College of Sciences

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Congratulations to the walk-on Stamps President's Scholars from the College of Sciences: Sonali Kaluri, Seth Kinoshita, and Medina McCowin.
Sonali Kaluri, Seth Kinoshita, and Medina McCowin have been selected as walk-on recipients of the prestigious Stamps President's Scholarship. Chosen for their academic achievements, leadership, and commitment to service, they will receive full scholarships, mentoring, and unique growth opportunities.
Facundo Fernández
The award recognizes an outstanding analytical chemist that has advanced the field through exemplary research, teaching, or other endeavors.
Coral-Bleaching-AdobeStock-135421429-by-sabangvideo-t.jpg
At the invitation of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, a team of Ph.D. students designed an ocean-cooling system to help stop coral bleaching.
BrandSafway was honored as the 2024 Internship Company of the Year. (From left): Susan Lozier, Karl Fessenden, Lauren Hester, Nadia Muhammad, Karen Riapos, Brenton Jones, and David Gaston.
The Student and Alumni Leadership Dinner provided a platform for students and alumni to network and share career insights. The event also honored BrandSafway with the inaugural Internship Employer of the Year award, highlighting the company's commitment to offering valuable learning experiences to interns.
Bernie Marcus honorary degree
Marcus was an honorary alumnus whose financial gifts have had a transformative impact at Georgia Tech and the Atlanta community.  
Students say the course, APPH 1040: Scientific Foundations of Health, has provided helpful tools to succeed in college.
The newly redesigned course, APPH 1040: Scientific Foundations of Health, expands the Institute’s First-Year Wellness Experience and provides students with practical wellness tools and strategies for college life and beyond.

Experts In The News

DNA samples from one of the world’s largest and oldest plants — a quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) in Utah called Pando — have helped researchers to determine its age and revealed clues about its evolutionary history.

“It’s kind of shocking to me that there hasn’t been a lot of genetic interest in Pando already, given how cool it is,” says study co-author William Ratcliff, an associate professor in the  School of Biological Sciences.

By inputting Pando’s genetic data into a theoretical model that plots an organism’s evolutionary lineage, the researchers estimated Pando’s age. They put this at between 16,000 and 80,000 years. “It makes the Roman Empire seem like just a young, recent thing,” says Ratcliff.

(This also appeared at Newsweek and NewScientist.)

Nature November 1, 2024

Last week, Michael Wong and Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science welcomed a diverse group of nearly 100 scientists, from microbiology to neuroscience, for a workshop on how complexity emerges and evolves. It was also a referendum on their audacious proposal, which, Wong said in a talk, is “an explanatory framework for the evolution of physical systems writ large, including, but not limited to, biology.”

It’s an appealing idea, says Loren Williams, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry who studies the origin of life and attended the workshop. “To me it seems very clear that there is evolution outside of biology.” Take the polypeptide backbone, the chain of molecules that forms the spine of all amino acids, he says. “[Biological] evolution doesn’t touch that, right? It’s the same in everything alive. It always has been. But it’s a product of evolution, I’m convinced.” It’s just that the evolution happened before life began, he says. And so when Hazen and his co-authors proposed their overarching theory, he says, “that just resonated with me.”

Science November 1, 2024

Hurricane Helene hit parts of inland North Carolina and caused flooding and damage in parts of Georgia, both areas not used to these sorts of conditions. Annalisa Bracco, a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said climate change is causing extreme weather conditions in places unfamiliar with these disasters.

“In general, [the increase in natural disasters] is telling us that the climate is indeed changing and that climate models have been overall correct in predicting conditions that will exacerbate extreme events, and we are seeing the impacts of that,” Bracco said. 

“Temperatures are getting higher and extremes are getting more common: more droughts, more heavy rains, more forest fires, more heat waves, increased storminess, also more strong cold spells in places not used to getting them as strong.”

The Southerner October 29, 2024

Upcoming Events

Nov
22
2024
Come join the Spatial Ecology and Paleontology Lab every Friday for Fossil Fridays! Become a fossil hunter and help discover how vertebrate communities have changed through time.
Dec
06
2024
Come join the Spatial Ecology and Paleontology Lab every Friday for Fossil Fridays! Become a fossil hunter and help discover how vertebrate communities have changed through time.
Dec
12
2024
On the grounds between the Howey and Mason Buildings, several telescopes are typically set up for viewing, and visitors are invited to bring their own telescope, as well.
Jan
09
2025
On the grounds between the Howey and Mason Buildings, several telescopes are typically set up for viewing, and visitors are invited to bring their own telescope, as well.
Feb
06
2025
On the grounds between the Howey and Mason Buildings, several telescopes are typically set up for viewing, and visitors are invited to bring their own telescope, as well.

Spark: College of Sciences at Georgia Tech

Welcome — we're so glad you're here. Learn more about us in this video, narrated by Susan Lozier, College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair.