Solving Real-World Problems in Real Time

In the College of LSA, we believe in the important role that research and science play in improving our world and building a better future. The toughest challenges we face today are not solved by one-dimensional thinking. Instead, they’re solved by brilliant minds and new approaches, by scholarly colleagues and classmates challenging each other to find a new way forward, and by the dogged pursuit of new knowledge in our research endeavors.

To give one example, one might ask: can planets outside of our solar system—also known as exoplanets—support life? This is an age-old question, and just a few months ago we announced that LSA faculty are leading a new project that will shed light on this question, in coordination with other researchers from U-M and around the country.

U-M researchers John Monnier (left), Shivani Sunil (center) and James Cutler (right) examine a CubeSat in the Michigan Exploration Laboratory. The team’s STARI space mission will use two CubeSats. Learn more.

Their work will culminate with the first space mission led by our Department of Astronomy: the crewless STARI mission. It’s just one example of the vital work happening around LSA every day, resulting in insights in places as far away as multiple light years and as near as your own backyard.

As a college of liberal arts and sciences, we are uniquely positioned to approach problems from an interdisciplinary perspective, bridging the expertise that exists across a breadth of scholarly disciplines. To name just a few examples, our faculty, research staff, and students are studying brain tumors, exploring ways to protect endangered species and resources, deciphering ancient scrolls found in the wreckage of Mount Vesuvius with sophisticated AI technology, examining the future of work as AI replaces traditional jobs, and investigating whether Michigan can be considered a “climate haven” (see related story).

Moreover, LSA faculty and students do this work in collaborative teams. Our nationally recognized scholars work alongside expert staff and smart, dedicated undergraduates and graduate students. Taken together, the research that happens across LSA is improving people’s lives and enriching our understanding of past societies and our future world.

I am tremendously proud of the enormous volume and exceedingly high quality of research endeavors undertaken in the College of LSA.

The knowledge that comes from new discoveries, pursued by our scholars and students, will benefit all of us, the world we live in, and future generations for years to come.

Rosie Ceballo, Dean
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Dean portrait by Levi Stroud

Photography by Eric Bronson/Michigan Photography