Author: natasha-strydhorst

Well beyond the reach of unaided sight lies the genesis of energy we use every day to lift a cup of coffee, climb a mountain or twitch an eyelid. That is, we do when our cells are functioning properly. Many cases in which they’re not can be tied back to the specialized compartments in our… Continue Reading →

If you’re asked to imagine a “life-changing” app — go ahead, try it — do you flash back several summers to Pokémon Go, the sensation that pulled thousands outdoors to re-experience the world around them? Dr. Mike Jipping is proving that an app need not be flashy or viral to profoundly, positively alter lives. He’s… Continue Reading →

A pricked finger, a drop of blood, a glucose level readout. The routine is familiar to anyone with Type 2 diabetes, and a team of researchers at Hope is working to shake it up. Not the prick to the finger, but to the wallet. Over two months in mid-2019, Dr. Kenneth Brown noticed that the… Continue Reading →

From the outside peering in, a great deal of organic chemistry looks like salt and water: white powders and transparent liquids. Yet this branch of science is prolific in creating the things we use every day — toothbrushes, medications, milk jugs and other ubiquitous consumer products. The field has built these things so well, in… Continue Reading →

We may have to check the nutrition label to know the amounts of saturated and unsaturated fats we’re consuming, but for our cells, this tallying is second nature. Scientists have known for years that cells absorb, process and use fats; that they can change saturated fats to unsaturated ones; and that they recognize the difference… Continue Reading →

One engineer’s problem may just be another scientist’s solution. At least, that seems to be the case with a curious physics phenomenon known as microplasma. Dr. Stephen Remillard has seen it from both sides: as a problem during his earlier career as an industrial physicist, and as a surprisingly useful phenomenon now that he’s a… Continue Reading →

While the fight against viral and bacterial human pathogens stretches back to the dawn of human history, on some fronts we have yet to mount an effective defense. At the nanoscopic level, viruses have been infiltrating and using our cells with impunity for as long as they and we have existed. The battle against pathogenic… Continue Reading →

For many, chemistry brings to mind the apparatus: ethereal blue flames, miles of plastic tubing with interestingly-colored chemicals snaking through, and — perhaps above all else — test tubes and beakers of all shapes and sizes. But for Dr. Brent Krueger, chemistry research often occurs on a computer screen, in the form of molecular models.… Continue Reading →

Dr. Jennifer Hampton is captivated by interesting materials — especially those in the electrifying world of electrochemistry. She’s currently studying iron hexacyanoferrate, better known as Prussian blue. This name, unsurprisingly, comes from the compound’s striking hue. Prussian blue has been used as a colorant in numerous applications, from the paint of van Gogh’s “Starry Night”… Continue Reading →

Life — in all its varied forms and interactions — is one of the Earth’s most studied mysteries, one that scientists have spent centuries unraveling. Among them is botanist Dr. Jianhua Li, who is ranging through continents and (thanks to the insights of DNA) through time to uncover the branching trees of life of various,… Continue Reading →

Teaching is foundational for professors at Hope. In Dr. Darin Stephenson’s case, he’s teaching not only students, but also computers. And they speak a different language. From the binary language of dune topography (0 = on the ground, 1 = not on the ground) to a birdsong sound wave turned visual, Stephenson is fluent in… Continue Reading →

Dr. Alyssa Cheadle is a Christian and a psychologist. In the United States, it’s an unlikely combination; according to Cheadle, psychologists are among the least religious academics. As a health psychologist, she develops insights into many aspects of physical health that are affected by mental health, and vice versa, in her prolific research output. But… Continue Reading →

To Dr. Erika Calvo-Ochoa, science is about storytelling. Diminutive zebrafish, with their perpetually surprised expressions and uncannily keen sense of smell, are her striped protagonists. Small though they are, it’s their even tinier neurons that are the focus in Calvo-Ochoa’s laboratory. With student researchers, the molecular neuroscientist is studying olfaction and neural recovery in this… Continue Reading →

Dr. Matt DeJongh laps up languages: computer, verbal, musical. So when it came time to begin his 2022–2023 sabbatical research project, there were many directions he could’ve taken. There was, however, one especially compelling aspiration DeJongh believed a computer could make a reality if it were programmed just right. “My project stems from a very… Continue Reading →