News

Professor Claudia Schmidt-Dannert, an MSI PI in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecule Biology, and Biophysics, is profiled on the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) website for her research into disease-fighting compounds. Professor Schmidt-Dannert is investigating compounds found in fungi to discover chemicals with medicinal properties.

MSI PI Tim Griffis, a professor in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, was interviewed recently by Minnesota Public Radio about how the change from a prairie landscape to crop fields has affected Minnesota weather. Crops, especially corn, “sweat” moisture into the atmosphere much more than do prairie plants. The result is more water vapor in the air, which makes it more uncomfortable when the temperature rises.

MSI PIs were featured in a recent Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) story about how designers are developing ways to construct city neighborhoods in such a way that they will not create “heat islands,” where temperatures are higher than they are in surrounding areas.

MSI PI Larry Wackett (Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics) recently published a paper in the Nature online journal Scientific Reports that discusses a method of using sunlight to fight clean up toxic waste. The method involves a group of bacteria that use sunlight and others that eat and degrade toxic materials.

Oxidation state is an identifier used by scientists to understand the mechanisms of oxidation-reduction reactions and catalysis. In a recent paper, published in Angewandte Chemie, by graduate student Haoyu Yu and Regents Professor Donald Truhlar, an MSI PI in the Department of Chemistry, the authors reveal the existence of oxidation state 10. Previously, oxidation states ranged from -4 through +9.

MSI PI Dan Keefe, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is featured in the U’s Driven to Discover campaign: To Create 3D Space to Explore New Worlds.

Professor Sarah Hobbie, an MSI PI from the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, has been named the 2016 Ada Comstock Distinguished Scholar.

Four MSI PIs were among the faculty members who received grants from the 2016 Research Infrastructure Investment Program. These grants, which are awarded by the Office of the Vice President for Research, are designed to ensure that research facilities and support services are suitable for outstanding research. An article about the grant and a complete list of awardees can be found on the OVPR website: U Research Infrastructure Gets $2.4 Million Boost.

MSI PI Wendy Gordon, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, has been named a 2016 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. This grant, presented by the Pew Charitable Trust, “provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health.