Research

Hundreds of UNC Charlotte undergraduates have participated in the Charlotte Research Scholars initiative at UNC Charlotte in a 10-week summer program. Those chosen receive a scholarship to work closely with faculty mentors conducting research and participate in professional development sessions to better prepare them for graduate school and careers.

Sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and other devastating illnesses threaten the lives of millions of people and livestock worldwide. While tsetse fly and other insect bites spread the diseases, the true culprits are trypanosomatid parasites, with their unique mitochondrial DNA structure known as kinetoplast DNA. UNC Charlotte mathematician Yuanan Diao is working with researchers across the country to unlock the secrets of the organisms’ DNA.

In a significant botanical accomplishment, UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens staff have successfully pollinated a Titan Arum, using pollen from another Titan Arum at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. “The pollination of the Titan Arum is very significant for UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens,” said Paula Gross, UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens assistant director. “We were the first to bloom this rare plant in the Carolinas, and now we are the first in North America to have achieved pollination with fresh, or unfrozen, pollen.”

In a significant contribution to research, teaching and engagement at UNC Charlotte, faculty in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2015 published 30 scholarly and creative books that represented subjects as diverse as the College itself. Most of the books are intended primarily for classroom use or as resources for further research, while several of the books are intended for general audiences.

UNC Charlotte optical scientist Michael Fiddy conducts complex research in super-resolution imaging – or optical imaging beyond the diffraction limit of light, and in metamaterial design – or the precise design of composite materials with properties not found in nature. Fiddy was the founding director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Metamaterials.

Honeybee colonies continue to disappear because of a mysterious condition called Colony Collapse Disorder, which threatens pollination and influences the world’s food supply. As researchers seek understanding of the reasons behind the decline UNC Charlotte’s Stan Schneider and colleagues are exploring how honeybees communicate, with potential implications for honeybee health.

As the new director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, Jeff Gillman sees his mission as engaging the public with the gardens and with nature. “My goal is to bring the gardens to the public,” Gillman said. “The gardens have had a wonderful base over the years, and I hope we can bring it to […]

UNC Charlotte student scholars are researching diverse topics ranging from lightning strike patterns in the Southeast U.S. to the connection between Maya Angelou’s poetry and contemporary hip-hop to the impact of UNC Charlotte’s student-run food pantry.

A research team including a senior biology major has made progress towards finding a weak spot in the architecture of a group of enzymes that are essential to antibiotic resistance in a number of bacteria, using a complex modeling program that helps analyze the physical dynamics of large, structurally complex protein molecules.

Students from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences earned top honors for their research at UNC Charlotte’s 15th annual Graduate Research Symposium, held in April, 2015 in the J. Murrey Atkins Library. The Graduate Research Symposium seeks to provide an inclusive and competitive environment for UNC Charlotte students to present their work.