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The NASA Astrobiology Institute funded Michigan State University geomicrobiologist Matt Schrenk’s lab to study life in the extreme environment of an aquifer near Lower Lake, Calif. Because similar environments occur in space—in the subsurface of Mars and in the oceans of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus—the microorganisms found in this aquifer, and their behavior, may provide insight into potential extraterrestrial life. Two former MSU earth and environmental sciences graduate students, Lindsay Putman and Mary Sabuda, have just published papers on this research.

MSU quantitative ecologist Elise Zipkin has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship, which will send her to Israel for four months of research and teaching in 2022. Teaming up with Tel Aviv University (TAU) microclimate prediction scientists, Zipkin developed a research and teaching proposal that bridges their disciplines. She plans to lead a series of four full-day workshops for graduate students at TAU and study how climate change affects ecologically and economically important insect species in the Middle East.

Five Michigan State University College of Natural Science students and one recent alum are among the 10 MSU students and four alumni nominated this year for nationally competitive graduate school scholarships in the UK and Ireland that could make these potential honors a reality. In total, MSU has produced 16 Churchill Scholars, 20 Marshall Scholars, five Mitchell Scholars and 20 Rhodes Scholars.

MSU ecosystems scientist Bruno Basso has received a $3.4 million grant from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency to help determine how much carbon is in unproductive agricultural lands now and how much carbon the soil can hold. The answers found by Basso and his team will contribute to a carbon storage initiative known as the Conservation Reserve Program, which allows unproductive land to return to native vegetation and hopefully to increase the amount of carbon to be stored in the soil while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agrochemical applications to mitigate climate change.

MSU has one of the most beautiful campuses in the Midwest. This time of year, it’s common to see students, staff and faculty gazing at the spectacular trees, in awe of the beautifully colored leaves changing from green to fiery red, yellow and orange. Not everyone observing this beautiful natural phenomenon are doing it simply for their own personal enjoyment. Around 400 students in two sections of introductory biology are observing the changing of the leaves as part of a project that studies autumn tree phenology—the study of recurring natural events, such as color change in leaves, migrations of birds and butterflies, and hibernation in many animals.

On Oct. 13, MSU’s Artemis Spyrou was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a distinction recognizing researchers for significant and innovative contributions to physics. Each year, less than one-half of a percent of the APS membership earns fellowship status. Fellows are elected by the APS Council based on nominations from a candidate’s peers. In the materials nominating Spyrou, her colleagues described her as an “unstoppable force” in nuclear physics research and outreach.

MSU microbiologist Gemma Reguera, is recipient of the 2022 Alice C. Evans Award from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) for her outstanding contributions toward the full participation and advancement of women in the microbial sciences. This award was established by ASM's Committee on the Status of Women in Microbiology, and is given in memory of Alice C. Evans, the first woman elected ASM President, in 1928.

MSU's Beronda Montgomery, who has done significant work related to effective mentoring in research environments, is the recipient of the 2021 Mentoring Keynote Lecture Award from the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB). The award is given to an individual who exemplifies mentoring for their impact on the training of scientists and scholars who belong to underrepresented groups, particularly racial and ethnic minorities.