| |
 From
the Dean
We
celebrated the opening of the G.
Forrest Woods Memorial Atrium in
the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry on April 2 and 3, with
a dinner Friday evening and a symposium
Saturday morning. Speakers at the
symposium included Marye Anne Fox,
currently Chancellor of North Carolina
State University and about to become
Chancellor of the University of
California, San Diego; Madeleine
Jacobs, Executive Director and CEO
of the American Chemical Society;
and myself. Chancellor Fox was a
postdoc in the department, and Ms.
Jacobs was a graduate student in
the department. The Atrium was conceived
of by former Dean Paul Mazzocchi
as a place where students and faculty
could gather. It has become a reality
as a result of generous gifts from
Anita Frazer, the widow of Professor
G. Forrest Woods; the estate
of Dr. and Mrs. Mark and Ruby Keeney;
Dr. Catherine North; Drs. Paul and
Dorothy Mazzocchi; Professors Millard
Alexander, Philip DeShong, George
Helz, Bruce Jarvis, William Walters
and several other faculty in the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry;
and many others. The large, two-story
structure looks out on a grassy
courtyard and the new Chemistry
Teaching Wing. It is a beautiful
building and one that many generations
of students and staff will enjoy.
As Anita Frazer commented, it is
a living memorial.
I'm
pleased to announce that we have
recruited three more new faculty
members. Ashton Cropp will be joining
the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry as an assistant professor,
and Drs. Volker Briken and Lian-Yong
Gao will be joining the Department
of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
also as assistant professors. Dr.
Cropp, an enzymologist who is currently
an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the
Scripps Research Institute, plans
to use metabolic engineering and
combinatorial biosynthesis to study
the production of rapamycin and
other natural products in a three-hybrid
system. Drs. Briken and Gao will
both study Mycobacteria tuberculosis
(Mtb); Dr. Briken's work
involves identifying genes of Mtb
that mediate the inhibition of infection-induced
apoptosis or IFN-y induced
gene transcription, and Gao studies
virulence molecules and pathogenesis
in the Mtb-zebrafish model.
Dr. Briken is currently an instructor
at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
of Yeshiva University, and Dr. Gao
is currently a postdoctoral fellow
at University of California, San
Francisco. We look forward to their
arrival!
Several
candidates for the position of Chair
of Biology will be interviewing
this month. The department will
also be interviewing several candidates
for a senior faculty position. In
addition, I have been discussing
the appointment of an acting Chair
of Biology with the department and
expect to be able to announce an
appointment soon.
One
of the recommendations of the external
review committee of the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry was
that the name of the College be
changed to the College of Molecular
and Life Sciences to recognize more
prominently the presence of Chemistry
and Biochemistry in the College.
The department has suggested several
other possible names. I have appointed
a committee consisting of Sandra
Greer, Dan Stein, Ray St. Leger
and Jerry Wilkinson to consider
these suggestions and to make a
recommendation to me. Any suggestions
that they make will be considered
by the College Advisory Committee
and presented to the full faculty.
 The
revised white papers on proposed
research thrusts are available in
the chairs' and dean's offices.
There are now five: Comparative
Genomics, Ecological Sustainability,
Host-Pathogen Interactions, Nanoscience
and Sensory Neuroscience. They are
currently being reviewed by the
Academic Subcommittee of the Board
of Visitors and will be discussed
at the full Board meeting in early
May.
A
new draft of the College's Strategic
Plan is nearly complete. I will
be happy to share the draft with
any faculty or staff who would like
to read it.
I
encourage you to attend the workshops
on Working with the Media (April
21, 3 to 5 p.m., 1208 Biology-Psychology
Building) and Working with Small
Businesses (not yet scheduled).
We are living in a rapidly changing
world, and it makes sense to expand
our knowledge and skills continuously.
April
9:
Last Day to Drop with a "W"
May
11: Last
Day of Classes
May
20: Campus
Commencement. 7 p.m., Comcast Center.
More information: www.urhome.umd.edu/commencement/
May
21:
College of Life Sciences Commencement.
10 a.m., Cole Student Activities Building.
The speaker will be Dr. Claire Fraser,
President of The Institute for Genomic
Research.
Back
to top
 Upcoming
Events
April
2:
Spring Open House, Undergraduate
Admissions. LFSC contact: Eden
Garosi (egarosi@umd.edu)
April
3:
April
16:
Spring Open House, Undergraduate
Admissions. LFSC contact: Eden
Garosi (egarosi@umd.edu)
April
21:
Undergraduate
Research Day, noon to 4 p.m.,
McKeldin Library. Sponsored
by the Maryland Center for
Undergraduate Research. More
information: www.ugresearch.umd.edu/urd.htm.
LFSC
contact: Kaci Thompson (kaci@umd.edu)
Workshop
on How to Talk to the Media,
3 to 5 p.m., 1208 Biology-Psychology
Building. (For more information,
see newsletter
item below.)
April
24: Maryland Day.
See www.marylandday.umd.edu
for more information. LFSC contact:
Gene Ferrick (gene@umd.edu)
April
27: Undergraduate
Honors Reception, 6 to 8 p.m.,
Theater Courtyard at the Clarice
Smith Performing Arts Center
April
29: College
of Life Sciences Award Program,
2:30 p.m., 1402 Chemistry Building,
reception in Atrium
May
5-6: LFSC
Board
of Visitors Meeting
Back
to top
Gifts
to the College
Thanks
to:
-
McLaughlin Gormley King Company, for a
$9,000 gift to the Department of Entomology
General Fund to support Dr. Galen Dively's
research
- For
contributions to the Zoology Fund in Support
of Dr. Eugenie Clark's Research: Fawn
Rogers ($5,400) and Jann Rosen-Queralt
($900)
Back
to top
Faculty
and Staff Recognition and In the News
Dr.
Millard Alexander, Chemistry and
Biochemistry, received a 10-month,
$89,000 grant from the Department
of Defense for "Investigation
of Collisional Energy Transfer."
Drs.
Earlene Armstrong (PI), Jeffrey
Shultz, Paula Shrewsbury
and Barbara Thorne, Entomology,
received a $70,000 grant from NSF
to computerize the Entomology teaching
lab. The College contributed $10,000
in matching funds.
The
annual Insect
Summer Camp run by Dr. Earlene
Armstrong, Entomology, is mentioned
in the March 25 Gazette newspapers
(scroll down to news blurb). This
year's camp will have four 1-week
sessions that span July 12 through
August 6.
Dr.
Jonathan Dinman, CBMG, had his
grant on "The Biochemistry of
Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting"
competitively renewed for an additional
4 years. Total funding over the entire
period is $1,025,340.
Dr.
Lee Hellman, Professor Emeritus
in Entomology and Director of the
College Park Scholars-Life Sciences,
is coauthor of a report
in The Coleopterists Bulletin
(Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 433-443) that
describes a new species of beetle
discovered in Maryland's Seth State
Forest. Dr. Hellman first documented
the beetle in 1974.
Dr.
William Jeffery, Biology, received
a General Research Board award from
the Office of Research and Graduate
Studies for the 2004-05 academic year.
The Semester Research Award will allow
him to devote time to his research
project "Evolution of the Neural
Crest."
Dr.
Hey-Kyoung Lee, Biology, received
a 4-year, $1,238,000 grant from NIH
for "Global Synaptic Plasticity
Mechanisms in Visual Cortex."
 Ms.
Wendy Loughlin, Dean's Office,
is the new Director of New Student
Programs. Her duties will include
coordinating freshman UNIV seminars,
continuing to run the peer mentor
program, evaluating and restructuring
transfer orientation, teaching EDUC
388 (Guided Instruction in College
Teaching) and continuing to provide
advising support in the Student Affairs
Office.
Dr.
Michael Raupp, Entomology, provides
information about the impending arrival
of the 17-year cicada in a March 9
Annapolis Capital article.
In addition, Dr. Raupp and doctoral
student Holly Menninger appeared
on WMAR-TV News (Baltimore) March
25 to describe the unique life of
the 17-year cicada.
Dr.
Marjorie Reaka-Kudla, Biology,
was elected to the University Senate
to replace Dr. Arthur Popper
(who will become Chair of the University
Senate) as one of the department's
faculty representatives. She will
serve out the remaining year of Dr.
Popper's term.
Dr.
Janice Reutt-Robey, Chemistry
and Biochemistry, received a $64,000
grant from GMA Industries, Inc. for
"Molecular Electronics Metrology
of Organic and Carbon.…"
Welcome
to New Staff
The
College would like to welcome the
following new staff of the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry:
Cynthia
Haglund—Accounting Associate
in the Business Office
Garnett McQueen—Administrative
Assistant II in the Chair's Office
Mini Rajan—Accounting
Clerk in the Business Office
Lindsey Sarangoulis—Administrative
Assistant II in the Graduate Office
Student
Recognition and In the News
 Jonathan
Jacobs, a CBMG graduate student
in the lab of Dr. Jonathan Dinman,
received a 3-year, $130,000 Ruth L.
Kirschstein National Research Service
Award (NIH F37 type grant) from National
Institutes of Health, National Library
of Medicine for "Identification
of Programmed Frameshift Signals in
Yeast." His work involves a bioinformatic
approach toward identifying programmed
-1 ribosomal frameshift signals in
organismal genomes. This involves
a combination of computational, DNA
microarray and phylogenetic approaches.
Dana
Kogan and Azize Sahin will
be the student senators representing
the College of Life Sciences in the
University Senate.
Holly
Menninger, a doctoral student
in the lab of Dr. Margaret Palmer,
Entomology and Biology, was a guest
on the "Steve Rouse and Company"
morning show on Baltimore's WQSR-FM
on March 26. She answered the usual
cicada questions (what can we expect?,
are our plants in danger?, pool issues)
and heard "bad" jokes, as
in a conspiracy theory about Al Cicada.
In addition, she appeared with Dr.
Michael Raupp on WMAR-TV News
(Baltimore) March 25 to describe the
unique life of the 17-year cicada.
Almost
1,000 new freshman applicants have
been admitted to the College to enter
in Fall 2004. This talented group
includes 32 winners of the Banneker/Key
Full Scholarship and more than 240
students who received other partial
merit scholarships.
Alumni
Recognition and In the News
Dr. Beth Stevens,
formerly a NACS student of Dr. Roger
Davenport, Biology, and Dr. Douglas
Fields, NIH (NACS adjunct professor),
is mentioned in the April 2004 cover
article of American Naturalist,
along with the NACS program. Beth earned
her Ph.D. in December 2003 and is a
post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University.
The cover article, "The Other Half
of the Brain," authored by Dr.
Fields, says that evidence is accumulating
that the often-overlooked glial cells
might be almost as important as neurons
in thinking and learning.
Bob Weber, Jr.,
who majored in Biology, is the creator
of the comic Slylock
Fox & Comics for Kids, which
appears in nearly 400 newspapers around
the world. An article
in the March 18 Stamford Advocate
talks about how he is looking to extend
his characters' images by licensing
them to the toy and clothing market.
Workshop
on How to Talk to the Media
George Cathcart, director
of the Office of University Communications,
will present a workshop on how to talk
to the media on April 21 from 3 to 5
p.m. in 1208 Biology-Psychology Building.
This workshop is directed specifically
at faculty and research experts, hitting
on how to avoid some of the pitfalls
and frustrations that can occur when
being interviewed for print or broadcast,
including:
-
How
to frame your message so you
get the most important
information out in the 15 seconds
of TV time or two quotes that end
up in the newspaper
-
"I
talked to the reporter for half an
hour, and they only used one quote"—realistic
expectations about your media appearance
-
"They
got it wrong"—why
this happens, and some ways to help
make sure they get it right
-
"Why
should I talk to the media anyway?"—the
impact you can have
-
"They
got me off my guard"—tricks
for keeping the upper hand
-
Keep
it short and understandable—talking
to a lay audience when you know too
much
-
How
to handle that "bad news"
situation
George uses an entertaining
visual presentation and parts with tricks
of the trade he's learned in his 30-plus
years as a journalist and university
communications expert. He encourages
questions and audience participation.
NAPPC
Coordinator to Be Based at UM
 The
North
American Pollinator Protection Campaign
(NAPPC) has hired Dr. Kimberly Winter
as its first NAPPC Coordinator to help
increase its activity in the Washington,
D.C., area. To help strengthen the ties
between NAPPC and our campus, and in
particular the Sustainable
Development and Conservation Biology
(CONS) program, Dr. Winter will
work in some of the space in 0105 Cole
Student Activities Building. Dr. Winter
earned her Ph. D. in Wildlife Ecology
and has a graduate certificate in Conservation
Ecology and Sustainable Development.
Dr. Winter's strong
background in conservation, sustainability
and ecology will do much to bring together
NAPPC's diverse constituency. The tri-national
NAPPC is a public/private collaboration
of more than 70 participants representing
government agencies, nongovernment organizations,
environmental groups, private industry,
agriculture, academia and research science
working individually and cooperatively
to protect North American pollinating
species and their habitats. For more
information about NAPPC, contact Dr.
David Inouye (inouye@umd.edu).
Back
to top
How
to Post Your News
If
you would like to share your accomplishments
or other news, please send a note (and
any accompanying photos)
to Meredith Brittain at
brittain@umd.edu. Issues are usually sent at the beginning
of each month.
Back
to top
|
