Azim Ahmadzadeh, Jalene LaMontagne, Sara Miller, Erika Gibb and Mohi Saki received four grants totaling more than $1.9 million to support their research.
Stories by Steve Walentik
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UMSL Tritons weekly rewind
Iyannah Jackson and the UMSL volleyball team opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a pair of straight-sets road wins over Drury and Southwest Baptist.
UMSL honors Barbara Kohm and family with 2025 E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Medal for Philanthropy at Founders Celebration
Kohm, with the support of her family, recently established the Kohm Scholars Program to assist high-achieving, low-income students in reaching their educational goals.
History major Kathleen Jochman shares scenes from life-changing experience studying abroad in Ireland
Jochman took thousands of photgraphs during her time in Galway and has curated some of them in an exhibit on display at the University City Public Library.
Stephen Moehrle, Michael Nichols and Lee Slocum named Curators’ Distinguished Professors
It is the highest rank in the University of Missouri System and recognizes faculty members for exceptional contributions to research, education and service.
Alum Mark Loehrer helps bring St. Louis history to life through Instagram account
Loehrer, who holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UMSL, maintains the archcityhistory account and works as a curatorial assistant at the Missouri Historical Society.
Inaugural cohort of Scale AI employees begins UMSL geospatial certificate program
There are 19 Scale AI staff members enrolled in the program this semester, and they are taking the Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Sciences course.
New UMSL Guardian app strengthening safety across campus
The app is free to download and turns any smartphone into a personal safety device by helping users connect to police and other university support services.
State of the University Address highlights UMSL’s focus on sustainability, innovation as it prepares for bright future
Chancellor Kristin Sobolik delivered her annual address to an audience of UMSL faculty and staff members and supporters at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.
CommunityAmerica Credit Union branch opens in MSC as part of larger partnership with UMSL
The credit union also is collaborating with UMSL’s Center for Excellence in Financial Counseling and its Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center on programming to support financial literacy.
UMSL welcomes 24 new faculty members as fall semester kicks off
The new faculty took part in an orientation organized by the Office of Academic Affairs last Tuesday to help get them ready for the new academic year.
Jalene LaMontagne, colleagues win Robert P. McIntosh Award from the Vegetation Section of the Ecological Society of America for research on community synchrony in seed production
Their study found that synchrony among species is correlated with trait similarity as well as climate.
Fontbonne University archives find new home on UMSL’s campus
The university began transferring the archives to the State Historical Society of Missouri’s St. Louis Research Center after announcing it would be closing.
UMSL receives new $1.3 million grant from US Department of Education to continue delivering TRIO Student Support Services
Up to 140 students each year will receive one-on-one coaching and assistance connecting with other campus resources because of the new funding.
Air Force veteran Matt Markivee juggles demands of parenting, career while working toward degree in communication
Markivee is pursuing his degree fully online while working as a public information specialist for the Missouri House of Representatives.
Record fundraising helping prepare UMSL to meet the needs of students and region into the future
UMSL alumni, friends and partner organizations contributed $46.7 million in gifts and pledges during the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Colton Fitzjarrald finds passion for mathematics, plans to apply it to PhD in computational biology after graduation
Fitzjarrald has been working as a research assistant at NGA’s Geosciences and Artificial Intelligence Applications Lab and also assisting Professor Sonya Bahar on research in biophysics.
Nicholas Wetzel, Ryan Nelson and David Torrence receive UMSL Hero Awards
The award is presented to up to three staff or faculty members each month in recognition of their efforts to transform the lives of UMSL students and the wider community.
UMSL partnering with Nidec Motor Corporation to provide educational opportunities to employees trying to advance their careers
Employees will receive tuition discounts on degree and certificate programs in a range of disciplines as well as on approved non-credit courses offered through the Advanced Workforce Center’s Skills Lab.
Michael Cosmopoulos explores the origins of Greek epics in new book, ‘The World of Homer’
Cosmopoulos serves as the Hellenic Government-Karakas Foundation Professor of Greek Studies and a professor of archaeology at UMSL.
CLIMB concludes 11th summer helping area high school students gain hands-on scientific lab experience
The program gives participants a better understanding of what a future in science might look like and helps them see themselves in one of those careers.
Biology Professor Aimee Dunlap elected a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society
Fewer than 10% of ABS members are elected fellows, and they must be engaged in research of animal behavior for at least 10 years and have made distinguished contributions to the field.
UMSL Athletics continues to post high marks in competition, classroom during 2024-25 academic year
The Tritons finished 68th nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Division II standings and matched a school record with 187 Academic All-GLVC honorees.
UMSL and enroll ml announce AI-powered partnership to redefine student enrollment and retention
The partnership will explore how machine learning and both agentic and generative AI can improve the processes to attract, enroll and retain students.
Gov. Mike Kehoe awards Challenge Coin to MIMH’s Safer Homes Collaborative for its work in firearm suicide prevention
SHC was one of the organizations recognized for its contributions to Missouri Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families.
Inaugural UMSL Engineering Camp helps high school students build excitement about the field
More than 30 high school students from grades 9-12, representing more than 20 area high schools, attended the weeklong camp.
New agreement with Edcor will help UMSL provide educational and career development opportunities to employees across the country
Edcor, a leading provider of education benefits administration, has a client network that includes more than 80 companies and nearly 2.2 million employees nationwide.
Political science and public policy graduate Ally Davis continuing studies in Accelerated Master’s Program while eyeing law school
Davis, an active member of the Political Science Academy and Associated Students of the University of Missouri, was named to the 2025 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll.
Physics graduate Grace Puchalski to pursue master’s in math as she eyes geospatial career
Puchalski worked as a research assistant for Professor Erika Gibb and is continuing to intern at NGA’s Geoscience and Artificial Intelligence Application Lab.
Q3D device developed at UMSL allows for earlier detection, treatment of amblyopia or ‘lazy eye’
Forus Health is licensing the device, which was invented by Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor Carl Bassi and collaborators Michael Howe and Wayne Garver in the College of Optometry.
Maggie Schopp discovers passion for Spanish, history while earning degree at UMSL
Schopp took advantage of study abroad opportunities in Spain and Costa Rica and also took part in the Missouri Round Robin in History.
American Chemical Society’s St. Louis Section honors James O’Brien with Distinguished Service Award
O’Brien was recognized for his years of service as a past chair and longtime coordinator of the ACS Midwest Award and the St. Louis Section’s Chemistry Career Days.
David Roither’s career has carried him to a seat on Missouri’s 22nd Judicial Circuit
Roither was a three-time All-American swimmer at UMSL and earned degrees in political science and philosophy before embarking on his legal career.
Latest class of Coro Fellows learn about, work to address challenges in St. Louis but also witness city coming together
Rachel Chen, Kate Hodgin, Madelon Jensen, Alawi Masud, Sierra Sabec, Carter Stacy, Brad Williams and Chae Yu celebrated their graduation from the program on Thursday.
Kel Gruber eyes future in software engineering, geospatial technology after earning master’s degree in computer science
Gruber is completing an internship at the Geosciences and Artificial Intelligence Applications Lab, located at NGA’s Moonshot Labs in T-REX.
UMSL partners with FOCUS St. Louis to host regional leadership conference at the Touhill
Nearly 400 professionals attended the half-day “Start with Leadership: Leading for Growth and Innovation” conference last Thursday.
Opportunity Scholar Zahria Patrick headed to prestigious doctoral program after earning degree in chemistry
Patrick is the first member of her family to earn a college degree and will begin working toward her PhD next fall at Georgia Tech.
Sen. Kit Bond leaves behind legacy championing international education at UMSL
He established the Bond International Scholars program in 2018, and it has provided study abroad scholarships to dozens of UMSL and MU students since.
Sociology graduate Sophie Heinz taking part in commencement 21 years after her father missed his opportunity because of military service
Steve Heinz earned his MPPA from UMSL while stationed at Fort Leonard Wood but was deployed to Iraq before he could attend his graduation in 2004.
Music education major Jake Philipak finds his passion, place at UMSL
Philipak decided to pursue his love of music after first starting college as a physics major at Missouri S&T.
New agreement opens educational, professional development opportunities for teachers and guidance counselors in The Bahamas
Under the agreement, teachers and counselors in the Ministry of Education will be able to enroll in master’s, bachelor’s, graduate and specialist certificate programs at UMSL.
UMSL announces 24 faculty promotions ahead of 2025-26 academic year
Nine faculty members were granted tenure and four were awarded the rank of full professor. Of the 11 non-tenure track faculty members receiving promotions, one received the rank of full teaching professor.
3 questions with John Ampomah, master’s student in criminology and criminal justice
Ampomah represented his native Ghana in the javelin in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is now researching vigilante justice and policing at UMSL.
Returning to her roots: Lúcia Lohmann takes over leadership of Missouri Botanical Garden
Lohmann trained at the world-renowned institution while working toward her PhD in ecology, evolution and systematics at UMSL.
UMSL hosts Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference
Students from more than 20 colleges and universities across the Midwest attended the conference April 26-27 at the UMSL Science Complex.
Undergraduate Research Symposium provides forum for students to share deeper learning
More than 50 students participated in the annual symposium and shared research on topics ranging from biology and chemistry to history and music.
UMSL providing educational opportunities, scholarships to students in Ferguson-Florissant International Baccalaureate Program
The new partnership reflects UMSL’s commitment to expanding access to higher education and supporting student success in the St. Louis region.
Students improve presentation skills while showcasing breadth of their work at Graduate Research Fair
Students from biology, chemistry, communication, computer science, criminology and criminal justice, English, political science, psychological sciences, and supply chain and analytics took part in the fair.
University of Missouri–St. Louis collaborating with Scale AI to strengthen geospatial workforce
A new agreement will support scholarships for GIS students at UMSL and provide learning credit for Scale employees pursuing their GIS Certificates at the university.
Faculty members granted sabbaticals and teaching releases during 2025-26 academic year
Amber Candela, Jennifer Chen, Lon Chubiz, Lara Kelland, Jerome Morris, Lee Slocum, Leighanne Heisel, Waldemar Rohloff and Kate Watt have been granted time to devote to research or course development.