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NEWS
June 2003
"News
from the College of Life Sciences
at the University of Maryland, College
Park"
NEWS ITEMS
- The
Dean's Message
- Academic
Calendar
- Upcoming
Events
- Gifts to the College
- Faculty
Recognition and In the News
- Staff
Recognition
-
Student and Alumni Recognition
- Service
on Editorial Boards of Journals
- Incoming
Fall 2003 Freshmen
- Funding
Alerts
- How
to Post Your News
FROM
THE DEAN
At
the end of May we celebrated the
accomplishments of the past academic
year. The University hosted its
most successful commencement ever
on May 22, with Franklin D. Raines,
Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae,
as commencement speaker. Mr. Raines
presented an eloquent and incisive
history of the civil rights movement,
pointing out what has been achieved
and what remains to be done. Both
Mr. Raines and Leonard Slatkin,
Music Director of the National Symphony
Orchestra, received honorary degrees.
Michael Rhodes from Life Sciences
was a finalist for the University
Medal, which was awarded to Allison
Bigelow from Arts and Humanities.
At
our College graduation the next
morning, 344 students received B.S.
degrees, 26 received M.S. degrees
and 16 received Ph.D. degrees. Dr.
Richard Zare, Marguerite Blake Wilbur
Professor of Chemistry at Stanford
University, was the keynote speaker.
In his talk, "Don't Trust the
Cricket," he warned that wishing
upon a star was not enough to gain
anything your heart desires. His
advice is to dream great thoughts,
be a doer (because more is said
than done!), keep and make friends,
and never underestimate the power
of love, in its broadest sense.
Most importantly for researchers,
never fear failure, because failures
are an essential part of the creative
process. Our graduation speaker,
Claudia Viens, graduated with a
B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology
and will be attending medical school
next year.
Also
in May, the campus hosted the Education
Committee of the American Society
of Microbiology in a daylong program.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Rita
Colwell, director of the National
Science Foundation. This was a very
successful event, with several outstanding
symposia and a wide-ranging poster
session. Special thanks to Drs.
Ann Smith and Spencer Benson, the
organizers.
We
join the faculty in recognizing
the long-term contributions of faculty
retiring from the College this spring--Al
Boyd, Sam Grim, Raj Khanna and Jack
Moore in Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Dennis Goode and Richard Racusen
in Biology; and Paul Bottino in
CBMG.
Congratulations
to the following faculty for their
special achievements in May: Dr.
Victor Muñoz, who received
his first NIH grant; Dr. Eric Haag,
who received a Powe Junior Faculty
Fellowship from Oak Ridge National
Laboratories; Dr. Bryan Eichhorn,
who published a paper in Science;
and Dr. David Mosser, who was appointed
an Associate Editor of the Journal
of Immunology.
I'm
pleased to announce that the Center
for Bioinformatics has made its
first external appointment, Dr.
Michael Cummings, who received his
Ph.D. from Harvard University under
the direction of Richard Lewontin
and is currently Director of the
Molecular Evolution course at the
Marine Biological Laboratory at
Woods Hole, MA. Dr. Maile Neel,
a conservation biologist with research
interests in plant genomics, has
also been appointed as an Assistant
Professor in Natural Resource Sciences
and Landscape Architecture, and
Entomology.
An
impressive number of our faculty
serve as editors or editorial board
members. We've tabulated those of
which we are aware below.
My
best wishes for a happy, healthy
and rewarding summer!
ACADEMIC
CALENDAR
September
2: First Day of Classes for Fall
September 15: Last Day of Schedule
Adjustment for Fall
November 7: Last Day to Drop with
a W
UPCOMING
EVENTS
June
6-8: Mid-Atlantic Immunobiology
Meeting. Graduate students and
post-doctoral fellows are strongly
encouraged to attend this on-campus
meeting and orally present their
work. In addition, the meeting
invites world-class immunologists
to give the keynote symposium.
Campus contact: Wenxia Song
(ws98@umail.umd.edu)
June
22-25: BIO 2003 Annual Convention,
Washington Convention Center.
The world's largest biotechnology
conference, organized by the
Biotechnology Industry Organization,
will bring together 20,000 life-sciences
leaders from around the world.
See www.bio.org/events/2003/
for more information.
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:
--Ruthann
Sturtevant, Andrew Snowhite and Iris
Konstantinou for their support of
Eugenie Clark's research
--Brad Lerner for his $250 contribution
to the Dean's Fund
--Estate of Rubye Keeney, widow of
Mark Keeney, a longtime faculty member
in Chemistry, for at least $225K to
supplement the G. Forrest Woods Atrium
Fund
FACULTY
RECOGNITION AND IN THE NEWS
Dr.
Herman Ammon, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
received a 9-month, $57,000 grant
from the Department of Defense for
"Molecular Packing Software for
ab initio Crystal Structure and Density
Predictions." The principal goal
is to take existing software and create
a massively parallel version to accelerate
crystal structure prediction calculations.
The calculations will be used to screen
and select potential energetic materials
(propellants and explosives) for further
development.
Dr.
Bryan Eichhorn, graduate student
Melanie Moses and department
crystallographer Dr. Jim Fettinger,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, recently
published in Science (click
here
for May 2 article). The paper, "Interpenetrating
As20 Fullerene and Ni12 Icosahedra
in the Onion-Skin [As@Ni12@As20]3-
Ion," has also been highlighted
in Chemical & Engineering News
(click here
for May 5 article). Their experiments
produced one of the first examples
of a non-carbon fullerene molecule.
Dr.
William Fagan, Biology, received
a 1-year, $6,000 grant from the National
Science Foundation to provide a supplement
for undergraduate research on his
existing award, "Rarity and Extinction
Risks in Desert Fishes."
Dr.
Eric Haag, Biology, received a
Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Fellowship.
The award provides seed money for
research by junior faculty at Oak
Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
member institutions, which are found
in 25 states, Puerto Rico and the
District of Columbia. The award is
meant to enrich the research and professional
growth of young faculty and result
in new funding opportunities.
Dr.
Norman Hansen, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
is mentioned in an article in The
Business Gazette May 2 for winning
the Life Science Invention of the
Year award. Click here
for article.
Dr.
David Inouye, Biology, was featured
twice on the Pulse of the Planet radio
show during the last week of April.
You can find these interviews about
changes in phenology in the Rocky
Mountains online.
Click here,
search for "spring" and
then click on "Early Spring:
Marmot's Choice".
Click here,
search for "snow"
and then click on "Early Spring:
Unexpected Conditions."
Dr.
Raj Khanna, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
received a 3-year, $54,000 grant from
NASA for "IR Spectacular Studies
of Organix Ices."
Drs.
George Lorimer and Devarajan
Thirumalai, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
received a 4-year, $1,202,400 grant
from NIH for "GroeL How is Allostery
Coupled to Protein Folding."
Dr.
David Mosser, CBMG, has been invited
to serve as an Associate Editor of
the Journal of Immunology.
The JI is the official journal
of the American Association of Immunology.
His two-year appointment begins July
1.
Dr.
Victor Muñoz, Chemistry
and Biochemistry, received a 1-year,
$256,000 grant from NIH to study "New
Kinetic Approaches to Investigate
Protein Folding."
Dr.
Kennedy Paynter, Director of the
Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences
(MEES) Program, received an 11-month,
$65,000 grant from the Department
of Natural Resources Fisheries Service
for "Monitoring Oyster Reef Restoration
Activities."
The
research of Dr. Arthur Popper,
Biology, on fish ears being permanently
damaged by seismic blasting, is referred
to in an article about environmental
groups trying to halt the blasting.
(Click here
for May 28 Environmental News Network
article.)
Dr.
Raymond St. Leger, Entomology,
received a 3-year, $210,000 grant
from the USDA to analyze "Rhizosphere
competence in the entomopathogenic
fungus Metarhizium anisopliae."
STAFF
RECOGNITION
Sandy
Davis, who has been at the University
for more than eight years and who
is currently the NACS graduate secretary
under the direction of Dr. Arthur
Popper, will be honored with an
Outstanding Administrative Professionals
Award at the 21st annual Professional
Concepts Exchange Conference on June
6. These campus-wide awards are given
to outstanding non-exempt staff members
who have been at the University at
least five years and who demonstrate
exceptional motivation, communication,
problem solving and involvement.
STUDENT
AND ALUMNI RECOGNITION
A
May 16 Washington Post article
and the Jack Kent Cooke Web site (click
here)
mention Jack Kent Cooke recipient
Brad Buran, who was recognized
in last month's LFSC newsletter.
Michael
Rhodes was selected as a finalist
for the University Medal. He graduated
with a 4.0 GPA and a degree in Physiology
and Neurobiology. While volunteering
at the University Health Center for
the past year, Michael designed and
presented education classes and assisted
as a Spanish interpreter. Michael
plans to teach high school biology
at a high-needs school for three years
before going to medical school.
Dr.
Daphne Soares, a previous NACS
Ph.D. student of Dr. Catherine
Carr and a current postdoc in
the lab of Dr. William Jeffery,
was featured in the May issue of Smithsonian
Magazine for her discovery regarding
the function of bumps on alligators'
faces; click here
for article.
SERVICE
ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS
College
of Life Sciences faculty are active on
the editorial boards of various journals.
The following list shows which faculty
members are currently serving or have
recently served as editors on which journals.
Department
of Biology:
+
Dr. Catherine Carr: Editorial Board:
Biological Cybernetics; Brain
Behavior and Evolution; Journal
of Neurophysiology
+ Dr. Michele Dudash: Editorial
Board: Journal of Conservation Genetics
+ Dr. Charles Fenster: Associate
Editor: Evolution; International Journal
of Plant Sciences
+ Dr. David Inouye: Editorial Board:
Plant Species Biology
+ Dr. William Jeffery: Editor:
International Journal of Developmental
Biology; Associate Editor: Molecular
Biology and Evolution; Journal
of Experimental Zoology; Editorial
Board: Molecular Reproduction and Development;
International Review of Cytology;
Seminars in Cell and Developmental
Biology; Zygote
+ Dr. David Poeppel: Editorial
Board: Language Learning and Development
+ Dr. Arthur Popper: Editor: Bioacoustics;
Springer Handbook of Auditory Research;
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science
(Neuroscience); Journal of the Association
for Research in Otolaryngology
+ Dr. Kerry Shaw: Associate Editor:
Evolution
+ Dr. Sara Via: Editorial Board:
Trends in Ecology and Evolution;
Heredity
+ Dr. Jerry Wilkinson: Associate
Editor: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Department
of CBMG:
+
Dr. George Bean: Coordinating Editor:
"Mycotoxicoses and Mycotoxins,"
in the journal Mycopathologia
+ Dr. Caren Chang: Advisory Editor:
Plant Molecular Biology; Faculty Member:
Faculty of 1000, Biology Reports
Ltd.; Monitoring Editor: Plant Physiology
+ Dr. Charles Delwiche: Editorial
Board: Journal of Phycology
+ Dr. Jocelyne DiRuggiero: Editorial
Review Board: Archea
+ Dr. Zhongchi Liu: Editorial Board:
Zhi-Wu Xue Bao (Journal of Plant
Sciences), published by the Chinese Institute
of Botany
+ Dr. David Mosser: Section Editor:
Journal of Leukocyte Biology; Associate
Editor: Journal of Immunology;
Section Editor: Infection and Immunity
+ Dr. Anne Simon: Editor: Virology
+ Dr. Heven Sze: Monitoring Editor:
Plant Physiology
Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry:
+
Dr. Norma Allewell: Associate Editor:Journal
of Biological Chemistry
+ Dr. Catherine Fenselau: Associate
Editor: Analytical Chemistry; Member:
Journal of Proteome Research; Member:
Mass Spectrometry Reviews
+ Dr. George Helz: Associate Editor:
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
+ Dr. Cheng Lee: Member: Journal
of Chromatography; Current Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology
+ Dr. George Lorimer: Member: Journal
of Biological Chemistry; Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences
+ Dr. Gene Mazzola: Advisory Board:
Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry
+ Dr. John Moore: Series Editor:
Chemical Physics, IOP Publishing;
Editor-in-Chief: Encylopedia of Chemical
Physics and Physical Chemistry; Editorial
Board: Review of Scientific Instruments,
American Institute of Physics; Editorial
Board: Journal of Physical and Chemical
Reference Data, AIP
+ Dr. John Ondov: Guest Editor:
Aerosol Science and Technology
+ Dr. Lawrence Sita: Member: Applied
Organometalic Chemistry
+ Dr. Dave Thirumalai: Member:
Theoretical Chemistry Accounts;
Communications in Mathematical Sciences
+ Dr. John Tossell: Associate Editor,
Geochemical Transactions (Royal
Society of Chemistry)
+ Dr. John Weeks: Member: Chemical
Physics and Advances in Chemical Physics
Department
of Entomology:
+
Dr. Amy Brown: Editor: Journal
of Pesticide Safety Education
+ Dr. Robert Denno: Subject Editor:
Ecology and Ecological Monographs;
Editorial Board: Ecological Entomology
+ Dr. Margaret Palmer: Associate
Editor: Freshwater Biology; Limnology
and Oceanography
+ Dr. Michael Raupp: Editorial
Board: Journal of Arboriculture;
Journal of Environmental Horticulture
+ Dr. Paula Shrewsbury: Editorial
Board: Journal of Environmental Horticulture
+ Dr. Jeffrey Shultz: Advisory
Board: Arthropod Structure and Development
+ Dr. Raymond St. Leger: Associate
Editor: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
+ Dr. Barbara Thorne: Co-Editor:
International Isoptera Society Newsletter
INCOMING
FALL 2003 FRESHMEN
In
Fall 2003, the College of Life Sciences
will have 382 incoming freshmen (compared
to 330 last year). The University has offered
43 incoming Life Sciences freshmen the Banneker/Key
4-year full scholarship; 18 have confirmed
their enrollment. The breakdown in their
specializations is as follows: 2 PHNB, 8
GENB, 2 BCHM, 1 MARB, 1 ZOOL, 4 CMBG.
The
2nd-place winner at the 2003 Maryland Junior
Science and Humanities Symposium, Linda
Xu, will attend the University starting
in Fall 2003 as a Banneker Key student majoring
in Biological Sciences. Linda, who graduates
this month from Montgomery Blair High School,
won for her research paper "Development
of Inductable Transgenic Mice Carrying Human
Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Met and Val
Alleles."
HOW
TO POST YOUR NEWS!
If
you would like to share your accomplishments
or other news, 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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