College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Latest News

Corpse plant ready to bloom at the Botanic Gardens

A rare sight — and smell — is on display at the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens with a corpse plant expected to bloom in the coming days. This will be the first time it has bloomed since the gardens began growing the tropical plant, officially known as Amorphophallus titanum, in 2007 from seeds acquired from the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and...

By Imran Ghori |

NASA fellowship fuels doctoral student’s search for alien life

Daria Pidhorodetska examines Earth-like planets for habitability

By Jules Bernstein |

Astronomer shares excitement over James Webb Space Telescope images

Bahram Mobasher is at Paris meeting to decide how to use the new data

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Local high school teachers get up to date with physics

Summer Physics Academy is offered in person at UCR after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Graduate student receives predoctoral fellowship for epilepsy research

A ndrew Huang, a biomedical sciences graduate student at UC Riverside, has been awarded a one-year American Epilepsy Society Predoctoral Research Fellowship. The $30,000 award includes $1,000 for Huang to use as travel funds to attend the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in December 2022. He will also receive a complimentary...

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Using sheep brains to make waves

There was a time when Brain Awareness Day, which takes place each April, was just about the only outreach activity of the UC Riverside Neuroscience Graduate Students Association, or NGSA. But that changed when second-year graduate student David Nikom came to UCR in September 2020 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst after receiving his...

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Astronomers identify protoclusters with new technique

Protoclusters are extended clumps of material that can eventually form today’s galaxy clusters. In a paper published in Nature, a research team, including UC Riverside physicist Simeon Bird and his graduate student Mahdi Qezlou, reports it has identified protoclusters using a new technique that differs from earlier methods by identifying clumps of...

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Physicist conferred honorary doctorate by Universitat de València

Barry Barish, a distinguished professor of physics at UC Riverside, has been conferred an honorary doctorate by the Universitat de València for his work in experimental physics and discovery of gravitational waves. The recognition is the highest honor given by the university, which is one of the oldest in Spain and considered one of the country’s...

By Imran Ghori |

Graduate student receives grant to study how maternal gut microbiome affects social behavior of offspring

Doctoral student Elena Kozlova has received a $25,000 grant from the food and beverage company Danone North America to explore how the gut microbiome, probiotics, and yogurt help support and maintain human health and wellness. The 2021-2022 Danone North America Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship Grant will help Kozlova study how the...

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

UCR entomology professor receives NCUE Distinguished Achievement Award

UC Riverside Professor and Endowed Presidential Chair in Urban Entomology Chow-Yang Lee has been presented with the 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award in Urban Entomology in recognition of his contributions to the field. Considered the highest recognition urban entomologists can receive in the field, Lee was presented the award on May 16 in Salt...

By Brigid Boll |

Two UCR students win Strauss Scholarships

Two UC Riverside students have won Donald A. Strauss Foundation awards in recognition of student engagement with public service. The students, Ankita Ahluwalia and Thaniya Shankar, each applied with a public service project that they will carry out during their junior or senior year. The awards come with $15,000 grants that aim to sustain their...

By Brigid Boll |

UCR researchers win Climate Resilience and Community Access grant

The Center for Conservation Biology at UC Riverside is among eight recipients of Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy's new Climate Resilience and Community Access grant program. The $400,000 grant will aid efforts to study climate resilience and improve the capacity to respond to climate change and outdoor equity. The project, titled “The Desert...

By Brigid Boll |

Study identifies toxic byproduct from vaping of vitamin E acetate

UC Riverside research provides information on chemistry occurring during and post vaping

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

Physics undergraduate accepted into prestigious summer research program at Caltech

Peter Carney will work on an automated locking system for LIGO optomechanical amplifiers

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

UC Riverside scientists dominate entomology society awards

Web of outstanding professionals ensnares top honors

By Jules Bernstein |

Gift to UCR enables Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program’s first award

Y uqi Ma, a doctoral student in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, is the first recipient of an award of $10,000 from the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, or CNAS, made possible by a gift from the Leonard Family Foundation. The Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program at UCR is the first graduate program selected for...

By Iqbal Pittalwala |

UCR hydrologist receives top honor from American Geophysical Union

Award highlights Professor Jirka Simunek's many contributions to his field

By Jules Bernstein |

UCR distinguished professor receives Geochemical Society’s top honor

Victor M. Goldschmidt Award recognizes major career achievements

By Jules Bernstein |

Four UC Riverside professors named AAAS Fellows

The honor is considered one of the highlights of a recipient’s career

By Holly Ober |

Paleontology Professor Mary Droser wins National Academy of Sciences medal

Award recognizes outstanding research into ancient life

By Jules Bernstein |