Incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales handedly won re-election Sunday (Dec. 6), which was expected according to Eduardo Silva, professor of political science at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Morales’ re-election serves as a reminder of his initial election to office following a social movement that arose at the turn of the 20th century in Bolivia and throughout Latin America.

Never one to sit idle, Carlos Schwantes made good use of his time and the three cameras he packed with him as he traveled tens of thousands of miles by train over the last 20 years. Now the St. Louis Mercantile Library Endowed Professor of Transportation Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is ready to invite readers to share his personal journey with his new memoir, “Just One Restless Rider: Reflections on Trains and Travel.” The book features essays written by Schwantes about his rail travels and his selection of nearly 200 of the thousands of photographs he shot.

University of Missouri–St. Louis Assistant Professor of Philosophy Gualtiero Piccinini (pictured) has received a $120,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study what it physically takes for the human brain to think and compute – much like a computer.

On Nov. 13, the Hellenic Spirit Foundation hosted the Athena Awards luncheon at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis. For the third year, 12 exceptional women were applauded for the impact of their achievements on the community.

Beth Huebner, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, received the 2009 Distinguished New Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Corrections and Sentencing. The award was presented last week during the annual American Society of Criminology’s meeting in Philadelphia, Pa.

University of Missouri-St. Louis Assistant Professor of Philosophy Anna Alexandrova received the 2008 Philosophy of Science Association Recent Ph.D. Essay Award from the Philosophy of Science journal. The award comes with a cash prize of $250 and is given to an author who received their doctorate within the last five years.

Two scientists at the University of Missouri-St. Louis have received a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for their research on carbohydrate synthesis. Keith Stine, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Alexei Demchenko, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, are thrilled to move forward with their research, “Development and Application of Surface-Tethered Iterative Carbohydrate Synthesis.”

A summer of hard work has paid off for three aspiring scientists, who spent several weeks conducting intensive research with University of Missouri-St. Louis faculty members. The students have been named among the 24 winners of the 2009 Pfizer and LMIAerospace/D3 Technologies Award for Excellence in Research. The award is presented to students who distinguished themselves during the 2009 Students and Teachers as Research Scientists program at UMSL.

More than 70 high school students spent their summer working with some of the top scientists in the greater St. Louis area. These aspiring student scientists conducted a wide range of research, studying everything from the mating activities of female water snakes to new methods for early cancer detection.

Aspiring scientists spent the morning of June 24 mentally kicking around topics like the molecular soccer ball and ethics in science. More than 70 high school students participating in the Students and Teachers as Research Scientists program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis listened to presentations given by UMSL Chancellor Tom George and Andrew Black, teaching professor of philosophy at UMSL. George, who also is a professor of chemistry and physics, discussed “The Saga of the Molecular Soccer Ball” and “Scientists as Administrators.”

If Big Bird could fly, he would have difficulty replacing his flight feathers each year. A University of Missouri-St. Louis ornithologist and his colleagues have examined the time required to grow flight feathers as a function of body size. In an article published in the latest PLoS Biology journal, Robert Ricklefs, Curators’ Professor of Biology at UMSL, along with Sievert Rohwer and other researchers at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle, show that feather growth does not increase as rapidly as feather size, greatly prolonging the period of feather replacement in large birds.

Susan Brownell, chairperson and professor in the Department of Anthropology and Languages at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, received the Anthology Award in Sport History from the North America Society for Sport History. She was honored for the book, “The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism,” which she edited.

Richard Wright (pictured), Curators’ Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was named a fellow of the American Society of Criminology in May. The title is given to scholars who have achieved distinction in the field of criminology.

Robert Ricklefs, Curators’ Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri-St Louis, has been awarded the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award recognizes his lifetime achievements in research and promotes international collaboration in the sciences.