UL Lafayette Ray P. Authement College of Sciences

The Planetarium Marathon starts today!

The Planetarium Marathon 2024 starts tomorrow, Wednesday, July 10 at UL Lafayette Science Museum in Downtown Lafayette. Six planetarium shows daily from 10am to 4pm, all included with regular museum admission. Choose your favorites or see them all! The universe awaits!

🇺🇸Have a happy and safe Fourth of July, Ragin' Cajuns!🇺🇸

Don't forget this year's Summer of Science Passport! Pick yours up at the front desk when you visit the museum. As you complete activities throughout the summer you can get a stamp at the front desk. Complete 5 activities and you'll be entered in a drawing to win an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, collection, geology lab and planetarium for you and your family. The drawing will be held August 1, 2024. Happy Summer of Science!

The College of Sciences was elated to welcome Tomáš Drucker, Minister of Education from Slovakia, and his delegation. The delegation toured Ray P. Authement College of Sciences’ facilities and laboratories, learning about virtual reality research. Later this summer, a group of about 15 college students from Slovakia will visit the University to study computer science.

This June, we join the nation in celebrating Pride Month, recognizing the LGBTQ+ community, as well as their supporters and allies. At UL Lafayette, we believe in fostering an inclusive and supportive community for all our students, faculty and staff. Join us in celebrating and promoting a campus environment where everyone feels valued and accepted. Together, we can create a more inclusive and compassionate community. 🏳️‍🌈

Congratulations to all the Spring 2024 Honors Graduates. The following College of Sciences students received their Honors Cords today: Luke W. Brinkley (Computer Science, Scientific Computing), Caleb A. Chopin (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science), Summer D. Crawford (Computer Science: Cloud Computing), Madeline K. Futch (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science), Jordan Grider (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science), Lily M. Guidry (Chemistry), Braeden M. Hebert (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science), Allison P. Hull (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science), Jordan J. Jackson (Biology), Kristian N. Lasserre (Computer Science: Scientific Computing), Mia C. Lucas (Biology), Jack H. Smith (Chemistry), Emily A. Sonnier (Biology), and Maggie K. Struble (Biology: Medical and Allied Health Science).

It's UL Lafayette Giving Day! Please consider supporting the University and our Educational Mission.

Giving Day 2024 Join me and make a gift to Giving Day 2024

Exhibit Update: Our new exhibit Prehistoric Louisiana: A Journey Through Ice Age Acadiana is thawing out nicely. Check out these two MAMMOTH (and Mastodon) pieces in place in the atrium. You can get a sneak peek at our work in progress now as we finalize additional elements and add the finishing touches. Stay tuned for more information about this new exhibit's official opening coming soon! Set your thermostats to defrost and get ready to journey back to the ice age!

UL Lafayette's Spring 2024 Commencement is almost here! In preparation for this weekend, we have collected all the ways to watch our ceremonies so everyone can celebrate their favorite graduates from wherever they are! We will live-stream each spring Commencement Ceremony on the individual colleges' pages (each is linked below in blue) and on the CAJUNDOME website.

🎓 Thursday, May 9:
7 p.m. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School Doctoral Hooding Ceremony*

🎓 Friday, May 10:
9 a.m. UL Lafayette Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
9 a.m. UL Lafayette College of Education & Human Development
1 p.m. UL Lafayette B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration
1 p.m. UL Lafayette College of Nursing & Health Sciences

🎓 Saturday, May 11:
9 a.m. UL Lafayette College of Engineering
9 a.m. UL Lafayette College of the Arts
1 p.m. University of Louisiana at Lafayette College of Liberal Arts
1 p.m. University College**

Read more about Commencement, the Cajundome's Clear Bag Policy, parking and more at https://louisiana.edu/news/spring-2024-commencement-ceremonies-set-friday-may-10-and-saturday-may-11. 🤟🎓

*Will be streamed on the college and University of Louisiana at Lafayette pages.
**Will be streamed only to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette page.

Congratulations to all of the College of Sciences Doctoral Candidates who were honored at the University's pinning ceremony.

Here's a quick reference for the schedule of planetarium programs in the month of April. Please note that the Eclipse show will run through April 7 and following the eclipse the program Stars will be shown in its place. The universe awaits!

We send our condolences to the Carmouche Family, as well as to Mr. Carmouche's friends and colleagues at UL Lafayette and beyond. Mr. Carmouche has left a lasting legacy at UL Lafayette where he served as Director of Special Services. He secured millions of dollars in funding for the University's TRIO Programs. The TRIO Programs have been instrumental in supporting many of our students in the College of Sciences, and helping us in our mission to provide Science education and opportunities to all of the students at UL Lafayette.

We would like to highlight Three programs in particular, the McNair Scholars program, the Louis Stokes-Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-LAMP) program, and the Veterans Upward Bound program.

The McNair Scholars program was founded in 1986 in memory of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, the physicist/astronaut, who died aboard the Challenger space shuttle. The UL Lafayette McNair Scholars Program began on campus in 1993, and supports 1st generation college students from a low-income background, or students belonging to a group that is underrepresented in doctoral studies, including African American, Native American/Alaskan Natives, Latino American/Puerto Ricans and Pacific Islanders in their quest for attending Graduate School.

The Louis Stokes-Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation program was designed to increase the minority student population seeking higher education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Their goal is to provide financial and research support to students throughout their undergraduate years leading them to Graduate School and on to Doctorate degrees in STEM fields.LS-LAMP.

Veterans Upward Bound helps Veterans to earn a college degree by providing academic and support services to eligible veterans. These services are provided to economically and educationally disadvantaged and physically disabled veterans who require skills and motivation necessary to complete educational requirements, enroll and succeed in post-secondary education.

The College of Sciences values diversity and inclusion. We will continue to carry Mr. Carmouche's mission forward by continuing to mentor McNair Scholars, LS-LAMP Scholars, and Veterans who seek careers in the Sciences, as well as all of our students in the College of Sciences.

Obituary information for Robert Lee (R.L.) Carmouche View Robert Lee (R.L.) Carmouche's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

Check out this profile on Dr. Beenish and the online MS in informatics program.

Learn More About the M.S. in Informatics Online Program: A Conversation with Dr. Beenish Chaudhry, Assistant Professor of Computing & Informatics As a student, Dr.

An article by physics alumnus Prasanna Mahesh Gunawardana (MS in physics 2016) is this month's most read article in Geology, the prime geosciences journal. The article, Correlating mantle cooling with tectonic transitions on early Earth, based on the second chapter of Gunawardana's Monash University PhD dissertation, is coauthored with Gabriele Morra of our Physics and Geosciences units, Priyadarshi Chowdhury, and Peter A. Cawood.

Physics alumnus pens most read article in the journal Geology An article by physics alumnus Prasanna Mahesh Gunawardana (MS in physics 2016) is this month's most read article in Geology, the prime geosciences journal.

We share in the sadness at the passing of emeritus Professor, Dr. TRN Rao, from the Center for Advance Computer Sciences and the College of Sciences. The University has lowered it's flag to half staff today in his honor.

It is with sadness that we lowered the University flag to half-staff today, Feb. 21, to honor the memory of Dr. TRN Rao, Emeritus Faculty member from the UL Lafayette Ray P. Authement College of Sciences's Center for Advanced Computer Studies, who passed away on February 14, 2024. His friends and family remain in the thoughts, hearts and prayers of many at the University.

Read Professor N. Rao Thammavaram's obituary at https://bit.ly/3OQ4icy.

Dive into the excitement of the recent 3MT® competition at UL Lafayette! Eight graduate students showcased their research in just 3 minutes each, competing for big prizes and a chance to represent our university at the regional level.

From growth mindset interventions to carbon dioxide storage, these scholars presented their work with passion and precision.

Curious? Read more about the event and winners here: https://gradschool.louisiana.edu/blog/3mt%C2%AE-brilliance. And stay tuned for future opportunities to showcase your research!

UL Lafayette Ray P. Authement College of Sciences UL Lafayette Psychology Department UL Lafayette School of Geosciences UL Lafayette Biology UL Lafayette College of Engineering

Dr. Amy Veprauskas, from the Department of Mathematics, will present at this month's Sciences Interdisciplinary Monthly Meeting. The title of her presentation is, "Mathematical modeling as a tool for studying the invasion and establishment of ticks and tick-borne pathogens."
https://sciences.louisiana.edu/research/simm
3:30 - 5:00
20 February 2024
Oliver Hall auditorium (room 112)

We hope you all had a Happy Mardi Gras! We are now back to work, but we look forward to next year's celebrations.

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Genung on his recent award from the Louisiana State Wildlife Grants Program and funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service . The award for $82,616 in external funding will support his team in their project titled, "Benefits of native seed mixes for pollinations in longleaf pine habitats."

This work has two goals. First, they will develop native seed mixes to restore the understory of longleaf pine ecosystems after prescribed fire. They will assess restored areas in terms of how well they support native plants and pollinators, and how well they resist invasive species. Second, they will sample for Bombus variabilis, a very rare bee species being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. B. variabilis is a social parasite of Bombus pensylvanicus, which is among the most common bee species in Louisiana grasslands despite declining in the northern parts of its range. Therefore, B. variabilis may be more common in Louisiana grasslands than in many other parts of the country. A key part of the State Wildlife Grant program is gathering information about species that are endangered or being considered for listing as endangered.

The study will also provide summer support for MS Student Anna Espinoza (pictured below). Pictures by Dr. Genung and Andrew Buderi from his team.

https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/siam-texas-louisiana-section-holds-sixth-annual-meeting

SIAM Texas-Louisiana Section Holds Sixth Annual Meeting By Bruce Wade The SIAM Texas-Louisiana (TX-LA) Section held its 6th Annual Meeting (TXLA23) in Lafayette, La., from November 3-5, 2023. The Department of Mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) hosted the three-day conference, which attracted more than 350 attendees .....

We are extremely proud of our College of Sciences Outstanding Graduate, Zachary Beau Phillips, a biology major, graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

Phillips presented research at the college’s Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium.

He co-authored a peer-reviewed academic paper titled “Flood-driven increases in phytoplankton biomass and cyanobacteria abundance in the western Atchafalaya-Vermilion Bay System, Louisiana.” The paper examines the impact of the 2019 Mississippi River flood on coastal communities and estuaries.

Phillips served as president of the University’s Chess Club. He has distinguished himself as a player, too. Phillips placed first at the Houston Chess Festival and at the Lone Star Open Chess Championships. He was also the Lafayette Chess Club’s city champion.

Phillips, whose interests include neurology and oncology, has interned at LSU Health Shreveport’s pathology laboratory.

He plans to attend medical school. His parents are Gina Marie Phillips and Richie Duchamp Phillips of Stonewall, La

https://louisiana.edu/news/eight-ul-lafayette-students-recognized-fall-2023-outstanding-graduates?fbclid=IwAR0lPcZpd_rbshduN9KQwjoxeDgkmpOF7Pm5z0GoZBeuagqKvwa41bTvJt8

Congratulations to the University of Louisiana College of Sciences Fall 2023 Graduates!

Congratulations to the Fall 2023 Outstanding Master's Graduates! Students were chose on the basis of of their leadership, scholarship, service and research. The Outstanding Master's Graduates from the College of Sciences include Granger Hanks from the Department of Biology and Benjamin Lukk from the Department of Physics.

Fall 2023 Commencement ceremonies set for Friday, Dec. 15, and Saturday, Dec. 16 The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Fall 2023 graduates will be celebrated during Commencement ceremonies on Friday, Dec. 15, and Saturday, Dec.

Congratulations to our first UL Lafayette Research Pathway Graduates. This program recognizes students who have selected to perform undergraduate research or creativity projects, as well as take a course of study that enhances research skills. The Department of Biology is one of the first programs at UL Lafayette that has a distinction pathway, and we envision introducing pathways in all of the College of Sciences units. For Fall 2023, the students who earned this distinction are:
Kade Coussan-Biology Pathway of Distinction
Hannalore Jameson-Biology Pathway of Distinction
Bradley Bouton-Biology Pathway of Excellence
Jaci Philliber-Biology Pathway of Excellence

The Mathematics Department hosted the sixth annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Texas-Louisiana Section this month. The section meeting was great success and set a record with more than 350 participants. There were 249 speakers and 165 undergraduate and graduate students.
Follow this link to learn more about the conference:
https://math.louisiana.edu/news-events/news/20231121/siam-texas-louisiana-section-meeting