NEWS
December 2002
"News
from the College of Life Sciences
at the University of Maryland, College
Park"
NEWS ITEMS
- The
Dean's Message
- Upcoming
Events
- Internship
and Job Fair
- Gifts
- Faculty
Recognition
- Faculty
in the News
-
Student Recognition
- Alumni
Recognition
- Maryland
Technology Showcase
- JIFSAN
Seminar
- Funding
Alerts
- How
to Post Your News
FROM
THE DEAN
November's
Bioscience Research & Technology
Review Day was the largest and most
successful yet. We thank Maryland
Technology Development Corporation
(TEDCO), MdBio, Inc. and Dynamac
Corporation, as well as several
other Colleges-BSOS, CMPS, ENGR
and HLHP-for sponsoring this event.
About 750 people registered; 300
students and 27 companies sought
each other at the Career Center;
140 research groups presented posters;
and the CEO breakfast had approximately
60 attendees. Special thanks to
Gene Ferrick, who attended to every
detail, with the able assistance
of Bobbi Donley, Meredith Brittain
and Carolyn Wilhelm. Holding this
event in Stamp Student Union and
focusing on faculty-driven minisymposia
clearly contributed to its success.
Evan Jones, CEO of Digene and co-chair
of the College's Board of Visitors,
began the discussion at the CEO
breakfast, ably making the case
for the College. He was followed
by Linda Powers, Managing Director
of Toucan Capital Corporation, who
compared Maryland's biotechnology
enterprise with those of other states,
pointing out some of our vulnerabilities.
David Iannucci, Secretary of the
Department of Business and Economic
Development, and Phillip Singerman,
Executive Director of TEDCO, summarized
the state's initiatives and successes.
Mark Adams, Vice President for Bioinformatics
at Celera Genomics, gave an exciting
and illuminating keynote address
on the comparative genomics of mice
and humans, and Robert Gallo, Director
of UMBI's Institute of Human Virology,
provided an authoritative overview
of HIV research and clinical activities.
The symposia on biodiversity, homeland
defense, neuroprostheses and pathogenesis
were successful and well attended.
Thanks once again to their organizers-Catherine
Fenselau, Cindy Moss, David Mosser
and Sara Via. Winners of the poster
competition were Tsvetan Bachvaroff
(College of Life Sciences, CBMG),
Nicole Bleckwenn (A. James Clark
School of Engineering / NIH, Chemical
Engineering), Jamie Grace (College
of Life Sciences, Biology), Stefanie
A. Malkiewicz (College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources, Animal and
Avian Sciences), Todd F. Roberts
(College of Behavioral and Social
Sciences, Psychology), Raghunath
B Shivappa (College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources, Animal and
Avian Sciences) and Ranjani Varadan
(College of Life Sciences, Chemistry
and Biochemistry). Congratulations
to all!
Two
days after Bioscience Day, as part
of our ongoing Diversity Partners
Program, we hosted faculty members
from eight academic institutions
that have a high percentage of members
of underrepresented groups in their
undergraduate student bodies. This
year's representatives came from
Clark Atlanta University (GA), Hampton
University (VA), Howard University
(DC), Hunter College (NY), Lincoln
University (PA), Norfolk State University
(VA), Tougaloo College (MS) and
York College (NY). Special thanks
to Amel Anderson, who developed
the Diversity Partners Program to
increase the diversity of our graduate
student body, and to Chirice Cade,
who provided staff support. Building
productive, lasting partnerships
will require reciprocal visits,
and several institutions have indicated
interest in having our faculty give
seminars. If you would like to participate
and talk to prospective graduate
students, please contact Amel Anderson.
I
would like to extend a warm welcome
to David Dalo, the College's new
Director of Facilities. Dave is
a UM alum who has substantial construction
and development experience, including
recent work at Johns Hopkins University.
As
many of you know, Governor Glendening
has imposed a hard budget reduction
on the University, effective immediately,
that will reduce the College's budget
by 3.2%, and there is the possibility
of a second budget reduction in
the spring. Although we will need
to be frugal, we will still be able
to move forward with our most important
programs-recruiting students and
faculty, revamping the undergraduate
curriculum, improving our business
services, refining the College's
strategic plan, designing the Bioscience
building and fund raising. I look
forward to your support in all of
these activities.
The
fall semester will draw to a close
with the College graduation on Saturday,
December 21 and the University graduation
on December 22. Attending graduation
is one of the privileges and responsibilities
of being a faculty member, and I
hope to see many faculty members
there. The speaker at the College
graduation is Dr. Willie May, Chief
of the Analytical Chemistry Division,
Chemical Science and Technology
Laboratory, NIST and a Ph.D. graduate
of the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry.
During
this season of celebration and religious
observances, we have much to be
thankful for. I wish you all the
very best for the holidays.
Norma
Allewell
Dean
UPCOMING
EVENTS
December
4: Internship and Job Fair, 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m., Grand Ballroom, Stamp Student
Union
December
21: Life Sciences Commencement, 6:30
p.m., Memorial Chapel
December
22: Campus Commencement
February
18, 2003: Terrapin Pride Day in Annapolis
April
12, 2003: Alumni Association Gala
Awards
May
16-18, 2003: The American Society
for Microbiology - Education Section
10th anniversary meeting, co-sponsored
by the College. Speakers will include
Dr. Rita Colwell, Director of NSF;
Dr. Lee Shulman, President of the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching; Dr. Kenneth Nealson,
Director of the Center for Life Detection
Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Dr.
Eric Green, Chief of the Genome Technology
Branch of the National Human
Genome Research Institute and Director
of the NIH Intramural Sequencing
Facility.
INTERNSHIP
AND JOB FAIR
The
College of Life Sciences and the College
of Agriculture and Natural Resources
are jointly sponsoring an Internship
and Job Fair on Wednesday, December
4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Stamp
Student Union's Grand Ballroom. We
are expecting about 60 employers from
biotechnology, research laboratories,
federal government, medicine, conservation,
environment, agriculture and business.
The fair is open to undergraduate
and graduate students interested in
internships, part-time and full-time
jobs, and post-doctoral fellowships.
Last year's fair (The College of Life
Sciences and the College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources are jointly
sponsoring an Internship and Job Fair
on Wednesday, December 4 from 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m. in Stamp Student Union's
Grand Ballroom. We are expecting about
60 employers from biotechnology, research
laboratories, federal government,
medicine, conservation, environment,
agriculture and business. The fair
is open to undergraduate and graduate
students interested in internships,
part-time and full-time jobs, and
post-doctoral fellowships. Last year's
fair (http://www.life.umd.edu/internship/internship_day.html)
was attended by 63 companies and more
than 500 students. For more information,
contact Dr. Kaci Thompson at 301-405-3353
or EXCELS@umail.umd.edu.
GIFTS
The College would
like to thank the following companies
for their support of Bioscience Day:
Dynamac
Corporation, which sponsored the keynote
address
Maryland Technology Development Corporation
(TEDCO), which sponsored the CEO Breakfast
MdBio, Inc., which sponsored the poster
prizes
We
would also like to acknowledge individuals
and corporations who have contributed
gifts of $1,000 or more over the past
month:
Andrew
P. Fridberg
George R. Helz
Raj Kumar Khanna
David C. Straney
Syngenta
FACULTY
RECOGNITION
Congratulations to Dr. Spencer
Benson, CBMG, who was honored
by the Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education and the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching in their U.S. Professors
of the Year competition. Each of the
50 states honors a single professor,
and Benson is the choice for outstanding
teacher in Maryland.
Dr.
Marco Colombini, Biology, received
a 1-year, $211,000 grant from HHS
- PHS/NIH for "Channel Formation
by Ceramides: Implications on Apoptosis."
Dr.
Jonathan Dinman, CBMG, received
a 3-year grant for $114,000 from Rutgers
University to study "PAP and
Inhibition of Ribosomal Frameshifting."
Congratulations
to Dr. Samuel Grim, Chemistry
& Biochemistry, and Dr. Margaret
Palmer, Entomology and Biology,
who were among five university faculty
members named as AAAS (American Association
for the Advancement of Science) Fellows.
Grim is being honored for his work
in creating new compounds with metal
bonding properties; Palmer is being
recognized for significant contributions
to advancing the understanding of
aquatic ecosystems and the role of
women in science.
Dr.
David Inouye, Biology, was awarded
a 5-year, $300,000 LTREB grant from
NSF to support his long-term research
at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
Dr.
Margaret Palmer, Entomology and
Biology, received a 2-year grant for
$150,000 from the Charles S. Mott
Foundation to investigate "Linking
Science and Grass-Roots Action: Restoration."
FACULTY
IN THE NEWS
Ethel
Dutky, Entomology, advises winter
gardeners how to avoid diseased debris
as batches of compost are whipped
up for spring planting.
Washington Post, November 23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26553-2002Nov22.html
Dr.
David Inouye, Biology, is quoted
in an article about hummingbirds being
seen in Florida in late fall and winter.
"It could be because winters
are milder, birds are getting confused
and deciding not to fly so far south."
Daytona Beach News-Journal, November
22
http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/nov/22/area4.htm
STUDENT
RECOGNITION
Congratulations
to Beth Stevens, a third-year
NACS graduate student of Dr. Roger
Davenport, Biology, and her NIH
collaborator, Dr. Doug Fields. Their
recent publication in Science was
featured on ABC news November 1. Their
article, titled "Certain Brain
Cells Do More Than Pad Neurons,"
can be found in Science 2002;298:556-562.
Check out http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20021017_674.html
for an article about their findings.
At
the poster session at Bioscience Research
& Technology Review Day on November
19, about 90 graduate students competed
for prizes in seven categories. Congratulations
to the winners: Tsvetan Bachvaroff
(College of Life Sciences, CBMG),
Nicole Bleckwenn (A. James
Clark School of Engineering / NIH,
Chemical Engineering), Jamie Grace
(College of Life Sciences, Biology),
Stefanie A. Malkiewicz (College
of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Animal and Avian Sciences), Todd
F. Roberts (College of Behavioral
and Social Sciences, Psychology),
Raghunath B Shivappa (College
of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Animal and Avian Sciences) and Ranjani
Varadan (College of Life Sciences,
Chemistry and Biochemistry). Go to
http://www.bioscienceday.umd.edu/poster.cfm
for more information about the winning
posters.
