Ten Washington University scientists were each given one minute to explain why they’re scientists. This is what they said.

Gautam Dantas is associate professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and associate professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a leader in the fields of antibiotic resistance and drug discovery:  President Trump touts his interest in promoting American greatness. […]

Washington University researchers have found that courses intended to better prepare high school graduates for college also drive some students to drop out. They report that policies increasing the number of required math and science courses are linked to a higher dropout rate.

Washington University in St. Louis is one of eight Association of American Universities (AAU) member campuses selected to serve as project sites for the association’s five-year initiative to improve the quality of undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at its member institutions, AAU officials announced today.

Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has written the Missouri congressional delegation to express continued concerns about the serious negative impact that sequestration, expiring tax provisions, and other elements of the “fiscal cliff” could have on the mission of higher education and the nation as a whole.

Students, faculty and staff hosted aspiring scientists March 26, April 2 and April 9 during “Catalysts for Change” workshops aimed at introducing female high school students to science, technology and engineering fields. Workshop students launch containers — designed using straws, cotton balls, rubber bands and tape — outside of the Lab Sciences Building. They competed to see who could launch their container the farthest without breaking an egg protected inside.

Members of the Student National Medical Association at the School of Medicine have been working with area high school students to expose them to medicine and science.

Robert K. Jackler, M.D., the Sewall Professor and Chair of otolaryngology and associate dean at Stanford University School of Medicine, has gathered advertisements using doctors to promote cigarettes into an exhibit that will be on display in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center and the Bernard Becker Medical Library beginning Monday, March 1 through Friday, April 30. He also will give a free, public lecture at noon Tuesday, March 9, in Connor Auditorium.

SchaalPresident Obama has appointed Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and vice president of the National Academy of Sciences, to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

GoodenoughThe hot topics of global warming and environmental sustainability are concerns that fit neatly within the precepts of religious naturalism, according to Ursula Goodenough, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to being a renowned cell biologist, Goodenough is a religious naturalist and the author of The Sacred Depths of Nature, a bestselling book on religious naturalism that was published in 1998. Religious naturalism neither requires belief in God nor excludes such faith. Rather, the movement is based on what Goodenough describes as “an exploration of the religious potential of nature.”