CLEMSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER

MARCH-APRIL 2026

A new gift from Jeff and Karen Camm establishes an endowed professorship in data science and decision intelligence. It’s a way for the couple to recognize the Clemson professors who shaped their lives, while directly benefiting current students.

Four Clemson undergraduate students traveled to Norway to send their own scientific instrument into space on a NASA-sponsored sounding rocket mission. The mission allowed the students to work through the same rigorous review and testing process as professional aerospace engineers. 

In the recently completed Olympic Games, we witnessed incredible athletic feats. But sometimes athletes try to get a competitive edge by using prohibited performance-enhancing drugs. Chris Chouinard’s anti-doping research focuses on developing techniques to detect known prohibited substances and new compounds.

Michael Newman was pursuing a Ph.D. in virology when he realized that while he loved science, bench research was not for him because he wanted to learn about more than just the one aspect of science on which his doctoral thesis would focus. Instead, he decided to use the experience he gained at Clemson to pursue a career in science communications.

Researchers in the Clemson Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center have been at the forefront of biomedical research on parasitic and fungal pathogens that threaten the health of billions of people worldwide. Now, they have joined three international organizations in a consortium designed to further advance research.

Shanna Estes, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry received a prestigious Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy to study how small molecular fragments of plutonium dioxide behave in water and whether specific changes to those fragments make plutonium more likely to move through the environment.

ScienceNet is a platform for connecting our SCIENCE family — students, alumni, friends, faculty and staff. It is where you can exchange ideas and experiences, engage in professional development and explore careers in the life, physical and mathematical sciences. Join ScienceNet.

Three Clemson chemists, led by Professor Sourav Saha, have developed new dual-conductive materials that simultaneously transport lithium ions and electrons, a unique combination that could improve the performance, safety and longevity of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power portable electronics and electric cars.

The most read article in the last issue of Science Matters was about graduate student Mel Walker’s shark toxicology research.

Genetics student Jack Carson won the College of Science’s first Catalyst Competition in March 2022 with geneTunes, which would convert genetic nucleotides into art or music using an algorithm.

Five years ago, the College of Science launched the Catalyst Competition, an entrepreneurial challenge where student teams pitched their innovative ideas to a panel of judges. The fifth annual competition was held two weeks ago. The winning team’s project was a product that detects infection before visual symptoms start. And last year’s winner, Lukas Garcia, is representing Clemson at the ACC InVenture Prize competition this week.

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