homenews | College of Science

New Math Faculty

July 17, 2025

Finding the right questions
Petar Bakic

Patar Bakic

Petar Bakić, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Originally from Zagreb, Croatia, Bakić graduated from the University of Zagreb and pursued a career in academia in research and teaching. For him, mathematics is finding the right questions to ask rather than seeking the answers to them.

His work centers on representation theory — a field in mathematics that employs linear algebra concepts (such as matrices) for studying the symmetries of spaces. It provides a concrete way to understand abstract algebraic structures by expressing them through linear transformations of vector spaces. Though it is inherently abstract, it connects to other applicable fields including harmonic analysis, geometry, number theory, and physics.

Abstract math researchers are often unheralded, as the complexity and nature of their research means it is not broadcasted to the general public to the same degree as other research fields. However, Bakić is part of a broad research community that is conducting research at an unprecedented rate — helping to advance our collective understanding and to push the frontiers of mathematics.

Beyond the research lab, Bakić enjoys being outdoors and exploring Utah. The Wasatch is a particular favorite for him to go hiking and on bike rides. Above all for Petar Bakić though, are activities involving friends and colleagues.

by Ethan Hood

Jungles and Gyms
Daniel Sinambela

Daniel Sinambela

Jungles and gyms may seem like an odd place to turn to for a math metaphor, but it was the perfect combination to strike inspiration in Daniel Sinambela. While participating in the Putnam Mathematical Competition, his instructor Samuel Walsh (who would later become his Ph.D. mentor) told him this poignant comparison: “A math contest is much like training in a gym. You know what you are training for, you know the machines you’ll use. But math research is training in the jungle, where you have no idea what you’re about to run into.”

A structured environment vs. volatile and wholly unpredictable exploration is the difference between known solutions and research questions that may not even have an answer. It’s a fascinating contrast Sinambela looks back to at the onset of joining the U’s South Korean campus.

It’s been an adventure, starting at Tanjung Enim in Indonesia and then traveling across the Pacific to study at the University of Missouri. After collecting a Ph.D. there in applied mathematics he then hopped across the Atlantic for a postdoctoral researcher position at New York University in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As such he already brings plenty of experience with sister campus locations to bring to the end of this round trip in South Korea.

Throughout his education Sinambela’s research has focused on the area of nonlinear partial differential equations, specifically those that govern the motions of fluids. In this field he’s using equations like free-boundary water wave, Euler and Navier-Stokes, and Stokes-transport. He is studying existence theory and the stability/instability of solutions of those equations.

Between teaching and research, Daniel Sinambela is an avid guitar player and loves playing sports, skills that can be jungles and gyms in their own special ways. While he’s eager to teach in this new environment—to show students the ropes in these mathematics gyms — he hopes to show them the wonders of its jungle too. It may be imposing, you may not know what you face, or even if there’s an answer at all. But as he happily puts it, “That thrill is what makes it fun!”

by Michael Jacobsen

New Math Faculty

July 17, 2025

Tim Tribone

Finding the right Level

Tim Tribone

Everyone learns in different ways. Some are great at memorization, others visualization. Where one person learns well in a group another will thrive on their own. This can lead to roadblocks in subjects like math, as it can be tricky to approach students at a level they understand and in a way they mesh with. If overcome it reveals a massive strength of the field: teaching problem-solving and pattern-recognition skills that are useful anywhere. But the process of getting there, of finding that level students are at, can be a complicated challenge.

Enter Tim Tribone, who among other things has led undergraduate research focused on the mathematics behind card games, taught classes at every level and worked with students exploring virtual reality as a pre-calculus teaching tool.

Tribone has a knack for finding new approaches to meet a student’s needs and interests, a skill that developed from r his own educational journey. Originally a music major, he eventually shifted towards math following the guidance of a mentor. He would continue working his way to a Ph.D. from Syracuse University before taking a postdoctoral researcher position here at the U.

Along the way, Tribone has learned the importance of helping students at the level they currently are. For his undergraduate researchers he’s learned from his music major experience to create an environment that shows them what a career in math is like. But for his students in business math it’s far more important to treat math like a toolbox, focusing more on direct use and applications so a student can recognize, for example, why an Excel equation isn’t working.

This sort of teaching is Tim Tribone’s focus moving forward as he takes a faculty position at the U. He enjoys working with postdocs, faculty and undergraduates in research, but he’ll be devoting the lion’s share of his time to teaching. Any student can learn and excel in mathematics, you just need to find the right level for them to do so.

Blazing a New Trail
Chris Miles

Chris Miles

As technology evolves and industries grow, education must adapt to prepare the next generation for these upcoming opportunities.This requires bringing in new instructors to teach new classes, a rare and exciting opportunity to design entirely new curriculums. The new bioinformatics major is one such initiative, a trailblazing endeavor that new math faculty Chris Miles will soon be joining.

Or perhaps “rejoining” would be the better word to use here as Miles is one of our own alumni. A first-generation student originally from Pennsylvania, he’s returning to the U after teaching at both New York University and UC Irvine. Called back in part by the aforementioned new major, he explains that “It’s an exciting chance to build something new here; it’s a perfect project- based subject to design classes around.”

When asked to describe his vision for these new classes, he says that “In this field, you often have biological data from an experiment and have to figure out what to do with it. I want to expose students to that process, present data and encourage them to figure out how to use it. There’s no right answer!” That’s the beauty of a new degree, there’s no tradition that must be adhered to, so you truly get to design whatever works best.

On top of helping to pioneer the bioinformatics curriculum, Miles will also continue his research in “mathematical biology,” which includes the applications of mathematical modeling and AI with biological data. Machine learning allows researchers to survey all data in a set simultaneously and find patterns or equations: in the study of cells, these equations work to help us understand why cells work so well despite being built by seemingly random and disorderly molecular building blocks. Miles describes a field of two extremes where “some researchers will write equations for what they think is true of biology while others let AI decide.” He continues with,“I think it's fun to walk between the two extremes and take the best aspects of both.”

On a new path using new tools, adaptation is mandatory to succeed, but that’s an expertise Chris Miles brings to the table. He looks forward to teaching aspiring students in the upcoming semesters, pushing forward on this exciting new frontier of interdisciplinary discovery.

Great Salt Lake’s mystery islands

July 10, 2025

A helicopter lifts off from Antelope Island carrying electromagnetic survey equipment for a geophysical data-gathering mission over Farmington Bay in February 2025. Photo credit: Brian Maffly.

As Great Salt Lake’s levels continue to sag, yet another strange phenomenon has surfaced, offering Utah scientists more opportunities to plumb the vast saline lake’s secrets.

Phragmites-covered mounds in recent years have appeared on the drying playa off the lake’s southeast shore. After several years of scratching their heads, University of Utah geoscientists, deploying a network of piezometers and aerial electromagnetic surveys, are now finding out what’s going on under the lakebed that is creating these reed-choked oases.

Bill Johnson, a professor in the Department of Geology & Geophysics, suspects the circular mounds have formed at spots where a subsurface plumbing system delivers fresh groundwater under pressure into the lake and its surrounding wetlands.

“Water in the lake has spent a significant time underground on its way to the lake. But where that happened, we don’t know,” said Johnson during a recent visit to one of the mounds, a research site known as Round Spot 9. “Did that happen somewhere in the uplands where the water spent time in the ground and emerged in the stream before going to the lake? Or was it transmitted directly to the lake?”

On this day, Johnson and graduate student Ebenezer Adomako-Mensah were checking piezometers they had installed there last year to record underground water pressures at various depths and locations around the island.

In February 2025, Johnson hired a Canadian firm, Expert Geophysics, to conduct airborne electromagnetic surveys over Farmington Bay using a circular device hanging under a helicopter. The pilot flew a grid pattern over the bay, collecting data that will help locate freshwater deposits lurking under the lakebed.

The equipment generates current in the loop, which transmits a frequency deep into the lakebed below. A receiver suspended in a ball at the center of the hoop records the electromagnetic signals bouncing back.

“It’ll give you a spectrum, basically, of magnetic fields, and we’ll use that data to create a 3D image of what’s under the earth,” said Jeff Sanderson, a crew leader with Expert Geophysics.

As low lake levels persist, the lakebed will increasingly serve as a source of wind-blown dust affecting Utah’s population centers. Ongoing research by U atmospheric scientists suggests that the disturbed lakebed crusts that keep sediments in place can be regenerated when they are submerged.

One goal of Johnson’s research is to determine whether the groundwater can be tapped to restore broken lakebed crusts, thereby reducing dust pollution.

“It looks like it’s a from a water resource that could be useful in the future, but we need to understand it and not overexploit it to the detriment of the wetlands,” said Johnson, who has served on the Great Salt Lake Strike Team, the university-state agency partnership exploring ways to reverse the lake’s decline.

Armed with new data, Johnson secured preliminary funding from the Utah Department of Natural Resources to investigate to characterize this underground water resource. The research team, which includes other senior geology faculty, including Kip Solomon, Mike Thorne and Michael Zhdanov, is seeking to discover the breadth and depth of the freshwater under the lake.

For example, Solomon’s lab is using isotope analysis to determine the age of the groundwater and its recharge elevation, or where it originated in the mountains. Thorne is constructing on-ground resistivity profiles. And Zhdanov and Michael Jorgensen are processing the electromagnetic data gathered in the airborne geophysical surveys to construct a 3D image of the subsurface beneath the lake.

“We hope to map out the boundary between fresh water and salt water, and find the location of freshwater springs that are discharging groundwater into the lake,” said Solomon, who is scheduled to present preliminary findings this week at the Geochemical Society’s 2025 Goldschmidt conference in the Czech Republic.

For Johnson, the groundwater mystery began several years ago when he was traveling Great Salt Lake’s North Arm by airboat and observed something strange. Water and gas were roiling the surface in a circle about twice the size of the airboat, suggesting that groundwater was rushing under pressure into the lake at that spot.

Johnson dropped a 30-foot depth gauge into the swirl, but it failed to hit the bottom of the shallow lake.

Astronomers celebrate images decades in the making

July 10, 2025

Rubin Observatory Credit: H.Stockebrand

The observatory’s 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope can capture the largest field of view of any telescope currently in operation, covering the entirety of the night sky over the course of a few nights. It creates composite images approximately 70 times larger than the apparent size of the full moon. These images are 3,200-megapixel in resolution—more than 65x times more detailed than the latest iPhone.

For the U’s own astrophysics researchers, there is palpable excitement as they plan on utilizing the Rubin data for new research projects.

“We’ve all been preparing for this day, and it’s finally here! There’s already some cool science being done with just the First Look images; imagine what we can do with the full data set!” said Yao-Yuan Mao, assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

Mao has been involved with the Rubin research community for more than a decade, most actively in the Dark Energy Science Collaboration. The operation of the Rubin Observatory represents the culmination of years of design and planning.

“I am particularly excited about how Rubin data will enable us to find some of the smallest galaxies in our neighborhood, helping us understand how galaxies form and grow throughout the cosmic time and even reveal the nature of dark matter,” added Mao.

In addition to the ability to capture gigantic still pictures, the Rubin Observatory can also record the movements in the cosmos. The Observatory had been designed from its inception to detect up to 90% of near-Earth asteroids, advance the study of how our solar system formed, and observe phenomena such as supernovae or tidal disruption events with greater ability.

“I’m really excited for Rubin and have been looking forward to it for many years. For me, the most exciting part of Rubin will be its ability to detect tidal disruption events, which happen when a star comes too close to a massive black hole and is torn apart by the black hole’s gravity,” said Anil Seth, professor of physics and astronomy. “We have previously detected about a hundred of these events, but Rubin is predicted to detect more than 10 new tidal disruption events each night. My PhD student Christian Hannah has been working on predicting how we can use these events to understand for the first time whether small galaxies still all have massive black holes at their centers. These observations will help us understand the currently not understood formation mechanisms of the massive black holes we find at the centers of galaxies.”

The observatory honors the legacy of Vera C. Rubin, whose pioneering research on galaxy rotation produced the first accepted evidence of dark matter’s existence. All-in-all, this marks the beginning of a new and exciting era of astrophysics research. The Rubin Observatory is planned to operate for at least ten years for its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), producing hundreds of images and data for researchers and the general public.

The Rubin Observatory project was jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science.

by Ethan Hood
This story originally appeared in @ TheU

Great Salt Lake is worth saving

July 10, 2025

Brian Steed, left, and Taylor Randall. Photo credit: Jeff Bagley, University Marketing & Communications.

Millions of eared grebes visit Great Salt Lake to rest and refuel en route to their winter homes on the Pacific Coast each fall, along with 250 other bird species throughout the year. That’s about 10 million individual birds whose survival depends on the massive saline lake and its bounty of micro-organisms and tiny flies, and shrimp.

Each visiting grebe eats between 25,000 and 30,000 brine shrimp a day, according to John Luft, who runs the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program.

“We’ve had as many as 5 million grebes on the lake in the fall, and they stay here September to December,” Luft told University of Utah officials last week during an airboat tour of Farmington Bay. You do the math to figure out how many shrimp these birds eat. It’s in the trillions.

That was one of the many curious facts about Utah’s vibrant, yet imperiled inland sea given to U administrators, including President Taylor Randall, on the tour. Led by Utah’s Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed, the trip was organized to update U leaders on the status of the lake and the progress of the Great Salt Lake Strike Team, a partnership between academic researchers and state officials investigating ways to reverse the lake’s alarming decline.

Earlier this year, the team presented a briefing and key recommendations to the Utah Legislature, identifying lake elevations needed to ensure the lake’s ecological health, 4,198 to 4,205 feet above sea level, and calling for changes to Utah water law to allow water conserved upstream to reach the lake via the Bear, Weber and Jordan rivers.

Universities’ role in saving the lake

“Higher education has an absolute role to play in setting the academic baseline knowledge as well as helping solve some of these wicked societal problems,” said Steed, who heads Utah State University’s Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air. “This is as much a business problem as an agriculture problem, a marketing problem as it is anything else.”

On the tour, U officials heard from Luft, Ben Stireman of the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, and other key officials with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the state agency responsible for managing the 1,500-square-mile lake. About half the lakebed is currently dry, leaving pockets of loose sediments serving as sources of potentially hazardous dust blowing into Salt Lake and Davis County cities.

Two decades of drought and a century of upstream diversions have depleted the lake, lowering its level to a point that scientists believe will severely damage the ecosystems and industries that depend on it. Currently, 6 feet below what is considered its optimal zone, damage is already occurring. Three years ago, state officials began prioritizing the lake’s recovery, with large investments in conservation and water rights acquisitions.

The strike team came together at Randall’s urging soon after he was named U president in 2022. The goal was to join experts from Utah’s two public research universities with officials from key state agencies to investigate the lake’s challenges and identify the best solutions.

“It’s been just an incredible asset to the state, because there’s nothing better than the research universities combined with the state agencies when it comes to applied science and doing things,” said Natalie Gochnour, director of the U’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which is providing staff support for strike team activities and publications.

The two schools have complemented one another for an effective partnership, she said.

“Utah State is the land-grant university; they have significant hydrological and agricultural expertise. Since approximately 70% of the water use in this state is agriculture, you have to have agricultural experts at the table,” she said. “At the U, we have expertise in climate and hydrology, as well, and we have expertise in dust.”

Meanwhile, Utah water officials have closely monitored stream flow and other hydrological data for more than a century, leaving an unparalleled historic record among Western states.

“We have such an extensive historical record on the lake,” Gochnour said. “It makes doing this science so much easier.”

U faculty active on the strike team are hydrologist Paul Brooks; forest biologist Bill Anderegg; geologist Bill Johnson; and atmospheric scientists John Lin and Courtenay Strong. Anderegg and Lin are founding directors of the U’s Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy. USU members include Steed, David Tarboton, Joanna Endter-Wada, Sarah Null, Bethany Nielson and Matt Yost.

How an EV stacks up against a gas car

July 9, 2025

Adrian Martino, left, and Logan Mitchell, right, present a research poster explaining the cost and emissions comparison tool. Photo courtesy of Logan Mitchell.

Any car buyer interested in electrical vehicles would want to know how much it costs to drive such a car compared with a similar gas-powered vehicle. Now there’s an app for that, and more.

While completing his graduate degree in the University of Utah’s Professional Science Master’s Program, data science student Adrian Martino developed a first-of-its-kind tool to enable Utah drivers to explore how certain EV models stack up against gasoline-powered vehicles when it comes to both the cost of driving and carbon dioxide emissions.

Developed in partnership with nonprofit Utah Clean Energy using localized information about Utah’s electrical grid and gas prices, the Cost & Emissions Comparison Tool offers an innovative and interactive way to compare vehicle models, emission scenarios, costs and payback of a new car purchase using real-world, Utah-specific data.

“What makes this tool uniquely powerful is the ability to toggle between different electricity grid scenarios,” Martino said. “Users can see how their vehicle emissions shift depending on the source of electricity powering an EV, as well as what their costs and payback will be using different sources of energy. Whether it’s today’s grid, a future cleaner grid or a coal-heavy scenario, the tool makes it easy to visualize the environmental impact of each.”

Funding came from the National Science Foundation’s Futures Engine in the Southwest program. The idea for the tool originated with Utah Clean Energy climate scientist Logan Mitchell, who couldn’t find time to pull it off and mentored Martino through the project.

“I’m hopeful that this is going to become a really useful tool that a lot of people can utilize, especially stakeholders, legislators, reporters,” said Mitchell, who is also a U research assistant professor of atmospheric sciences. “I’m hoping that as reporters are writing news articles, they can refer to this tool and actually improve their reporting and make sure it’s consistent with the best available information.”

Together, Martino and experts with Utah Clean Energy utilized public data from Rocky Mountain Power’s Integrated Resource Plan to project how emissions from electricity usage needed to fuel an EV compare with a gas car’s emissions. The result is a user-friendly platform that allows Utahns to easily plug in different scenarios to accurately compare emissions and costs side by side.

“One of the most common questions we get about going electric is, ‘What if an EV is powered by coal? Is it still better for the climate?’ This tool gives you a clear, data-driven answer,” said Kelbe Goupil, senior associate for electrification at Utah Clean Energy. “Choosing what car you drive is a big decision. This is an incredibly useful resource for anyone curious about whether or not they should make the switch to an electric vehicle.”

The new online tool allows users to:

Compare the fuel costs and payback periods of various EV and gas vehicle models.
Compare the emission impacts of various electric and gas vehicle models.
Customize your power source, including rooftop solar, Rocky Mountain Power’s current electricity mix, its actual forecasted future electricity mix or even a 100% coal or 100% renewable grid.

The transportation sector is the largest source of CO₂ emissions in the U.S., making electrifying vehicles a vital pathway to combat the climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels. One factor that this tool clearly illustrates is that emission benefits are compounded as the electricity grid gets cleaner. The new tool provides clarity about Utah’s electricity grid as well as future projections.

Top 100 List of Global Health Scientists

July 9, 2025

Savin is the Chief Scientific Officer at Redwire, a bioengineering company specializing in manufacturing protein crystals and human tissue in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, in partnership with NASA and the ISS National Laboratory. Through these collaborations, he has helped expand access to low Earth orbit for researchers seeking to better understand the fundamentals of human biology in the absence of gravity, says the ISS Center for Advancement of Science in Space. Through these initiatives, scientists can utilize the benefits of near zero gravity in space to develop drugs that can be used to battle cancer and other diseases. Redwire says their breakthroughs “address challenges faced by millions of people worldwide through the application of organ transplantation and tissue therapy and advance the next generation of pharmaceutical therapies.”

“I am deeply honored to be recognized as one of the TIME100’s most influential figures in health for 2025,” says Savin. “Through microgravity research and development, we are seeing extraordinary scientific achievements that are accelerating game-changing biomedical breakthroughs not possible on Earth and with enormous potential for the future of human health. I am honored and proud to be part of the Redwire team and excited to see what we are able to accomplish next.”

Savin and his wife Lisa Wenzler Savin both received their Ph.D.s in Chemistry from the University of Utah in 1996 as members of Gary Keck and Thomas Beebe's labs, respectively. Lisa recently retired from pharmaceutical company Lilly, a “medicine company turning science into healing to make life better for people around the world.” She spent 14 years as a research and development scientist before serving as Associate Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs for 12 years. Kenneth also had a successful 20-year career at Lilly before spending time working as the Senior Director of In-Space Applications at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, before his appointment as Chief Scientific Officer at Redwire.

The Chemistry Department proudly congratulates the Savins on their exceptional contributions to the health and science industries.

College of Science Welcomes New Associate Deans

July 2, 2025

The College of Science welcomes Lauren Birgenheier as associate dean for faculty affairs, Akil Narayan as associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies and Matthew S. Sigman as associate dean for research. Their appointments began July 1, 2025.

Lauren Birgenheier

Lauren Birgenheier earned a Ph.D. in Geoscience from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and completed postdoctoral work there and at the University of Utah before joining the faculty in 2010. She is a sedimentary geologist and geochemist whose research focuses on fluvial, marine and lacustrine systems with implications for energy development, critical mineral exploration, carbon storage and paleoclimate construction. Earlier this year, she received the Outstanding Faculty Research Award in her department. During the 2024-25 academic year, Birgenheier served as one of the inaugural Faculty Fellows in the College of Science. Prior to this role, she served as Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Geology & Geophysics.

Akil Narayan

Akil Narayan earned a Ph.D. from Brown University in Applied Mathematics in 2009. He held a postdoctoral appointment at Purdue University and subsequently joined the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth as an Assistant Professor in Mathematics in 2012. In 2015, he joined the U and is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics and a member of the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute. Narayan’s research focuses on numerical analysis and scientific computing. During the 2024-25 academic year, he served as one of the inaugural Faculty Fellows in the College of Science.

Matthew Sigman

Matthew Sigman, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Washington State University and completed postdoctoral work at NeXstar Pharmaceuticals and Harvard University before joining the U as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry. He is a physical organic chemist whose research program combines techniques from chemistry and data science to develop new reactions with broad applications, including enantioselective synthesis, energy-related topics and biologically inspired reactions. Earlier this year, he received the U’s Distinguished Mentor Award in recognition of his exceptional dedication to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. A Distinguished Professor in chemistry, Sigman currently holds the Peter J. Christine S. Stang Presidential Endowed Chair of Chemistry and served as chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2019 to 2024. In that role, his leadership was instrumental in maintaining departmental progress and stability through the pandemic.

Evolutionary Biologist, Boundary Pusher, Occasional Lab Hazard

July 1, 2025

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Carrier pushed the boundaries of what a biologist could ask, explore, or survive. From human fists to facial hair, from panting pronghorns to defrosting wolves, his curiosity led him everywhere—including the pages of Science, the airwaves of "This American Life," and the stage of the Ig Nobel Prizes.

Running Down an Idea — Literally

"In the summer of [1984] my brother and I go to Wyoming to try to run down an antelope. The idea is not to run faster than the antelope — only cheetahs can run faster than pronghorn antelope — but to run longer and farther in the heat of the day. My brother think it'll take about two hours, and then the antelope will overheat and collapse. We drive off the interstate and down a dirt road for a few miles... ."

One of Carrier’s earliest big ideas was that humans evolved to be endurance runners. Not sprinters, like cheetahs—but marathoners. His “Running Man” hypothesis suggested that early humans could chase prey over long distances until the animals collapsed from heat exhaustion, thanks to human adaptations like sweating, upright posture, and a springy gait. Running is "one of the reasons we top the food chain. Before supermarkets and food processors, before rifles and four-wheel-drives, we used to outrun our food, ”persistence hunting," Carrier called it.

The Running Man hypothesis, published in 1984, was met with skepticism from the scientific community, and from his own Ph.D. advisor, Dennis Bramble. So Carrier did what any committed scientist would: he tried it himself. He and his brother Scott Carrier (a journalist and radio producer) decided to chase pronghorn antelope across the plains of Wyoming — on foot.

Listen to 'Running After Antelope,' on 'This American Life" here.

The Wyoming Department of Natural Resources politely declined their request for permission. So, naturally, they did it anyway. The pronghorns were unbothered. The Carriers were exhausted. But the story lived on, later aired on This American Life, and eventually helped usher in a renaissance of interest in human endurance running and persistence hunting. The Running Man had arrived. Today, the "Running Man" hypothesis is cited in numerous anthropology texts and inspired a chapter in the 2009 bestseller, "Born to Run," by Christopher McDougal.

Punch First, Publish Later

Later in his career, Carrier turned his attention to a different kind of movement: punching. He began asking whether the human hand evolved to form a fist for striking—something no other primate can do.

To test the theory, Carrier’s lab designed experiments using cadaver arms to measure the forces involved in punching versus slapping. But this wasn’t just a theoretical exercise. At one point, a student — experienced in mixed martial arts —punched Carrier in the face. Repeatedly. For science. In a now-legendary twist, Carrier wore glasses during the test, banking on the unwritten rule: you don’t hit a guy wearing glasses. It didn’t help.

Then came the facial hair question: could beards protect the jaw in combat? Using wooly samples on a test rig, Carrier and colleagues found that bearded “faces” absorbed more impact than bare ones. The findings earned him the 2021 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for biology — a satirical award that honors science that “makes people laugh, then think."

Carrier’s Ig Nobel lecture, appropriately titled “Beards and Face Punching,” has since become a cult classic among fans of creative science. View lecture video here.

'David is the only PI I know who would get punched by a student, grow a beard for data, and still offer to take you out for a coffee after.' ~Jeremy Morris, former Ph.D. student

Click the photo below to watch the RadioWest video of "Made to Fight."
viewer discretion is advised

David Carrier is an evolutionary biologist at the University of Utah. He co-authored a paper that argued the human fist evolved for fighting. He and his team were caught off guard by the controversy it generated.

The Human Treadmill (and Other Lab Hazards)

The Carrier Lab was notorious — in the best possible way — for its experimental zeal. Students were frequently found running on treadmills, not metaphorically, but literally, in studies examining biomechanics and locomotion. Countless shelter dogs found new homes with biology faculty and students after getting fit by participating in running experiments. Other projects involved sudden impacts, high-speed video, and a now-infamous freezer failure that involved defrosting wolf carcasses.

But Carrier wasn’t just eccentric — he was an exceptional mentor. Students came out of his lab sharper, bolder and occasionally bruised, but always inspired. His work combined evolutionary theory with experimental rigor and a sense of humor that kept even the most skeptical audiences paying attention.

A Career that Made an Impact—Literally

Carrier’s research touched on everything from breathing patterns in locomotion, to the mechanics of head injuries in football, to the evolutionary role of human aggression. His contributions have shaped how we understand the design and function of the human body — whether sprinting across a plain or bracing for a hit.

Now, as his scientific career draws to a conclusion , one question lingers: who else would get punched in the face to prove a point? Who would grow a beard for science? Who would literally run after antelope to test a hypothesis?

The answer is no one. And that’s the problem with being incomparable.

David Carrier retires with an “Ig Nobel" and leaves behind a legacy that’s equal parts unconventional, bold, and brilliant. His experiments will be cited, his stories retold, and his impact felt — in academic journals, in student memories and maybe even in the next punchy evolutionary theory.

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July 8, 2022

Aftermath 2022

Student awards, Faculty Awards, Fellowships, and more.

Matt Crawley

July 4, 2022

Our DNA 2022

Erik Jorgensen, Mark Nielsen, alumni George Seifert, new faculty, and more.

Matt Crawley

June 17, 2022

Notebook 2022

Student stories, NAS members, alumni George Seifert, and Convocation 2022.

Matt Crawley

June 3, 2022

Discover 2021

Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics Research, SRI Update, New Construction.

Matt Crawley

November 22, 2021

Our DNA 2021

Multi-disciplinary research, graduate student success, and more.

Matt Crawley

November 22, 2021

Aftermath 2021

Sound waves, student awards, distinguished alumni, convocation, and more.

Matt Crawley

November 22, 2021

Spectrum 2021

New science building, faculty awards, distinguished alumni, and more.

Matt Crawley

November 22, 2021

Notebook 2021

Student awards, distinguished alumni, convocation, and more.

Matt Crawley

August 22, 2021

Spectrum 2021

Student awards, distinguished alumni, convocation, and more.

Matt Crawley

July 14, 2021

Aftermath 2021

Sound waves, student awards, distinguished alumni, convocation, and more.

Matt Crawley

July 13, 2021

Our DNA 2021

Plant pandemics, birdsong, retiring faculty, and more.

Matt Crawley

June 9, 2021

Discover 2020

Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics Research, Overcoming Covid, Lab Safety.

Matt Crawley

February 4, 2021

AfterMath 2020

50 Years of Math, Sea Ice, and Faculty and Staff recognition.

Matt Crawley

February 4, 2021

Our DNA 2020

E-birders, retiring faculty, remote learning, and more.

Matt Crawley

November 21, 2020

Spectrum 2020

3D maps of the Universe, Perovskite Photovoltaics, and Dynamic Structure in HIV.

Matt Crawley

November 5, 2020

Notebook 2020

Convocation, Alumni, Student Success, and Rapid Response Research.

Matt Crawley

September 30, 2020

Our DNA 2020

Stories on Fruit Flies, Forest Futures and Student Success.

Matt Crawley

September 14, 2020

Catalyst 2020

Transition to Virtual, 2020 Convocation, Graduate Spotlights, and Awards.

Matt Crawley

March 5, 2020

Spectrum 2020

Nuclear Medicine, PER Programs, and NSF grant for Quantum Idea Incubator.

Matt Crawley

March 1, 2020

Discover 2019

Science Research Initiative, College Rankings, Commutative Algebra, and more.

Matt Crawley

February 4, 2020

Spectrum 2019

Nuclear Medicine, PER Programs, and NSF grant for Quantum Idea Incubator.

Matt Crawley

November 5, 2019

Notebook 2019

The New Faces of Utah Science, Churchill Scholars, and Convocation 2019.

Matt Crawley

August 29, 2019

Catalyst 2019

Endowed Chairs of Chemistry, Curie Club, and alumnus: Victor Cee.

Matt Crawley

March 6, 2019

Our DNA 2019

Ants of the World, CRISPR Scissors, and Alumni Profile - Nikhil Bhayani.

Matt Crawley

March 5, 2019

Catalyst 2019

Methane-Eating Bacteria, Distinguished Alumni, Student and Alumni profiles.

Matt Crawley

March 5, 2019

Spectrum 2019

Featured: Molecular Motors, Churchill Scholar, Dark Matter, and Black Holes.

Matt Crawley

March 5, 2019

Our DNA 2019

Featured: The Startup Life, Monica Gandhi, Genomic Conflicts, and alumna Jeanne Novak.

Matt Crawley

February 5, 2019

AfterMath 2018

Featured: A Love for Puzzles, Math & Neuroscience, Number Theory, and AMS Fellows.

Matt Crawley

January 4, 2019

Discover 2018

The 2018 Research Report for the College of Science.

December 15, 2018

Spectrum 2018

Featured: Dark Matter, Spintronics, Gamma Rays and Improving Physics Teaching.

Matt Crawley

November 6, 2018

Catalyst 2018

Featured: Ming Hammond, Jack & Peg Simons Endowed Professors, Martha Hughes Cannon.

Matt Crawley

November 5, 2018

New Math Faculty

The Department of Mathematics is hiring a bumper crop of new faculty members for the 2025-26 academic year. Two of them are profiled here: Petar Bakić and Daniel Sinambela.

Finding the right questions Petar Bakic

Jungles and Gyms Daniel Sinambela

>> HOME <<

New Math Faculty

The Department of Mathematics is hiring a bumper crop of new faculty members for the 2025-26 academic year. Two of them are profiled here: Chris Miles and Tim Tribone.

Finding the right Level

Tim Tribone

Blazing a New Trail Chris Miles

>> HOME <<

Great Salt Lake's mystery islands

U geologists are investigating phragmites-covered mounds that reveal spots where ancient groundwater reaches daylight.

Astronomers celebrate images decades in the making

On June 23 the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located in Cerro Pachón, Chile, presented its inaugural data release of images that will drive a new generation of astrophysics research. It features first-of-its-kind technology, and the largest digital camera ever manufactured.

Great Salt Lake is worth saving

U scientists are helping guide Utah's Great Salt Lake Strike Team, formed three years ago at the urging of U President Taylor Randall.

Universities’ role in saving the lake

How an EV stacks up against a gas car

U student Adrian Martino partners with Utah Clean Energy to develop handy online tool that compares long-term costs of driving and CO2 missions of EVs versus similar internal combustion models.

Top 100 List of Global Health Scientists

Chemistry alumnus Kenneth Savin has been recognized in TIME100 Health, a list of the 100 most influential people in global health. The prestigious list annually recognizes individuals making groundbreaking contributions to the future of health and medicine.

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE WELCOMES NEW ASSOCIATE DEANS

Lauren Birgenheier, Akil Narayan and Matthew S. Sigman are tapped as associate deans by Interim Dean Pearl Sandick

Biologist David Carrier Retires

An evolutionary biologist, boundary pusher and occasional lab hazard, Dave Carrier didn't just study evolution. He tested it — on himself, on treadmills, and sometimes in the ring.

Running Down an Idea — Literally

Listen to 'Running After Antelope,' on 'This American Life" here.

Punch First, Publish Later

'David is the only PI I know who would get punched by a student, grow a beard for data, and still offer to take you out for a coffee after.' ~Jeremy Morris, former Ph.D. student

The Human Treadmill (and Other Lab Hazards)

A Career that Made an Impact—Literally

Spectrum 2024

Down to Earth 2024

Our DNA 2024

Catalyst 2024

Air Currents 2024

Synthesis 2024

Aftermath 2024

Spectrum 2023

Common Ground 2023

Down to Earth 2023

Our DNA 2023

Catalyst 2023

Synthesis 2023

Aftermath Summer 2023

Air Currents 2023

Spectrum 2022

Aftermath 2022

Our DNA 2022

Spectrum 2022

Aftermath 2022

Our DNA 2022

Notebook 2022

Discover 2021

Our DNA 2021

Aftermath 2021

Spectrum 2021

Notebook 2021

Spectrum 2021

Aftermath 2021

Our DNA 2021

Discover 2020

AfterMath 2020

Our DNA 2020

Spectrum 2020

Notebook 2020

Our DNA 2020

Catalyst 2020

Spectrum 2020

Discover 2019

Spectrum 2019

Notebook 2019

Catalyst 2019

Our DNA 2019

Catalyst 2019

Spectrum 2019

Our DNA 2019

AfterMath 2018

Discover 2018

Finding the right questions
Petar Bakic

Jungles and Gyms
Daniel Sinambela

Blazing a New Trail
Chris Miles