News
2016
Susan Nagel and her team released a study that is the first of its kind to link exposure to chemicals released during fracking to adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes in mice. Scientists believe that exposure to these chemicals also could pose a threat to human development.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – More than 15 million Americans live within a one-mile radius of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) operations. UOGs combine directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to release natural gas from underground rock. Scientific studies, while ongoing, are still inconclusive on the potential long-term effects fracturing has on human development.
The Peace Corps and the University of Missouri announced the launch of a new Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program that will provide graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers. All program fellows will complete internships in underserved American communities while they complete their studies, allowing them to bring home and expand upon the skills they learned as volunteers.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mizzou began its fall semester today with its third-highest retention rate in the university’s history and the highest ACT scores of any incoming freshman class, both indications that the University of Missouri continues to be a top choice for quality higher education in Missouri.
Mojgan Padash, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri, completed studies on fruit flies with a condition that mimics a form of HPV-induced cancer.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States and has been identified as a primary cause of cervical cancer in women. Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Missouri has completed studies on fruit flies with a condition that mimics a form of HPV-induced cancer.
Emily Puckett, who recently received her doctorate in the Division of Biological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science, found that many species are encountering much longer wait times before receiving the endangered designation. Scientists studying the ESA believe that delays could lead to less global biodiversity. Credit: Melody Kroll
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted by Congress in 1973 to protect species threatened with extinction. To receive protection, a species must first be listed as endangered or threatened in a process that is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A two-year timeline for the multi-stage process, which starts with submission of a petition and ends with a final rule in the Federal Register, was established in 1982 by a Congressional amendment to the ESA.
David Geary found that preschoolers who better process words associated with numbers and understand the quantities associated with these words are more likely to have success with math when they enter kindergarten.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – While many studies have been conducted on infants’ and preschoolers’ math competencies, few have evaluated how toddlers’ basic mathematics knowledge relates to early elementary school success.
For most of the 20th century, domestic and international adoptions were closed. Birth parents typically placed their child with an adoption agency or a religious organization and never heard from the child again, unless the child sought them out years later.
Thomas E. Phillips has been appointed a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor. The position is one of the most prestigious titles granted by the University of Missouri System and is awarded by the UM Board of Curators.
Jim Schiffbauer is on a roll. The assistant professor of geological sciences has received the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award for 2016. The award gives special recognition to junior faculty in the early phases of their careers for superior research and creative activity on the MU campus. And just last week, Schiffbauer was notified his first National Science Foundation (NSF) grant was funded.
Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate, Tim Kaine, has served as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, teacher and elected official. He is one of 20 people in American history to have served as a mayor, governor and United States senator.
The American Chemical Society has named the 2016 class of ACS fellows, which includes two chemistry professors at the University of Missouri. Kent Gates, the Herman G. Schlundt Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Silvia Jurisson, professor of chemistry and radiology, are among the 57 scientists who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and made important contributions to ACS, the world’s largest scientific society.
Pat Okker will begin her new duties as interim dean of A&S August 1.
University of Missouri Provost Garnett Stokes announced today that Pat Okker, a senior associate provost, has agreed to serve as interim dean of the College of Arts and Science.
The University of Missouri School of Music has hired Erin Cooper to be the new Director of Marching Mizzou, one of the most visible ensembles in the School of Music and the largest student organization on campus. Cooper has been Director of Bands at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma, for the past year.
John Huntley loves Italian food, which is convenient because the assistant professor of paleobiology will spend the next month as a senior visiting fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna, Italy.
We are accustomed to seeing a person with a disability accompanied by a service animal—a dog—that helps that person navigate daily life. Service animals are recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as animals trained to serve a specific disability-related function, such as a seeing-eye dog for someone with vision problems.
The Mizzou New Music Initiative and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded the Initiative’s first-ever postdoctoral fellowship to composer Phillip Sink.
Starting with the Fall 2016 semester, Sink will teach classes in composition and electronic music at Mizzou, and also will begin a major research project to be completed during the two years of his fellowship.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Summer session opened this week at the University of Missouri, and enrollment is up 2.2 percent. Overall, summer enrollment is up to 13,697 students, an increase of 298 students from last year’s total of 13,396. This is an all-time high for summer enrollment.
Laura Scherer found that data and stories from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, may not increase the public’s acceptance of vaccines.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national vaccine safety reporting system that collects information about possible side effects that may occur after inoculation. Developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and available online, anyone can report possible adverse reactions to vaccines for any reason, making it a rich source of information about possible vaccine harms.
A couple who decides to have children faces a choice—whether consciously or not—to either have fewer children and invest their resources in the health and well-being of those children, or to have more children with the realization that there will be fewer parental resources to invest in each child. Robert Lynch, a postdoctoral student in anthropology, says this is the well-known biological concept of a quality–quantity trade-off.