School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah

08/05/2026

Plants 🌱 can’t run from heat🌡️, so they evolved something better... Congratulations to Chan Yul Yoo, assist. prof. of biology at the University of Utah College of Science on a $1.27 million NSF CAREER Award to study how plants sense light.

“Plants grow well when light, temperature and nutrients are all in balance,” Yoo says. “But when conditions turn extreme, plants rely on molecular sensors to translate cues into decisions about growth and development.”

Since plants can’t relocate when things get tough, they adapt in place. Yoo’s research zeroes in on phytochrome B, a key player in photobodies, the cellular structures that track environmental conditions and direct the plant’s response.

Over the award period, Yoo and his team will:
🔬 Decipher how plants sense and adapt to environmental changes at the cellular level
🧫 Develop proteomic tools and resources for the plant cell biology community
🤝 Launch the Utah Plant Biology Symposium, connecting plant researchers across the state

🔗 https://www.biology.utah.edu/uncategorized/how-plants-sense-their-environment/

Learn more: chanyulyoolab.org/

Interested in working in the Yoo lab? Future PhD/MS and current undergrads are encouraged to email: [email protected]

The University of Utah

07/29/2026

Meet Lauren Whelton, a 4th-year biology PhD student studying the microbialites along Great Salt Lake’s shoreline.

As water levels drop, these microbial communities dry out and lose their ability to produce food for the food web that depends on them. Lauren’s research asks a simple but urgent question: if the water returns to the lake, can they recover?

Read Lauren’s story here: https://tinyurl.com/laurenwhelton

Learn more about the Reimer Lab here: math.utah.edu/~reimer

The University of Utah University of Utah College of Science Great Salt Lake State Park & Marina University of Utah Department of Mathematics Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy

06/05/2026

The Great Salt Lake is shrinking and the consequences reach far beyond the shoreline. From toxic dust and diminished snowpack to vanishing habitats for 10 million migratory birds and $2 billion in annual economic activity at risk, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Securing the lake’s future is about securing everyone’s future. Understanding a crisis this complex requires science as interconnected as the lake itself. That is where the Great Salt Lake Strike Team comes in. Co-chaired by University of Utah biology professor William Anderegg, this team brings together top researchers from across the sciences.

From chemistry, biology, engineering, and geology, to atmospheric sciences, the Strike Team’s goal is to connect rigorous science directly to the people working to secure the lake’s future.

Link to Story: biology.utah.edu/news/salt-and-dust/
Learn More about...
Great Salt Lake Strike Team: gardner.utah.edu/great-salt-lake-strike-team/
Wilkes Center for Climate and Policy: wilkescenter.utah.edu


The University of Utah University of Utah College of Science Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy Utah State University

06/04/2026

Northern forests are warming up to 4x faster than the global average. The data needed to understand what this means has never been more important, or more complicated to navigate. University of Utah biologists Wanwan Liang and Jon Wang are changing that.

New research from the Wang lab, maps 40 years of forest change to the size of a baseball diamond and cuts through a flood of competing climate datasets to identify which datasets best evaluate the impact of wildfire, timber harvest and drought.

And unlike some of the carbon data out there, this is open, built for scientists, policymakers, and the public to actually use.

“This is taxpayer-funded science,” Wang said. “We want people to be able to use it.”

Read more about carbon mapping here: https://tinylink.net/kM6Q6
Learn more about the Wang Lab: dycelab.net

Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy University of Utah College of Science

05/28/2026

Novel angle on antibiotic resistance🦠🧬…could be answered by understanding how bacteria protect themselves from viruses! 🔬🧫

📖https://www.biology.utah.edu/faculty-news/the-weapons-microbes-use-on-each-other/

📍 https://tkarasovlab.org/
👩‍🔬Hiring undergrad researchers!

“Dr. Karasov was selected for her willingness to take a risk and go after a big idea. Her project asks a fascinating and bold research question, with the potential to reveal entirely new fundamental science,” said David Sanford, CEO and founder, https://www.hypothesisfund.org/

“This fund is really important for us because I don’t think there’s a funding mechanism where we could have gotten this kind of jumpstart,” said Karasov.

The University of Utah University of Utah College of Science

05/26/2026

Climate: can we count on forests?

Research led by biologist and climate scientist Professor William Anderegg, in collaboration with the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy , has produced interactive maps and tools to help policymakers and land managers better leverage forests as carbon sinks.

Read story: https://www.biology.utah.edu/faculty-news/carbon-markets-underestimate-risks-u-s-forests-face-from-climate-change/

See how forests in your region are faring — https://wilkes-center.github.io/carbon-reversal-risk/

What role do you think forests should play in our climate strategy? Tell us in the comments.

University of Utah College of Science The University of Utah

05/06/2026

Not all hosts are equal. Surprising new research identifies "evolutionary accelerators" — individuals whose biology drives a virus to become more dangerous, faster. 🔗in bio for story

University of Utah College of Science
The University of Utah

More about the Pott's Lab:
stormy.biology.utah.edu

04/24/2026

After navigating the hurdles of substance abuse and recovery, Brandt discovered purpose and motivation in biological research. Following graduation, Brandt will take a gap year to reset, then pursue a doctorate in ecology to fight for climate justice.

Read more about Brandt's story here: https://tinyurl.com/brandtwinn

Brandt completes research in the Aparecido lab, which focuses on plant responses to climate change, investigating novel plant physiological strategies adopted in the face of a warmer and drier environment

Read more about the Aparecido Lab here: aparecidolab.com

The University of Utah University of Utah College of Science University of Utah Alumni

04/23/2026

04/23/2026

Please join us for our next speaker in our Seminar Series: Jennifer Gerton from the Stowers Institute.
Dr. Gerton will present recent work on the striking discovery that nucleolus formation actively drives interchromosomal interactions, providing a mechanistic explanation for karyotype evolution and the origins of Robertsonian translocations. Bridging molecular cell biology and evolutionary genomics, with broad implications for genomic stability and what makes our genome uniquely human.
Read more about her research here: https://www.stowers.org/labs/gerton-lab

University of Utah College of Science The University of Utah Stowers Institute for Medical Research