May 2025

Implementation of the Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan

May 21, 2025

Global biodiversity begins at home with the Living Earth Collaborative

Combining the forces of WashU, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Saint Louis Zoo, the Living Earth Collaborative works to protect the plants and animals of the world — for their sake and ours.

Graduate student Matthew Moore shares his personal take on public scholarship

A new WashU program, A&S CREATES, has spent the semester training a cohort of graduate students on public scholarship, encouraging them to share their work beyond traditional academic audiences. A&S CREATES has changed graduate student Matthew Moore’s approach to public-facing writing and helped him pen his first essay for Belt Magazine.

Zachariah Ezer, Melanie Micir named Creative Practice Workshop Fellows for Spring 2026

The Center for Literary Arts (CLA) has announced its two Creative Practice Workshop Fellows for Spring 2026. Zachariah Ezer, assistant professor of performing arts, and Melanie Micir, associate professor of English, will each receive a semester leave from classroom instruction to focus on a creative practice project. Fueled by collaborative feedback sessions between themselves and CLA staff, they will sharpen their writing with an eye toward publication.

Literacies for Life and Career secures grant to advance its work, launches web portal for faculty

As the second full year of implementation in Arts & Sciences classrooms concludes, the Literacies for Life and Career (LLC) initiative has won a grant to expand the scope of its work. The $45,955 grant, provided by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) through its NetVUE Program Development Grants, will deepen opportunities for students and advisors participating in the Literacies program.

Can mindfulness combat anxiety?

If you’re anxious about work, finances, the state of the world, or anything else, you might try a moment of mindfulness. Paying close attention to the present moment without judgment — the basic idea behind all mindfulness techniques — can help calm anxiety and improve focus. Researchers with the Mindfulness Science & Practice research cluster, supported by the Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures, explore these concepts through their work.

photo by Sean Garcia

TRIADS co-hosts Bridging Data Divides

On May 1 and 2, the Data for Social Impact (DSI) initiative at the Center for Social Development and the Transdisciplinary Institute in Applied Data Science (TRIADS) co-hosted Bridging Data Divides, a two-day summit that explored the use of data to promote positive change in areas of health, community development, environment, and beyond.

The conference was presented in partnership with the Community Innovation and Action Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Support for the event came from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and WashU's Digital Intelligence & Innovation Accelerator.

May 29

Guest Lecture: Dr. Pierre Sikivie

Dr. Pierre Sikivie is a distinguished professor of physics at the University of Florida. An expert on dark matter and particle physics, his research helped to inspire the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX), a collaboration that includes researchers from WashU. Dr. Sikivie's lecture is presented by the Center for Quantum Leaps.

Following its successful launch as part of the Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan, the Program in Public Scholarship will move to the Office of the Provost at the start of the 2025-2026 academic year. Rebranded as the Office of Public Scholarship, its team will expand efforts to help WashU scholars make their research accessible to public audiences.

The Program in Public Scholarship has helped more than 50 Arts & Sciences faculty and graduate students publish in outlets for general audiences; conducted more than 30 workshops, seminars, and webinars; and assisted dozens of scholars in book development. As part of the Office of the Provost, its support will now be available across all WashU schools.