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Molecular
and Cellular Bioengineering (Bill
Bentley, ENGR)
-
From
Viruses to Vaccines and Biodefense
(Tom Porter, AGNR)
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Molecular
Machines: Protein Folding, Assembly
and Function (George Lorimer,
LFSC)
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From
Bioinformatics to Molecular Evolution
(Chuck Delwiche, LFSC)
As
in previous years, there will also
be a poster session, with student
prizes, and a career fair for students
at all levels. Efforts last year
to incorporate the symposia into
classes and encourage students to
attend were quite successful; I
encourage faculty to do the same
this year and to plan around this
date when developing fall course
syllabi.
I'm
very pleased to announce that Dr.
Kenneth Frauwirth will be joining
the faculty of Cell Biology and
Molecular Genetics as an assistant
professor in mid-fall. Dr. Frauwirth
is a cellular immunologist whose
research interests focus on the
signaling pathways involved in T
cell activation and tolerance. He
obtained his Ph.D. with Dr. Nilabh
Shastri at the University of California,
Berkeley, and is currently a postdoctoral
fellow with Dr. Craig Thompson at
the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr.
Edgar Moctezuma will also be joining
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
as a lecturer with major responsibilities
in BSCI 124/125, our large plant
biology course for non-majors. He
holds a B.S. from U.C. Riverside,
a Ph.D. from the University of California,
Berkeley, and has done postdoctoral
work in Japan, Berkeley and the
USDA.
As
many of you aware, Brian Balgley,
director of the College's mass spectrometry
facility, has taken a position in
industry. A search committee chaired
by Judd Nelson and with members
Jeff Davis, Steve Hutcheson, Tim
Maugel, Betsy Quinlan and Noel Whittaker
has been appointed. The College
and Phoenix S&T, Inc. have just
been awarded a MIPS grant to commercialize
a nanospray chip with increased
sensitivity and resolution.
The
College has just placed an order
for an ABI PRISM 3730XL 96 capillary
DNA sequencer to enable all of the
research programs that depend upon
this technology to move forward.
Thanks to Sarah Tishkoff, who negotiated
the purchase, the faculty members
who contributed to the cost, as
well as the Center for Bioinformatics
and Computational Biology, the Provost
and the Vice President for Research.
Last
but not least, we extend a very
warm welcome to Professor Michael
Doyle, the incoming chair of Chemistry
and Biochemistry, and his wife,
Janice, who will be arriving in
town this weekend.
ACADEMIC
CALENDAR
September
2: First Day of Fall Classes
September 15: Last Day of Schedule
Adjustment for Fall
October 7: Faculty/Staff Convocation
November 7: Last Day to Drop with
a W
UPCOMING
EVENTS
July
27-30: International Conference
on Acoustic Communication by
Animals (visit http://asa.aip.org/communication.html).
Campus contacts: Arthur Popper
(ap17@umail.umd.edu),
Robert Dooling (dooling@psyc.umd.edu),
Cynthia Moss (cmoss@psyc.umd.edu)
and David Yager (dy5@umail.umd.edu)
September
6: Academically Talented Open
House
September
26: Visit Maryland Day
October
13 (Columbus Day): Visit Maryland
Day
October
25: Academically Talented Open
House
November
5: Bioscience Research and Technology
Review Day. College contact:
Gene Ferrick (gene@umd.edu)
November
11 (Veterans Day): Visit Maryland
Day
March 5, 2004: Spring Open House
March
12, 2004: Spring Open House
April
2, 2004: Spring Open House
April
16, 2004: Spring Open House
GIFTS TO THE COLLEGE
Thank you to:
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The
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, for
a $40,000 gift to support the project
"Mediated Solvation at Liquid
Surfaces" (PI: Dr. Robert Walker)
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Syngenta,
for contributing $4,000 to the Department
of Entomology Research Fund
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Mary
Frix-Root, Iris Konstantinou, James
Shaw, Ruthann Sturtevant and Ruth
Mary Waalkes, for supporting Dr.
Eugenie Clark's Zoology Research
Fund
-
Erik
Young, for a $1,000 gift to support
the Dean's Fund
FACULTY
RECOGNITION
Dr.
Galen Dively, Entomology, received
an annual $15,000 subcontract for
three years from the University of
Toledo for "Impact of Coleopteran-Active
Bt Corn on Non-Target Soil Micro-Faunal
Communities." This subcontract
is part of a $212,467 grant from the
USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment
Program. Dr. Dively, collaborating
with Dr. Ken Staver, Wye Research
and Education Center, also received
a $199,550 grant from the Maryland
Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc. for
"Optimizing Environmental Benefits
from Riparian Buffers in Maryland."
Dr.
Michael Doyle, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
has been invited to serve a 4-year
term as a member of NIH's Medicinal
Chemistry Study Section, Center for
Scientific Review. Study sections
review grant applications, make recommendations
on these applications and survey the
status of research in their fields.
Dr.
William Fagan, Biology, has been
invited to serve a 3-year term as
an Associate Editor for American
Naturalist starting in September.
Dr.
Charles Fenster and Matt Rutter,
Biology, received a $320,000 award
from the National Science Foundation
to quantify mutation parameters in
the wild.
Dr.
Jamie King, Biology, received
a $59,000 grant from the Chesapeake
Research Consortium to work at the
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration) Chesapeake Bay Office
for 6 months. During the project Dr.
King will provide "Technical
Assistance for Developing Policy for
Crassostrea ariakensis Management."
C. ariakensis is a non-native
oyster species that has been proposed
for introduction to the Chesapeake
Bay to bolster the failing oyster
industry.
Dr.
William Lamp, Entomology, received
a 1-year, $34,000 grant from the U.S.
Geological Survey to study "Response
of Macroinvertebrates to Road Salt
Runoff in Headwater Streams."
Dr.
John Ondov, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
received a 1-year, $84,000 grant from
the National Institute for Standards
and Technology (NIST) for "Homeland
Security Radionuclide Reference Materials
for Environmental Cleanup Measurement
Performance Evaluations."
Dr.
Margaret Palmer, Entomology and
Biology, received a 2-month, $9,500
grant from the Department of Natural
Resources and the Chesapeake and Coastal
Watershed Service for "CCWS Stream
Restoration Database Data Input."
Dr.
Arthur Popper, Biology, received
a 4-month, $17,000 grant from the
Department of Defense for "Passive
Detection of Ultrasound by Clupeiform
Fishes."
Dr.
Stephen Wolniak, CBMG, received
a 4-year, $575,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation for studies
described in a proposal titled "Translational
Patterns during Spermiogenesis in
Marsilea."
FACULTY
AND STAFF IN THE NEWS
The
work of Dr. Gerald Borgia,
Biology, is featured in the "Animal
Attraction" article in July's
National Geographic magazine.
Jennifer Steinberg Holland,
an alumna of the CONS program and
a writer for National Geographic,
wrote the photo legends for the story.
In an excerpt
from the article on the National
Geographic Web site, Dr. Borgia discusses
bowerbird mating. The online article
is accompanied by one of his photos
and a video he shot of the mating
display.
Dr.
David Lineback, director of the
Joint Institute for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition, is quoted in an
article
from the Scripps Howard News Service
(TCPalm.com: Health and Wellness,
July 1), which looks at the causes
of obesity in the American population.
He says blaming sugar as the culprit
is too simplistic and that "obesity
... could just as easily be linked
to overeating, portion super-sizing
and inactivity."
Dr.
Alice Mignerey, Chemistry and
Biochemistry, is quoted in a June
15 Washington
Post
article about the changes that
summer brings to the campus and College
Park.
STUDENT
RECOGNITION
Jason
South, a BEES Ph.D. student, recently
received grants of $3,000 from UM's
Center for Biodiversity, $1,500 from
the American Society of Mammalogists
and $1,000 from Sigma Xi for his thesis
research on "Impacts of Selective
Logging on the Mating System of the
Large Treeshrew, Tupaia tana."
His advisors are Dr. Gerald Wilkinson,
Biology, and Adjunct Professor
Devra Kleiman.
RANKING
IN BLACK ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Black
Issues in Higher Education
published its annual
ranking June 5 of colleges and universities
based on the number of African American,
Asian, Hispanic and American Indian students
graduated. University of Maryland programs
in the top ten are as follows: African
American Biological and Life Sciences,
No. 6; African American English Language
and Letters, No. 2; African American Social
Sciences and History, No. 1; Asian American
Education, No. 7; Asian American English
Language and Letters, No. 7. Among Hispanic
rankings, although no category ranked
higher than No. 36 (Biological and
Life Sciences), each of the six categories
at Maryland was on the rise.
NEW
WEB PAGES
The
"Gifts to the College" portion
of the College of Life Sciences Web site,
found at www.life.umd.edu/gifts2college/index.html,
has been expanded to include photos of donors,
information on the establishment of the
College's scholarship and fellowship funds,
and descriptions of other philanthropy opportunities
(such as sponsoring lecture series, professorships
or named spaces). A few of the scholarships
and fellowships include detailed information,
such as a full history and how students
can apply. If you have any additional information
or photos you'd like to include on these
Web pages, please email Meredith Brittain
at mb446@umail.umd.edu.
Another
new Web page, located at www.life.umd.edu/college/board_of_visitors/BOVindex.html,
lists the names of the members of the College
of Life Sciences Board of Visitors and their
biographies.
HOW
TO POST YOUR NEWS!
If
you would like to share your accomplishments
or other news (and any accompanying photos),
please send a note to Meredith Brittain
at mb446@umail.umd.edu. Issues are usually
sent at the beginning of each month.
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