News

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Returning A&S student finds success, belonging through community science project at PEWS

November 6, 2026

AJ Kmetz, a current Geosciences master's student, decided at 29 he wanted to return to the university he first attended and obtained a Journalism degree in 2016. He started with a bachelor's degree in Geosciences in 2022 and then decided to take it a step further. Kmetz says he wanted to go a different direction with his life, and he wanted to do that with the College of Arts & Sciences.

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UC associate professor wins short film award, named Mary Ellen Heintz professor

November 1, 2026

Anima Adjepong won an award for the best short film at the Black Star International Film Festival in Ghana, in September. Adjepong’s film will be screened on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Esquire Theater. The film titled "Home, Or Our Journey is Still Long," was made in collaboration with Ghana film maker Joewackle J. Kusi. It was funded by the University Research Council Pivot Grant award. Adjepong said the film is about exploring the feeling of home and belonging, as well as reflecting on the ocean and the industrialization of the natural world.

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'Very inspiring'; UC professor wins award for greenhouse-gas research, credits students for her passion

October 30, 2026

Amy Townsend-Small, a College of Arts and Sciences professor, won the 2026 Sustainability Leadership award for her nearly two decades of work looking into the oil and gas industries. Townsend-Small, who teaches for the School of Environment and Sustainability (SEaS), said she studies where methane is emitted through the life cycle of natural gas, and what can be done to reduce emissions. Methane, according to Townsend-Small, is very good at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Specifically, she works to quantify the emissions with the goal to be providing accurate data for policy change.

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Arts and Sciences student wins national award for work on vigilante political violence in India

October 29, 2026

A competitive academic award in the political sciences arena has been captured by College of Arts and Sciences student, Yash Sharma. The prestigious HFG Emerging Scholar award is open to students from across the world and every discipline within the scope of political violence. Sharma's dissertation is on the study of anti-minority vigilante violence, specifically religious nationalism and political violence in his home country of India.