Alyssa LaFaro

On any given day, Alyssa can be found photographing the effects of climate change, digging up long-lost information in the University Archives, or writing furiously in her Bynum Hall office. As the editor of Endeavors, she’s mastered the art of “wearing many hats.” When she’s not behind a camera or a computer, she’s meeting regularly with communicators, students, and faculty from across campus to learn about the latest research projects and unlock new opportunities for collaboration.

Posts by Alyssa LaFaro:

Yi Zhou

Mastering Mandarin for Business

With nearly 1 billion speakers, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. That’s almost 15 percent of the global population — and why UNC Asian studies professor Yi Zhou has spent the past decade teaching advanced Mandarin courses to undergraduate and MBA students.
a computer monitor made out of LEGOs

Unseen Science

RENCI is a hub for supercomputing and data science power at Carolina. The institute is the backbone for a slew of successful projects, from the data management software used by the National Library of France to a storm surge modeling system relied upon by FEMA and now a global platform for researchers to develop and test new internet architectures.
Jonathan Schisler and Todd Cohen

The Head and the Heart

Todd Cohen and Jonathan Schisler — a neuroscientist and a heart researcher — began working together in 2016 after meeting for coffee in Marsico Hall. By combining their expertise in protein studies, they strive to develop a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
UNC graduate student Lauren Woods draws out a pattern for a cheetah-print crop top in the costume shop at PlayMakers Repertory Company.

A Stitch in Time

Most of what you see at a theatrical performance can’t be purchased in a store. Each piece is specifically designed, created, and modified for the actor who will wear it on stage. What does that involve? Just ask the team at the PlayMakers Repertory Company costume shop.
Vaishnavi Siripurapuphoto by Matthew Westmoreland

The Road to Reproductive Health

By the time she was 14 years old, Vaishnavi Siripurapu had already developed a passion for feminism and reproductive health. After working in a university biology lab in high school, she set her sights on a career that combined her love of science with that of gynecology. Now a sophomore at UNC, she researches ways to educate young people about sex and relationships.
Seniors Maribel Herrera and Chloe Schneider and junior Nehemiah Stewart use an infrared gas analyzer to measure carbon dioxide levels in the peatlands of the North Andean páramo.photos & video by Alyssa LaFaro

Climate Game-Changers

For thousands of years, the northern Andes Mountains have acted as a carbon sink, preserving organic matter as thick soil. As the planet warms, what will happen to all that carbon? This past summer, Carolina undergraduates traveled to Ecuador to take a closer look.
Johnny Randall lights fires during a controlled burn at the Mason Farm Biological Reserve.photo by Alyssa LaFaro

Fighting Fire with Fire

In its mission to inspire understanding, appreciation, and conservation of plants, the North Carolina Botanical Garden conducts a series of controlled burns each year to manage wildfires and maintain rare plant and animal habitats in Chapel Hill and Durham.
Deb Tate (right) speaks with a young woman holding an iPad with the mPWR app on it in an exam roomphoto by Alyssa LaFaro

One Size Won’t Fit All

Nearly 35 percent of Americans are considered obese — a diagnosis that has become so common the American Medical Association recognizes it as a chronic disease. While the diagnosis is the same for all, the treatments vary; what works for one person typically doesn’t work for another. In response, researchers from across UNC have joined forces to tackle this ever-growing problem.
a teacher (right) talks with an eighth grader about an art project in a classroomphoto by Alyssa LaFaro

Soldering Learning Leaks

New research from Carolina Demography shows how students “leak out” of the postsecondary educational pipeline and examines education outcomes at North Carolina public schools, identifying where interventions could be implemented. UNC researchers have long been at work to close these gaps, from early childhood classrooms to public policy platforms.
Howard Odum sits in his office in the UNC Alumni Buildingphoto courtesy of University Archives

A Father for Social Science

The Odum Institute, the first social science research center in the world, has trained and supported hundreds of researchers specializing in everything from anthropology to city and regional planning to public health for the past 95 years. And it all exists thanks to the determination of one eccentric man.