THE HUFFINGTON POST - You’ve probably heard of Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness that is known to infect people and dogs who spend time outside. But Lyme disease is only one of a number of tick-borne diseases that can infect humans. Cases of Lyme disease are rising in the United States, along with cases of...
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - In the mid-20th century, geologist Reg Sprigg made a stunning discovery in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges. Under the searing outback sun, he unearthed delicate impressions made by animals that lived some 550 million years ago—the missing piece in our understanding of evolution that had long eluded naturalist Charles Darwin. Called the Ediacaran...
NEW SCIENTIST - A bug improves its hunting success by slathering itself in the sticky resin of a grass, in a rare example of tool use by insects. Australian assassin bugs, from the genus Gorareduvius, are often seen resting on the blades of spinifex grass. This grass, a characteristic feature of dry regions of Australia...
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Heavy rain has transformed normally dry fields and numerous backyards across the Inland Empire into soggy breeding grounds for mosquitoes. As a result, bug experts are bracing for what could be one of the region’s worst mosquito seasons in recent memory. When mosquitoes do emerge in a big way, their disruption to...
EARTH.COM - Scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have discovered that wildfires are releasing a massive amount of methane gas into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide. This source of methane was previously unaccounted for. It could make it challenging for states to achieve their cleaner...
On April 15, admitted first-year students and their families converged onto the University of California, Riverside (UCR) campus for Highlander Day – an all-day open house held annually to showcase the richly diverse and inclusive array of opportunities available at UCR. Highlander Day also gives students admitted to UCR’s College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences...
ATLAS OBSCURA - Meyer lemon trees could carry the citrus tristeza virus (CTV) and flourish for years without showing any symptoms. The urgent situation incited the first meeting of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists at the The University of California, Riverside in 1957. This group of scientists and citrus growers urged drastic measures towards...
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - For decades, humans have set traps for cockroaches and laced them with sugar to attract the insects to their doom. But in response, some populations of cockroaches developed a self-preserving distaste for glucose, which allows them to steer clear of the traps. As it turns out, though, a glucose aversion can kill...
THE DAILY MAIL - More than 1.3 million Californians may be drinking high levels of manganese, enough to cause cognitive disabilities in children and Parkinson's-like symptoms in adults. The discovery was made by researchers at the University of California - Riverside (UCR), who discovered the mineral is thriving in untreated wells throughout Central Valley. The...
Jared Hudnall ’24 Mentone, California Major: Physics Campus activities: University Honors, STEM Connections, CNAS Science Ambassadors, Dark Matter and Neutrino Lab Hobbies: Chess Favorite place to hang out on campus: Physics Building, STEM Center, Orbach Science Library Tell us a little about yourself. I transferred from Crafton Hills College and San Bernardino Valley College to...
THE MERCURY NEWS - The same climate changes known to be reshaping mountain ecosystems in places like the Alps and Yosemite also are driving alarming new patterns in the Sonoran Desert near Palm Springs, according to the latest findings from a long-running study by UC Riverside. If temperatures continue to rise and droughts continue to...
Coinciding with the 95th State Future Farmers of America (FFA) Leadership Conference, held March 16-19 in Ontario, CA, FFA middle and high school students from across the state visited the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to tour campus and learn more about agricultural science, research, technology, and career opportunities at the College of Natural &...
The Career Mentoring of Underrepresented STEM Students for the Professoriate (CUSP) program at the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) received a $350,000 renewal grant for the next five years. Francey Sladek, principal investigator and professor of cell biology, made the announcement at the CUSP 2023 orientation lunch on March 22. Launched...
THE HILL - Some of the Southwest’s most iconic desert trees are running for their lives in what could be a grim harbinger for more temperate ecosystems across the West. A study in Functional Ecology offers evidence that desert ecosystems, long perceived as the most resilient to climate change, may be hitting their limits. Researchers...
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - Some of this variability in motivation or ability to do hard exercise is related to genetics. For example, Theodore Garland, Jr., an evolution biologist at the University of California Riverside, wanted to understand how complex traits—like marathon running—evolve at multiple levels of organization, ranging from behavior to DNA. He has shown in...
ENTOMOLOGY TODAY - Jacqueline Serrano, Ph.D., is a research entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in the Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research Unit, in Wapato, Washington. She earned her B.S. in biology (2012) and Ph.D. in entomology (2019) at the University of California, Riverside. She first joined USDA-ARS as...
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER - When you think of plant breeding at UC Riverside, the university’s work with citrus to combat Huanglongbing, or citrus green disease, might be what comes to mind, but researchers there are also working to advance the way rice and even tomatoes are grown. The Center for Plant Cell Biology is...
THE ATLANTIC - In 2018, I paid a man a couple hundred dollars to repeatedly jam several needles into the skin of my right wrist. I felt as if I were being attacked by a microscopic cavalry of crabs. Into every jab went black ink, eventually forming the shape of double quotation marks. It was...
COSMOS - We all learned about the solar system in school and, apart from one notable demotion of Pluto to the rank of dwarf planet in 2006, things are pretty straight forward in terms of the planets and their orbits. But we still don’t understand everything about the solar system or how the planets formed...
