February 04, 2026, Conor Harrison
The government directed data centers to turn on backup generation in parts of the U.S. Conor Harrison, an associate professor of geography in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, co-authors this story for The Conversation on how expanding distributed generation could improve grid resilience.
February 01, 2026, Gregory Hardy
February is American Heart Month. The University of South Carolina is home to many faculty members who are available to offer their expertise in cardio care and research.
January 26, 2026, Hadley McCollester
The Civil Rights movement in South Carolina has long been overlooked and overshadowed. The Center for Civil Rights History and Research has spent the last decade working to document and bring awareness and scholarship to South Carolina's role in the movement. In this documentary, Bobby Donaldson, executive director of the center, takes us through the amazing work done over the past 10 years and what is on the horizon.
January 13, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
The University of South Carolina has recognized students, faculty and staff members for their work on campus and in the larger community with 2026 Martin Luther King Social Justice Awards. The awards recognize individuals who have exemplified the philosophies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through acts of community service, social justice or racial reconciliation.
January 08, 2026, Bryan Gentry
A new grant from the National Institutes of Health will help USC faculty study fragile X-associated health conditions, which may affect thousands of people in South Carolina, and identify new ways to diagnose and treat the conditions.
December 15, 2025, Thom Harman / photo by Kim Truett
USC Columbia sophomore Audrey Webb won the 2025 holiday card design contest. A computer science major from Fort Mill, South Carolina, Webb's winning design imagines what the Cocky statue on campus would look like if it snowed. Her design is featured on President Michael Amiridis' and First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis' holiday card, and it earned Webb a $500 gift card.
December 12, 2025, Chris Horn
An environmental chemistry research lab at USC at the forefront of efforts to find and identify disinfection byproducts in U.S. water treatment systems has discovered a new, highly toxic class of byproducts.
December 12, 2025, Chris Horn
USC chemistry professor Linda Shimizu has a long list of accomplishments, including recently being named a fellow of the American Chemical Society, one of only 36 chemistry professors worldwide to receive the honor in 2025 for scientific and professional accomplishments.
December 11, 2025, Chris Horn
Millions of times smaller than a grain of salt, nanocrystals have become extraordinarily useful in electronics, drug delivery, biological imaging and beyond.
December 10, 2025, Dan Cook
Heading into 2025, the field of higher education faced significant challenges. But at the University of South Carolina, all signs point to dynamic growth and institutional strength.
December 09, 2025, Chris Horn
Paige Canady planned to write a straightforward honors thesis, the kind that might get read once or twice, then put on a shelf. But after collaborating with an art education student, the project became a cleverly illustrated children’s book, one that Canady hopes will be read by families everywhere.
December 03, 2025, Megan Sexton
As the December Class of 2025 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
November 26, 2025, Alexey A. Petrov
Scientists working with the James Webb Space Telescope discovered three unusual astronomical objects in early 2025, which may be examples of dark stars. Alexey Petrov, a USC endowed chair in physics, writes for The Conversation on how this could alter scientists’ understanding of how ordinary stars form.
November 12, 2025, Megan Sexton
USC Honors College student and public health major Hannah Brennen, who was a Rhodes scholar finalist, plans to attend medical school to pursue her interest in maternal health.
November 11, 2025, Valerie Weingart
South Carolina Honors College student Michael Pitre has been named a finalist for the 2026 Marshall Scholarships. If selected, he plans to pursue an MPhil in biological sciences to develop novel treatments for Parkinson's disease before returning to USC for medical school.
November 06, 2025, Craig Brandhorst
Associate professor Brett Sherman fell in love with philosophy as a teenager, before he even understood what he was reading. Now, the 2025 Mungo J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award winner inspires a similar curiosity in his students at the University of South Carolina.
October 31, 2025, Megan Sexton
As the university marks the celebration of First-Gen College Celebration Week, we caught up with first-generation students, alumni, faculty and staff who are thriving in the classroom and beyond.
October 28, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
USC professor Chester DePratter has been sorting through archaeological evidence gathered over nearly four decades of investigation at the 16th century Spanish settlement of Santa Elena on present-day Parris Island. Here's what he and his team found.
October 07, 2025, Megan Sexton
Tremayne Ansani had big plans before he even set foot on campus, but he had one overarching goal: to create and support community. Four years and a double major later, the Honors College graduate sat on the commencement stage as the recipient of the university’s highest student honor, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.
October 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Little-known ocean fungi are microscopic in size but make a gargantuan impact on subterranean life. Their superpower? They are the heavy lifters of carbon and nitrogen cycling, processes essential for life on earth. Nick Peng, assistant professor in the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment, would like unsung ocean fungi finally to get the recognition they deserve.
October 01, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
USC philosophy professor Leah McClimans cares about how health care professionals gauge the quality of patient outcomes beyond traditional clinical metrics. Her research has helped improve survey instruments so they are more inclusive of the patient’s entire experience.
September 30, 2025, Chris Horn
It happened a decade ago, but lessons learned from the catastrophic flooding of Oct. 1-5, 2015, in the Midlands of South Carolina are still being reckoned by University of South Carolina researchers and former students who were involved in the flood’s aftermath.
September 23, 2025, Chris Horn
Theater Professor Emeritus Sarah Barker learned a new way of thinking about the mind-body connection early in her career. She has been spreading the word ever since.
September 22, 2025, by Craig Brandhorst, photos by Kim Truett
Over the past 16 years, Hogs for the Cause has raised millions of dollars to help families facing pediatric brain cancer. Cofounder Becker Hall credits the University of South Carolina for showing him the way.
September 22, 2025, Craig Brandhorst
Greg Carbone is USC’s 2025 Michael J. Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year, but lecturing and leading classroom discussions didn’t always come easy for the veteran geography professor. His secret is to remind himself that good teaching comes from a place of joy and curiosity.
September 15, 2025, Page Ivey
Luke Hodges says he found the arts community he was looking for when he transferred into USC's English and Honors programs more than 10 years ago. Looking back, the writer and documentary filmmaker says there was an "insane smorgasbord of opportunities" at USC.
September 12, 2025, Thom Harman / photo by Kim Truett
Change is a constant in the field of visual design — and Garnet Apple Award winner Meena Khalili embraces it. It’s what allows her, and her students, to be at the forefront of their field and to be ready for multiple career roles.
September 12, 2025, Catherine Pruitt
USC's chapter of Habitat for Humanity is building homes and futures. Led by president Ria Kothari, the club works in the community almost every weekend to build homes to improve access to affordable housing.
September 10, 2025, Téa Smith
Criminal justice sophomore Navia Vohra talks about her experience living in Captone, one of USC’s seven faculty-led living and learning communities.
September 05, 2025, Hadley McCollester
Snapping shrimp can create shockwaves strong enough to stun prey. But how do they survive each other’s blasts? USC biologist Dan Speiser and his team discovered that a special “orbital hood” — a helmet-like shield around the shrimp’s eyes and brain — protects them from these powerful shockwaves. Collaborating with biomedical researchers at the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, the team is now studying the hood’s structure to design next-generation helmets that could protect human brains from shock waves and even reduce the risk of PTSD in military personnel.
September 03, 2025, Hadley McCollester
Remote work has become more common since the COVID19 pandemic, however it might not be the best for every worker. The Family Inequality Research Lab led by sociology professor Jennifer Augustine investigated remote work through collecting data on remote work spaces. What they found may surprise you.
September 03, 2025, Megan Sexton
Chemistry professor Susan D. Richardson, the 2025 Carolina Trustees Professorship recipient, has spent her career researching water— from the safety of the water we drink to the quality of water for our ecosystems.
September 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
The pleasing pastoral landscapes across the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan hardly reflect its dark history. Generations of locals have lived near the site since it opened in 1949, and many remain today. USC researchers Timothy Mousseau and Magdalena Stawkowski are studying the impact of radioactive isotopes on the people, animals and plants of Semipalantinsk.
September 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Project investigators from USC’s Baruch Marine Field Lab have been collaborating on a study into the impacts of warming coastal ocean waters on shrimp populations. They found that shrimp populations have been largely stable, and warmer water temperatures have led to longer seasons for shrimpers, often through January.
August 27, 2025, Laura Erskine
Marine biologist Eilea Knotts believes failure can be an important part of learning. She brings this philosophy into her classrooms, where she has equipped her students to learn from their setbacks and keep going with a new grading system. Her ingenuity has earned her the Center for Teaching Excellence’s Garnet Apple Award for Teaching Innovation.
August 27, 2025, Megan Sexton
Zoie Horecny, who earned her undergraduate, master’s and doctorate in history from USC, is now the Digital George Washington Papers editor at the Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
August 13, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Christopher Moore, research professor with the Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, recently led a team that analyzed sediment from the ocean floor in Baffin Bay, Greenland. Their efforts produced the first evidence — sourced directly from ocean cores — that a comet impact could have triggered an abrupt cooling of the atmosphere during a period known as the Younger Dryas 13,000 years ago.
August 13, 2025, Susan Cutter
Ever since FEMA lost its independent status and became part of the Department of Homeland Security, it has faced complaints about delays caused by layers of bureaucracy. Take a look back at how the nation responded to disasters before the agency existed and what history reveals about FEMA effectiveness.
August 11, 2025, Laura Erskine
For nearly 14 years, Amy Taylor-Perry has taught general chemistry classes and labs at USC. Hundreds of students take these courses each semester, and Taylor-Perry has designed them to provide a solid foundation. She has now received the Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award, with her nomination endorsed by the entire Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
July 31, 2025, Gregory Hardy
University of South Carolina researchers explore how artificial intelligence can be used for advancements in health care, education, manufacturing, energy, disaster management and transportation. They are also helping shape and inform the ethics and policies surrounding these emergent solutions.
July 24, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
As the birth of their baby approaches, women often turn to their mothers, sisters or close female friends for comfort and advice — a trusted and time-honored support system. Recent research conducted through the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of South Carolina views this phenomenon through an anthropological lens, confirming the relevance of this bonded group and examining childbirth choices women typically face.
July 23, 2025, Page Ivey
English professor Ed Madden wants to use the written word to help people connect to each other and to amplify voices often overlooked or ignored. For his achievements in teaching, research and service, Madden was awarded the 2025 Carolina Trustees Professorship in Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law.
July 09, 2025, Chris Horn
In about 18 months, the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation at the University of South Carolina plans to open the first phase of its Battery Center, a research, manufacturing and teaching facility in partnership with several commercial battery manufacturers.
July 08, 2025, Téa Smith
Chemistry and computer science senior Christian Ruff talks about how his experiences at the University of South Carolina have helped shape him.
June 23, 2025, Bryan Gentry
Two epic TV shows, 'Sandman' and the 'Foundation,' are streaming again this summer with the help of the writing talents of Greg Goetz, a 2011 graduate of the University of South Carolina.
June 23, 2025, Chris Horn
By 2050 plastic manufacturing around the world is projected to total 1 billion tons, and more than half of all that plastic is expected to end up in landfills and the ocean. It’s an industry that relies on petroleum as a key ingredient and produces products that can’t easily be recycled without generating additional waste. But USC's Chuanbing Tang has a game-changing idea for the world’s plastic crisis.
June 18, 2025, Agnes Mueller
The consequences of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s war in Gaza have reverberated far beyond the zones of conflict. Debate about the war in Gaza feels fraught in Germany, where concerns about rising antisemitism have been used to criticize some Muslim communities. The Holocaust looms over discussions about Israel, with many claiming the country’s sense of historical guilt has made it, until recently, reluctant to criticize Israeli politics.
June 13, 2025, University Communications
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began June 1. Researchers at the University of South Carolina are available to discuss multiple aspects of the 2025 hurricane season, including preparation and communication, environmental impact and historical perspectives.
June 12, 2025, Kendall Deas
School voucher programs that allow families to use public funds to pay tuition to attend private schools have become increasingly popular. School vouchers have a long history in the U.S. Our Kendall Deas weighs in for The Conversation.
May 28, 2025, Communications and marketing
From creating social mobility by supporting first-generation students to providing resources for community members who need them most, the University of South Carolina is dedicated to strengthening our state and improving the lives of its residents. It’s work that goes beyond the college campus and extends into every corner of South Carolina.