College of Science Media Center  

Boyd Professor awarded Blaise Pascal Medal, named European Academy of Sciences member, and selected to speak at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians -- the first LSU faculty member to do so since 1970.

The LSU Mass Spectrometry Facility (MSF) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility, key research resources at LSU, are expanding their capabilities thanks to a $69,199 enhancement grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents. This funding will improve sample preparation and add variable-temperature features for NMR, streamlining workflows and enhancing research quality.

Three LSU College of Science faculty members—Amy Xu, Sviatoslav Baranets, and Nick Mason—have been awarded the National Science Foundation’s prestigious CAREER Award. This award supports early-career faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models and lead advancements in research and education. NSF’s most competitive grant for junior faculty, the CAREER Program, provides five years of funding to establish a strong foundation for a lifetime of leadership, furthering LSU’s mission of innovation and scientific excellence.

Scientists have captured the first clear images of a subduction zone actively breaking apart off Vancouver Island, revealing how tectonic plates gradually tear into microplates rather than collapsing all at once. The discovery, published in Science Advances, offers new insight into Earth's surface evolution and may refine models of future earthquake risks in the Pacific Northwest.

With a new $1.8 million NIH grant, LSU’s Juhee Haam is investigating how rhythmic brain waves in the entorhinal cortex help transform experiences into long-term memories. The work could help explain why Alzheimer’s patients struggle with forming new memories long before old ones fade.

Gregory Thom, Curator of Genetic Resources at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, has received a $1.16 million NSF Collaborative Research grant to build the most complete evolutionary family tree of parrots to date. Parrots are among the most threatened groups of birds, and by sequencing DNA from nearly every known species and subspecies, the project will clarify their evolutionary relationships and support conservation efforts. The team will also develop genetic barcodes to help identify trafficked birds, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The LSU Museum of Natural Science’s new Naturally Talented Program, launched by Outreach Coordinator Irene Marti Gil, brings together art, science, and the humanities to inspire student creativity and connection with the natural world. Through free workshops, the Poet’s Corner exhibition space, and an annual creative award, students can explore everything from nature journaling and gyotaku to jewelry-making and botanical illustration. By blending scientific observation with artistic expression, the program fosters community, personal growth, and a richer campus culture, offering pathways for students to discover and share their talents.

Tailenn Fungcharoen-McCray is a dedicated STEM educator addressing Louisiana’s teacher shortage. Through LSU’s GeauxTeach program and the Marjorie Lee Browne STEM Fellowship, she developed classroom expertise, mentorship skills, and a student-centered teaching philosophy. Committed to equity and representation, Tailenn inspires curiosity, high expectations, and confidence in her students, empowering them to see themselves as capable mathematicians and scientists.

Parking may seem like a mundane frustration until you’re circling a packed lot, running late, and wondering why no one has solved this yet. At LSU, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy Dr. Manos Chatzopoulos is tackling that very problem by turning his astrophysics expertise into practical technology. Using the same computational tools he applies to simulate massive cosmic explosions, Chatzopoulos co-founded ParkZen, a smartphone-based app that helps people find available parking spaces in real time—no infrastructure required.