Feature

With the nation trudging through its worst economic times since bread lines and Hoovervilles, it might seem an odd time to start shopping for a new car. Or a new house. Or to take time away from scrounging up whatever money is left in the marketplace to chart a new course for your business or a new career for yourself.

There’s a quiet battle raging along a swath of parched chaparral-covered land near Morongo Valley, Calif. But it’s not smugglers or bandits who interest Louis Santiago, the man who watches the victim but yet is powerless to stop the attack. The casualty that Santiago, a UCR botanist, studies on this day is an unassuming yet attractive shrub with red berries and yellowish flowers, the lotebush (Ziziphus parryi) or California crucillo.

It’s summer and time to head outside to take advantage of warm weather and long days. But it’s also time to brace for the insects that buzz, fly and creepy-crawl their uninvited way into our picnics, pool parties and outdoor activities.

Bioengineering: Important uses in health care & medicine.