News
Dietrich School Faculty Member Selected as Finalist for Gordon Bell Special Prize in HPC-based COVID-19 Research
To better understand the coronavirus’s journey from one person to another, a team of 50 scientists has for the first time created an atomic simulation of the coronavirus nestled in a tiny airborne drop of water. This research was enabled by a software package developed by Dietrich School faculty member Lillian Chong, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry. Chong and her graduate student Anthony Bogetti were part of this work, and this effort has been selected as a Finalist for the 2021 Gordon Bell Special Prize in HPC-based COVID-19 research.
Dietrich School Science Revealed Public Lecture Series Presents, "Nothingness: So much to talk about!" December 2
Words like “nothingness” and “empty space” may seem like simple concepts, referring to the complete absence of content. But in practice, these concepts have been topics of ongoing debate with important implications for our understanding of the universe. This panel discussion and Q&A at this event, involving several leading Pitt experts as well as our distinguished visitor James Owen Weatherall (author of the popular book Void: The Strange Physics of Nothing), will reveal in publicly accessible terms some of the complications and interesting ideas that arise when we try to get a grip on…nothing. What is (or is not) really out there? What are its properties? What shape does it take? Join us to find out a lot about nothing!
Three Dietrich School Awardees to be Recognized at Annual Iris Marion Young Ceremony
Congratulations to this year's Iris Marion Young Awardees, including staffer Laura Nelson from the Dietrich School's Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (OUR), assistant professor Sarah Hainer from our Department of Biological Sciences, and Aparna Ramani, an undergraduate healthcare activist pursuing her bachelor’s degree with majors in Natural Sciences and Sociology as well as an MPH in Health Policy and Management in the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s degree program in the Graduate School of Public Health.
Women of Visions Exhibit Celebrates Black Women Artists
The Women of Visions: Celebrating 40 Years exhibit, presented by the Dietrich School's Department of History of Art and Architecture, runs through February 2022 in the University Art Gallery. Founded in 1981, Women of Visions is believed to be the longest-running collective of Black women artists in the United States. The 50 works in the exhibition span a range of media, from painting and sculpture to quilts and ceramics. Together, they attest to the powerful voices of Black women, and the unique identity of the WOV artists.
Meet the Dietrich School's Newest Faculty Colleagues
Meet the newest members of our Dietrich School community of learners--faculty members new to the school as well as some faculty colleagues who have recently taken on new roles.
Dean Blee Serving on Steering Committee for, Participating in Eradicate Hate Summit
The first Eradicate Hate Global Summit, scheduled for October 18 - 20, will have a strong Pitt presence, including its co-chair, chancellor emeritus Mark Nordenberg, along with some big-name speakers, like former President George W. Bush. The event’s steering committee also includes Dietrich School and CGS Dean, Kathleen Blee, who serves as co-director of the Pitt-Carnegie Mellon joint Collaboratory Against Hate.
Dietrich School Biological Sciences Professor Heads Up Institute to Study Nature's Resilience
Corinne Richards-Zawacki, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Director of Pitt's Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, is heading up a new institute that will focus on how nature bounces back after being disturbed by human activity. RIBBiTR (Resilience Institute Bridging Biological Training and Research) is backed by a $12.5 million National Science Foundation grant.
October 5 Science Revealed Program Examines Environmental Justice
How are water challenges in Pittsburgh neighborhoods connected to the larger global fight for environmental justice? Find out more at "Environmental Justice: Safe Water in Homewood and Throughout Pittsburgh"
October 5, 2 p.m. Be a part of this important Dietrich School Science Revealed program featuring Emily Elliott, professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science and Director and co-founder of the Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach that bridges efforts in water research, governance, and action at the University of Pittsburgh; Alyssa Lyon (A&S '12), Director of the Black Environmental Collective; Zinna Scott, community activist and Ambassador with ReEnergize Pittsburgh; and, NaTisha Washington, environmental justice organizer at One Pennsylvania.
This event is organized in partnership with the Black Environmental Collective.
Nature Article on Saving Rare Plant Species Features Research of All-Dietrich School Team
Tia-Lynn Ashman, Distinguished Professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Biological Sciences, led the team of researchers on a five-year effort to address whether and how the interactions between plants and the animals that pollinate them could contribute to maintaining plant biodiversity.
Black Lives in Focus Initiative Celebrates Black Lives Through Art, Community Engagement
KJ Gilmer's Say Her Name Memorial Gown, on display in the University Art Gallery through September 24, is one of the four inaugural projects in the University-wide Black Lives in Focus Initiative.
Dietrich School Graduate Student Wins Top Chef Amateurs
Brett Bankson, a PhD student in the Dietrich School's Department of Psychology, showed off his cooking skills on Bravo's "Top Chef Amateurs,” where he won the September 2 competition with chef Stephanie Cmar and brought home $5,000.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Leads International Team of Physicists Published in Nature
Lasers, fiendishly complex calculations and some of the coldest temperatures on Earth led to physicist Vincent Liu’s recent superfluid discovery.
Call for Nominations: Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring
The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring will annually recognize outstanding mentoring of graduate students seeking a research doctorate degree. Up to four awards will be made each year. Each Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring will consist of a cash prize to the graduate faculty member of $2,500 to recognize excellence in mentoring. All persons selected for this award will be honored publicly.
Call for Nominations: Chancellor's Distinguished Awards
The call for nominations for the annual Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service Awards is now open. The closing date for letters of nomination for all three awards is Friday, Oct. 15, 2021
Dietrich School's Levy Leads Project to Develop New Type of Memory for Quantum Computers
A research team led by Jeremy Levy from the Dietrich School’s Department of Physics and Astronomy has received a five-year, $7.5 million grant to develop a new type of quantum memory for quantum computers.