Category: Research and Innovation

An image of the JOIDES research vessel with a stormy sky in the background

Sea-going expedition unearths clues to ancient climate

Millions of years ago, cataclysmic tectonic events closed the passageway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, triggering profound changes in ocean circulation, temperature and salinity.  The JOIDES Resolution, a 470-ft research vessel capable of drilling cores three miles below …

Notre Dame STEM faculty receive Highly Cited Researcher recognition

Kyle Bibby, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, and Prashant V. Kamat, the Reverend John A. Zahm Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, have been named to Clarivate’s 2023 list of Highly Cited Researchers (HCR).   Kyle …

Grace Arntz-Johnson

Grace Arntz-Johnson receives U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Award

Grace Arntz-Johnson, a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, has received the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award. The award supports research opportunities at DOE …

Notre Dame engineering profs invent trap for capturing and comparing individual bacterial cells

All hospitals battle an invisible threat: Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is a type of bacteria that affects thousands of patients each year in intensive care units, where it can cause sepsis, pneumonia and other types of infections. “For the average healthy person, P. aeruginosa does not pose a …

Aerial of Downtown Chicago overlooking Millennium Park

Designing climate-resilient cities in at-risk communities

In September, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory announced it would lead a multi-institutional team to advance urban climate science with the establishment of an Urban Integrated Field Laboratory in Chicago. The DOE will fund the project with $25 million over five …

Ph.D. student Yanina Nahum

Notre Dame engineers join forces with Trinity College Dublin to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis

Notre Dame engineers have joined forces with microbiologists at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, to further investigate a promising strategy for managing cystic fibrosis lung infections. Cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that causes patients’ airways to fill with a thick and sticky …

Hydrologist Marc Muller receives NSF CAREER Award for new methods to inform response to climate change

Marc Muller, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS) CAREER award. CAREER awards are among the highest honors awarded to young faculty. CAS awards provide support for …

Omo River Valley, Ethiopia

With land grabs comes competition for water — and local farmers are likely to lose

Water from Ethiopia’s Omo River, which flows for 472 miles along the country’s southwest side, has helped sustain the livelihood of tribal populations for hundreds of years. Human rights organizations have estimated 200,000 people in the region rely on the Omo’s water for cattle and to grow …

Fog moves in as the research vessel Hugh R. Sharp departs St. John's Harbor in Newfoundland, Canada

Data from months in a fog paint a clearer picture for future forecasts

Fog is one of the least predictable weather phenomena. It doesn’t matter if it comes in on the “little cat feet” of poetry or rolls down the coastline like a locomotive. Fog can stymie daily life, affecting communication, transportation, and defense. “A better understanding of how and …

Rob Nerenberg and Yanina Nahum

Improving therapies for people with cystic fibrosis using the bioacoustic effect

Professors Robert Nerenberg and Albert Cerrone, both faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Notre Dame, are developing ways to improve the health and quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis, the genetic disease that can cause persistent lung infections and …