Prof. Samuel Gellman and his group have been working on strategies to prevent infection by pathogenic viruses for several years. They are now using that work as a launching pad for research on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Feature Stories
Atmospheric chemists join battle against COVID-19
When COVID-19 first hit, many people hastily adopted work-from-home protocols. Trips outside were limited to grocery runs; suddenly, fruits and vegetables became synonymous with ramen and ready-to-eat food choices. Social lives compressed to the six inches of mobile phone screens. Facetime Fridays with steaming cups of coffee, arguably with three too many shots of espresso, became routine. Today, even with the pandemic running rampant, things are very different. Slowly people are participating in more in-person activities; however, often without a complete understanding of the risks.
Postdoc starts world-wide literature discussions
Morgan Howe, a new addition to Sam Pazicni’s group at the UW–Madison chemistry department, began her postdoctoral fellowship with a bang! She initiated a popular online literature discussion group, filling a need for chemists across the world to connect and learn virtually.
Stuck at home under COVID-19 restrictions, undergraduate researchers find silver lining
In early March, I was sitting in the Union eating stir-fry, browsing through the multitude of COVID-19 articles. I spent the next hour concerned by something strange in my bowl when I really should have been concerned by the rising number of cases.
Chemistry instructional tower takes shape
The long-awaited, much-needed new chemistry tower, which will serve a growing population of undergraduate chemistry students, is rapidly nearing completion.
A better understanding of coral skeleton growth suggests ways to restore reefs
November 9, 2020 By Sarah Perdue For news media Coral reefs are vibrant communities that host a quarter of all species in the ocean and are indirectly crucial to the survival of the rest. But they are slowly …
Thesis-writing program shares joy of scientific research
Several years and tens of thousands of words into writing their doctoral dissertation, you’d think few graduate students would sign on to write even more. And yet over the last decade, dozens of University of Wisconsin–Madison students have done exactly that. They’ve chosen to add one more chapter to their thesis, distilling years of hard-won scientific knowledge into prose understandable by the broader public, something rarely found in a dense document typically written for other scientists.
Free chemistry camps offered online this summer
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Chemistry’s Institute of Chemical Education (ICE) is offering its summer chemistry camps for free online, continuing a four-decade-long tradition of education despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chemistry Professor Martin Zanni and five other UW-Madison professors elected to AAAS
April 24, 2020 By Eric Hamilton Chemistry professor Martin Zanni and five other UW-Madison professors have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Zanni is the V.W. Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry. Using an innovative …
Chemists look for ways to assess and improve indoor air quality
In a city teeming with traffic, it’s common to smell exhaust and other air pollutants on the street. But air pollution doesn’t always stay outside. Fluctuations in outdoor air quality can cause changes in indoor air pollution, which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and can adversely affect pregnancies, according to the National Institutes of Health.