Stories for Faculty and Staff

Intern Olivia Branson with Alexandra Woodlief, ’13, owner and lead creative director of Alexandra Madison Weddings.

Internships help USC students explore their potential

May 07, 2026, Laura Erskine, Téa Smith and Craig Brandhorst / photos by Kim Truett

Internships aren’t just for building resumés. When students take that first big step into their chosen career, the hard work of college begins to pay off. We spoke to nine student interns from across the USC system to find out what they've gained beyond the books from their internship experiences.

Frank Avignone in his campus laboratory with the Thomas F. Jones Memorial Electron Spectrometer.

Physicist Frank Avignone has fed his scientific curiosity with a steady pursuit of new ideas

May 07, 2026, Chris Horn

Frank Avignone has been fascinated by physics longer than most people have been alive, an intense curiosity that began in the waning days of World War II. Now, more than six decades after being recruited to the faculty of USC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, Avignone continues to conduct particle physics research with renowned scholars, some of them at international laboratories he helped build decades ago.

Magdalena Stawkowski smiles for the camera

The nuclear afterlife of the Cold War in the Eurasian Steppe has become the cornerstone of anthropologist Magdalena Stawkowski's research

May 04, 2026, Craig Brandhorst

USC anthropologist Magadalena Stawkowski spent years interviewing the people who live near the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in rural Kazakhstan. Her 2025 book, “Atomic Collective”, examines culture and community in one of the most toxic places on Earth.

Student stands and waves at commencement cermony
A horseback-riding farmer herds sheep across a sparse and hilly, rural landscape.

Mutual aid and self-sufficiency are key to life near USSR's contaminated nuclear test zone in Kazakhstan

April 08, 2026, Magdalena Stawkowski

Writing for The Conversation, associate professor Magdalena Stawkowski describes her field research at a Soviet-era nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. Thousands still live around its cratered perimeter and stay because of their collective refusal to reject systems that had abandoned them and instead create their own terms for survival.

group of people together in front of a window with three standing and two sitting

USC has five Goldwater Scholars in 2026

March 27, 2026, Collyn Taylor

Five University of South Carolina students earned the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship in 2026. This sets a record for the most Goldwater Scholars at USC in a single year and marks the 34th consecutive year the university has had at least one Goldwater Scholar.

A golden pagoda building with several steeples is lit against evening sky

The long history of silent meditation retreats

March 18, 2026, Daniel M. Stuart

Silent meditation and silent prayer have shaped spiritual lives within a variety of religious traditions for thousands of years. Today, however, those practices are often being offered in secular settings. Daniel M. Stuart, an associate professor of religious studies at USC, writes for The Conversation about emerging trends in secular meditation practices.

A juvenile blue catfish aligned with a ruler placed on a wooden surface

Baruch scientists study food impacts of juvenile blue catfish on native species in Winyah Bay estuary

March 06, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen

Scientists at USC’s Baruch Institute are studying the semi-invasive juvenile blue catfish, normally a freshwater animal, that has appeared in estuarine habitats of the Winyah Bay. The researchers are trying to determine whether the interloper’s diet is interfering with the food supply of native estuarine species.

Closeup of rows of golden Oscar-esque statuettes

USC students lead in adopting AI at ADDY Awards

March 04, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen

AI is everywhere — and marketing is no exception. This year marked the first time that the American Advertising Federation incorporated an AI category into its Midlands ADDY Awards, and University of South Carolina students rose to the challenge, showcasing what is possible in dynamic, creative concept and design in collaboration with AI.

Female student using a camera

USC youth summer camps 2026

February 24, 2026, Marketing and communications

With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. USC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all ages and all interests from music to soccer, dance and engineering.

Rendering of USC's Brain Health Center

Board of Trustees updated on USC's comprehensive brain health initiative

February 20, 2026, Andy Shain

Sarah Kirby, USC’s associate vice president for clinical affairs, briefed the Board of Trustees on Friday (Feb. 20) on the university’s efforts to develop a comprehensive system of care that could transform health care in the state — a statewide network of brain health clinics, a brain health center and South Carolina’s first stand-alone neurological and rehabilitation hospital.

Residential street after an ice storm, with tree branches coated in ice and sagging over the road while ice-covered power lines stretch between utility poles in bright winter sunlight.

Data centers told to pitch in as storms and cold weather boost power demand

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.

Civil rights protesters stand with signs reading

Video: Center for Civil Rights History and Research Celebrates 10 Years of Impact

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.

head shots of the five 2026 winners

5 recognized for social justice work

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.

Audrey Webb holds a copy of her winning artwork in front of the Cocky statue

Sophomore Audrey Webb wins holiday card contest on second try

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.

Woman in cap and gown waving towel at graduation ceremony

Class of 2025 December graduates

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.

An image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows the dense galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, filled with thousands of galaxies—from bright ellipticals to faint red spirals—with gravitational lensing stretching distant background galaxies into curved streaks of light.

When darkness shines: How dark stars could illuminate the early universe

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.

Man standing in medical research lab

Future physician-scientist selected as Marshall Scholarship finalist

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.

Students walk along brick pathway on campus during fall

First-generation students bring perspective, energy to USC campus

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.

Tremayne Ansani sits on the tailgate of an ambulance.

South Carolina Honors College graduate Tremayne Ansani finds his path at USC

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.

Asian man standing on dock in foreground with ship visible behind him

Unsung ocean fungi have 'superpower' to aid healthy marine environments

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.

Flood waters in Columbia fill street and business

Researchers and former students recall harsh lessons from historic 2015 Midlands flood

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.