WUSTL pediatrician Mark Manary, a doctor who has long treated malnourished people, is working with plant scientists trying to improve the nutritional content of food.

References:

1. July 29, 2009 — Scientists, doctors unite to fight malnutrition in the MSNBC.com

and 27 others.

WUSTL chancellor Mark S. Wrighton is trying to establish meaningful relationships with foreign universities, in hopes of engaging large numbers of WUSTL students and faculty members, encouraging robust research collaborations, and cultivating a more global campus.

References:

1. Feb. 27, 2009 — U.S. Colleges Get Serious With Partners Overseas in the The Chronicle of Higher Education

According to one geologist, southeast Missouri could hold one of the biggest deposits of undiscovered uranium in the U.S. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Bob Criss.

References:

1. Feb. 2, 2009 — Southern Mo. targeted for uranium drilling in the Associated Press

and 70 others.

WUSTL biologists and their collaborators have created budding longleaf pine forest ecosystems with the help of the U.S. Forest Service-Savannah River to understand whether these "corridors" help plants and animals survive habitat fragmentation.

References:

1. Dec. 2, 2008 — Study on wildlife corridors shows how they work over time in the Eureka! Science News (Canada)

and 3 others.

With ethanol looking less and less like the ideal alternative to fossil fuels, companies are rushing to come up with better options, such as biobutanol. WUSTL chemical engineering professor Lars Angenent is experimenting with using corn waste from ethanol plants to make butanol.

References:

1. June 30, 2008 — Betting on a Biofuel in the The Wall Street Journal

KWMU's Adam Allington reports on failed levees and flooding in the Midwest and the questions being raised about the efforts to contain the Mississippi River. WUSTL hydrologist Bob Criss says unchecked development on the Mississippi floodplain is a continuing problem.

References:

1. June 23, 2008 — Mississippi River Reclaims Floodplain in Parts of Missouri in the NPR: All Things Considered

and 1 others.

Since the historic flood of 1993, nearly 30,000 homes have been built on land that was underwater around the Mississippi and Missouri rivers near St. Louis. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Robert Criss argues that development along the rivers is worsening the effect of floods.

References:

1. June 19, 2008 — Midwest Floods Dredge Up Dispute in the The Wall Street Journal

Iraq is one of several tides running against GOP candidates, driving away independent voters and some party faithful. Except for Missouri, independent voters in five Senate races polled by USA Today were swinging toward the Democrat. Party loyalty was stronger among Democrats than Republicans in every state but Ohio. Michael Minta, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, comments on how the stem cell research issue is dividing Republicans in Missouri.

References:

1. Sept. 1, 2006 — Republicans tense as voter disillusionment sets in in the USA Today

WUSTL engineers, including WUSTL chemical engineering professor Muthanna Al-Dahhan, using imaging technology have found that vigorous mixing helps microorganisms turn farm waste into alternative energy.
The goal is to produce a simple method that farmers can use to treat their waste and generate energy.

References:

1. April 16, 2008 — New study advances method to make energy from farm waste in the Associated Press

and 81 others.

Richard Wilson, director of WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center, comments on the successful mapping of the corn genome.

References:

1. Feb. 26, 2008 — Group says it has mapped corn genome in the Associated Press

and 76 others.

Matt Malten, WUSTL assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability, offers a few tips on how to lessen your impact on the environment without spending a lot of bucks. "The old adage of reduce, reuse, recycle remains apropos. We must remind ourselves that the first step is always to reduce our demand of natural resources," Malten said.

References:

1. Jan. 13, 2008 — A few tips to lead a 'greener' lifestyle in the DailyIndia.com (FL)

and 3 others.

By mimicking plant evolution, a team of Illinois researchers has improved upon nature's design to build a leafy energy-producing powerhouse — or at least a virtual one on a supercomputer. In a study published within the journal Plant Physiology, WUSTL biology and chemistry professor Robert Blankenship comments on the Illinois study.

References:

1. Jan. 10, 2008 — Mimicking plant evolution proves fruitful in the MSNBC.com

Scientists are more interested than ever in the effects of extreme climate swings, such as prolonged drought, because the computer models predict wilder extremes as one effect of the climate change now underway.
WUSTL biology professor and ecologist Jonathan Chase comments on his study that appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

References:

1. Oct. 22, 2007 — Drought Can Destroy Diversity in the LiveScience.com

AP story on a three-day energy and environment conference at WUSTL, hosted by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.
Thirteen university presidents from around the world urged government agencies and corporations to pour more resources into finding new sources of energy that don't harm the environment, calling it the most pressing problem facing the world today.
WUSTL chancellor Mark Wrighton comments.

References:

1. May 7, 2007 — International university presidents declare energy research crucial in the Associated Press

and 3 others.

Article looks at St. Louis' effort to rebuild its image in the face of population loss and public school accreditation problems.
WUSTL architecture professor John Hoal, who has been involved in numerous municipal planning projects, comments on the redevelopment effort.

References:

1. April 17, 2007 — Hopes for a Renaissance After Exodus in St. Louis in the The New York Times

and 3 others.

WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Robert Criss warned that Missouri is losing too many of its caves to development.
Missouri has an international reputation among scientists, caving enthusiasts and tourists.
Criss, WUSTL geologist G.R. Osburn and graduate students Jennifer Lippmann and Everett Criss, Robert Criss' son, studied many of the 127 reported caves in St. Louis County.
Their paper, the Caves of St. Louis County, was recently published in the journal Missouri Speleology. Speleology is the exploration and study of caves.

References:

1. March 8, 2007 — Professor Says Mo. Should Protect Caves in the Associated Press Online
2. March 28, 2007 — What lies beneath in the West End Word (St. Louis)

and 44 others.

Article on the efforts of WUSTL chancellor emeritus William Danforth and civic leader John Dubinsky to reorient the business climate in St. Louis. St. Louis has great research institutiions like WUSTL, but "we have not done so well with the commercialization of that science."
In 2001, Danforth -- along with a number of other business and civic leaders -- founded the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, a nonprofit group. The goal was to jump-start St. Louis' nascent biotechnology industry by providing both new and mature companies with increased access to financing and up-to-date facilities.

References:

1. Feb. 7, 2007 — Keeping the Fruits of Research Close to Home in St. Louis in the The New York Times

Article reports on two research teams who say they have rebuilt, or sequenced, long segments of Neanderthal DNA using the 38,000-year-old remains of a 38-year-old male, found in a Croatian cave.
The technique is not only yielding new insights into Neanderthals, reported in Nature and Science, it's also likely to prove an important tool in teasing out secrets about how plants and animals evolved.
WUSTL anthropologist Erik Trinkaus says he sees problems with how the two teams interpret some of their information.

References:

1. Nov. 15, 2006 — Genomic "time machine" may pinpoint divergence of human and Neandertal in the Scientific American

New research shows that birds are becoming extinct faster than scientists have thought.
A group of scientists that included WUSTL biology professor and conservationist Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, revised the existing extinction estimate to take into account ongoing fossil discoveries of extinct species and missing birds not yet classified as extinct. The results of their study appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

References:

1. July 4, 2006 — Bird extinction pace worries scientists in the Kansas City Star

and 19 others.

Democrats are pressing their support for embryonic stem cell research in Congressional races around the country, seeking to move back to center stage an issue they believe resonates with voters and to exploit a division between conservatives who oppose the science and other Republicans more open to it.
Former U.S. Senator John Danforth, an Episcopal minister, and his brother, William, WUSTL chancellor emeritus, have taken a prominent role in promoting the amendment.

References:

1. April 24, 2006 — Democrats hope to divide G.O.P. over stem cells in the The New York Times

and 1 others.