Clemson University

Edgefield native Drew Lanham wasn’t entirely sure what the phone call from Chicago was about. And, after he heard what the person on the phone had to say, he wasn’t altogether sure he believed the news: Drew had just won a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “genius grant.”The MacArthur Foundation says that “The 2022 MacArthur Fellows are architects of new modes of activism, artistic practice, and citizen science. They are excavators uncovering what has been overlooked, undervalued, or poorly understood. They are archivists reminding us of what should survive.”Drew Lanham, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Clemson University, talks with Walter Edgar about his life, his work, his writing, and about what may lie hopes to achieve through his work.

The winners of the MacArthur Foundation's prestigious fellowship this year include a waste management engineer, an ornithologist and writers, physicians and mathematicians. The Chicago-based foundation announced 25 new recipients of its "genius grants" on Wednesday and said it was increasing the award amount to $800,000 over five years. Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur fellows program, said the money comes with no strings attached and that the foundation hopes the fellows will continue to inspire. The foundation selects fellows through a multi-stage process and seeks to recognize people who are exceptionally creative in their work.

Dashboards that rely on positive covid test results reported to local health departments no longer paint a reliable picture of how covid is spreading in an area. Some experts say wastewater surveillance is the most accurate way to measure viral activity. Meanwhile, some wastewater labs face funding shortfalls.

Dr. Patrick Warren, co-founder of Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, is collecting quite the archive of doctored images from Russian trolls that are meant to look like fakes, in order to discredit Ukrainian media.

After an investigation into hazing, a Clemson University fraternity has been suspended for four years for violating the university's code of conduct. The Greenville News reports that a probe into the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity revealed hazing incidents that occurred last February. School officials say the incidents involved acts of personal servitude by new members and included "line-ups, berating, morally degrading behavior."

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for August 3, 2021, Clemson University Philosophy and Biological Sciences Professor Dr. Kelly Smith joins us to talk UFOs, aliens, and deep space. Smith is one of the leaders of the emerging community of scholars exploring the social and ethical issues surrounding space exploration and life on other planets.

South Carolina’s Clemson University announced Tuesday it will freeze tuition rates and fees for undergraduate students through the upcoming school year.

Hello Gardeners, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Some hummingbird moths, so named because of their size, visit yucca flowers…

Hello Gardeners, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Some yuccas deservedly have the name Spanish Bayonet or dagger because of…

Hello Gardeners, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Like Yucca aloifolia, Spanish Bayonet, the plant called Spanish Dagger,…