The following is a sampling of CAS faculty members’ outstanding research accomplishments during AY 2012/2013.
Anthropology
The journal Science published a new study coauthored by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jeremy DeSilva. The study hypothesizes that early humans may have used a different approach to walking than previously believed, walking with a fully extended leg (like humans do), but with an inverted foot (like an ape). Read more.
Biology
Assistant Professor of Biology Peter M. Buston and Postdoctoral Researcher Marian Y. L. Wong reviewed recent research on the study of habitat-specialist coral reef fishes and concluded that these species have proven invaluable for experimental testing of key concepts in social evolution. Their findings were published in the journal BioScience (read more).
Chemistry
Ramesh Jasti, assistant professor of chemistry, received a Boston University Ignition Award to investigate carbon nanohoops as advanced energy storage materials (read more).
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis presented an Early Career Award in Organic Chemistry to Corey R. J. Stephenson, assistant professor of chemistry. The three-year unrestricted grant will help Stephenson and his team of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers continue to explore the use of visible light to trigger reactions. The work could lead to the environmentally safe production of organic molecules that can play a role in targeting leukemia cells and fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria (read more).
Earth & Environment
Professors Mark Friedl, Curtis Woodcock, and Lucy Hutyra were awarded a $1.28 million, three-year NASA grant to study and model the effects of urban and suburban land use and changes to land cover on regional atmospheric carbon. Earth & Environment researchers have found evidence that material contained in young oceanic lava flows originated at the Earth’s surface in the Archean Eon, dating back more than 2.45 billion years. The study’s first author, Rita Cabral, is a graduate student in the department. The study was published in the journal Nature.
Researchers in BU’s Center for Remote Sensing found traces of an ancient watershed in the Sinai Desert that might one day make sustainable agriculture possible in one of the driest places on earth. Farouk El-Baz, research professor and center director, and Mostafa AbuBakr, a visiting scholar, were part of an international team of scientists who used advanced space-borne radar to reveal how water flowed through the Sinai five to ten thousand years ago. Their findings were published in the Journal of Geomorphology (read more).
Mathematics & Statistics
Every year, one out of every thousand patients receiving general anesthesia for surgery experience anesthesia awareness and regain consciousness during an operation. Professor of Mathematics Nancy Kopell and colleagues have identified electroencephalography (EEG) patterns that may mark the points when anesthetized patients lose and regain consciousness, findings that could help prevent patients waking during surgery. The study was published in the journal PNAS Plus (read more).
Physics
BU’s Molecular Biophysics Laboratory, led by Professor of Physics Ken Rothschild, reported making progress in understanding the molecular basis of brain function by bioengineering optogenetic rhodopsins that can activate and sense neuronal activity using light. The study was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Assistant Professor Tulika Bose was awarded a grant from the Department of Energy to fund her work on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
The BU ATLAS team also received funding from the Department of Energy for its involvement with the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s LHC. Activities covered by this grant include using LHC data to test the standard model and search for new physics particles (including the Higgs boson), management of ATLAS computing, and maintenance and operation of muon chambers. The grant supports several graduate students and postdocs as well as travel to CERN. (ATLAS and CMS are two of the seven particle detector experiments at the LHC.)
Psychology
The journal Science published a study coauthored by Professor of Psychology Michael Hasselmo that examined the function of grid cells by comparing the resonance properties of neurons in rats and bats. Grid cells are types of neurons that have been found in the brains of rats, mice, bats, and monkeys (and possibly humans); they are believed to help compute location based on continuously updated information about position and direction (read more).
Annual Report 2012/2013
From the Dean
From recruiting ever-better faculty and students to engaging in path-breaking research, academic year 2012/2013 was a year of great accomplishments.
Recruiting Excellent Undergraduates
CAS again attracted excellent students who bring with them a wealth of interesting experiences and who are eager to pursue their education in a large and exciting university in one of the major cities of the world.
Strengthening Graduate Education
BU and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences laid the groundwork for a tremendous strengthening of the quality of doctoral programs by developing a new budget model.
Strengthening the Quality of the Faculty
In 2012/2013, CAS recruited an exemplary cohort of 16 new assistant professors in fields across the humanities and social and natural sciences.
Enhancing the Research Mission
This year, Boston University was welcomed into the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of leading North American research universities—an accomplishment to which CAS, with its portfolio of research in the natural and social sciences and the humanities, was a key contributor.
Strengthening Connections to the Community and the World
The College’s commitment to make the world a better—and better-understood—place contributes to BU’s growing reputation as a leading, global university.
Managing Our Financial Resources
Despite the challenges facing all of higher education in recent years, careful fiscal management has allowed the College to again make progress toward achieving its long-term goals.
Nurturing Connections with Alumni and Friends
The College continues to develop new opportunities for continuing education, networking, and socializing to help alumni and friends stay connected.
A Community in Mourning
The BU community and CAS came together in many ways in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Our Impact, Your Impact: The Campaign for CAS
In 2012/2013, BU entered the public phase of its first capital campaign, inspiring many alumni, parents and other friends of CAS to step up support for our annual fund and critical projects.
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