News
In Plain English: Rytas Vilgalys
June 23, 2015
“It’s a good time to be a mycologist,” says Rytas Vilgalys. Rytas began by learning the edible and inedible mushrooms at his Muka’s (...
In Plain English: Fred Nijhout
August 11, 2015
Animals come in all sizes, but how does an animal know when it’s grown to the right size? That’s been puzzling Fred Nijhout for a long...
In Plain English: Katia Koelle
August 07, 2015
Like many people today, Katia Koelle is fascinated by ancestry. But she's not tracing her family tree; instead, she uses sophisticated...
In Plain English: Eric Spana
June 29, 2015
Eric Spana just finished running “Nerd Camp”—that is, pSearch, a pre-orientation program introducing freshmen to research. All day for 2...
Traveling Across America on a Tandem Bike
August 12, 2014
Nearly three months of pedaling took Duke biology professor Kathleen Smith and her husband over the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia,...
Cassidy Pomeroy-Carter: Studying Creatures Great and Small
September 05, 2014
From whales to lemurs, senior Cassidy Pomeroy-Carter is using animal research experiences at Duke to prepare her for a future in...
Willard to Lead New Research Program for Undergrads
September 10, 2014
The Trinity Science & Research Scholars Program is launching this fall to provide opportunities for Trinity College freshmen and...
Being Born in Lean Times Is Bad News for Baboons
April 02, 2015
The saying ”what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may not hold up to scientific scrutiny. Baboons born in times of famine are more...
Longing for Nepal
September 15, 2014
Name: Jill Chaskes FosterPosition: Staff assistant, Department of BiologyYears at Duke:...
Fulbright Scholarship Winners From Duke University Announced
August 19, 2014
Eighteen recent graduates and graduate students from Duke University received Fulbright Scholarships and will spend the 2014-15 academic...
Why Sharks Matter
August 18, 2014
When David Shiffman ‘07 applied to Duke University in 2002, he wrote his application essay about the first time he swam with sharks. The...
Distant Species Produce Love Child After 60-Millon-Year Breakup
February 13, 2015
A delicate woodland fern discovered in the mountains of France is the love child of two distantly-related groups of plants that haven’t...
Society Bloomed With Gentler Personalities and More Feminine Faces
August 01, 2014
Modern humans appear in the fossil record about 200,000 years ago, but it was only about 50,000 years ago that making art and advanced...
Supportive Moms and Sisters Boost Female Baboon’s Rank
July 30, 2014
A study of dominance in female baboons suggests that the route to a higher rank is to maintain close ties with mom, and to have lots of...
Committee Selected to Lead Search for New Arts & Sciences Dean
January 08, 2015
Sociology Professor Angela O'Rand will lead a committee tasked with conducting a national search for a new dean of Trinity...
Crowdfunding for Azolla Fern Research Hits Target
July 02, 2014
A Chinese biotech firm has pushed biology professor Kathleen Pryer and her team over the top in their quest to fund the sequencing of the...
Julian Kimura: Evolutionary Paths of the Sea Urchin and the Sand Dollar
June 30, 2014
Junior Julian Kimura came to Duke with an interest in developmental biology and he found a home on his first day at the university in the...
Mitchell Lee: Student Studies New Processes for Gene Expression
June 27, 2014
Before biologists can understand the role of specific genes, they have to be able to determine whether those genes are "on or off." Howard...
Going Public With Research Funding
June 19, 2014
Oh, the people you will meet when raising money for science. Biology professor Kathleen Pryer knows this now, after first writing an op-ed...
Johnsen's Book wins PROSE Award
April 01, 2015
Biology professor Sönke Johnsen's second book, "Visual Ecology," has been awarded a PROSE Award by the Association of American Publishers...
Scientists Uncover Navigation System Used by Cancer, Nerve Cells
August 25, 2014
Duke University researchers have found a ”roving detection system” on the surface of cells that may point to new ways of treating diseases...
Lead Author Learned to Love Research at Duke
August 14, 2014
When Bob Cieri first arrived at Duke, he envisioned becoming an ecologist who worked in the field, not someone who’d flourish in a lab. All...