Is there a geology gene? That’s a question Utah State University geologist Susanne Janecke pondered when she learned that her grandmother pursued research interests uncannily similar to her own.

Infect with passion. Decode the arcane. Encourage the unencouraged. Research is teaching. These are among the “effective professor mantras” Utah State University physicist David Peak mutters to himself each day as he walks about campus.

Utah State University physicists are celebrating the arrival of a small package brimming with vast research potential.

Federal stimulus money, it appears, will soon literally be put down a hole. But USU researchers say two particular holes will help them test ways to evaluate geothermal reservoirs under volcanic plains and learn more about the Snake River Plain in the process.

Utah State University is leading the way in a federally funded $4.6 million-dollar geothermal drilling project that will create dozens of jobs and student research opportunities while simultaneously fueling energy development and deciphering the Snake River Plain’s volcanic history.

USU geologists will receive $4.6 million for a geothermal drilling project in Idaho that will create dozens of jobs and student research opportunities. A separate $300,000 project will advance carbon capture and storage technologies.

The Utah Climate Center, which is located on the USU Campus, is looking for volunteers to place rain gauges at their homes to take daily water measurements.

Utah State University freshman Honors student Linsey Johnson knows that many people are intimidated by science, but she’s discovered that the more they learn about the subject the more enthusiastic they become.

In Utah State University computer scientist Daniel Bryce’s classroom, students use two objects often found in children’s toy boxes to learn about sophisticated planning concepts: a slider puzzle and a Rubik’s Cube.

USU Chinese graduate students have received a $665,000 grant for their research in organic chemistry.