As a paleoclimatologist, Erika Wise studies climate trends from the past thousand years. Her methods of inquiry may be complicated — using microscopic crossdating and isotope analysis — but her research begins with something far more common: trees.

Fouad Abd-El-Khalick is the dean of and professor in the UNC School of Education. He researches best practices for teaching students, how science works, and why we should trust claims of scientific knowledge.

Megan Raisle is a senior and Morehead-Cain Scholar double-majoring in environmental studies and geography within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She studies climate change across disciplines to uncover how to be a more effective advocate for climate action and understand why it sometimes fails.

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.

Kevin Pendergast is a master’s student specializing in technical production in the Department of Dramatic Art within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. He studies the process of moving an artistic idea to the stage using techniques like scenic fabrication and audio-visual production.

Xiaoming Liu is an assistant professor of geochemistry in the Department of Geological Sciences within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She studies old rocks to better understand Earth's elemental and isotope behavior and, ultimately, its history.

Jayashankar Swaminathan is the GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Professor of Global Operations at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and a professor in the Department of Statistics and Operations within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. He researches how to improve business operations.

With nine shows in a season, PlayMakers Repertory Company is always bustling — staff often begin work on the next play before the previous one wraps up. From props to costumes and set design, every few weeks the theater’s technical production teams are charged with creating a new world for each show.

Macy Salzberger is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She studies ethics, as well as social and political philosophy, with a focus on feminist ethics and the philosophy of education. Her dissertation is on the meaning and moral significance of domestic violence.

One thousand feet of lumber, 87 props, 60 yards of fabric and a whole lot of creativity. That — and more — is what it took for the staff at PlayMakers Repertory Company to produce the first play of the 2019-20 mainstage season, "Native Son." Learn more in this infographic.

When the actors of PlayMakers Repertory Company step onto the stage, they become someone new. Taking on a character is a science all its own — one that requires art, imagination, and research to accomplish. And it doesn’t hurt to have a dramaturg handy, either.

Michael Doucette is a senior double-majoring in information science and interdisciplinary studies within the UNC School of Information and Library Science. He studies how digital technologies influence and transform the structure of personal and social spaces.