College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens annual Spring Plant Sale is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, April 12, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April13, in Parking Lot 5 off Martin Village Road.

The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens Fall Plant Sale will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7, in Parking Lot 5.

Fall typically is the best time to plant in this region in preparation for spring blooms. Sale attendees will find an outstanding selection of native and non-native hardy shrubs, trees, perennials, wildflowers, ferns and cool weather annuals at the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens Fall Plant Sale.

For many, the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic seems over. However, for patients whose immune systems are compromised by cancer or by cancer therapies, fear of COVID-19 infection and severe disease remains very real.

Susana Cisneros ’09 M.A. is among this year’s recipients of the Latin American Excelente Award. Presented by the Spanish language newspaper LaNoticia, the awards recognize honorees for their work in the community.

Stinker Bell, UNC Charlotte’s youngest blooming titan arum, is showing signs of opening during the next one to three days.

Tammy Blume, manager of the McMillan Greenhouse, said, “I am predicting a bloom Thursday, Friday or Saturday. The day it begins opening, we will keep the greenhouse open until 8 p.m. for viewing. The following day, we will open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.”

Fushcia-Ann Hoover, assistant professor of geography and earth sciences, was named a member of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s 2023-24 class of fellows. As a Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellow, Hoover will explore Black feminist ecological theory as a means for anti-racist environmental planning.

Shan Yan and his research group at UNC Charlotte conduct basic research to scout next targets in the battle against cancer.

This year, around 64,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of just 12%. That means in 2023 alone, around 50,000 Americans will die from the disease. One lab at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is trying to change those numbers, starting at the molecular level.

The emotions that come with commencement — fueled by pride, feelings of accomplishment and anticipation of a new chapter — are not unusual for students and their families. The same holds true for faculty members as they watch their students graduate — or embark on their own new adventures. This spring, this is the case for Kim Harris ’19, an associate professor of mathematics education in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, who will retire from Charlotte at the end of the academic year after 39 years.

For their exceptional teaching and student engagement, Paola Lopez-Duarte, Samantha Suptela and Lennin Caro are recipients of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ 2023 Excellence in Teaching Awards. Six other faculty were honored as finalists for the three awards.

Last spring, students at UNC Charlotte began raising awareness about the second leading cause of bird deaths in North America – collisions with buildings and their squeaky clean glass. An estimated 100 million to one billion birds are killed in the United States each year due to colliding with buildings.