Graduate student Lillian Lueck has struck gold. Lueck just returned to the Nevada Gold Mines as part of an extended work opportunity. There, her days begin around 5 a.m. when she carpools with her team to an active gold mine. While other members of the exploration team create drilling plans, Lueck sorts through the drilled...

By now everyone has heard about the frightening problems with lead-polluted water in Flint, Michigan. But exactly how did the problems come about? And how can similar health risks be detected or prevented here in Illinois? At the next STEM Café, two NIU faculty members will dissect what went wrong in Flint and will discuss...

Finding new ways to prevent and treat disease. Improving incubators for premature babies. Inventing a new type of solar cell. These are just a few of the exciting innovations of NIU faculty and staff who were honored recently during the Research and Innovation Partnerships Recognition Ceremony on campus. “We are pleased to highlight the incredible...

Reed Scherer’s doctoral research set out to test a radical hypothesis put forth in the 1970s that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet “collapsed” during the interglacial period that immediately predated the most recent Ice Age, and could again. Confirming past instability of this ice sheet would contribute to growing concerns regarding future collapse and consequent...

...On the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin’ fishes play, An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ’crost the Bay! – Rudyard Kipling “Road to Mandalay” (1892) In August, a cohort of NIU professors spent two weeks in Mandalay, Myanmar, working with Yadanabon University to lay the foundations for collaborative research projects. Because...

Antarctica is melting, according to evidence brought back to Illinois by NIU Geology professor Reed Scherer and his students. At the next STEM Café, Scherer will discuss his Antarctic research, why it matters and what it reveals about global climate trends. The free talk and discussion will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,...

Richard Alley, a riveting speaker and one of the most famous climate scientists of our time, will visit NIU this month to give a public talk on the impact that fossil fuels have had on climate and the potential for a bright future of sustainable energy usage on the planet. Alley, who hosted the PBS...

First, the good news: Five NIU professors this summer snagged three prestigious grants that total nearly $1 million. Now for the better news: the funding also provides cutting-edge research opportunities for NIU students, allowing them to work alongside top scientists in their disciplines. “These are impressive research projects by an extraordinary group of faculty scientists...

Lazy days of summer? Think again. For nearly 30 undergraduate students on campus at NIU this summer, the season provided opportunities to work alongside professors and delve deep into research projects. Shekinah Bergmann, for example, worked with mechanical engineering professor Behrooz Fallahi and several graduate students, designing and building a robot, nicknamed “Nightwing.” It has...

Alumnus Leo Kurylo has found himself in sticky situations, from oil spills to mercury contamination. The Lombard resident shared his work as a hydrogeologist with students from the University Honors Program during Souper Wednesday and told them that now is the time to explore the world. “If you guys have any courses that offer you...

Tim Hodson, a Ph.D. candidate in geology, recently scored what has to be one of the coolest internships of the summer. In August, Hodson will spend three weeks mapping never-before-seen depths of the Atlantic Ocean while aboard the Okeanos Explorer, a former U.S. Navy ship converted into an exploration vessel. Operated by the National Oceanic...

NIU alumnus Kendle Fraley and his former adviser, geology professor Mark Frank, published research together this month in the journal, Economic Geology. It’s just one accomplishment of many for Fraley, who earned his bachelor’s (2009) and master’s degrees (2012) in geology and environmental geosciences. He’s a prime example of what President Doug Baker terms “student...