Candida albicans yeast cells. A. A yeast exposed with beta-glucan shows strong fluorescent signal. B. Normal yeast cells with masked beta-glucan show little fluorescence.

It lives naturally inside some of us, but under the right circumstances it can grow out of control and cause systemic fungal infections. Systemic infections can be life-threatening with up to a 40 percent mortality rate, especially among immune-compromised individuals.

As an environmental sociologist working in the field of engineering, Chien-fei Chen thrives on unique, multidisciplinary research questions. In 2018, she became interested in pursuing a multidisciplinary, multi-cultural research project that would explore issues surrounding the equality of renewable energy, specifically the differences between Western and Chinese cultures, and how new energy solutions can impact vulnerable areas.

Chen is director of education and diversity programs at the Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), a National Science Foundation-funded engineering research center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; a research associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS); and adjunct faculty in the Department of Sociology.

One of the field sites for Jennifer Schweitzer’s research lies in a grove of trees near Yellowstone National Park.

Sometimes a researcher can search far and wide for the perfect collaborator, only to discover the ideal person in their own academic backyard.

Such was the case for Jennifer Schweitzer, professor in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee (UT), and Wellington Muchero, a plant geneticist in the Biosciences Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). They met about a year ago at a SPARKS event sponsored by UT’s Office of Research and Engagement (ORE).