Social Sciences

BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - The Hallett Lab is collecting samples to test a new, more sustainable way to farm hazelnuts. Steve Haring, a postdoctoral researcher in the Hallett Lab, is studying what happens when cover crops, such as native wildflowers, are used as beds around the trees.

INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES-The Northwest Indigenous Language Institute (NILI) was awarded a $1.7 million US Dept. of Education grant to assume the role of the Northwest Native American Language Resource Center for the Pacific Northwest. They will work directly with tribal nations in the region on language documentation and revitalization, curriculum development, teacher training, and other crucial needs.

ANTHROPOLOGY - University of Oregon researchers are teaming up with scientists throughout the US to study the most recent mass extinction—the one in the late Cretaceous that killed the dinosaurs—to prepare for a future one caused by humans.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - After a recent week in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, five UO graduate students have returned ready to use what they learned to help local communities plan for a more sustainable future.

INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES-In a special surprise delivered straight to their classrooms, eight professors learned they won a 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award. The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize exceptional teaching that is inclusive, engaged and research-informed. This year’s winners are Jocelyn Hollander, Faith Barter, Alex Zunterstein, Kirby Brown, Robin Hopkins, Tannaz Farsi, Patricia Rodley and Michael Moffitt.

ENGLISH, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY, SPANISH, THEATRE ARTS - The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize exceptional teaching that is inclusive, engaged and research-informed. This year’s winners are Jocelyn Hollander, Faith Barter, Alex Zunterstein, Kirby Brown, Robin Hopkins, Tannaz Farsi, Patricia Rodley and Michael Moffitt.

GEOGRAPHY, GLOBAL STUDIES, HISTORY - Read the stories of six alumni whose work in international affairs is making a global impact.

INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHIC STUDIES; NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES-illioo Native Theatre has received a major grant from the Oregon Community Foundation for the continued development and production of their new play, BlueJay’s Canoe.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY - Physicist Richard Taylor and environmental sociologist Richard York of the University of Oregon examine the beauty and benefits of fractal patterns in the natural world—and the need to protect that world from an ever-growing built environment.

The UO’s Environment Initiative has awarded seed funding to five new teaching projects to support faculty members who have proposed innovative courses and dynamic classroom experiences. The funding supports both research and curricular projects and focuses the intellectual energy and work of faculty, students and community partners on a just and livable future through transdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning.