Long before she made a career of seeking out and scaling the world’s most unreachable places, about the only thing University of Iowa communications alumna Brittany Griffith was climbing was the Jefferson Street hill on the UI campus.

Enrollment in UI’s College of Engineering has skyrocketed in recent years, growing 66 percent in the past decade, with the majority of that growth occurring in the past five years. (Note: A paid subscription may be required.)

Scientists in Iowa who study climate change, including the UI's Jerry Schnoor, say that Iowa is being buffeted by the effects of climate change, including hotter temperatures, droughts, and floods, and other extreme weather that could affect agricultural and livestock practices.

UI College of Education professor Ernest Pascarella's and alumnae Tricia Seifert's research finds students' critical-thinking skills grow when they encounter diversity, and white students benefit the most from contact with people from diverse backgrounds and taking diversity courses.

Keith Mueller, health management and policy professor in the UI College of Public Health, talks about the state of rural health care in Iowa and how it will change under the federal Affordable Care Act on Iowa Public Radio's "River to River" program.

The number of international students at the University of Iowa hit an all-time high this fall, and the increase from last year was more than double the national rate. (Note: A paid subscription may be required.)

University of Iowa freshman Andy Topping makes "bracelets with a purpose." The pre-business major created an online business that makes bracelets out of parachute chord, both for style and survival.

Tara Smith of the UI College of Public Health is quoted in a story on research examining pigs as possible carriers of the deadly Ebola virus. Smith, who was not involved in the study, is an expert on emerging infectious diseases.

A University of Iowa study says men are less likely to be seen as depressed—even when they are. James B. Potash, MD, study editor and UI professor of psychiatry, says there has been relatively little focus on education and depression in men.

Ed Folsom, 65, is a University of Iowa faculty member who is widely regarded as a leading Walt Whitman scholar worldwide. (Note: A paid subscription may be required.)