Life, Earth And Space

See how Alexandra Doten, BA'18 is turning her love for all things space into a social media adventure. Read More

A study by Vanderbilt biology graduate student Lindsay Martin and Centennial Professor of Biological Sciences Julián Hillyer found that mosquitoes age more quickly when temperatures are higher. This aging, in turn, weakens the mosquito immune system and makes them more likely to get infected with disease. Read More

Steven Wernke, associate professor and chair of anthropology, has developed GeoPACHA (Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History and Archaeology), a web application that allows researchers to map archaeological sites in the Andes at a greater scale than ever before. GeoPACHA has enabled new discoveries about past human occupation in the region that will be featured in six articles in the February issue of the journal Antiquity. Read More

Steven Wernke, associate professor and chair of anthropology, has developed GeoPACHA (Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History and Archaeology), a web application that allows researchers to map archaeological sites in the Andes at a greater scale than ever before. Read More

Vanderbilt hosts first international lunar gravitational wave workshop, including a Nobel laureate, a NASA administrator, leading astrophysicists and more, to identify opportunities and resources to continue exploring our universe.  Read More

Vanderbilt University recently hosted the Vanderbilt University-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Workshop on Climate Change and Environmental Justice, aiming to deepen collaborative research on climate change and discuss potential projects. The event, which emphasized the importance of environmental justice and resilience strategies, marked the continuation of the institutions’ efforts to collaborate on addressing global challenges. Read More

Monica Keith, assistant professor of anthropology, recently published insights into the complex factors contributing to maternal hypertension and health disparities. This research sheds light on the alarming rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in the United States, particularly among Black mothers. Read More

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, emphasizing multi-messenger astronomy, utilized strategic funding from a Scaling Success Internal Award to secure a $1.7 million NSF grant. This collaborative journey, focusing on inclusive STEM education and innovative training approaches, highlights the power of adaptability and vision in research endeavors. Read More

Aging stars expand and eventually destroy planets in their inner systems. Or do they? A team of researchers that includes Keivan Stassun finds evidence of a planet that survived its star’s transformation, and that is reshaping our understanding of planetary and stellar evolution. Read More

Nicole Creanza and Yakov Pichkar explore whether subtle cultural differences within a language mirror genetic structure within a population. The answer: Even small cultural differences like dialect can influence the spread of people and genes. Read More

Vanderbilt astrophysicist Karan Jani helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity as it relates to black holes and gravitational waves. Learn how he's using his expertise to teach undergrads with diverse majors who are eager to learn about space. Read More

Marie-Claire Harrison, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Brighter Ventures Student Award. The Brighter Ventures Student Award supports Ph.D. students interested in the application of artificial intelligence in the biomedical research field. Read More

The cultural evolution of a population depends not only on size but also on the degree of specialization within a population, according to a new study published last month by a team of scientists including Nicole Creanza. The study found that populations can increase their cultural repertoire by subdividing knowledge into smaller groups, but the total group must be sufficiently large for specialization to be advantageous. Read More

A new study led by members of Ann Tate’s lab found evidence that pleiotropy may slow down evolution of genes involved in immunity. Read More

Graduate student Reese Martin and his doctoral advisor, Ann Tate, assistant professor of biological sciences, used theoretical modeling to identify a potential relationship between genetic pleiotropy and the evolution of immune responses. Read More

Sarah Worthan, along with Robert McCarthy and Megan Behringer, led a new effort to understand the effects of the environment on the outcome of experimental evolution studies. Read More

Stephen Ferguson, first-author of a new paper with his postdoctoral advisor, Laurence Zwiebel, along with two undergraduates associated with the lab, Isaac Bakis and Nicholas Edwards, confirmed the existence of a specialized soldier caste within an ant species. Read More

Vanderbilt researcher Amanda Lea, along with a global team of experts, has discovered new pathways of natural selection in humans. Read More

With a newly developed technique, Vanderbilt professor Jessica Oster is revealing how prehistoric climate change shaped fire activity in California. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are studying a bacterial pathogen that can survive on hospital surfaces — without water — for months, an ability that has helped it become a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Read More