North Carolina

On the Surface

Claire Johnson explains her studies of microbial communities living on seaweed mats in the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf Stream and how they cycle nitrogen.

Up in the Air

Haley Plaas works with local communities to uncover how algal blooms affect air quality.

Hunting for Hemlocks

Ken Donny-Clark spent his last semester at UNC-Chapel Hill in the woods searching for a dwindling population of trees that local wildlife depends on: Carolina hemlocks.

All Creatures Great and Small

Rada Petric's love for nature has led her to study how human presence affects the behavior of small mammals like bats and mice.

Mucking in the Marshes

Josh Himmelstein is getting knee-deep in marshes to understand the effects of sea-level rise.

The Sediment Scientist

Anne Smiley maps coastal habitats and nitrogen levels to assess water quality and coastal ecosystem health, protecting communities hit by major storms.

Putting Skill to Work

Nichola Lowe spotted the gaps in the U.S. workforce long before the pandemic shined a light on them. She’s spent the last 15 years studying how employees develop and use skills at work, and how employers encourage development of those skills. Most recently, she’s written a book on the topic and is using lessons from the pandemic to drive her current research.