With more than 30 species of salamanders living in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Highlands Biological Station, a UNC Institute for the Environment field site, conducts several student-led studies on these agile creatures each year.

Senior Cherrel Manley is an undergraduate researcher within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry. She is also a McNair Scholar. Her research focuses on the relationship between maternal exposure to phthalates — substances commonly found in industrial chemicals — and pre-term births within the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Samantha Kistler is a doctoral candidate and graduate research assistant in the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating the modifications that occur within Ras proteins, which may allow for protein-specific drug targeting. Mutated Ras proteins are found in up to 30 percent of cancers.

Jillian Dempsey is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding how to harness the sun’s energy to create clean fuel.

People with autism are twice as likely to use drugs and alcohol than someone without the disorder — a statistic that most people are unaware of. To educate the public on this topic, UNC autism professional Ann Palmer and addiction specialist Elizabeth Kunreuther teamed up to write a book: “Drinking, Drug Use, and Addiction in the Autism Community.”

Over the last five years alone, more than 15 UNC students have accepted jobs at Eastman, a materials and specialty additives company in Kingsport, Tennessee. On top of hiring Carolina grads, the company supports research projects across four departments within three schools at UNC, creating a successful model for how industry partnerships function at the university.

Rima Janusziewicz is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, and a graduate research assistant in the DeSimone Lab. Her research focuses on a more effective way to 3-D print objects called continuous liquid interface production and how that method aids application development for the life sciences.

Junior Ling Lin is an undergraduate researcher within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences double-majoring in chemistry and Asian studies. She is also a McNair Scholar and a Chancellor’s Science Scholar. Her research focuses on developing novel antiplatelet therapeutics to inhibit blood clot formation and prevent the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Senior Haley Moser is an undergraduate researcher within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences double-majoring in environmental sciences and geography. Her research focuses on utilizing geographic data to identify the spread and level of nutrients and contamination within waterbodies after a major weather event like a hurricane — information that helps local governments better prepare for when the next storm hits.

Tonya VanDeinse is a clinical assistant professor within the UNC School of Social Work. Her research focuses on how to improve mental health and criminal justice outcomes for adults diagnosed with both mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

A generation under Soviet control made its voice heard on tape. UNC music scholar Andrea F. Bohlman is listening.

Junior Victoria Whitley is an undergraduate researcher within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences majoring in applied mathematics. She is also a research assistant in the Joint Applied Mathematics and Marine Sciences Fluids Lab. Her research focuses on understanding how some salts dissolve in corn syrup, causing stratified fluids to diffuse unevenly.