Biological Sciences

When Professor Gül Dölen joined UC Berkeley’s neuroscience and psychology departments in January 2024, the influential scientist got to work designing her new lab and office. Now, after an extensive renovation, Dölen can finally reveal the results, complete with dinosaur brain replicas, a wall-to-wall bookshelf, colorful floor tiles, trippy Beatles posters, and all manner of octopus paraphernalia.

An analysis of 20 urine samples from chimpanzees in Uganda found byproducts of ethanol in at least 17 samples, indicating that apes ingest significant alcohol from the fermented fruit in their diet.

Aleksey Maro knows far more than he cares to know about the urination habits of chimpanzees. But if you want to measure the alcohol intake of chimps in a Ugandan rain forest, where a breathalyzer is impractical, collecting urine for analysis is your only choice.

Last year, Maro and adviser Robert Dudley, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology, documented that the...

UC Berkeley senior Carolyn Nguyen (’26) has been selected as a 2026–27 Winston Churchill Scholar, making her Berkeley’s first recipient in a decade. Awarded by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, the Churchill Scholarship supports a year of master’s study at Churchill College, Cambridge, for students pursuing advanced work in science, mathematics, and engineering.

A double major in Molecular and Cell Biology and Business Administration (Haas), Nguyen is passionate about advancing next-generation therapeutics. At Berkeley, she conducts research in Dr. James Nuñez’s...

Tierra Smiley Evans travels to some of the world’s most remote forests to protect its largest inhabitants from microscopic threats. Her work involves caring for mountain gorillas and Asian elephants while examining mosquitos and humans for deadly diseases.

Smiley Evans holds both a Ph.D. in infectious disease epidemiology and a doctorate of veterinary medicine. This background gives her a unique perspective on emerging...