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Spring semester 2026 heats up this week, with applications opening for student awards, and a colloquium seminar following microbial diversity from the mud to the stars.
Student awards and scholarships presented by the Biology Department and the College of Science and Mathematics are now open for applications — the deadline for most CSM opportunities is Feb 28, and for Biology, March 5.
The Biology Colloquium seminar series continues Friday with Prof. Rachel Mackelprang, who leads a lab at CSUN studying microbe communities in extreme environments, including habitats like permafrost, which have conditions similar to those on other planets in the Solar System. Dr. Mackelprang’s talk will be titled “Life in the Extreme: Microbes, Mars, Climate Change, and Exobiology”. Colloquium seminars are held this semester at 2:30pm in Chaparral Hall room 5125.
Click through for more of what’s going on across the Biology Department:
Faculty: Nominate outstanding students for commencement profiles!
The Office of Strategic Communications is seeking students to profile for the 2026 commencement celebrations — “outstanding scholars as well as students who have overcome obstacles to obtain their degree or have otherwise compelling stories.” Profiles will include a short video interview, and profiled students will be part of a media release celebrating their accomplishments. Faculty should reach out to Carmen Chandler, carmen.chandler@csun.edu, to suggest possible candidates.
Yoder Lab study tracking Joshua trees’ early bloom makes the news
Prof. Jeremy Yoder discussed this year’s out-of-season Joshua tree blooms, and how community scientists can help track them, as part of a Spectrum News 1 report on early-blooming wildflowers.