This summer, Chattanooga’s greenways became a laboratory for 10 undergraduate students from across the country. Intertwining ecology, biology, geography and public policy, the students used their interdisciplinary research in hopes to improve the Tennessee Riverwalk and South Chickamauga Creek Greenway.
Chemical company has UTC molecules all over it
Even though the Colonial Chemical name is not on the label, there’s a good chance the molecules are from the South Pittsburg, Tennessee-based company, which is home to 16 current University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduates—nine of them with undergraduate degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering.
Plum assignment: Grad student documents a successful method to grow a fruit tree
While pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, May 2023 graduate Hannah Nelms discovered a method of propagating wild American plum trees by taking cuttings—small stems from a tree’s trunk—and getting them to root in greenhouses.
UTC environmental research receives EPA grant
“Microplastics Sampling for Stormwater Management,” a research project being conducted at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) program.
ANGELS summer camp at UTC inspired young women in STEM
The Agriculture and Nutrition for Girls while Encouraging Leadership (ANGELS) summer camp experience, held at UTC this summer, aimed to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lessons and empower young Black girls. With a focus on different themes each week, the ANGELS program fostered hands-on learning, leadership experience and creativity.
UTC GIS team maps its way to two awards
UTC GIS Director Charlie Mix won a Cartography Special Interest Group Excellence Award for “A 21st Century Park System for Chattanooga, Tennessee” at the 2023 Esri User Conference—one of two awards won by the UTC IGTLab.
Opening inner doors: Bliss Murphy came out of her shell during a busy freshman year
Bliss Murphy’s freshman year, along with the usual load of classes, was filled to the brim. During the academic year, she was a member or involved with 18 different on-campus groups or organizations, including the Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Wildlife and Zoology Club, the Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE), Healing Through Harmony music therapy group and Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE).
Students to employees: Recent grads maintain ties to UTC as staff members
While commencement typically sees most graduates leave campus for the last time in a long time, others find paths to their future that take them back to where their college journey started. This was the reality for Mackenzie Clark, Jawaad Sheikh and Scarlett Elliott, all recent UTC graduates who are continuing their experience at UTC in a different capacity—as full-time employees.
Faculty members receive Harris Chair grants to continue research
Five University of Tennessee at Chattanooga professors have been selected to receive Commercialization Acceleration grants from the Clarence E. Harris Chair of Excellence in Entrepreneurship. The money helps the faculty members further their research.
Shell seekers: Environmental science course conducts turtle research
On a recent June afternoon as part of an Environmental Science Survey Methods course, several turtles were pulled from nets placed in the river by Dr. Thomas Wilson, UC Foundation professor in the UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science. Once there, Wilson held the reptiles in his hands and talked about them before returning them to the river.