculty Members Among Most Highly Cited Researchers for 2022
Three faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences are included on the 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers from Clarivate, which compiles a list of influential science and engineering researchers with multiple publications that have been highly cited, either in the researcher’s principal field or across multiple fields.
Amazon Selects Professor to Tackle High-Impact Technical Challenges
Qiusheng Wu, assistant professor of geography and sustainability at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was appointed an Amazon Visiting Academic working for Amazon Web Services’ Deep Learning organization. The program allows academics to conduct research while teaching and leading at universities. Wu’s work with Amazon focuses on solving large-scale high-impact technical challenges related to geospatial data science, machine learning and mapping.
Dinosaur Mummy Provides New Insight into Soft Tissue Fossilization
In 2008, an Edmontosaurus “mummy” arrived at the North Dakota Geological Survey where lab technicians began the process of removing sediment and preparing the specimen for paleontologists to investigate. Nicknamed “Dakota,” the mummy revealed several unexpected features, such as extensive areas of fossilized skin and the presence of a broad fingernail on the end of the dinosaur’s ‘mitten-like’ hand. A paper published in PLOS reveals that these bite and potential claw marks in its beautifully preserved skin defied paleontological conventions on how such fossils formed.
Stealing Electrons and Reversing Time
UT physicists published findings in Nature Physics about a novel form of superconductivity that could bring rapidly emerging quantum technologies closer to industrial scale production.
Michael Blum, professor of ecology, is part of a team studying plant evolution to inform climate change impacts on wetland ecosystems.
