Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) has been named a 2017 Sloan Research Fellow. He is one of 126 researchers from 60 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada — and the first UNLV scientist — to be awarded the prestigious fellowship for early career scholars considered the ‘next generation of scientific leaders.’ 

Dennis Bazylinski (Life Sciences) and a team of international researchers recently published a research article titled “Origin of Microbial Biomineralization and Magnetotaxis During the Archean” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that shows magnetic navigation by swimming bacteria may be more ancient than previously…

Ai-Sun "Kelly" Tseng (Life Sciences) published an article, “Seeing the Future: Using Xenopus to Understand Eye Regeneration” in genesis: The Journal of Genetics and Development. Graduate student Cindy Kha’s images were selected for the journal cover illustration. This invited review article is part of of a special issue focusing on biological…

Qiang Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) recently had a research paper published in Angewandte Chemie. The paper, titled "The Structure of Glycine Dihydrate: Implications for the Crystallization of Glycine from Solution and Its Structure in Outer Space," looks at long-term puzzling crystal structure determination of glycine at low…

Frank van Breukelen (Life Sciences) received a four-year, $797,810 National Science Foundation grant to study hibernation in tenrecs. The current views about mammalian hibernation were developed using traditional models such as the ground squirrel. In these models, hibernators periodically rewarm to active levels between bouts of depressed…

Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) received a $444,188 grant from the NASA ATP (Astrophysics Theory Program) for Predicting Observational Signatures of Planet Formation in Realistic Models of Protoplanetary Disks .  He will hire a postdoc to be included in the research. The postdoc will work with Zhu and Jim Stone from…

Dennis Bazylinski (Life Sciences) and a team of researchers recently published a research article titled "Measuring Spectroscopy and Magnetism of Extracted and Intracellular Magnetosomes Using Soft X-ray Ptychography" in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Biomagnetism refers to phenomenon where living creatures…

Jason Steffen (Physics and Astronomy) will be a co-investigator on a $380,000 grant titled Architecture of Kepler's Multiple Planet Systems. He is working with Jack Lissauer of NASA Ames Research Center .  The project will study data from the NASA Kepler space mission to characterize the orbital properties of the thousands of…

Helen Wing (Life Sciences) has received a three-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant worth $445,008. It is a continuation of a research project that now has received nine years of continual NIH funding. The project focuses on virulence gene regulation in the bacterial pathogen Shigella.  Nucleoid structuring proteins…

Ai-Sun Tseng (Life Sciences) recently published a research article titled "Effects of the Biocide Methylisothiazolinone on Xenopus laevis Wound Healing and Tail Regeneration” in Aquatic Toxicology. This study shows that the commonly used preservative, methylisothiazolinone, impairs the natural repair ability of frog tadpoles to regrow tails.…

Scott Abella (Life Sciences) recently gave a talk titled, "National Park Treasures: Celebrating Conservation" at the Lake Mead Visitor Center. He shared the stories of conservation challenges and successes of the National Park Service restoration efforts during the past 100 years. His work as a researcher has supported Lake Mead and…

Frank van Breukelen (Life Science) has received a four-year National Science Foundation research grant totaling $797,810 to study hibernation in tenrecs.  Tenrecs are esoteric mammals from Madagascar that have a unique form of hibernation. These animals are able to hibernate or maintain active body temperatures from at least 12-28 °C. His…