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Botany Bios: Katherine Merrill
If you had attended KU in the 1800s, you probably would have taken a botany class as part of your course of study. (Those were the days!) In Botany, students were required to collect and identify plant specimens. We still have several dozen of these specimens in the McGregor Herbarium. Each is mounted on a sheet with a preprinted label marked with the anticipated year of graduation.
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Museum to Host VENOMventure, a New Science-Themed Escape Room
A venomous plant is invading the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in August, and the public is invited to help discover an antivenom before it takes over the world. A biological mystery is at the heart of a new, immersive escape room game that will be at the museum Aug. 8-27.
New Push Will Digitize Records of African Plants Held in Herbaria and Museums Across the U.S.
Over the past few decades, herbaria and museums worldwide have created digital data records documenting millions of specimens in their holdings. The benefits of digitizing the contents of natural history museums and research institutions flow to the public and researchers worldwide. Now, through a…
Paleontology Journal Adapts to Open Format with Help from KU Libraries
“The nature of scientific publishing has changed so much that I realized in order for us to stay relevant and useful to scientists and also to folks interested in paleontology throughout the world, we had to make this transition to open access, and we had to do it as soon as possible.”
Fossil Find in California Shakes Up the Natural History of Cycad Plants
LAWRENCE — Cycads, a group of gymnosperms that can resemble miniature palm trees (like the popular sago palm houseplant), were long thought to be “living fossils,” a group that had evolved minimally since the time of the dinosaurs. Now, a well-preserved 80-million-year-old pollen cone discovered in…
KU Paleontology Ranked Number One Among Public Schools by US News & World Report
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas graduate program in paleontology ranks number one among public universities, tied with special education in the 2024 rankings by U.S. News & World Report. KU's local government management program ranked No. 1 among all universities. KU has 37 graduate…
Kansas Designates Silvisaurus Condrayi the Official State Land Fossil
LAWRENCE — The only dinosaur known to have lived in what is now Kansas, Silvisaurus condrayi, was designated the official state land fossil of Kansas, thanks in part to a Kansas rancher and a Goddard schoolteacher and his sixth-grade students.
Teacher Joel Condray, his students from Challenger…
Extinction of Steam Locomotives Derails Assumptions About Biological Evolution
LAWRENCE — When the Kinks’ Ray Davies penned the tune “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains,” the vanishing locomotives stood as nostalgic symbols of a simpler English life. But for a paleontologist at the University of Kansas, the replacement of steam-powered trains with diesel and electric engines,…
Researchers Plan Center to Track Mammal Pathogens in the Wild to Warn of Coming Pandemics
LAWRENCE — Researchers from the University of Kansas are helping build an international, multidisciplinary center to monitor pathogens in wild mammals and act as an early warning system for pandemic prediction and prevention.
A Fossil Fruit From California Shows Ancestors of Coffee and Potatoes Survived Cataclysm That Killed the Dinosaurs
LAWRENCE — The discovery of an 80-million-year-old fossil plant pushes back the known origins of lamiids to the Cretaceous, extending the record of nearly 40,000 species of flowering plants including modern-day staple crops like coffee, tomatoes, potatoes and mint.
Researcher Helps Build Center for Avian-Influenza Pandemic Preparedness with NSF Award
LAWRENCE — As humanity tries to find its footing after the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Kansas is taking steps to help ready the United States and the rest of the world for future global health crises.