Pete Peterson in his lab

Captain of the Coast

From the shores of New Jersey to the North Carolina coast, Pete Peterson has always loved the ocean. He's spent nearly five decades researching its marine life, fighting for its protection, and...
graphic of red-white-and-blue pills that say vallium, zoloft, prozac, xanax, ritalin, adderall

Military Mindset

Before 2001, the use of prescribed psychoactive medications in U.S. Army warzones was restricted. But an increase in mental health awareness, low recruitment numbers, and longer deployments during the...
a mosaic of Alexander the Great on his horse in a battle against Persia

To Conquer the World

In the earth’s long history of rulers and warriors, few stand as tall as Alexander the Great. A Macedonian king who built an enormous empire across the Middle East and Asia in 11 years, Alexander was...
Reuben Mabry

A Veteran’s View

During his deployments to Afghanistan in 2012 and 2014, Reuben Mabry relied on his artwork for respite. Now a master’s student in UNC’s studio art program, he uses his eight-year career in the U.S...
Julianna Prim (right) monitors Ryan Brooks' heart rate on a computer as he steps up on a platform

Combating Concussions

There are a thousand ways service members can receive mild traumatic brain injuries during training and active duty. Ten years ago, basic concussion testing protocols didn’t account for the intense...
Julia Haslett

Cross-Cultural Connections

Documentary filmmaker Julia Haslett tells stories that transcend borders, giving her audience a window into worlds they couldn’t have explored otherwise, and are already connected to in ways they...
A student stands next to the edge of the boat and uses a pulley system to raise a metal instrument from the estuary water.

All Hands on Deck

Capping off a semester of hard work, students in a biological oceanography class put their lessons to the test during a two-day, hands-on field trip to the Neuse River Estuary and the UNC Institute of...
four tents set up in a snowfield in Alaska

Eye-Opening Ice

After spending two months on a research expedition in Alaska last summer, UNC junior Carly Onnink, a biology major, shares her story of field-based discovery...
Ayla Gizlice walks along an elevated shoreline among trees at Jordan Lake.

Artifacts of Alteration

Most visitors return from Jordan Lake with a tan, a photograph, or maybe a unique bird feather. Ayla Gizlice collects something else entirely — chunks of clay, plastic bags, rocks, and dead fish. The...
Conghe Song stands for a portrait in a forest.

Restoring Rural China

While the United States and China take up roughly the same amount of land mass, China’s population is over four times that of the U.S. — and more people means more change in vegetation growth. How do...

Sea Turtle Secrets

How do sea turtles navigate using Earth’s magnetic fields? To shed light on this incredible ability, UNC PhD student Kayla Goforth observes the orientation of their eggs — often in the middle of the...
a girl wears an augmented reality headset while controlling long rods on a simulator that mimics laparoscopic surgery

Augmented Health Care

Henry Fuchs is always looking 20 years ahead, and two decades from now the computer scientist thinks augmented-reality eyeglasses will be the norm. Fuchs and his team of students and colleagues are...