Natural Sciences & Mathematics
View a list of departments in natural sciences & mathematics.

Hettleman Prizes awarded to four exceptional early-career faculty
The annual Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement have been awarded to four promising faculty members who exemplify groundbreaking and innovative research along with future career promise.

A circuitous path
Brian Hogan’s journey to becoming a teaching professor in the College of Arts and Science’s chemistry department has been anything but a straight path. But through perseverance and asking for help, the Tar Heel found a way to quiet the doubt that lingered in the back of his mind.

New research examines ways to potentially diminish partisan animosity
Can we reduce partisan animosity? Researchers find that highlighting commonalities and reducing extremist voices in the news media are among the ways to help overcome division.

How to help endangered monarch butterflies
A Carolina biologist explains the insect’s decline, and a horticulturalist recommends planting milkweed to benefit butterflies — and our ecosystem.

Inviting controlled chaos into drug synthesis
Chemist Pedro de Jesús Cruz’s recent study aims to solve an issue that frequently arises in the manufacturing of chemicals on a commercial scale: how to create and isolate a desired product without resulting in an abundance of difficult-to-dispose-of byproducts.

Research on rare NC earthquake aids preparation, forecasting
Two years after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit Sparta, North Carolina, professor Kevin Stewart’s research shows why the event was unique and important.

Tar Heels in the field in the Galapagos
Meet some of the Carolina researchers who are conducting their research more than 2,600 miles away on the Galapagos Islands. Many of these researchers are in the College of Arts and Sciences.