News: College of Sciences
![Fireworks ignite during commencement](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/2017_grad_D70274_84.jpg?itok=o0GAxb6E)
UNLV has a commencement tradition for the president to select and highlight exceptional students who embody the academic, research, and community impact of the graduating class.
![student Alexis Hilts and assistant professor Matt Bernacki](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/AlexisHilts.jpg?itok=S1Z4i_Xt)
Undergrad Alexis Hilts will present her honors thesis at the American Psychological Association's national conference.
![Closeup of books](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/D66150_32.jpg?itok=z6u9X-6t)
From professional reasons to personal connections, faculty across campus share why they’re fond of certain works they penned.
![senior Amber Turner and alumna Lisa Danielson](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/D71525_005.jpg?itok=XymCXUMO)
UNLV undergraduate and NASA intern Amber Turner shares her remarkable research journey, which may someday lead to human civilizations on other planets.
![A high school student explores a project](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/science_D71438_06.jpg?itok=3ldj3N0W)
UNLV mines its own grade books to ensure students aren’t weeded out of STEM classes.
![Simon Jowitt](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/D71488_004.jpg?itok=sR90uuHV)
This economic geologist talks about being in a state where the mining industry thrives and about the difficulty of getting his 6-foot 4-inch frame into a running helicopter on rough ground.
![Douglas Duncan and Israel Alvarado](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/D71463_08.jpg?itok=T_cGVcbh)
With limited options in Nevada for top-notch scientists, two UNLV grads welcome the high-tech jobs that the marijuana industry brought.
![Theodore Garland Jr.](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/Ted-Garland.jpg?itok=_cORf_WL)
College of Sciences Alumnus of the Year Theodore Garland has taught across the globe.
![Lisa Danielson overlooks the lobby of the Beam Engineering building](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/Danielson_D70908_20.jpg?itok=DC9Efk7J)
The career of Lisa Danielson, the Graduate College Alumna of the Year, took off like a rocket after UNLV.
![Devon Payne](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/nc_IMG_5504.jpg?itok=9bZSBYoy)
Junior microbiology major selected as a 2017 Goldwater Scholar.
![Barbara St. Pierre Schneider and Alison Deng](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/articles/main-images/nc_D71538_003.jpg?itok=2TXwQDMX)
A faculty-and-student research team is shining a light on white blood cells to better understand what their location implies about their role in muscle repair.
![Eric Chronister](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/releases/main-images/Eric_Chronister_Horizontal_2.jpg?itok=vt_6aykJ)
Eric Chronister, a noted researcher, administrator, and longtime professor of chemistry at UC Riverside, will join UNLV July 1.