Under the direction of the Dean, we are prioritizing research and workforce partnerships across three key areas:
SRI'S FIRST GRADS
MAPPING CO 2
APPLIED SCIENCE GETS A NAME
COSMIC RAY DETECTION
COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER
COLD FOG AND COMPLEX TERRAIN
WHAT'S NEW?
Associate Director of Marketing & Communications: Bianca Lyon
Writer and Editor: David Pace
Designer and Photographer: Todd Anderson
us on social media @uofu_science
As we plan for the opening of the new L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building, part of the transformative Crocker Science Complex, and as we look toward completing the renovation of the Life Sciences Building, I’m delighted that this issue of Synthesis highlights the College of Science’s leadership in Biotechnology and Life Sciences Bioscience is one of three broad strategic priorities for the College, alongside Energy and Environment, and Computation in Science. We will share more about these priorities throughout this magazine and in future communications.
The stories featured here not only showcase the groundbreaking research in these three areas but also highlight our educational mission to train the next generation of scientists. This year, we celebrated the first graduating cohort of the Science Research Initiative (SRI). Designed to immerse incoming first-year students in faculty-led research from day one on campus, SRI provides an unparalleled foundation for our students to develop the necessary skills, critical thinking, and hands-on experience to launch rewarding careers.
Each graduating class is a time capsule of sorts, packed with deep, meaningful experiences, and then opened to a new beginning at Commencement. As I looked at our newest alumni during May’s graduation ceremonies, I
was struck by their remarkable resilience and optimism in the face of adversity. The Class of 2024 persevered through the pandemic’s great uncertainty, yet emerged with the adaptability to overcome any obstacle. Their journey has shown that a science education is far more than just coursework.
All the more reason, then, to recall and celebrate—to synthesize—the whole spectrum of work we are doing at the College. Our aim is not only to empower our students, faculty, and researchers but also to inspire our friends and alumni, like you. Let the College of Science be a place that you remember and often return to—in memory and on campus—with fondness, as a place that promotes sustained personal and intellectual growth.
We want to thank all of you— faculty, staff, alumni, and donors— for your commitment to students and the future of science at the U. Your support creates a time capsule of inspiration for each graduating class—a collection of transformative experiences they carry forward into a world full of possibilities.
Sincerely,
Dean Peter Trapa
FUELING UTAH’S BOOMING BIOTECH SECTOR
by ELIOT WILCOX
OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, OPENING A NEWSPAPER AND SEEING UTAH AT THE TOP OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC RANKINGS HAS BECOME COMMONPLACE.
There has been a steady stream of articles about billion-dollar valuations for Utah startups and consistently low unemployment. Amid these headlines, there is growing recognition among analysts and policymakers in Utah that the biotechnology and life science sectors are playing a significant role in that growth. A recent report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found that the industries created $8 billion in GDP in 2022, part of a total statewide economic impact of $21.6 billion. Job growth in the sector has been particularly impressive; Utah’s 5.7 percent annual job growth rate significantly outpaces the national average of 3.2 percent. Due to these steady increases, Utah now has the highest share of statewide employment among all states
nationally except Massachusetts. These jobs are also high-paying positions. Wages in the sectors average $96,000, which is 48 percent higher than the $65,000 average in other industries.
The University of Utah and the College of Science play an important role in this booming expansion, helping supply a sizable portion of talented employees and researchers. According to National Center for Education Statistics graduation data, the U awards roughly 37 percent of life science-related bachelor’s degrees and 95 percent of graduate degrees given by schools in the Utah System of Higher Education. Graduates from the College account for nearly two-thirds of those undergraduate degrees and over one-third of the PhDs. As they build their careers, alumni have the opportunity to take principles they learn by working with award-winning faculty and then applying them in professional settings.
“Innovation in biotechnology is touching on every aspect of our lives, from climate change and agriculture to health and wellness,” says Fred Adler, professor of mathematics and current director of the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), the largest academic unit in the College. “As discovery and innovation accelerate, so do the links between basic science and applications. In the SBS, faculty are making transformative contributions to drought-resistance crops based on fundamental discoveries in genetics, testing of drug safety based on research of animal behavior, and to neuroscience through new ways of imaging cells at the finest resolution.”
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION
The pipeline from the classroom, and the lab, to a successful career is most fruitful when exceptional instructors and researchers provide mentorship and guidance for students. College faculty have been recognized with
a range of teaching and research awards, spanning honors like the National Medal of Science (given to three faculty members from the College of Science over the years) and MacArthur Genius Grants (four recipients) to the Rosenblatt Prize, the U’s highest honor for teaching and research (eleven recipients). The College has also had fifteen members elected to the National Academy of Sciences, ten of whom are still actively teaching and pursuing research. These individual honors underscore the quality of the researchers’ academic units and are reflected in their national rankings: the SBS graduate program is ranked #13 and the Department of Chemistry comes in at #18 among public universities nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.
Chemistry and Biological Sciences, which educate a significant number of students that join the biotech and life science sectors, are the top-ranked programs in their fields in Utah and hold top-ten rankings among both public and private schools in the West. The two units also received over $28.4 million in external research funding during fiscal year 2023. These resources provide unique opportunities for students to learn relevant science in hands-on settings and engage in transferable research skills. Considering this impressive track record, it makes sense that life science and biotechnologyrelated faculty continue to garner recognitions in their fields.
Take, for example, Distinguished Professor and Thatcher President Endowed Chair of Chemistry Cynthia Burrows who won the prestigious Linus Pauling Medal Award. The Burrows Lab hosts organic, biological, analytical, and inorganic chemists interested in nucleic acid chemistry, DNA sequencing technology, and DNA damage. The team focuses on chemical processes that result in the formation of mutations, which could lead to diseases such as cancer. Studying site-specifically modified DNA and RNA strands and DNA-protein cross-linking, Burrows and her group are widely known for expanding studies on nanopore technology to detect DNA damage. Burrows’ research in altering nucleic acid composition can provide valuable information in genetic diseases as well as manipulating the function of DNA and RNA in cells.
Another U chemist, Aaron Puri, has also drawn national attention as one of five recipients of the Simons Early Career Investigator Award in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution. The award will provide $810,000 to the
interactions in methane-oxidizing bacterial communities.” His research looks at the molecular details of interactions in these communities, aiming to solve big problems with microscopic solutions. “These communities provide a biotic sink for the potent greenhouse gas methane,” he continues, “and are a useful system for understanding how bacteria interact with each other and their environment while performing critical ecosystem functions.”
Puri Lab over the next three years, and according to Puri, “will enable our research group to work at the interface of biology and chemistry to decipher the molecular details of
Nearby, in the Skaggs Biology Building, is the lab of Ofer Rog, who recently won an Early Career Medal from the Genetics Society of America. Rog was recognized for work visualizing meiotic exchange between “sisters,” exploring synaptonemal complex proteins, and tracking single molecules. Building on this work, the Rog Lab published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December that outlined a groundbreaking way to study the synaptonemal complex. Rog explains of the complex, “You can think of it like a zipper. The axes of the chromosomes are like the two sides of your shirt. The synaptonemal complex (SC) is kind of like the teeth of the zippers that lock onto each other and can pull and align the two sides of the shirt correctly.” Rog’s team was the first to pinpoint the exact position where the SC interacts with itself to facilitate genetic exchanges. Looking forward, unlocking the SC’s role in meiosis may lead to a stronger understanding of fertility in humans.
Another esteemed faculty member in biology is Sophie Caron, a U Presidential Scholar, who uses the Drosophila mushroom body—a computational center in the fruit fly brain—as a model system to understand how brains are developed to learn. With work described as “stunning” and “breathtaking,” Caron has built an interdisciplinary research program by drawing on computational models, speciescomparative studies, and various anatomical and behavioral techniques to elucidate the structural, functional, and evolutionary pressures that shape the mushroom body’s learning function. In addition to her research, Caron—who was also awarded an outstanding teaching and mentorship award last year— designed and teaches an extremely popular neurobiology class (BIOL 3240), a course taken by hundreds of students.
FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE BOARDROOM
Graduates from the College of Science also play crucial roles in Utah’s burgeoning biotechnology community. Equipped with cutting-edge knowledge learned in classrooms and research labs throughout campus, these alumni are at the forefront of research and development, contributing to significant
advancements in life science fields. Their expertise not only drives the success of numerous biotech companies but also attracts substantial investment to the state. By bridging academic excellence with industry needs, alumni ensure a steady pipeline of talent that sustains the growth and dynamism of Utah’s biotechnology sector.
There are many examples of these types of professional outcomes.
Randy Rasmussen (PhD’98 biology) and Kirk Ririe (BS’05 chemistry) were two of three co-founders of BioFire Diagnostics. The company pioneered instruments that shortened DNA analysis techniques from hours to minutes. Using this technology, they created molecular diagnostics that now simultaneously test for multiple infectious agents, allowing healthcare professionals to get quick and accurate results from onsite instruments. In 2013 BioFire was purchased by bioMérieux, a French biotech firm, for over $450 million. The company is now one of Utah’s largest life sciences employers, with over 3,400 employees throughout its six sites. While Rasmussen and Ririe have since moved
on to other projects, College of Science graduates like Amy Davis (PhD’03 biology), vice president of molecular biology, and Tom Robbins (PhD’04 mathematics), vice president of software development, continue to play significant roles in the company’s work.
Some College alumni have also found ways to share their experiences with a new generation of students. Ryan Watts (BS’00 biology) discovered a passion for research while an undergraduate. After he finished his degree, he earned a PhD from Stanford University and eventually co-founded the biotech startup Denali Therapeutics, focused on defeating neurodegeneration. The company went public in December 2017, breaking that year’s record for an initial market valuation of a biotech company. Today, Denali has over 400 employees and a market cap of over $3 billion, including a growing presence in Utah. Despite his busy schedule as CEO, Watts taught a winter semester course for five years at the U which tracked the biotechnology industry and introduced biology students to processes around drug discovery, business strategy, programming, and portfolio decision-making.
Another alumnus, Berton Earnshaw (PhD’07 mathematics) used his academic experience to join the
founding team of Red Brain Labs in 2012. When the machine learningfocused company was acquired by Savvysherpa in 2014, Earnshaw stayed on as a principal and senior scientist. Eventually, Earnshaw became director of data science research at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a young clinicalstage biotech and drug discovery company based in Salt Lake City. In a succession of senior roles, Earnshaw has helped guide the company’s foundational machine learning and AI development, assisting in the company’s rapid growth to over 500 employees and an international expansion. Earnshaw started teaching courses at the U on machine learning and neural networks beginning in 2018. In 2024, he accepted a role as a senior fellow with the College of Science, in part to provide an industry perspective into the dynamic world of deep learning and AI.
LOOKING FORWARD
Unwilling to rest on its laurels, the College of Science is devoting significant resources to prepare graduates for what the Utah Department of Workforce Services deems accelerating growth in the
rapidly changing fields of biotech and life sciences. The Department of Mathematics, School of Biological Sciences, and Kahlert School of Computing recently announced a new undergraduate degree in bioinformatics. New faculty hires throughout the College have included individuals with expertise in areas like data science, genomics, machine learning, gene editing, and nextgeneration imaging techniques. More undergraduate students are participating in bioscience-related research than ever, either through the celebrated Science Research Initiative or direct placements in labs throughout campus. Together, these investments help ensure that future students will be well-prepared after they enter the workforce.
The notoriety of Utah’s burgeoning biotechnology and life sciences sectors continues to be indelibly linked to the College of Science in a feedback loop that benefits the economy, the community, and the University of Utah. <
LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING
With support from a mixture of state and private funds, the retrofitted Life Sciences Building directly east of the Crocker Science Center is progressing. The historic building, which was the first structure fully devoted to the university’s School of Medicine (founded earlier in 1905), will include instruction and teaching labs for the School of Biological Sciences, the College’s growing) Science Research Initiative (SRI), flexible multi-use classrooms, collaboration spaces, and administrative offices.
Still aptly named, the Life Sciences Building was long the home of many of the U’s esteemed biologists, including the late Gordon Lark, considered the father of the department of biology, the late Naomi Franklin and current emeritus professor Larry Okun who helped recruit to Utah future Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi. <
To contribute to the Life Sciences Building, contact TJ McMullin at travis.mcmullin@utah.edu or 801-581-4414
by LAUREN WIGOD
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS (AND THIS YEAR IN UTAH, SNOW), BUT MORE THAN JUST PLANTS BLOOM EACH SPRING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH.
All over campus, students blossom into graduates after years of growth. Among the graduating class this year are many of the first cohort of students of the Science Research Initiative (SRI), marking the four-year anniversary of the program.
The SRI was created to involve undergraduate students in research from their very first day on campus. Former College of Science dean Henry White had the vision for this program and in 2019 passed the torch to Dean Peter Trapa at a critical time when there was a lot of investment. The main goal of the SRI is to facilitate relationships between
faculty researchers and students. “We have a lot of great faculty researchers at the U, and there wasn’t a good mechanism to connect students with them, so the program helps eliminate those barriers,” says SRI Director Josh Steffen. The program puts students and faculty in contact and makes expectations of the partnership clear.
NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC
During its inaugural year, the SRI was still able to engage with students despite the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted the majority of campus activities. For some first- and secondyear students, the initial SRI cohort was their only connection with the College of Science during an extremely difficult time. “In the SRI, I felt so cared for and supported both during the pandemic and after," says senior Anika D’Souza. "The program really helped me feel like I can do science.”
“I feel lucky that I started with the SRI because we were taught the methods, and then we were given the opportunity to ask novel questions,” says senior Parker Guzman. With the motto “learn by doing” in mind, budding scientists in the SRI jumpstart their first fall semester at the U with an introductory class designed to teach them about how science happens, help them establish a community within the college, and discover where their research interests lie. The following spring semester, students are planted in a research stream that best fits their interests and begin their scientific journeys.
Current research streams span many scientific disciplines from mathematics to organic chemistry and to climate science. A sampling of projects include “Spintronics and Quantum Sensing,” “Pollination Biology,” and
“The Geochemistry of Noble Gases.” These streams aren’t just limited to the College either. Students can participate in cancer biology research with the Huntsman Cancer Institute, conservation projects with the Hogle Zoo or Red Butte Garden, or ecological inquiries with the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District.
At its core, the SRI is a program designed to engage students in research, but its impact stretches much further. Early data indicate that SRI students are more likely to stay engaged in the College, maintain a higher GPA, earn other scholarships, and pursue additional research opportunities. Junior Chelsea Bordon says the SRI was a pivotal part of her first year at the U. “Getting into STEM can be really hard, but the SRI helped me meet so many people with different backgrounds that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise which made that process easier.”
IMPACTFUL EMPIRICAL RESULTS
While the student experience is at the heart of the SRI, the program engages with and enhances the scientific community
beyond the U. Research projects facilitated by the program produce tangible and impactful empirical results that are shared in publications and presented at conferences. Members of the SRI get the opportunity to interact with
students and run their own research groups. Out of the five post-doc researchers in the first cohort, three have already landed professorships at other research universities.
the broader scientific community at gatherings on the local and national level. SRI students and postdoctoral researchers have presented at a number of conferences including the Ecological Society of America, American Chemical Society, Joint Math Meeting, Wildlife Society Meeting, Math for All, and Southwestern Social Science Association.
In addition to generating empirical evidence, the SRI contributes to the scientific community by creating space for scientists early in their professional academic careers. Postdocs were introduced to the program as stream leaders two years in. Not only do they help the program provide access to more undergraduates, but the postdocs themselves learn as well. Very few positions exist for postdocs to develop their skills after graduate school. As stream leaders for the SRI, they get the opportunity to mentor larger groups of
The SRI is unique from other undergraduate research programs because the experimentation extends beyond the physical laboratory. The program itself is an exploratory space where students can discover their passions— whether that’s in science or elsewhere.
As the students are performing experiments, they’re also testing out the experience of being a researcher. The program invites curiosity and innovation with no one criterion of what success looks like.
“Coming into college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. The SRI helped me realize my love for biology and gave me skills as a researcher that will help me succeed in grad school,” says senior Sydney Larsen. Like Larsen, the rest of the first cohort of students graduating this year have their sights set high. Many are continuing their scientific careers in graduate programs, some are headed to medical school, and others have found their path outside of the sciences (one is the author of the article you’re reading right now).
STAYING ROOTED IN SRI’S VALUES
Just four years ago, the SRI was seeded with 27 students spread over seven research streams. This upcoming academic year, the
program is aiming for 400 participants and 65 streams. The goal is that every College student who wants to be involved in research has the opportunity and resources to do so. In addition, SRI leaders want to bring on more postdocs and build the scientific community by engaging with other programs on campus and community partners to create more research projects.
In the next four years, the SRI is projected to continue growing, but leaders of the program hope that they can stay rooted in their values as the numbers of students multiply. “We want to make sure we have
the resources we need to still offer quality experiences and support students financially as we grow,” says Associate Director Heather Briggs. The SRI will inevitably continue to yield publications, send students to conferences, and spur new scientific inquiries, but the most valuable aspect of the program by far is the depth of connection it fosters between students and their peers and mentors.
When the SRI was first launched, no one knew exactly how it would help promote the reputation of the U as a Tier-1 research university. It turns out that students shape the SRI just as much as they themselves
are shaped by the program. With the inclusion of many student voices and perspectives, novel questions are asked and innovative approaches are taken. Now, with the graduation of the Science Research Initiative’s first cohort, it’s clear what the program’s legacy will be: a robust community of researchers informed by student inquiry; a community that holistically supports and celebrates graduates wherever their ambitions may take them. <
Lauren Wigod HBS’24 enters a PhD program in philosophy of science this fall at the University of California, Irvine. She is a proud member of the first SRI cohort.
HOW LONG CAN MENO PAUSE BE DELAYED?
by BRIAN MAFFLY
NEW RESEARCH THAT RELIES ON A MATHEMATICAL MODEL
DEVELOPED BY SEAN LAWLEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AT THE U, INDICATES THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO DELAY THE ONSET OF MENOPAUSE, PERHAPS INDEFINITELY.
This is done by implanting a woman’s own previously harvested ovarian tissue back into her body. The technique has already been successfully used to restore fertility in cancer patients.
“A lot of the interest behind delaying menopause is fertility, but a lot of it also comes from the idea that functioning ovaries are better for a woman’s health,” Lawley says. “Menopause is associated with many health issues relating to cardiovascular disease, bone density, obesity, etc. Keeping ovaries functioning longer might delay or even prevent these health issues from starting.”
"In the past few years,” continues Lawley, “we’ve been developing mathematical models of how the ovaries age and what triggers menopause. It was extremely exciting
when . . . [the world’s leading expert in fertility preservation Kutluk Oktay] contacted our group to see if our model could be used to help explore whether this procedure could be used to delay menopause."
It turned out Lawley’s model helped a lot. The new study which appeared in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, or AJOG, concluded that the procedures Oktay pioneered for cancer patients would be likely to delay menopause in healthy women under certain conditions.
“We were faced with a number of important questions. The first is, will it work? Will it delay menopause and by how much?” Lawley says. “Next, how do you optimize the procedure? Are there age ranges that tissue should be removed? How does the number of follicles in a woman’s ovarian tissue influence how long the tissue will function?”
The team developed ways to address these questions using mathematical modeling during the AJOG study. This included the development of an online calculator that indicates how many years a woman’s menopause
would be delayed by the procedure according to modifications to key data points.
Data in the paper and use of the online calculator show that all else being equal, and under certain assumptions, the younger the woman is when the tissue is preserved, the longer her menopause would be delayed, from a median 19.4 years for a 21-year-old woman to 3.4 years for a 40-year-old.
“If ovarian tissue can be frozen under the age of 30 years, in theory, menopause can even be eliminated in some cases,” the study says while acknowledging the need for clinical evaluation.
A separate study involving Lawley in Science Advances showed that the timing of menopause in individual women is related to random gaps in the supply of growing ovarian follicles over time. Says Lawley: "Mathematics is perhaps the only way to really get at some of these questions in the short term and help guide the first steps towards clinical interventions.” <
A longer version of this story first appeared in @TheU.
MAPPING 66 MILLION YEARS OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CHANGES
by BRIAN MAFFLY
TODAY, ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN AT LEAST SEVERAL MILLION YEARS THANKS TO WIDESPREAD COMBUSTION OF FOSSIL FUELS BY HUMANS OVER THE PAST TWO CENTURIES.
But where does 419 parts per million (ppm)—the current concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere—fit in Earth’s history?
That’s a question an international community of scientists, featuring key contributions by University of Utah geologists, is sorting out by examining a plethora of markers in the geologic record that offer clues about the contents of ancient atmospheres. Their initial study reports on reconstructed concentrations going back through the Cenozoic, the era that began with the demise of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals 66 million years ago.
Glaciers contain air bubbles, providing scientists direct evidence of CO2 levels going back 800,000 years, according to U geology professor Gabe Bowen, one of the study’s corresponding authors. But this record does not extend very deep into the geological past. “Once you lose the ice cores, you lose direct evidence. You no longer have samples of atmospheric gas that
you can analyze,” Bowen says. “So you have to rely on indirect evidence, what we call proxies . . . tough to work with because they are indirect.”
These proxies include isotopes in minerals, the morphology of fossilized leaves and other lines of geological evidence that reflect atmospheric chemistry. One stems from the foundational discoveries of U geologist Thure Cerling, himself a coauthor on the new study, whose past research determined carbon isotopes in ancient soils are indicative of past CO2 levels.
But the strengths of these proxies vary and most cover narrow slices of the past. The research team set out to evaluate, categorize, and integrate available proxies to create a highfidelity record of atmospheric CO2
“This represents some of the most inclusive and statistically refined approaches to interpreting CO2 over the last 66 million years,” says co-author Dustin Harper, a U postdoctoral researcher in Bowen’s lab. “Some of the new takeaways are [that] we're able to combine multiple proxies from different archives of sediment, whether that’s in the ocean or on land, and that really hasn’t been done at this scale.”
The new research is a community effort involving some 90 scientists from 16 countries. The group hopes to eventually reconstruct the CO2 record back 540 million years to the dawn of complex life.
Having a reliable map of past CO2 levels could help scientists more accurately predict what future climates may look like, says William Anderegg, director of the U’s Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy.
“This is an incredibly important synthesis and has implications for future climate change as well, particularly the key processes and components of the Earth system that we need to understand to project the speed and magnitude of climate change,” Anderegg says.
“Eight million years ago," says Bowen "there’s about a five percent chance that CO2 levels were higher than today. But really we have to go back 14 million years before we see levels we think were like today.”
A more refined understanding of past trends in CO2 is therefore central to understanding how modern species and ecosystems arose and may fare in the future, the study states. <
A longer version of this story first appeared in @TheU.
THE ALSAM FOUNDATION HAS MADE A SUBSTANTIAL GIFT TOWARD THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE SCIENCE CAMPUS AT THE U: THE L.S. SKAGGS APPLIED SCIENCE BUILDING .
The 100,000-square-foot building will include modern classrooms and instruction spaces, cutting-edge physics and atmospheric science research laboratories, and faculty and student spaces. Scientists in the new building will address urgent issues, including energy, air quality, climate change, and drought. The building’s naming honors L.S. “Sam” Skaggs, the philanthropist and businessman whose retail footprint spread from the Mountain West to the rest of United States.
Expressing profound gratitude for the transformative gift, Peter Trapa, dean of the College of Science, says, “We deeply appreciate The ALSAM Foundation’s extraordinary generosity. This gift is a testament to the value the organization places on higher
education and its transformational impact on students and communities. It continues the Skaggs family's legacy in Utah and at our state’s flagship university. The new L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building, a beacon of scientific innovation, will play an essential role in educating students in STEM programs throughout the University of Utah. This much-needed building allows the U to expand its STEM capacity and continue to serve our region’s expanding workforce needs.”
The construction of the L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building is part of the Applied Science Project, which also includes the renovation of the historic William Stewart Building. The overall project is scheduled to be completed by next summer. Combined with the Crocker Science Center and a new outdoor plaza abutting the historic Cottam’s Gulch, the three buildings and outdoor space will comprise the Crocker Science Complex named for Gary and Ann Crocker.
The Skaggs family has a long history of supporting universities through The ALSAM Foundation, including the U. Other ALSAM Foundationsupported projects at the U include the L.S. Skaggs Pharmacy Research Institute, housed in the Skaggs Pharmacy Building, and the Aline S. Skaggs Biology Building, named after Mr. Skaggs’s wife.
The Foundation issued the following statement, “The ALSAM Foundation and the members of the Skaggs family are pleased to continue the legacy of Mr. Skaggs at the University of Utah. The Applied Science Project will benefit STEM education which was one of the goals of Mr. Skaggs.” <
AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AT OLYMPUS HIGH IN SALT LAKE CITY, CO-FOUNDER AND FORMER CEO OF ADOBE JOHN WARNOCK , WHO PASSED AWAY LAST AUGUST AT AGE 82, FOUND A MENTOR IN MATH TEACHER GEORGE BARTON. “HIS APPROACH WAS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE,” WARNOCK ONCE RECALLED.
“He instructed us to pick up a collegelevel textbook for algebra, solve every problem in the book, then move on to the next subject, trigonometry, and do the same. And after that, go on to analytic geometry. By following his advice and solving a lot of problems,
The auspicious career of Warnock and other brilliant University of Utah alumni who changed the world through computer science was in high relief last year when a sampling of the scrappy and now legendary bunch assembled on campus to commemorate their roles as 3-D graphics pioneers. The occasion was a celebration of 50 years of the U’s Kahlert School of Computing, and Warnock was presented with an IEEE Milestone award.
But before he was known as the co-founder with the late Charles Geschke of Adobe, Warnock was propelled by his high school teacher into the U’s math department. There Warnock earned a BS and MS in mathematics before decamping to the College of Engineering where he earned a PhD in electrical engineering/ computer science. It was an exciting time. The U was one of 15 renowned universities that had a contract with the Advanced Research Projects Agency, prompted by the worrisome launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite during the Eisenhower era. A node on the original Internet known
as ARAPNET, the U was the first university to offer online registration to its students, and Warnock, as part of his dissertation research was busy at work, just days (and long nights), ahead of when the portal dropped, having developed the recursive subdivision algorithm for hidden surface elimination. That algorithm, named after Warnock, made computer graphics possible.
Twenty-five years post Sputnik, Adobe appeared, which, inarguably, lofted desktop publishing into the stratosphere with its soon-to-launch PostScript language. The information technology sector has never been the same since, epitomized by Warnock’s appeal to the U students during the 2020 commencement: "The rest of your life is not a spectator sport. Your job in life is to be an active player, to make the world a better place.”
Warnock is survived by his wife and three children. <
TELESCOPE ARRAY DETECTS SECONDHIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC RAY EVER
by LISA POTTER
SINCE THE DETECTION OF THE MOST ENERGETIC SURFACE ARRAY EVENT EVER IN 1991 (NOW KNOWN AS THE OH-MY-GOD PARTICLE) THE U'S TELESCOPE ARRAY (TA) HAS OBSERVED MORE THAN 30 ULTRA-HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS.
On May 21, 2021, the second-most energetic surface array event ever detected was triggered by a cosmic messenger particle.
At 2.4 x 1020 eV, the energy from the 2021-detected single subatomic particle is equivalent to dropping a brick on your toe from waist height. Led by the U and the University of Tokyo, the TA consists of 507 surface detector stations arranged in a square grid that covers 700 km2 (~270 mi2) outside of Delta, Utah in the state’s West Desert. The event triggered 23 detectors at the north-west region of the TA, splashing across 48 km2 (18.5
mi2). Its arrival direction appeared to be from the Local Void, an empty area of space bordering the Milky Way Galaxy.
“The particles are so high energy, they shouldn’t be affected by galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. You should be able to point to where they come from in the sky,” says John Matthews, TA co-spokesperson at the U and co-author of a new study. “But in the case of the Oh-My-God particle and this new [2021] particle, you trace its trajectory to its source, and there’s nothing high energy enough to have produced it. That’s the mystery of this—what the heck is going on?”
In their observation published in the journal Science, the international TA collaboration of researchers describe the ultra-high-energy cosmic ray, evaluate its characteristics, and conclude that the rare phenomena might follow particle physics
unknown to science. The researchers named it the Amaterasu particle after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology. The Oh-My-God and the Amaterasu particles were detected using different observation techniques, confirming that while rare, these ultra-high energy events are real.
“These events seem like they’re coming from completely different places in the sky. It’s not like there’s one mysterious source,” says the U's John Belz, co-author of the study. “It could be defects in the structure of spacetime, colliding cosmic strings. I mean, I’m just spit-balling crazy ideas that people are coming up with because there’s not a conventional explanation.”
NATURAL PARTICLE
ACCELERATORS
Cosmic rays are echoes of violent celestial events that have stripped matter to its subatomic structures
Fly's Eye Cosmic Ray Detector, Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah. Credit: University of Utah Cosmic Ray Physics
and hurled it through the universe at nearly the speed of light. Essentially, they charge particles with a wide range of energies consisting of positive protons, negative electrons, or entire atomic nuclei that travel through space and rain down onto Earth constantly.
Because particles have a charge, their flight path resembles a ball in a pinball machine as they zigzag against electromagnetic fields through the cosmic microwave background. Particles with Oh-My-God and Amaterasu energy blast through intergalactic space relatively unbent. Only the most powerful of celestial events can produce them.
“Things that people think of as energetic, like supernova, are nowhere
BRIGHTEST OF ALL TIME (B.O.A.T.)
IN OCTOBER 2022, AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, INCLUDING U ASTROPHYSICIST TANMOY LASKAR , OBSERVED THE BRIGHTEST GAMMA-RAY BURST (GRB) EVER RECORDED, GRB 221009A.
Now, physicists have confirmed that the phenomenon responsible for the historic burst—dubbed the B.O.A.T. (“brightest of all time”)—is the collapse and subsequent explosion of
near energetic enough for this. You need huge amounts of energy, really high magnetic fields to confine the particle while it gets accelerated,” says Matthews.
Researchers also analyze cosmic ray composition for clues of Amaterasu's origins. The new particle is likely a proton. Particle physics dictates that a cosmic ray with energy beyond a certain cutoff is too powerful for its path to be distorted by the microwave background, but back tracing Amaterasu’s trajectory points towards empty space.
“Maybe magnetic fields are stronger than we thought, but that disagrees with other observations that show they’re not strong enough to produce significant curvature at these 10-to-
the-20 th electron volt energies,” says Belz. “It’s a real mystery.”
The Telescope Array is in the middle of an expansion that scientists hope will help crack the case. Once completed, 500 new scintillator detectors will expand the Array and will sample cosmic ray-induced particle showers across 2,900 km2 (1,100 mi2), an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. The larger footprint will hopefully capture more events that will shed light on what’s going on. <
a massive star. The team discovered the explosion, or supernova, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
“We had to wait several months for conditions to be right,” says Laskar of the supernova discovery. “Gamma-ray bursts have powerful jets, and when these jets crash into the surrounding material, they light up brightly at all wavelengths of light, from radio waves to X-rays. This is called the afterglow.”
Once the afterglow faded, researchers took a spectrum in infrared light using JWST that would tell them what elements were present in the explosion. While the team’s discovery
of the supernova as the cause for B.O.A.T. solves one mystery, another mystery deepens. The researchers speculated that evidence of heavy elements, such as platinum and gold, might reside within the newly uncovered supernova. The extensive search, however, did not find the signature that accompanies such elements.
The origin of heavy elements in the universe continues to remain one of astronomy’s biggest open questions. <
This report stems from an article by Northwest University and an interview of Laskar in @TheU.
MINING ENGINEERING ALUMNA
DENEE HAYES BSME’02 MAY END UP HAVING A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE DEFINING ISSUES OF OUR TIMES.
Arguably, she already has. While not on the singing trajectory of another celebrated “Coal miner’s daughter,” Hayes’ journey is no less auspicious than that of Loretta Lynn’s, whose 1971 Grammy-winning song told the story of the country singer’s upbringing in Kentucky and her elevation into stardom. When Hayes recently won an honorary alumna award, her father, who spent his life in the industry in one job or another, was at her side. “He was ecstatic to come and see me,” she says.
Hayes, who does indeed hail from a mining family, has become a thought leader in the necessary convergence of mining and the new green economy. The stakes right now in reimagining the mining sector as it relates to a green economy could not be higher.
The span between mining and the environmental ethic is not a small one, and it is by dint of Hayes’ experience in a variety of sectors that she has forged her current work as a
DENEE HAYES COAL MINER’S
consultant. “The work I did [at Kennecott Copper and elsewhere] gave me a view of two sides, really seeing how the industry has a PR problem and that mining [professionals] have really pitted themselves against environmentalists and other industries, and how we really need to show that if you are pro-green energy you have to be pro-mining.”
The statement seems counterintuitive, but she continues. “If you think about the trajectory society is currently on, there are ebbs and flows in everything for green energy” whether it’s photovoltaic materials to convert sunlight into electric energy or other sources of renewable energy, like wind and hydropower.
To keep up with green economy demands, Hayes explains that the world “will need to mine the same amount of copper between now and 2030/40 as we have in all of humanity.” And that is an example of just one metal.
The challenge of greening America is not just about extraction of critical metals from new as well as historical mines, it’s also about water use. Part of building a consensus between two opposing sides is to hold a space for
DAUGHTER
both without papering over reality, on either side.
“We now have an opportunity to right some of the wrongs of mining in the past and some of the ways that we didn’t understand how we were harming the Earth,” she says. “If we want to continue leading the lives we are leading, we have to do our own extraction of critical materials ethically.”
It’s about moving the needle in the industry towards not only a greener way of doing things, but in a way that is more just and equitable. The systemic reimagining of mining is a daunting proposition, and it requires bringing in diverse voices to inform, what Hayes calls, the “broader topics of that broader conversation.”
It’s a personally held mission that might have not only a macro difference but a micro one as well in these challenging times. She and her husband are the proud parents of another proverbial “miner’s daughter” who is likely to be better positioned to consider a degree and a career in mining engineering because of her mother’s continuing hard work in the sector. <
Hayes in front of AI modified background. Photo courtesy of Denee Hayes.
FOG IS THE SECOND-LEADING CAUSE OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS AFTER STRONG WINDS.
Despite extensive research of high impact fog events, fog prediction remains challenging due to complex interactions between land surface, water, and atmosphere. Zhaoxia Pu, University of Utah professor of atmospheric sciences and Eric Pardyjak, professor of mechanical engineering, hope to change that through a field campaign and scientific research funded by a $1.17 million grant from the National Science Foundation, using Utah’s Heber Valley as the laboratory. Pu is on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science Advisory Board and is an elected fellow of the American Meteorological and Royal Meteorological Societies.
On winter nights, cold air pools on the valley floor and creates favorable conditions for several forms of fog. By observing how these different kinds of fog form and dissipate, the researchers are continuing to learn about the meteorological conditions and physical processes governing the formation of fog to improve its prediction.
In addition to Pu and Pardyjak, the team for the field campaign includes
scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Environment and Climate Change Canada as well as graduate and undergraduate students from atmospheric sciences and mechanical engineering at the U. From January 7 to February 24, 2022, this crew watched a network of sensors on the ground in Heber Valley along with comprehensive sets of instruments from the NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory and satellite observations.
Since the field study, Pu and her colleagues have published findings contributing to The Cold Fog Amongst Complex Terrain (CFACT) project in a recent paper in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The CFACT project was conceived to investigate the life cycle of cold-fog events over complex terrain, improve microphysical parameterizations and visibility algorithms used in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, and develop data assimilation and analysis methods for NWP models.
With over nine intensive observation periods (IOPs) that explored various mountainous weather and cold fog conditions, the CFACT field campaign collected an unprecedented, diverse, and extensive dataset. This dataset, complemented by model simulations,
has been instrumental in studying the lifecycle of fog and the behavior of the stable boundary layer. More importantly, since Heber Valley is a small-scale valley, the observations provided critical high-resolution data to validate and improve current and next-generation NWP models.
Comprehensive studies are ongoing for an improved understanding of cold fog over complex terrain. The Department of Commerce and the NOAA announced in May that the U, under principal investigator Pu, will participate in a new multi-university consortium to improve weather forecasts using enhanced weather prediction systems recommended as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda. Nearly seven million dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act will be used to establish the Consortium for Advanced Data Assimilation Research and Education, called CADRE. Other universities involved in the consortium include Howard University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Maryland, University of Oklahoma, and Colorado State University. <
This augmented story is adapted by Lauren Wigod from an earlier announcement on this project by Paul Gabrielsen in @TheU.
by BIANCA LYON
A NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CENTER, HOUSING 3D TITANIUM PRINTING MACHINES, WILL SERVE AS A HUB TO ADVANCE METALLURGICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR PRODUCING PRIMARY METALS FOCUSED ON TITANIUM.
The lab is an extension of an earlier 10-year research agreement between the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and IperionX.
The Titanium Additive Manufacturing Research Center creates new opportunities for U students to gain hands-on experience with cuttingedge materials science and engineering technologies. The partnership aims to inspire the next generation of innovators, equipping them with the skills and experience needed to pioneer breakthroughs in sustainable metal production and processing.
"This new lab represents the tangible fruits of our partnership with IperionX and underscores our shared commitment to developing transformative solutions for the energy and transportation sectors," says Metallurgical Engineering's Zak Fang, principal investigator of the U’s
powder metallurgy research team and lead researcher on the project. “By combining our academic expertise in materials science and engineering with IperionX's industry know-how and resources, we are poised to make significant strides in areas like additive manufacturing of titanium alloys and recycling of critical minerals."
IperionX’s role as a leader in sustainable titanium production is a key component of this collaborative research effort. The North Carolinabased company has patented
"This academic-industry partnership … exemplifies the College of Science’s innovative bench-to-application research to meet the needs of our energy future," says Dean Peter Trapa. "By supporting research that addresses real-world challenges, we are cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders and driving economic growth in Utah."
Joint efforts with industry partners have been part of the U's remarkable research growth over the past decade. In fiscal year 2023, university research funding reached a landmark $768 million, nearly doubling its support in the last 10 years and working towards a goal of $1 billion in research funding. <
technologies aimed at recycling the valuable metal at a lower cost and with reduced environmental impact compared to traditional methods.
“It all started here at the University of Utah,” says IperionX CEO Taso Arima, “with Dr. Fang’s innovation and his vision for manufacturing and reshoring low-cost, high performance titanium metal in America. …[T]his is what drives innovation for the critical technologies needed for the US and society as a whole.”
WHAT'S NEW IN THE COLLEGE...
NEW BIOINFORMATICS DEGREE
BEGINNING FALL SEMESTER
2024, A NEW BIOINFORMATICS
MAJOR WILL BE OFFERED IN THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE.
An unprecedented wealth of biological data have been generated by the human genome project and sequencing projects in other organisms. The huge demand for analysis and interpretation of these data is being managed by the
RECOGNITION
AARON FOGELSON
SIAM Fellow
RODRIGO NORIEGA
Sloan Research Fellow
JESSICA SWANSON
Cottrell Scholar
evolving science of bioinformatics. The new major in the Department of Mathematics will be available Fall Semester 2024.
Bioinformatics is defined as the application of computation tools and analysis to the capture and interpretation of biological data. It is an interdisciplinary field, which harnesses computer science, mathematics, physics, and biology
and is essential for management of data in modern biology and medicine.
With research, internship, and professional support, the bioinformatics degree will prepare students for future career success in a growing and well-compensated field. Additionally, the College's Science Research Initiative will add research streams with components of bioinformatics skills. <
DAVAR KHOSHNEVISAN & MICHAEL MORSE
Distinguished Professors
SOPHIE CARON
University of Utah Presidential Scholar
DEPARTMENT & SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
MOSES SAMUELSON-LYNN & CATHERINE WARNER
Fulbright Scholars
NATHEN PATCHEN & MUSKAN WALIA
Goldwater Scholars
BRENDA BOWEN Atmospheric Sciences
PETER ARMENTROUT Chemistry
KIP SOLOMON Geology & Geophysics
FRED ADLER Biological Sciences
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
Stories about research at the College regularly get featured in the popular press. Below are just a few of the outlets that have picked up stories in the last 18 months. To read these stories, please visit science.utah.edu/news
TOP HONORS FROM NASA
CHALLENGED TO DEVISE A WAY TO EXTRACT AND FORGE METAL ON THE MOON, A TEAM OF UNIVERSITY OF UTAH STUDENTS WON TOP HONORS IN A NASASPONSORED COMPETITION WITH THEIR PROPOSAL FOR REFINING IRON THAT IS ABUNDANT AT THE LUNAR SURFACE.
The group, led by graduate research assistant in metallurgical engineering
John Otero and engineering graduate student Collin Andersen, adapted a century-old process known as carbonyl iron refining, or CIR, for use in a lunar environment with its non-existent atmosphere, freezing temperatures and low gravity. They proposed using a two-chamber process in which a reactive gas phase concentrates disparate iron particles into a powder. That product is more than 98 percent iron with properties
favorable for additive manufacturing, according to their presentation.
“There were multiple times we came close to scrapping the concept, but each time we found the strength to go a little further,” said Andersen, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering. “This honor has validated the perseverance, effort, and dedication of exploring an innovative and applied idea.” <
MICHAEL FREE Materials Science & Engineering
CHARLES KOCSIS Mining Engineering
CARSTEN ROTT Physics & Astronomy
TOMMASO DE FERNEX Mathematics
Thank you to all of our alumni and friends who contribute to the College of Science and our departments, programs, and schools. You enable us to provide exceptional education, conduct groundbreaking research, and prepare the next generation of scientific leaders. We are grateful for your investment in our students, faculty, and staff.
The College’s top fundraising priority is completing the Applied Science Project, which includes the renovation of the historic William Stewart Building and the construction of the L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building. The resulting cutting-edge spaces will expand access to required STEM courses, increase the capacity of critical teaching labs, and upgrade research infrastructure. The project is scheduled to be completed by summer of 2025.
TJ McMullin Jim DeGooyer Director of Development Associate Director
