News

To showcase the latest in student-led research at Michigan State University, two scholars, including alumna Clara Lepard, presented their academic endeavors at the Board of Trustees meeting on April 13.

Doctoral student, Allison Young, will spend nine months in India as a Fulbright Scholar investigating some of the most vastly understudied and critically important species for the pollination of both agricultural and wild plants—tropical honey bees.

Lauren Pepper, a senior Zoology major, is part of two pairs of students on the MSU Debate Team who will compete in the 72^nd annual National Debate Tournament. Pepper and teammate Alex Brown, a sophomore majoring in social relations and policy in James Madison College, will represent MSU at the tournament, marking the 22^nd consecutive season that the university has qualified for the national competition.  

Farmers around the world are turning to nature to help them reduce pesticide use, environmental impact and, subsequently, and in some cases, increasing yields. Specifically, they’re attracting birds and other vertebrates, which keep pests and other invasive species away from their crops. A study led by Catherine Lindell showcases some of the best global examples.

Richard Lenski's long-term evolution experiment is considered one of the world's longest-running science experiments. The experiment demonstrates that evolution occurs, is ever-present, and never stops. Insights from his research can lead to new ways to understand, prevent, and perhaps better treat diseases.

This winter, numerous snowy owls have been spotted in the Lansing area. The most recent reported spotting was by Pam Rasmussen.

KBS & IBIO graduate student, Bonnie McGill, has been selected for a highly competitive postdoctoral research fellowship, which will begin in May following her graduation from MSU. McGill will be studying how nutrients move through agricultural watersheds in Iowa as part of the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship program, which chooses only 4 or 5 applicants each year nationally.

Under normal conditions, the butterfly needs severe disturbance, such as fire or dense tree removal, to maintain its habitat and food source. The devastating hurricane in southern Florida created a second disturbance. Nick Haddad and Erica Henry have been awarded a grant to study whether these two disturbances create an even better habit and increase butterfly numbers or eliminate butterflies altogether.

College of Natural Science's Interim Dean, Cheryl Sisk, has drafted a letter in response to recent events related to Michigan State University.

Visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are often treated to tiny scurrying beachcombers – piping plovers. Future visitors, however, could see fewer of these celebrated shorebirds. A study conducted by the Zipkin Lab revealed that the endangered shorebird population could decline over the next 10 years if additional conservation efforts are not taken.

Elise Zipkin will play a lead role in the model development of aerial seabird data for the Gulf of Mexico Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species. The study area spans the coast from the Texas-Mexico border down to the tip of Florida.

Researchers from Rice University, UCLA, Michigan State, and the University of New Mexico have discovered a planetary-scale tug-of-war between life, deep Earth and the upper atmosphere that is expressed in atmospheric nitrogen. The research appears in Science Advances.

For future machines to be as smart as we are, they'll need to be able to learn like we do. Arend Hindze's lab has added a new method to the field of machine learning.

New homes may help save a declining bird species, the American kestrel, and, at the same time, protect economically vital cherry crops from orchard-damaging enemies.

Recent Zoology alumna, Clara Lepard, is a recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to pursue a doctorate at the University of Oxford.

Jeanette McGuire, is a recipient of the 2017 College of Natural Science Teaching Prize.

Clara Lepard, an Honors College alumna who earned a degree in zoology in 2017 is a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes Trust, the oldest of the major international competitive award foundations, provides 32 of the most outstanding undergraduates in the country an opportunity to study at the University of Oxford in England. 

Zoology major, Paige Barnes, struggled to choose her major. She explains how she developed a sense of direction from participating in hands-on opportunities.