NEWS April
2001
"News from the College of Life Sciences at the University
of Maryland, College Park"
NEWS ITEMS
1. The Dean's Message
2. Upcoming Events
3. Faculty
Recognition
4. Staff
News
5. Gifts
from W.R. Grace
6. Student/Alumni News
7. College Travel Awards
for Graduate Students
8. Care
to Give a Seminar at the National Zoo?
9. Junior Science
and Humanities Symposium
10. Funding Alerts
11. How to
Post Your News Here
FROM THE DEAN
Bill Higgins, who has served the College as associate dean for over
a decade, will be stepping down May 30, although he will continue
to help with the Shady Grove program, assist with advising and orientation
and an IMAPS proposal throughout the summer. Bill spearheaded many
of our most successful undergraduate programs, helped countless undergraduates
find the path to success and solved innumerable problems for the College.
He will be missed, and we wish him all the best as he takes on new
challenges. I have asked Sara Via to chair a committee to identify
new leadership for the Student Affairs office.
UMCP now has another NIH Training Grant! I'm delighted to announce
that Professors Catherine Carr and Cynthia Moss have just received
news that they will receive funding for a training program in neuroethology
, the biological basis of behavior. This is wonderful news!
I'm also pleased to announce that Dr. Sandra Greer, whose faculty
position is currently in Chemical Engineering, has agreed to accept
a 50% appointment in Chemistry and Biochemistry beginning July 1,
with the remainder of her appointment remaining in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Greer is an accomplished physical chemist and a former chair of
the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her current research
on the thermodynamics of actin polymerization, her commitment to the
academic enterprise and her talent as a teacher make her a very valuable
addition to Chemistry and Biochemistry. Among other activities, she
will be teaching Chemistry for Engineers. Welcome back, Sandra!
The appointment of Dr. John Kapp as Director of the Shady Grove Undergraduate
Programs in the Biological Sciences is another piece of good news.
John received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biology, is an experienced
lab coordinator and lecturer and has several years experience in the
private sector. His responsibilities will include working with the
leadership and staff at the University of Maryland, College Park,
the Shady Grove Center and Montgomery College to develop and implement
the program and ensure its success, teaching Cell Biology (BSCI230)
and Mammalian Physiology (BSCI440) at Shady Grove, and overseeing
the setup of the laboratories for lab courses. He will also be involved
in recruiting, admitting and advising students and course scheduling,
and will work with leaders of the business community to develop internship
and scholarship programs.
Several searches have reached completion this month. We have four
offers out and I am hopeful that next month we will have some new
faculty hires to announce. We expect to be making additional offers
shortly.
With the goal of enhancing accounting services in the College, we
have made some organizational changes and are planning to have five
accountants in the Business Services Office move from H. J. Patterson
to newly renovated offices on the second floor of Symons Hall. Their
overall responsibilities to the departments will not change. For more
information, contact Albert Ades, Bill Jeffery or Linda Ringer.
A contingent of governmental and business leaders from Montgomery
County visited the campus last week for a morning of presentations
and tours. Their visit was part of an ongoing effort to build partnerships
and collaborations with various groups within the State. I made a
presentation that gave an overview of the College and its goals and
highlighted some of our accomplishments.
Anne Simon was the keynote speaker at the recent Junior Science and
Humanities Symposium that brought a large group of talented high school
students from across the State to the campus. Thanks, Anne! And thanks
to Bobbi Donley for managing the logistics of a complex meeting and
to everyone else who participated.
I understand that the Faculty Steering Committee that has been reviewing
our undergraduate academic and advising programs is close to being
ready to solicit input on a model that they have begun to develop.
Stay tuned! Thanks to the faculty who responded to the questionnaire.
Although there were a wide range of comments, the two most frequent
concerned the large of number of specializations and our advising
system. We are preparing a questionnaire for students that should
be ready to go out in a couple of weeks.
Planning for graduation is well underway. I'm very pleased that John
Holaday, CEO of Entremed will be our speaker at the ceremony on the
evening of May 24. He has a reputation for being not only very smart
but very funny, so it should be very enjoyable.
Although this is an enormously busy time of the year, it presages
the end of another academic year. I hope that you are finding the
challenges exciting rather than onerous and that you are buoyed by
prospect of summer vacations.
Norma Allewell
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UPCOMING EVENTS
April 6 & April 20 - Open House - New student applicants
and their parents will be on campus. While we have programs prepared
for these talented students, they may stroll into your department.
Please be helpful.
April 13 - Last Day for Undergraduates to drop (max.
4 credits) and receive a "W" Last Day for Graduate Students to adjust
their Spring 2001 schedule
April 25 - Faculty/Staff Awards Presentation 3:00
p.m. in room 1130 Plant Sciences Bldg.
Please join your fellow Life Science members as we
honor those who have made outstanding contributions to the College.
A reception will follow immediately in the lower-level lobby of the
Plant Sciences Building.
April 28 - Maryland Day! From 10:00 a.m. -
4:00 p.m. the campus will be open to everyone. Parking will be free
and events will be free. Bring your family and friends and enjoy the
festivities. For more information go to http://www.marylandday.umd.edu/
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FACULTY RECOGNITION
Two Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) colleagues, Cynthia
Moss (Psychology) and Catherine Carr (Biology) have been
awarded an NIH training grant in Neuroethology, the study of neural
basis of behavior. This is the second training grant awarded to NACS
faculty through a close collaboration between PI's in Biology and
Psychology.
Raymond St. Leger (Entomology) received a 2-year $215,000 NSF grant
to research Horizontal and Vertical Gene Transmission in Ascomycete
Fungi.
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STAFF NEWS
As noted above in the Dean's message, Dr. John Kapp has been
appointed as the Director of the Shady Grove Undergraduate Programs
in the Biological Sciences. We are pleased that he will take on the
responsibilities associated with the development, implementation and
administration of this new program in Shady Grove.
Wendy Loughlin has returned part-time to assist with advising,
give some admissions support and work on special projects. We're glad
to have her here two days a week.
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GIFTS from W.R. GRACE
Larry Sita (Chemistry & Biochemistry) happily reports that W. R.
Grace has made a substantial gift to our research program in the form
of a Waters 150C high temperature GPC (est. value $120,000), GC columns
(est. value ($2,500) and a supercritical CO2 HPLC pump (est. value
$20,000). Along with securing closer ties between UMCP and W.R. Grace,
the addition of this equipment will strengthen the ability of the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to be competitive in materials
chemistry.
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STUDENTS/ALUMNI
Quincy Anne Gibson, a graduating senior with a double
major in Biology and Psychology has been accepted into Georgetown's
Biology Ph.D. program on a full fellowship. She will work with Dr.
Janet Mann on her bottlenose dolphin behavioral studies in Shark Bay,
Australia. Needless to say, Quincy is very excited.
Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment
of Mary E. Gormley, M.S., J.D. as Chief Patent Counsel for the Company.
Ms. Gormley received a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of
Maryland, received a M.S. in Genetics and passed Ph.D. comprehensives
from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and received
her J.D. from the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
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COLLEGE TRAVEL AWARDS for GRADUATE
STUDENTS
The College of Life Sciences will give eligible graduate
students in the College awards up to $300 for travel in order to
present their research results at a professional meeting. The awards
will be competitive and will require a dollar match by the students'
department. There will be a single competition this year for a maximum
of 40 awards with an application closing date of May 15, 2001. Highest
priority will be given students who have not previously received
a College Travel Award. For this competition, students will be eligible
if they attend and present a paper at a national or international
conference between September 1, 2000 and August 30, 2001.
Required from the student: - A current graduate transcript
(unofficial is acceptable). - A brief CV (one page maximum). - An
abstract of the proposed presentation, the name of the conference
and sponsoring organization, and the type of presentation (talk
or poster) - A supporting letter from the research advisor which
should include a statement of the significance of the conference.
- A statement from the Graduate Director or the Advisor indicating
the availability of matching funds.
Send applications and supporting letters to the Graduate
Director in your Department.
Criteria and Eligibility: The awards will generally
be made to senior graduate students who are near the completion
of their Ph.D. Degree (first priority) or M.S degree (second priority)
and who are reporting research results at a national or international
conference. Previous winners will generally have lower priority
for a second award. Graduate students from interdepartmental programs
such as BEES, MEES, NACS, TOXI, CONS, and MOCB are eligible for
these awards only if their major research advisor is a tenured or
tenure-track faculty member of one of the Departments in the College
of Life Sciences. Eligible students should submit their applications
to the Graduate Director of their Life Science Department.
Note: These awards are distinct from the Goldhaber
Travel awards from the Graduate School. In general, students are
advised not to apply for both awards to attend the same conference
except in those situations where conference expenses are very high.
CARE to GIVE a SEMINAR at the NATIONAL ZOO?
The Smithsonian's National Zoo is looking for faculty or postdocs
who might be interested in giving a seminar. The talks are held on
Fridays at noon in the Zoo's Department of Conservation Biology. The
range of topics covered is quite broad. In the last few months they
have held seminars related to behavior, evolution, ecology, life history
theory, genetic and demographic studies of population structure, phylogenetics,
comparative biology, physiology, and, of course, conservation. The
only common theme might be "animals (excluding fossils)."
If you think you might be interested in giving a seminar, contact
Andrew J. Crawford at the address below.
National Zoological Park
Molecular Genetics Laboratory
3001 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
voice: +1 202 673-4781
facsimile: 673-4648
email: crawfordaj@nzp.si.edu
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JUNIOR SCIENCE and HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM
On March 29 and 30, 2001 the College of Computer, Mathematical &
Physical Sciences, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the College
of Life Sciences, and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions hosted
the Maryland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. During this
two day event, Maryland high school students presented papers and
posters about their own research. Their work was judged in a competition
by faculty from the three colleges. Dr. Anne Simon, Cell Biology &
Molecular Genetics, gave the keynote address.
The winners for this year are:
Research paper presentations:
1st Place: Mr. Wenshuai Wan, Centennial High School (Howard County)
- "Ritonavir Inhibits Calcium-Activated Proteases in PC12 Cells and
Protects Hippocampal Neurons Against Oxidative Stress-induced Apoptosis"
Honorable Mention: Ms. Qian Wang, Montgomery Blair High School (Montgomery
County) - "The Dynamics of Single-Stranded DNA Transport Through a
Solitary Nanometer-Scale Pore"
Poster paper presentations:
1st Place: Ms. Jessica Lee, River Hill High School (Howard County)
- "Conditional H-ras Oncogene Expression in the Epidermis of Transgenic
Mice Using the Tetracycline Regulated Transactivator tTA Linked to
the Keratin 5 Promoter" Honorable Mention: Mr. Suneel Bhat, River
Hill High School (Howard County) - "Human Immune Response to Recombinant
P. falapurum Malaria Antigens After Experimental Challenge" Honorable
Mention: Mr. Chinwendu Okoronkwo, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
(Baltimore City) - "Change in Low-Level Salience Rather than Salience
is Correlated with Detection Time in a Change Blindness Experiment."
A special thank you goes to Bobbi Donley for coordinating the event
and to these judges.
Dr. Sammy Joseph (Head Judge, CBMG)
Dr. Jason Kahn (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Dr. Reid Compton (Biology)
Dr. Gary Pertmer (Materials & Nuclear Engineering)
Dr. Sudarshan Chawathe (Computer Science)
Dr. Joseph Sucher (Physics)
If you would like to more about JSHS go to http://www.life.umd.edu/jshs/
FUNDING ALERTS
List of funding alerts
Click above to see a list of funding alerts that may be relevant
to the Life Sciences.
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How to Post your NEWS!
If you would like to share your accomplishments or
other news, please send a note to Gene Ferrick at gferrick@deans.umd.edu.
Future issues will initially be at the beginning of each month.
Maintained by Gene Ferrick -
gferrick@deans.umd.edu.
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