LSU College of Science

From finding new ways to convert waste heat into electricity to understanding how proteins and sugars interact in plant cells—meet our five #LSU NSF CAREER winners: www.lsu.edu/blog/2025/06...
#WBTTW #ScholarshipFirst @lsuengineering.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsumns.bsky.social

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Our lab at LSU @lsuscience.bsky.social is looking for a student to join us in Spring or Fall 2026.
If you are interested in mountain birds and GENOMICS, and want to work on a project in Bolivian cloud forests, send me an email montanolab.com/join-us/

Congratulations to Prof. John Pojman, Chair of #LSUChemistry, on being elected a 2024 @aaas Fellow! Honored for his pioneering work in polymer chemistry and innovations ranging from 3D tumor testing to feral pig control. bit.ly/4caDXAi #GeauxScience

Explore #LSU Research Highlights on growing partnerships with national labs; new antibiotics; value of funding science: lsu-campaigns.omniupdate.com/t/d-e-siihiu...
@lsuscience.bsky.social @lsuengineering.bsky.social @lsuvetmed.bsky.social @lsuagcenter.bsky.social @pbrcnews.bsky.social #WBTTW

After adjustmenst, the ISI goes back in the can again for transportation to the interferometer to be installed next week at LIGO Livingston.

On its historic final voyage to drill into the mantle, @lsu.bsky.social Professors Shuck and Poulaki were aboard the JOIDES Resolution, bringing back groundbreaking mantle rocks that could reshape our understanding of this vast, largely unexplored layer of Earth.

www.lsu.edu/science/news...

Large anthill from a Texas leaf cutter ant colony seen in Kisatchie National Forest

Did you know there is a leaf cutter ant native to the southeastern US? Atta texana, the Texas leaf cutter ant, is found from Louisiana to Mexico, and can form massive colonies of millions of ants! Like tropical leaf cutter ants, they use plant material to “farm” a fungus that they eat 🍄‍🟫 🍃 🐜

What a beautiful day in the Delta!

MissDelta researchers surveyed channels in Pass-a-Loutre and the Delta National Wildlife Refuge, measuring water volume and sediment transfer. Their goal? To help map where sediment carried by the #MississippiRiver goes as it enters the Gulf.

#MissDeltaScience

It was time for some hard-core science last Friday when a group of MissDelta student and faculty researchers from Grambling State University visited research facilities, including labs at the @lsuscience.bsky.social, the @theh2oinstitute.bsky.social and the LSU Center for River Studies

Our preprint is out! Kudos to @josanesousa.bsky.social, @gabrielalima19.bsky.social, @perezlouise.bsky.social and undergraduate prodigy Hannah Shof! By comparing Polypterus fin and axolotl limb we find shared and new regeneration programs. @lsuscience.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

NOTE! Few days left for applying to this postbacc opportunity @tropicalbotany.bsky.social @invertevoeco.bsky.social @jembrown.bsky.social @clattin.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsumns.bsky.social

Lattin Lab PhD student Marquise Henry uses arm wrestling to show nerve impulses in an active muscle via electromyography

Lattin Lab PhD student Katie Stewart shows how electrical impulses can be converted into sound waves using a small device

A few of my lab members & I helped out at Kids' Day at the Museum at the @lsumns.bsky.social a few weeks back, teaching local 4th-6th graders about neurobiology and the kinds of research we do in our lab @lsubiosci.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social ❤️💪🧪

@lsu.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social

Tissue and DNA samples at the LSU Museum of Natural Science stored at -187°C (-305°F)! This is the largest collection of genetic resources in the world! 🧬 @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social

LSU Department of Mathematics professors Stephen Shipman and Daniel Massatt, along with LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy professors Justin Wilson and Ilya Vekhter, teamed up to discover a new way to trap electrons in materials, advancing quantum matter research.

Big breakthrough in quantum matter! A team from @math.lsu.edu & @lsuphysastro.bsky.social found a way to trap electrons using smart imperfections in graphene—no rigid structures needed! Their approach could transform quantum computing & advanced tech. Learn more: bit.ly/4gVfdgg
#WBTTW

A graphic of LSU professor SeYeon Chung on the right. On the left, a pullout quote reads "But ultimately, it’s the patients and families affected by these conditions who will feel the devastating effects."

@lsuscience.bsky.social SeYeon Chung, PhD, conducts research that could help uncover the causes of birth defects, the leading cause of infant mortality. Critical funding for her research lab is on hold, stalling progress (1/2)

Huge congrats to my student Jeffrey on defending his Ph.D! It's been a true joy to mentor him & see him grow as a scientist. So proud of his accomplishment & excited to see what's next for him! @lsuscience.bsky.social

Congrats to #LSUChemistry Asst. Prof. Víctor García-López for being named a 2025 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award recipient! 🎉 The honor recognizes promising early-career researchers in organic chemistry. Learn more: bit.ly/4hEVuTf

I visited the LSU Museum of Natural Science, presented a research seminar, toured their collections, and met some wonderful scientists and students. @lsuscience.bsky.social @prosanta.bsky.social

February 8, 2025, gave us clear skies and incredible views! 🔭✨ We spotted the Moon in detail, Jupiter shining bright, and even some deep-space nebulas. Thanks to everyone who joined us at the Landolt Astronomical Observatory—see you at the next one! @lsuphysastro.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social

LSU Student Named National Geographic Explorer for Groundbreaking Study on Bird Foraging Behavior Juliana Damasceno, a graduate student at the LSU Museum of Natural Science (LSU MNS), has been awarded a prestigious grant from the National Geographic Society to become a National Geographic Explorer. The grant will fund her research in the Colombian Amazon, where she and a team of scientists will study the remarkable adaptations of ant-following birds, which have evolved unique strategies to find food.

Second-year PhD student Julianna Damasceno is going to be a National Geographic Explorer!

Julia was awarded a grant from the National Geographic Society that will fund her research on ant-following birds in the Colombian Amazon.

The full story: https://lsu.edu/blog/2025/02/6damasceno_natgeo.php

Planting Seeds of Hope Former LSU football standout and ESPN celebrity Ryan Clark will serve as the host for the second “Planting Seeds of Hope” event, an inspirational program on the power of hope and normalizing the conversations around mental health. Presented by the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation, The Joe Burrow Foundation, The National L Club, and Our Lady of the Lake Health, “Planting Seeds of Hope” is a free event open to the public beginning at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. A tabling event will occur on the concourse of the Maravich Center beginning at 5 p.m. and running until the start of the main event at 6 p.m. Over 30 campus, community and national mental health resources will be available to assist in providing real-time access to local resources and support and foster connections to those working in the mental health space. The main event begins at 6 p.m. with Clark serving as the moderator for a panel that includes former LSU football standout and current Los Angeles Charger DJ Chark, Emma Benoit (Documentary: My Ascension), Dr. Ray Tucker (LSU Associate Professor of Psychology; Clinical Assistant Professor LSUHSC/OLOL & Director of the National Suicide Training Center (NSTC); and Sherrard Crespo (LCSW & VP of External Affairs at VIA LINK, a 988 contact center for Louisiana). The first 1,000 attendees to arrive on Wednesday, Feb. 12 will receive free Raising Canes, courtesy of the Joe Burrow Foundation. Coca-Cola will provide the drinks for the event.

Hey Tigers. Your mental health matters.

The second Planting Seeds of Hope event is this Wednesday in the PMAC at 5 p.m. This free event is open to the public!

Learn more: https://calendar.lsu.edu/event/planting-seeds-of-hope

Last week, #LSU hosted Oak Ridge National Lab Director Edgar Lara-Curzio, who toured LSU’s premier facilities for energy research and talked about new opportunities for LSU researchers to work with @energygov.bsky.social

#ScholarshipFirst #WBTTW @lsuengineering.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social

For the Birds: A look into the collection of the LSU Museum of Natural Science - inRegister Dr. Nicholas Mason takes readers on a tour of LSU's expansive bird collection.

LSU Museum of Natural Sciences Curator of Birds, Nick Mason, was featured by inRegister! 🐦✨ Check out his interview below. 👇
www.inregister.com/featured/for...

🎨✨ THANK YOU 🎨✨ grateful for the amazing turnout at our art exhibit! Full house, vibrant community, & endless creativity. 💚 #artexhibit #ShirleyCTuckerHerbarium #ArtandNature @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsumns.bsky.social

A split-screen edit of LSU track team member Michaela Rose. On the left, she stands in her track uniform holding up an L with her hand. On the right, she wears a white lab coat while in an anatomy lab on LSU's campus.

From winning last year’s SEC Championship to pursuing an @lsuscience.bsky.social biology degree, LSU Track & Field's Michaela Rose runs with purpose—both on the track and in the classroom.

📰 https://lsu.edu/blog/2025/01/17michaelarose.php

Increased expression of the small lysosomal gene SVIP in the Drosophila gut suppresses pathophysiological features associated with a high-fat diet Summary: Increasing lysosome activity in the fly midgut offsets negative effects of an obesogenic high-fat diet.

Some good news amidst all the chaos…New paper published in Biology Open! This work was initiated by two undergraduates (Brennan Mercola and Tatiana Villalobos) and completed by graduate students Jocelyn Wood and Ankita Basu!
@biologyopen.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsuresearch.bsky.social

🎉 Congrats to our College of Science faculty awarded funding through the LSU Provost’s Fund for Innovation in Research!

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Víctor García-López
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Naohiro Kato

Congrats to LSU MNS PhD student Juliana Damasceno, named an @insidenatgeo.bsky.social Explorer! She’s studying how Amazonian antbirds track army ant nests, feasting on fleeing insects and finding the ants even as they move through the night’s shadows. www.lsu.edu/science/news...
@lsu.bsky.social

⭐️𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁⭐️
Soumya Dawn, Graduate Student
In the García-López Lab, Soumya is diving into the fascinating world of artificial molecular motors. Outside the lab, he is an astronomy enthusiast who enjoys photography, dancing, and experimenting with new flavors and techniques in the kitchen.