Impactful Research

From saving human lives to improving the economy, UW research is at the forefront of discovery.

By Micaela Myers

Bradley Rettler — The Philosophy of Bitcoin

You’ve likely heard of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and bitcoin, but to the average person, the terms are still confusing. Blockchain is a digital record of transactions, where each transaction added to the chain is validated by multiple computers. Blockchain technology enables cryptocurrencies. The first decentralized cryptocurrency was bitcoin. It’s exchanged through peer-to-peer networks, and it’s open-sourced, meaning anyone can participate.

“Bitcoin was designed to be digital cash,” says Department of Philosophy Associate Professor Bradley Rettler. “One can acquire it and hold it and spend without revealing one’s identity. It was invented by cypherpunks — a group of people that could see the promise of the Internet for democratizing information but also its threats to privacy.” Rettler co-wrote “Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin,” published this year. He wrote the book with colleagues Andrew Bailey, an associate professor of philosophy at Yale-NUS College, and Craig Warmke, an associate professor of philosophy at Northern Illinois University.

“Bitcoin isn’t just for criminals, speculators or wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs — despite what the headlines say,” Rettler says. “In an imperfect world of rampant inflation, creeping authoritarianism, surveillance, censorship and financial exclusion, bitcoin empowers individuals to elude the expanding reach and tightening grip of institutions both public and private. So, although bitcoin is money, it is not just money. Bitcoin is resistance money.”

The book, which is intended for the public, explains why bitcoin was invented, how it works and where it fits among other kinds of money. The authors then offer a framework for evaluating Bitcoin from a global perspective and use it to examine bitcoin’s monetary policy, censorship-resistance, privacy, inclusion and energy use.

“More than half the world lives in a country with an authoritarian government,” Rettler says. “Nearly a quarter of the world lives in a country whose local currency’s inflation rate is over 10 percent per year. For such people, bitcoin is a lifeline. As long as authoritarianism threatens and central banks behave irresponsibly, bitcoin will remain as an alternative.”

In addition to his research and publishing on bitcoin, Rettler studies metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, and epistemology. He teaches on those topics as well as critical thinking, philosophy of language, money and philosophy, and science fiction.

“Philosophy helps us ask the important questions about the world and how to live in it — and gives us the tools to make progress in answering those questions,” Rettler says. “In my teaching, I try to impart those tools to students, and in my research, I try to make progress in understanding the world.”

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Silvia Sanchez-Martinez & Thomas Boothby — Tardigrade Proteins

Imagine a protein that could help preserve blood without refrigeration — saving those injured in battle — or preserve an organ for transplantation or protect astronauts from negative health outcomes in space. Senior Research Scientist Silvia Sanchez-Martinez and Department of Molecular Biology Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby are studying these unique proteins here at UW.

Specifically, they study tardigrade proteins. Measuring less than half a millimeter long, tardigrades are also known as water bears because they look like little bears floating in the water. These microscopic creatures can survive extreme conditions, including being completely dried out, being frozen to just above absolute zero (about minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit, when all molecular motion stops), heated to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit and irradiated several thousand times beyond what a human could withstand. They can even survive the vacuum of outer space. Tardigrades survive these conditions by using proteins that form gels inside of cells to slow down life processes.

This new research is being conducted by Sanchez-Martinez and a team of associates from University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of California-Merced, the University of Bologna in Italy and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

This research shows that these same proteins can also slow down molecular processes in human cells. “Amazingly, when we introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down metabolism, just like in tardigrades,” Sanchez-Martinez says. “Furthermore, just like tardigrades, when you put human cells that have these proteins into biostasis, they become more resistant to stresses, conferring some of the tardigrades’ abilities to the human cells.”

Boothby adds, “When the stress is relieved, the tardigrade gels dissolve, and the human cells return to their normal metabolism.”

Previous research conducted by Boothby’s team showed that natural and engineered versions of tardigrade proteins can be used to stabilize an important pharmaceutical used to treat people with hemophilia and other conditions without the need for refrigeration.

“No other organism has these proteins,” Sanchez-Martinez says. “We are trying to learn as much as we can about them. Maybe one works on metabolism, but maybe another one is very good at protecting membranes. We are going to keep exploring the mechanisms they use to protect themselves so we can apply them to humans. Using molecular engineering, we can then make them better at protecting things under different stresses.”

Eunsook Park — Fungicides

Department of Molecular Biology Assistant Professor Eunsook Park is working to find new fungicides that can save crops and, potentially, human lives. Park, with her collaborators, published a recent paper in Nature Communications titled “Attenuation of phytofungal pathogenicity of Ascomycota by autophagy modulators.” It notes that crop losses are estimated to cost about $550 billion worldwide, and approximately 40 percent of crop losses are due to fungal pathogens. Some plant and human pathogens have become resistant to current fungicides, making the creation of new ones critical. For example, some candida species that infect humans are resistant to existing fungicides. The changing climate can also cause pathogens to morph, Park explains.

“With COVID, we didn’t have any preparation, so we have to prepare for this kind of infectious disease,” she says.

Park and her team are working to identify potential new treatments targeting the autophagic pathway. Autophagy allows organisms — from humans to fungi — to break down and reuse old cell parts so cells can operate efficiently. Researchers including Park are investigating this pathway’s role in preventing and fighting disease. For example, studies show that autophagy plays important roles in homeostasis, cellular differentiation, nutrient starvation, sporulation and pathogenicity of fungal pathogens. Infection to host plants can be interrupted by the inhibition of the autophagic pathway.

“We utilize our understanding of basic cell biology in application to prevent fungal diseases in crops and animals,” Park says. “Isolated chemicals provide the potential to develop new fungicides to prevent fungal infection of economically important crops and fruits. Our research is about screening these compounds with a unique and easy technique we developed.”

The technique uses bioluminescence resonance energy transfer based high-throughput screening to identify compounds that inhibit autophagy formation in fungal pathogens. Of the more than 7,000 compounds tested for the paper, several showed promise. Park is applying for a patent on selected chemicals and looking for an industry partner to take them to market. Her team is also applying for larger grants in partnership with international collaborators that will allow them to further their research and test more compounds.

Park hopes her research will help Wyoming and the world economy. She also sees the potential benefits of saving human lives.

“While normally healthy people can overcome fungal infections like candida, immunocompromised patients are really vulnerable,” Park says. “We definitely need to develop new antifungal agents, and our screening system shows great promise.”

Kayla Burd — Psychology and the Law

Psychology and the law intersect in many ways — from witnesses to police use of force and many things in between. This led Emeritus Professor Narina Nuñez to spearhead a Ph.D. program with an emphasis in psychology and law a number of years ago. Now, Assistant Professors Kayla Burd and Hannah Phalen head up the program, each with their own areas of related research. Graduates of the psychology and law program have gone on to hold public office, start advocacy organizations and more.

“In the Social Cognition and Law Lab, we study how individuals’ beliefs, backgrounds and predispositions bias memory, reasoning and decision-making within legal contexts, particularly for jurors and juries,” Burd says of her research, which includes many graduate and undergraduate students. “Some of our work studies how mock jurors think about forensic science evidence and police use of force. As a lab, we often seek ways to apply our research findings and knowledge to assist with real-world cases. For instance, we volunteer with the Wyoming Youth Justice Coalition, the Wyoming Children’s Law Center and the Defender Aid Clinic in UW’s College of Law.”

This work brings to light important factors influencing the justice system. For example, Burd explains, research finds that jurors don’t make decisions based purely on factual evidence — their decisions can be swayed by psychological factors, such as how mature they perceive a child victim to be, how attractive they perceive a defendant to be or their beliefs about how victims “should” behave.

“We hope that our research can lead to improvements in the legal systems in the United States, for both children and adults,” Burd says. “My research and advocacy are driven by the belief that all who make contact with the criminal legal system — whether as suspects, defendants, or victims — deserve fair and humane treatment. Most individuals who make contact with the criminal legal system come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which is the case for the majority of suspects and victims alike. Contact with the law can have intended and unintended consequences, and I hope our work can help minimize unintended negative consequences for victims and suspects.”

Douglas Kamaru — Bushmeat Poaching

Douglas Kamaru came to Wyoming from Kenya to earn his Ph.D. in UW’s Program in Ecology. For his dissertation research, he’s studying predator-prey dynamics as well as human-predator interactions, including the impact of bushmeat poaching on lions in Kenya’s Tsavo Conservation Area — the largest protected area in Kenya and one of four remaining lion strongholds in East Africa.

Across their historical range, lion populations have been decimated to just over half of what they were three decades ago, Kamaru explains. Further declines are projected across Africa and India, which stems from a combination of habitat loss, retaliatory killing following livestock attacks and other factors.

“Less recognized by the conservation community is the potential for competition with humans for prey,” Kamaru says. “I am assessing the magnitude of prey depletion via bushmeat poaching by conducting DNA barcoding of meat in markets adjacent conservation area, assessing the extent to which de-snaring reduces bushmeat removal, and assessing the extent to which de-snaring results in increased lion prey and changes in lion occupancy and population size.”

Snares used to catch prey are the common form of bushmeat poaching in the area. His work includes de-snaring teams accompanied by snare-detection dogs, game cameras and collaring of select lionesses.

“The lion population is very small compared to the area,” Kamaru says. It technically should no longer qualify as a stronghold. “We have about 450 lions, which is about one-tenth of what we’d expect to have — that’s why we question what is happening.”

Kamaru explains that humans are considered super-predators. His current and future work in Kenya involves working with communities to determine why they are poaching and help find alternatives.

“Poverty is an issue, and that’s why people poach — the need for protein,” he says. “We must work with the communities to ensure that that they can get alternative livelihoods or alternative proteins.”

Kamaru works in partnership with government entities including the Kenya Wildlife Service and Wildlife Research and Training Institute.

“I want this information to influence policies and strategies for conservation of these lions,” he says. “The significant loss of lion population is why it is very important for us to be able to think about conservation and how best to do that.”

Jonathan Brant — Produced Water Management

Water is a precious resource in Wyoming, and the extractive industries are vital to the state’s economy. However, these industries require water and also create “produced water” — water that comes out of the ground along with the oil and gas. Produced water may have oil and gas mixed in and is often saline or brackish, making disposal difficult and costly. To better address this issue, UW launched the Center for Excellence in Produced Water Management in 2015. The center is made up of a team of scientists, engineers, research scientists and graduate students from across campus. It aims to develop and implement environmentally sustainable and economically fruitful water resource recovery programs for industrial and municipal wastewaters.

“Wyoming is the fourth or fifth largest generator of produced water in the United States on any given year, and that’s a big deal because we’re such a water-poor state,” says center Director Jonathan Brant. “Taking advantage of this impaired water source can provide numerous economic benefits to Wyoming, as well as provide an avenue by which we can reduce the varied stresses on our limited freshwater resources. The center was formed to cover three areas of the water management tree: technology development and water characterization, economic analysis, and environmental assessments for water reuse applications.”

In the past, produced water was often re-injected into the ground or put into evaporation ponds. Nowadays, it’s practically impossible to get a permit to re-inject water due to environmental concerns such as earthquakes and/or the absence of suitable receiving formations, Brant explains, and evaporation ponds can harm air quality and soil quality with salt blowoff and also kill birds.

The Center for Excellence in Produced Water Management is researching ways to treat water with techniques such as desalination, and it is investigating using produced water to generate revenue by extracting precious metals and rare Earth materials. The solutions must be affordable and work for Wyoming’s small communities.

“My dream for this center is to be a resource for Wyoming’s citizens, industry, regulators and all people impacted by water needs,” Brant says. “I want folks to know there are people at UW working to provide this knowledge and find real unbiased solutions for Wyoming.”

Brant explains that there’s a difference between an environmental engineer and an environmentalist, and he resides in the gray area in between. He says, “I’m really passionate about water and trying to maximize our water resources in the state.”

Katelyn Kotlarek — Cleft Palate Outcomes

Katelyn Kotlarek’s research aims to improve speech and surgical outcomes for people born with cleft lip and palate. In recognition of her work, she earned the 2023 American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association Emerging Leader Award.

“Cleft lip and/or palate affects one in 700 newborns every year in the United States and is the second most common birth defect,” says Kotlarek, an assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences Division of Communication Disorders. “However, the theoretical approaches behind speech and surgical treatments have remained rather unchanged over the past 50 years, resulting in numerous surgeries and corresponding speech issues that limit participation in society and are accompanied by a financial burden for families.”

In her research, Kotlarek integrates the technology of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, with acoustic speech analysis to better understand the structural changes from palate repair surgery and connect those modifications to speech differences to guide patient-specific interventions. She also collaborates with colleagues at other universities and pediatric hospitals across the United States and Europe.

“Through my research, I hope to improve the current standard of care for individuals with craniofacial differences by establishing treatment approaches that are individualized and patient-specific,” Kotlarek says. “By working collaboratively across health care disciplines, we can achieve a world where these children require fewer surgeries and fewer speech therapy sessions.”

She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses. UW is unique in that it offers a course dedicated to craniofacial disorders as part of its speech-language pathology graduate program.

Kotlarek says, “By sharing my passion with students, I play a role in ensuring that the next generation of speech-language pathologists will feel prepared and confident in treating individuals with craniofacial differences through collaborative interdisciplinary care in Wyoming and beyond.”

Xiang Zhang — Advanced Composite Materials

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Assistant Professor Xiang Zhang recently received nearly $600,000 from the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Program to help fund his team’s research on advanced composite materials.

Simply put, a composite is any two materials combined. In industrial applications, there’s typically a matrix material, often a polymer, and a reinforcement material, such as particles, fibers or fabrics. For example, glass-fiber or carbon-fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites can provide lightweight high-strength solutions to many industries. Hybrid composites made of more than two different reinforcement materials can enable an even wider performance spectrum. However, the prohibitive computational costs in modeling and designing to determine the best materials are limiting to industry — something Zhang’s team aims to help solve.

Zhang runs the Computations for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Laboratory at UW, and his research focuses on developing advanced computational tools to understand how materials respond and evolve during their lifespans — from manufacturing to service and eventually failure — to help broaden their applications.

“This CAREER award aims to develop a seamlessly integrated education and research program to advance state-of-the-art multiscale modeling and design approaches and machine learning techniques to elucidate the microstructure-property-performance relationship of advanced composite materials and prepare the next generation with a background in composites and modeling to support the nation and state’s technology innovation in energy and various other industries,” Zhang says.

In addition, Zhang and his team will partner with the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Computing, Advanced Research Computing Center, Innovation WyrkShop, the Idaho National Laboratory, and other industry partners to conduct fully integrated research, education, outreach and workforce development. This will include a series of workshops for college students, high school students and K–12 educators in partnership with the School of Computing, where Zhang is also an adjunct faculty member.

“We plan to increase awareness and interest in composites at an early age to people from diverse backgrounds through training programs and outreach events at different technique levels,” he says.

Zhang also hopes his team’s work will help solve the high costs of computational modeling to create even better composite materials for a wide variety of uses and applications.

“I hope to fill the gap so we can use those very advanced models in our actual product design,” Zhang says. “My proposal has a lot of method development to reduce the computational cost and enables fundamental understanding of the microstructure-property-performance relationship of advanced composite materials. There is so much potential for computational modeling and design. It could assist in finding composites with even better properties for different engineering applications, such as those in energy, aerospace and automobile engineering.”