Notre Dame Science

08/22/2026

Leprechaun Riley: aka, an ACMS major ☘️😉

08/21/2026

Touchdown Frogs 🐸

Gracie Hedgpeth, a fourth-year doctoral student in biological sciences, estimates the Reflecting Pool in front of the Word of Life mural (aka Touchdown Jesus) is currently inhabited by more than 400 tadpoles.

In spring and early summer, native tree frogs come to the pool to breed. If you take a peek into the water today, you’ll likely spot tadpoles and froglets at all different stages of metamorphosis — from tiny tadpoles just beginning to sprout legs to bright green froglets still navigating the water with their long tails.
“Eggs hatch into tadpoles in about a week or two and remain tadpoles for an additional month or two before sprouting legs, absorbing their tails, and becoming terrestrial froglets,” Hedgpeth says.

“Only a small percentage of them survive to adulthood, though. One female produces thousands of eggs in one single mating season, and in her lifetime, she will be lucky to produce a few offspring that will survive to adulthood.”

These grey tree frogs are more than just campus wildlife: they’re also part of Hedgpeth’s research as she tests a new treatment for chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease contributing to amphibian declines around the world.

But what about when South Bend descends into autumn, and the pool is eventually drained for the winter? Hedgpeth says the frogs will find crevices in the surrounding vegetation, namely treeholes, where they will hibernate during the winter.

“They have high site fidelity, which means they are loyal to their small home range or pond and will continue to return to their same breeding spot year to year!” Hedgpeth says.

Want to learn more about Gracie’s work with tree frogs? Check out the recent Notre Dame Magazine story linked in our bio. 🐸

If you spot the frogs or tadpoles in the pool, please admire them from a respectful distance and leave them undisturbed in their habitat.

08/21/2026

“Biology can learn to do chemistry invented by human beings much more efficiently and without the toxic components humans use. And even more exciting, biology can learn to do chemistry that humans dream of but cannot yet do." — Frances Arnold

One of the recipients of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Arnold is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the Caltech. She won the Nobel Prize for pioneering "directed evolution" to engineer new enzymes, which are proteins that speed up chemical processes.

Arnold will accept the Carrier Medal at the University of Notre Dame on Monday, Sept. 14.

Read more: https://bit.ly/45EVkXy

08/20/2026

Here comes the Band of the Fighting Irish ☘️

08/19/2026

Congratulations to Notre Dame mathematics graduate students Tan Özalp and Fuxiang Yang, who have been awarded prestigious Simons Dissertation Fellowships in Mathematics from the Simons Foundation.

Only 40 fellowships are awarded nationwide each year, supporting doctoral students during the final two years of their Ph.D. research.

University of Notre Dame mathematics graduate students Tan Özalp and Fuxiang Yang have been awarded Simons Dissertation Fellowships in Mathematics ...

08/17/2026

New cohort just dropped

08/13/2026

Rising sophomore Katherine Spiller, an environmental sciences and peace studies major, has spent her summer studying the St. Joseph County Kettle Lakes Corridor, a network of lakes and habitats west of South Bend.

Through fieldwork, water sampling, pollinator monitoring and interviews with local residents, Spiller has helped researchers establish a baseline for the region’s ecosystems—and better understand the connection between people and the environment.

Her biggest takeaway? Meaningful environmental change doesn’t always happen on a global scale. Sometimes, it starts right in your own backyard.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4gbwBPo

Story by summer intern Anna Kate Mereness

08/06/2026

Five researchers at the University of Notre Dame have received National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awards this year.

This prestigious honor recognizes early-career faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

Congratulations to this year's awardees: Hsing-Ta (Theta) Chen, Saurja DasGupta, Meenal Datta, Kaiyu Fu, and Petr Stepanov!

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4pZ4vvq

08/05/2026

TONIGHT 🔭 Here's your chance to catch a live domecast in the planetarium on the University of Notre Dame campus!

What does it take to map the universe?

Join us on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Digital Visualization Theater for a domecast with Dr. Kyle Dawson, co-spokesperson for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project.

Broadcast live from Utah to planetariums around the world, this interactive presentation will explore how DESI is creating the largest 3D map of the universe ever assembled. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions in real time during the event.

Admission is free, and seating is first come, first served.

https://bit.ly/3ShkR62

08/05/2026

kinda chic, right? ☘