College News

BYU College of Life Sciences Dean James P. Porter announces the reappointment of Michael Stark as chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology (formerly, Physiology and Developmental Biology) and Neil Hansen as chair of the Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences. Both reappointments are effective July 1, 2021.

Research by Public Health graduates Ida Tovar and Alyssa Baer and Dr. Robbie Chaney showed differences in how men and women react to campus environments while walking at night.

Anna Everett (‘22) grew up watching her mom struggle with an autoimmune disease. Noting how research at biotech companies enabled her mom to get the treatments she needed sparked Everett’s interest in scientific research. “I think I always saw my family struggling with their health, and it made me think a lot about medicine in general,” she says. Everett eventually chose to major in neuroscience, focusing on neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. She also added biophysics as a second major to explore her interest in math.

Biostatistics graduate Nolan Cole (‘21) recently earned the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Cole says it was a complicated process of applications, nominations, and writing to get the scholarship, but he applied because he knew it was important for his PhD work. Cole plans to enroll in a PhD program next fall in biostatistics and biomedical informatics.

Clair Wootan (‘21) originally came to BYU to study biology education. As she took more classes, she realized she enjoys conducting research, which led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in biodiversity and conservation. “I’ve always really enjoyed conservation,” she says. “It gave me a lot of opportunities to take really in-depth and specific classes.”

Dean James P. Porter, College of Life Sciences, announced the appointment of Professor Jeffrey Edwards as the new director of the Neuroscience Center, effective July 1, 2021. Edwards has held the position of associate director of the Neuroscience Center for six years under the current director Ramona Hopkins.

Growing up in small, agricultural Terreton, Idaho, prepared Emilee Severe (‘21) to study environmental science and sustainability. She was raised around farmers and irrigation systems and worked for an irrigation company in high school. “I would drive boats up and down streams, and I was always in the canal bank,” she says. Now at BYU, she has the chance to learn the science behind what she saw in the streams.

A Q&A with the 2021 student commencement speaker

A ten-year study reveals that epilepsy increases the risk of cognitive decline in older adults.