| |
 From
the Dean
If events in January presage the
rest of the year, as the old stock
market adage holds, 2005 should
be a great year for the College.
There have been many very positive
developments in the past month.
Three outstanding midcareer
faculty members will be joining
our ranks this summer. Thanks to
all who helped in the recruitment.
Professors
John Fourkas and Amy Mullin will
be joining the Department of Chemistry
and Biochemistry. John, currently
at Boston College, will be the
first Millard Alexander Professor
of Chemistry. John has been the
recipient of many honors, including
the Beckman Young Investigator
Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research
Fellowship, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar
Award and an NSF Career Award.
His research interests focus on
studying and controlling the microscopic
properties of condensed-phase systems.
Amy, currently at Boston University,
uses novel high-resolution techniques
to study the ways in which internal
energy influences chemical change.
She has been the recipient of an
Office of Naval Research Young
Investigator Award, a Camille Dreyfus
Teacher-Scholar Award, and an NSF
Career Award, among others. Both
John and Amy will enhance the University's
developing program in nanoscience
and nanoengineering.
Steven Salzberg has just accepted
the position of Horvitz Professor
of Computer Science/UMIACS and
Director of the Center for Bioinformatics
and Computational Biology. Steven
is currently Senior Director of
Bioinformatics at TIGR, where he
has been a leader in their genomics
programs. His research team has
built eukaryotic gene finders for
plants, animals and multiple single-celled
eukaryotes. He and his colleagues
have also developed open-source
software systems for genome assembly
that have been distributed to thousands
of scientific laboratories worldwide.
 Larry
Sita, Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, has just begun as
Associate Dean for Faculty, Research,
and Diversity, and Sharon Hodgson
has joined the College as Director
of Administrative Services and
Development Operations. Both have
already begun to move us further
along the path toward excellence.
The
College's name change to College
of Chemical and Life Sciences has
been approved at the highest levels.
The name change, which will take
effect July 1, will enable us to
more clearly link Chemistry to
the Life Sciences, creating new
interdisciplinary opportunities
in research, education, and outreach.
 During
the annual January College cleanup,
approximately 80 tons of trash
and debris—as well as many
old refrigerators, freezers and
furniture—were
removed.
This is a doubling of volumes
in previous years!
The
College would like to recognize
the extraordinary efforts of Jerry
Donavan (Biology), Karen Lasher
(Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics),
Linda Zappasodi (Chemistry and
Biochemistry) and Bill Katsereles
(Entomology) in this endeavor,
as well as those of Jack Baker,
Director of Operations and Maintenance,
whose hardworking crews did the
heavy work. Prizes went to the
groups in each department that
contributed the most debris to
the cleanup effort, as follows:
Biology: Irv Forseth's group; Cell
Biology and Molecular Genetics:
Steve Wolniak's group; Chemistry
and Biochemistry: Larry Sita's
group; and Entomology: Galen Dively's
group.
Construction
on the Bioscience Research Building
is progressing. Foundation excavation
is underway, along with upgrade
and installation of new services
and utilities to the building,
such as electric power and plumbing.
The general contractor has poured
a portion of the concrete foundation
and over the next few weeks will
install the remainder of the concrete
foundations and dig the test and
final "auger
cast" concrete foundation
piles. When that is complete, the
contractor will begin cutting into
the Biology/Psychology building
to determine access locations and
elevations for the new building.
Advance notice of all outages and
noise and vibration disturbances
will be widely distributed on the
Bioscience Building listserv and
will be posted on the Bioscience
Building Web page.
I
have been asked by the University
to chair a task force to develop
a strategic plan to increase the
University's annual external funding
from NIH, CDC and related agencies
to the $100M level from its current
level of $26M. I am in the process
of soliciting nominations to that
committee from the College of Life
Sciences and across campus. Our
goal is to complete the plan by
July 1. The College clearly has
a major role to play in helping
the campus achieve this level,
and I welcome thoughts and suggestions.
Norma
Allewell
Dean
 Academic
Calendar and Upcoming Events
February
8: Last Day of Schedule
Adjustment (Drop/Add)
February
17: HHMI Undergraduate Research
Symposium. LFSC contact: Kaci Thompson
(hhmi@umd.edu)
February 28-March 1: Junior
Science and Humanities Symposium
(JSHS). See www.life.umd.edu/JSHS/symposium.html for
more information. Campus contact:
Amel Anderson (aanders@umd.edu)
March
4 and 11: Spring
Open House, Undergraduate
Admissions. LFSC contact:
Eden Garosi (egarosi@umd.edu)
March
21-25: Spring
Break
April
1: Spring
Open House, Undergraduate Admissions.
LFSC contact: Eden Garosi (egarosi@umd.edu)
April
12: Last
Day to Drop with a "W"
April
15: Spring
Open House, Undergraduate Admissions.
LFSC contact: Eden Garosi (egarosi@umd.edu)
April
30: Maryland
Day. More information:
www.marylandday.umd.edu.
LFSC contact: LFSC contact: Gene
Ferrick
(gene@umd.edu)
May 12: Last
Day of Classes
May
13: Exam
Study Day
May
14-20: Final
Exams
May
21: Campus
Commencement. 7 p.m.,
Comcast Center.
May
22: College
Commencement. 4 p.m.,
Cole Student Activities Building.
November
17: Bioscience
Technology and Review Day. More
information: www.bioscienceday.umd.edu.
LFSC contact: Gene Ferrick (gene@umd.edu)
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Faculty
Recognition and In
the News
 Dr.
Michael Cummings,
Biology and Center for Bioinformatics
and Computational Biology, has
a sabbatical visitor in his lab
this year: Dr. Byoung-Hee Choi.
Dr. Choi, an expert on systematics
of Fabaceae, is a Professor in
the Department of Biological Sciences,
Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
Dr. Choi is working on analysis
of DNA sequence data to address
specific phylogenetic questions.
Dr.
Charles Delwiche,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
published the paper “The
Genomic Palimpsest: Genomics in
Evolution and Ecology” as
the cover article in the November
2004 issue of BioScience.
The article discusses how genomic
approaches have revolutionized
the study of in situ microbial
populations and facilitated the
reconstruction of early events
in the evolution of photosynthetic
eukaryotes.
Dr.
Fatimah Jackson,
Biology (affiliate), is featured
in a January 20 Boston Globe article for
her work in tracing the genetic
heritage of African Americans.
She “started the first human DNA
database in Africa in 2002 in Cameroon ” and
will collaborate with a Boston
scientist attempting to do similar
work in The Republic of Congo.
Dr.
Bruce Jarvis,
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
and Biochemistry, is quoted in
a January 27 Richmond Times-Dispatch article about
mold. Dr. Jarvis, who has served
as an expert witness in mold-related
lawsuits, says that most people
use common sense when identifying
a mold problem: “ If
you see something green oozing
down a living-room wall, you know
you have a problem.”
Dr.
Margaret Palmer,
Entomology and Biology, received
a 1-year, $151,000 grant from the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
for “Enhancing the Scientific Success
of River Restoration.”
Dr.
Kennedy Paynter,
Biology, is quoted in a January
7 Baltimore Sun article that
seeks scientific opinions on the
possibility of reinstituting power
dredging, a method of harvesting
Chesapeake oysters that was outlawed
in 1867. Some experts say that
it's the end of the
road for oysters, whereas others
say that the harvest is sustainable. Dr.
Paynter is among the experts who
say there is nothing inherently
bad about power dredging.
Dr.
Daniel Perez,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
(affiliate), is co-director of
a $5M grant for "Prevention
and Control of Avian Influenza
in the United States," a
new national research and education
project. The University will lead
16 other institutions in this effort.
According to a January 25 Gazette.net article, “this
is the largest grant ever given
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
to study a single animal disease
or health threat.”
 Dr.
David Poeppel,
Biology, and Dr. Virginie
van Wassenhove (PhD'04,
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science)
published “Visual
speech speeds up the neural processing
of auditory speech” in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences January
25. Their study shows for the first
time that the brain more quickly
processes a speaker's words when
the listener sees the speaker talk
than when the stimuli is auditory
only. According to a
University press release, “David
Poeppel … says the study indicates
that when a
listener can see the speaker's
mouth, the listener's brain predicts
what sound is about to be heard,
a process called predictive coding.” Click here for
the full press release.
Dr. Marjorie Reaka,
Biology, has been elected a Fellow
of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS). According
to the AAAS Web site, “Election
as a Fellow of AAAS is an honor
bestowed upon members by their
peers. Fellows are recognized for
meritorious efforts to advance
science or its applications.”
 Dr.
Kerry Shaw,
Biology, and former postdoc Dr.
Tami Mendelson, now in
the Department of Biological Sciences
at Lehigh University, published “Sexual
Behaviour: Rapid speciation in
an arthropod” in Nature January
27. According to a Nature press
release, “In the Laupala group
of Hawaiian forest-dwelling crickets—which
are indistinguishable apart from
their deployment of different mating
songs—the
speciation rate is the highest
ever recorded in arthropods. Tamra
Mendelson and Kerry Shaw show that
these Hawaiian crickets evolve
at a rate of 4.17 species per million
years. This, they point out, is
more than an order of magnitude
greater than the average estimated
rate of speciation in arthropods,
calculated as 0.16 per million
years. The comparison suggests
that if secondary sexual traits
evolve rapidly—as
Laupala songs do—then
they can accelerate the branching
off of new species.”
Dr. David Straney,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
received a 5-year, $32,000 grant
from the USDA for “ Analysis of
Soybean Genes Involved in Pest
Resistance.”
 Staff
Recognition
Dr.
Lisa Bradley,
Assistant Dean of Student Services,
was honored with membership in
the Maryland chapter of the Phi
Kappa Phi honor society for her
contributions to academic excellence
through "improved policies,
enhanced teaching, enriched advising
and mentoring improvements that
collectively promote academic excellence
and student success."
Board
of Regents' University System of
Maryland Staff Award Nominations
Administrative
Assistant Linda
Dalo was nominated for
the Board of Regents' University
System of Maryland Staff Award
in the category Outstanding Service
to Students in an Academic or Residential
Environment as a non-exempt staff
member. In this category, only
one non-exempt staff member from
University of Maryland, College
Park could be nominated.
Nematode
Lab Director and IPM Coordinator Sandra
Sardanelli, Entomology,
was nominated for the Board of
Regents' University System of Maryland
Staff Award in the category Extraordinary
Public Service to the University
or to the Greater Community as
an exempt staff member. Again,
only one staff member from University
of Maryland, College Park could
be nominated in this category.
The Staff Awards represent the
highest honor bestowed by the Board
of Regents for achievements of
exempt and nonexempt employees
from institutions of the University
System of Maryland.
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Graduate Student and Postdoc
Recognition
Jessica
Hines, Miles
Lepping, and
the Department of Entomology received
a graduate teaching assistant development
grant from the Center for Teaching
Excellence and the Graduate School
for $1,500 for “Digital Resource
Manual for BSCI 120: Insects.”
Mark
Kaucher,
a graduate student advised by Dr.
Jeff Davis,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, has
been nominated by the University
for the opportunity to attend a
meeting of Nobel laureates in Germany
this summer, sponsored by the Department
of Energy and the National Science
Foundation.
 In
January 2005, the Sustainable Development
and Conservation Biology (CONS)
program welcomed a new student
from Bhutan—Thinley
Namgyel, who comes from
the Bhutan National Environment
Commission. CONS has now had students
from 20 different countries in
the program. Fifteen of these students
(including Thinley, whose funding
is from the Bhutan Trust Fund for
Environmental Conservation) have
been supported by outside fellowships,
including funding from Fulbright,
LASPAU, Inter-American Foundation,
and the Russell E. Train Fellowship.
Alumni
News
For more
alumni notes, check out the Alumni
Notes web page.
Elizabeth
Kerr,
PhD (BS'85, Microbiology) is the
Director of SciTech Markets for
Apple Comp uter
in Cupertino, California. She joined
Apple after five years in the marketing
group at Affymetrix
Inc. Prior to joining the marketing
organization at Affymetrix, Dr.
Kerr was a Staff Scientist as part
of the Scientific Liaison group,
also at Affymetrix. Dr. Kerr completed
her PhD in Immunology at Stanford
University in the lab
of Dr. Mark Davis.
Mike
Lawton (BS'75,
Entomology) is the Vice President
of Sales & Marketing of Western
Exterminator Company and a non-family
member shareholder (owner) of the
company. Western is considered
the second largest family-owned
pest control company in the United
States and the largest family-owned
pest control company in the West.
His office is in Anaheim, California.
Lawton started his pest control
career as a structural pest control
technician for Atlas Exterminating
Co. in Towson, Maryland. In
1978 he relocated to California
and became Western Exterminator
Company's Assistant Technical Director. He
was promoted to Technical Director
in 1984 and was named Director
of Sales & Marketing in 1995.
In 1997 Lawton became Vice President
of Sales & Marketing.
Lawton
is a Board Certified Entomologist
with the Entomological Society
of America and served as Chairman
of its Professional Maintenance & Certification
Committee for almost six years.
Lawton has a state of California
field representative license in
all three branches of Structural
Pest Control. He is a member of
numerous trade associations associated
with the pest control industry. He
is also a member of the American
Marketing Association. He and his
wife Barbara have been married
for 22 years and have three dogs:
Rosie, Mallory and Silver. They
reside in Dana Point, California—one
mile from the beach.
Dr.
Tami Mendelson, a former
postdoc, coauthored a paper in Nature.
See Dr. Kerry Shaw under “Faculty
Recognition and In the News.”
Dr.
Virginie van Wassenhove (PhD'04,
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science)
coauthored a paper in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
See Dr. David Poeppel under “Faculty
Recognition and In the News.”
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Drs.
Wayne and Mary (PhD'90) Hockmeyer: $25,000
to The Drs. Wayne T. and Mary T.
Hockmeyer Endowed Fellowship
Prof. George and Mrs.
Rosalind Helz**: $20,865.85
in support of the landscaping of
the Courtyard in front of the G.
Forest Woods Atrium in the Chemistry
and Biochemistry Complex
Annual
Fund Gifts
Support of the annual fund of
the College of Life Sciences is
essential to the progress of the
College, and we thank those who
have stepped forward in this important
effort. Gifts are to the Dean's
Fund except as noted.
Colonnade
Society*: Philip
L. Schneider, $1,000; Cheryl
and Frank Sullivan, $1,035.54
Additional
gifts: Dr.
Judith H. Ambrus (MS'66,
PhD'70, Chemistry); Paul
S. Barnes (BS'81, Chemistry),
Scholarship Fund; Dr. Marisa
S. Bartolomei (BS'82,
Biochemistry); Jerome Keith
Bradford (BS'84, Biological
Sciences); Nancy S. Carr (BS'82,
Microbiology); Fariba
Djangali (BS'85, Psychology), International
Programs; Dr. Paul W. Doetsch (BS'76,
Biochemistry); Eugene John
Ferrick** (BA'84, Arts
and Humanities, MGA'92 (UC-Management)); Dr.
Alan Freeman (BS'75,
Zoology); Dr. Loyal M.
Goff (MS'74, PhD'78,
Botany); Dr. Sally Harrison
Brodie (BS'77, PhD'75,
Chemistry); Dr. William
Arthur Hook (BS'53, MS'56,
PhD'65, Microbiology); Dr.
David W. Inouye**, CONS
Program (Sustainable Development); Michael
Todd King (MS'76, Chemistry); James
Kovalesky (BS'76, Microbiology); Dr.
Sang Bok Lee**, The Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate
Award Fund; Dr. Marcia
J. Loeb (PhD'71, Zoology); Anne
R. Marchese (BA'61, French),
Chemistry and Biochemistry; Dr.
Joseph H. McCarthy (BS'79,
Zoology; DDS'83); Charles
J. McCullough (BS'72,
Conservation and Resource Management;
MS'75, Animal Science); Dr.
Cynthia McKinney (MS'84,
PhD'89, Zoology); Fernando
D. Padilla (BS'78, Zoology); Colleen
B. Pettis (MS'89, Microbiology); Carole
A. Sakamoto (BS'77, Design),
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics; Joette
D. Schulman (BS'77, Horticulture); Dr.
Yvonne Class Shimshock (PhD'95,
Chemistry); William M.
Smedley, G. Forrest Woods
Atrium; Nancy Lynne
Tucker, Chemistry and
Biochemistry; Charles C.
Wu (BS'97, Chemistry),
Dean's Fund; Edgar P. Young**,
Howard Brinkley Scholarship Fund
New
annual fund pledges: Colonnade
Society*: Dr.
Norma Allewell **: $1,000; additional
pledges: Donald
Cohen
Corporate
support: Masterfood
USA: $5,000 (Joint Institute
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition), ExxonMobil
Research & Engineering Co., Science
Applications International Corp.
Foundation
support: Prof.
Margaret Palmer: $151,000 from
the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation
* gifts of $1,000 or more from
individuals
** faculty and/or staff
If
you are interested in learning
more about supporting the College
of Life Sciences, please contact
Bruce Shatswell, Assistant Dean
for Development and Corporate Relations, bashatswell@umd.edu,
301-405-0295.
Patents
Patent issued in the last month:
6,846,804 Construction
of a structural variant of sublancin
to facilitate its isolation and
use in bioremediation of environmental
contamination by gram-positive
spore formers such as Bacillus
anthrasis: Dr. Norman
Hansen (Chemistry and
Biochemistry)
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LFSC
Food Drive Donates Over 3,000 Pounds
of Food
 The
LFSC Hunger Helpers have done it
again this year! On December 14,
2004, we sent a total of 3,152
pounds of high-quality food to
the Capital Area Food Bank. In
time for the holiday season, your
generous food contributions were
sent to soup kitchens, youth programs,
homeless shelters, daycare centers
and elder care facilities in our
area.
Mark
Mitchell, the Food Resources Coordinator
for the Food Bank, termed
us “monster” contributors. Most
notable in the giving this year
were the students in BSCI230, taught
by Dr. Reid Compton and
ably assisted by Maria
Espinoza, a junior majoring
in Cell and Molecular Biology and
Genetics. For the second year in
a row, special appreciation goes
to the students in BSCI105, taught
by Dr. Bill Higgins,
and to Mr. Alex Klemko, of Moving
Masters, for the transport of all
that food.
Many
thanks to each of you who participated
in the act of giving.
TEDCO
Adds Tech Transfer Web pages
Maryland
Technology Development Corporation
(TEDCO) has added pages to its
Web site that identifies all the
projects it has funded through
the tech transfer offices in the
state (click here).
The following College of Life Sciences
researchers have been funded:
- In
the Chemistry
category,
Dr. Jeffery Davis, Chemistry and
Biochemistry, received funding
for “Efficient
Methods for Separation of Cesium
Salts,” and Dr. Larry Sita received
funding for a new polymerization
process.
- In
the Bio-Therapy
category, Dr. Norman
Hansen received
funding for “Drug Development Method
for New Antibiotics.”
- In the Diagnostics and Devices
category, Dr. Ronald Weiner,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
received funding for “Production
of Novel Carbohydrases Having Applications
in Bioremediation and Paper Textile
Manufacturing.”
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Two
MLFSC Students Earn Degrees From
Afar
Like
many University of Maryland online
Master
of Life Sciences students,
Christopher (CJ) Galfano often
stared at the glaring screen of
his laptop in the late night hours,
finishing assignments and e-mailing
teachers. But, unlike his classmates,
Marine Corps Maj. Galfano closed
his laptop, climbed into an F15
and flew combat missions six hours
away in war-ravaged Iraq and nine
hours away in Afghanistan, completing
coursework in his "free
time." Nai Kong Leung—Willey
for short—would sometimes log
on at 5 a.m. to participate in
chat rooms and complete assignments
for the same master's program before
starting his day as a secondary
school biology teacher in Hong
Kong.
Worlds
apart, both men share similar backgrounds
and goals—each
holds a bachelor's degree in biology
and was committed to improving
himself through education while
balancing the demands of a family
and a full-time career. They were
also among five online students
who graduated from the University
of Maryland in December without
ever setting foot on campus, a
trend that's reshaping the future
of higher education across the
globe.
Maryland's
Master of Life Sciences program
is the university's first completely
Web-based graduate degree and the
only one of its kind geared for
high school science teachers when
it was introduced five years ago.
Students enroll in the program
from all over the country and represent
nine foreign countries.
 Galfano was far from the Middle
East, in southern California,
when the University of Maryland
literature, touting the online
studies master's degree, arrived
in the mail three years ago. The
program, he discovered, was designed
more for his wife, a teacher, than
for him. But, he requested and
was granted Program Director Paul
Mazzocchi's approval to enroll
in the program.
When
first deployed to Qatar, Galfano
obtained authorization to take
his laptop for educational purposes
and quickly hooked into the Internet. "Computer
access was awesome," he was
surprised to learn. "It was
finding the time…."
While
most online students take only
one course per term, Galfano took
two of his hardest classes—emerging
infectious diseases and modern
genetics—while working 24-hour
missions and assuming responsibility
for scheduling the work of his
entire squadron. From his tent,
Galfano interacted with faculty
and fellow students via e-mail
and chat rooms. He was even required
to complete a project with his
classmates—"forcing me to
interact with other people in the
program"—a positive factor
for a soldier so far from home.
Some
three years ago from his home in
Hong Kong, Willey was looking for
a graduate degree that wasn't research
based when he found Maryland 's
program through an Internet search. "I wanted to get a
master's for myself," he explained. "But
it's also good for my students
to know that I am studying, too."
Because
of the time difference, Willey
would rise early and stay up past
midnight to participate in online
assignments. He especially liked
the weekly chats. "All
the instructors are great.… They
spent lots of time with us and
gave us lots of feedback," he
said. Dr. Mazzocchi points to a
cap of 20 students per class that
allows faculty to respond to student
questions quickly, within 24 hours
or less. That, along with the independent
scholarly paper component, has
helped the program grow to more
than 300 students from the initial
class of four in 2000.
A
first-time online student, Willey
said the program helped him discover
his own ability to adapt to a different
style of learning. "You
really have to do it by yourself,
but it suits me," he said.
 Galfano
and Willey concluded their two-and-a-half-year
experience last month. Galfano,
from the comfort of his home in
Boise, Idaho, with his four-month-old
daughter in his arms, e-mailed
his final assignment, a scholarly
paper, fittingly on the topic of
anthrax.
Willey's
work culminated in a promise he
made to his wife. "If I
get all A's," he said, "I'm
going to attend the graduation
ceremony." A man of his word,
he did just that. Traveling more
than 8,000 miles from his native
Hong Kong, Willey took his place
among the 2,600 graduates at the
university's Dec. 18 ceremony to
receive his final reward—a
master's degree in Life Sciences
from the University of Maryland.
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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.
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