http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles Thu, 01 May 2008 19:27:55 GMT Connecting you with the University of Missouri’s innovative research and creative activity http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/35 There are ways in which Matt Gompper's work is simultaneously disheartening and inspiring. As an associate professor in the Fisheries and Wildlife department, he pursues research that falls into an area of wildlife biology known as conservation biology. That is, he seeks to understand the theoretical and real-world causes that drive animal populations to decline or become extinct. While focusing on animal species on the brink of extinction is surely depressing, his efforts are also aimed at conservation—and that's the part that is encouraging. Wed, 26 Jul 2006 05:00:00 GMT http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/35 (LuAnne Roth) http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/44 MU biologist Rex Cocroft studies communication, something crucial to life at many levels, as it occurs within a cell, between cells, and between organisms within social groups. "Once we reach the level of communication between individuals," waxes Cocroft, "not only is there the fascinating intellectual challenge of studying communication, but there is also this tremendous aesthetic appeal…. The signals themselves are often beautiful—the songs of whales, the colors of butterfly wings, the scents of flowers." His first calling was that of a musician, so it's perhaps no surprise that Cocroft was drawn to this aspect of biology, and no accident that he enjoys being at MU. "I love it here [in Missouri] in the late summer," he says, "when the katydids and the cicadas are out and there's this din of calling insects." Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:27:25 GMT http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/44 (LuAnne Roth) http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/74 Great celestial bodies populate the solar system. For an untrained eye staring at the heavens, the starlight spectacles and endless seas of blackness are nothing short of a miracle. Researchers, however, have developed mathematical equations that may help us understand such mysteries of the universe. From Isaac Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation to Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, the scientific community has paved the way for a greater understanding of the great beyond. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT http://www.syndicatemizzou.org/articles/show/74 (Sean Powers)