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 From
the Dean
This
is the height of the faculty recruiting
season, and our searches for new
faculty in our strategic research
areas—ecological sustainability,
genomics, host-pathogen interactions,
nanoscience/biomaterials and sensory
neuroscience—are beginning to wind
down. I want to thank all the faculty
who worked on these searches, particularly
the members of the search committees,
for their dedicated and thoughtful
work. We expect to be announcing
some new appointments soon.
The search for interim chair
of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
is also proceeding, under the leadership
of Richard Payne, who is chairing
the search committee.
 A
video featuring
several members of the College
has joined the profile article
on Apple's web site. Although not
many of us are likely to make it
to Hollywood, this is the next
step in what has been and will
continue to be a very rewarding
partnership. Thanks to Mike Landavere
and Bruce Shatswell for their work
in developing and fostering it.
The
Joint Institute for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN)
recently completed its first newsletter;
click here to
read it.
We
are sorry to announce that Mike
Paszkiewicz has moved from the
Dean's Office to the Institute
of Systems Research, where he will
be a research coordinator. We will
all miss Mike's cheerful assistance,
and we wish him well.
Please
mark your calendars for the annual
College Staff Awards event (April
27, 2-4 p.m., Nyumburu Multipurpose
Room), Maryland Day (April 30)
and the University and College
commencements (May 21, 7 p.m.,
Comcast Center, and 22, 4 p.m.,
Cole Student Activities Building,
respectively). These are important
events for the College and the
University.
Norma
Allewell
Dean
 Academic
Calendar and Upcoming Events
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 8: Annual
Spring Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic
Section of
American Society of Plant Biologists.
More information: http://www.life.umd.edu/CBMG/faculty/sze/lab/ASPB_2005.htm.
LFSC contact: Caren Chang, Cell
Biology and Molecular Genetics
(carenc@umd.edu)
April 9: Sixth
Annual Arabidopsis Minisymposium.
More information: http://www.life.umd.edu/labs/atrium/Symposium/index.htm.
LFSC contact: Caren Chang, Cell
Biology and Molecular Genetics
(carenc@umd.edu)
April
12: Last
Day to Drop with a "W" 
April
15:
Pre-game
social for LFSC faculty, staff,
alumni and friends before the Terps
vs. Johns Hopkins lacrosse game.
Hornbake Plaza, 4 p.m. Please
contact Bobbi Donley (rdonley@umd.edu)
if you plan to attend or if you
have questions. See news item below
below for more information.
Spring
Open House, Undergraduate Admissions.
LFSC contact: Eden Garosi
(egarosi@umd.edu)
April
27: All-College
Meeting and College Staff Awards
Ceremony. 2-4 p.m., Nyumburu Multipurpose
Room.
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
Research and Technology 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
Please
send faculty news items to brittain@umd.edu.
Dr.
Norma Allewell,
Dean and Professor of Chemistry
and Biochemistry, and Dr.
Sarah Tishkoff, Biology, were
interviewed for a February 9 article at
Nature.com that discusses the effect
of current budget constraints at
NIH, Maryland and Johns Hopkins.
The article talks about how the
College and University are making
strides despite funding issues,
giving as examples construction
of the Bioscience Research Building,
the Chemistry Teaching Wing and
a new technology park that will
include biotech ventures.
Dr.
Amy Brown,
Entomology, published “ Exposure
of children to deet and other topically
applied insect repellents” in
the January 2005 issue of American
Journal of Industrial Medicine.
The journal article is quoted
in a February 1 Reuters news story.
Dr. Brown and her colleagues recommend
that "it would be prudent to increase
efforts to educate parents about
recommended procedures for use
of repellents on children." Of
concern is the use of deet (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide),
which is used by approximately
one third of Americans.
Dr.
Caren Chang,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
received a 4-year,
$942,640 Grant from NIH for "RTE,
A Plant Growth Gene with a Conserved
Role in Metals."
Dr.
Avis Cohen,
Biology, talked about her research
on lampreys that could help paralyzed
patients February 21 on KTVK-TV,
Phoenix. (For more media coverage
of her research, see the January
newsletter.)
 Dr.
Elena del Campillo,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
and Damian Crawford (BS'01,
Biological Sciences) coauthored
the cover article of the September
2004 issue of Plant Molecular
Biology, “Root
cap specific expression of an endo-ß-1,4-D-glucanase
(cellulase): a new marker to study
root development in Arabidopsis.”
Damian is a former HHMI Undergraduate
Research Fellow, and this research
was partially supported by his
HHMI fellowship. Damian's presentation
of his work earned him the Marsho
Award at the 2001 meeting of the
Mid-Atlantic Section of the American
Society of Plant Biologists. Damian
is currently in his 4th year of
Medical School at UMB and will
start his specialization in Internal
Medicine conducting research on
infectious diseases.
Dr. Galen Dively,
Entomology, received two grants:
a 2.5-year, $85,000 grant from
USDA for “Recommended Protocols
for Field Evaluations” and a 1-year,
$9,600 grant from Maryland Grain
Producers Utilization Board for “Effects
of Poncho Seed Treatment on Soil
Insects.”
Dr. Catherine Fenselau,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, received
a 3-month, $20,000 grant from Johns
Hopkins for “Fast Automated Biological
Time-of-Flight Detector.”
 Dr.
Douglas Gill,
Biology, and Dr. Bernard
Lohr, a postdoc in Dr.
Gill's lab, were featured in a
Maryland Public Television broadcast
of Outdoors Maryland ("A Sparrow's
Return" at http://www.mpt.org/odm/)
on February 15. The program highlighted
the success of the Chester River
Field Research Center (CRFRC) on
5,200-acre Chino Farms in restoring
the original prairie ecosystem
of the Maryland Eastern Shore,
and how the restored native mid-Atlantic
grasslands have attracted rare
species of birds and plants. Dr.
Gill is Scientific Director of
the Center. For more information,
see the University newsdesk story.
Dr.
William Jeffery,
Biology, was recently selected
to deliver the annual Alfred Fessard
Lecture in Neuroscience at the
Centre National Recherche Scientifique
in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. The
Alfred Fessard Lectures are given
by eminent scientists whose research
has significantly integrated neuroscience
with other biological disciplines.
Dr. Jeffery also presented a plenary
lecture titled “Regressive Evolution
in Cavefish: The Return of Pleiotropy” at
the 17th International Symposium
of Biospeleology in Raipur, India;
a seminar titled “A Search for
the Evolutionary Origin of the
Neural Crest” at University College,
London; and a seminar titled “Eye
Degeneration in Cavefish: The Blind
Side of Darwin's Theory of Natural
Selection” at the Institut Jacques
Monod in Paris, France. In addition,
research carried out in the Jeffery
laboratory has been the focus of
two journal articles highlighting
recent breakthroughs in biology. The
discovery of neural crest-like
cells in tunicates published in Nature last
October (“Migratory
Neural Crest-like Cells Form Body
Pigmentation in a Urochordate Embryo,” by
Dr. William Jeffery, graduate
student Al Strickler and former
postdoc Dr. Yoshiyuki Yamamoto) was featured in an article titled “Evolution
and Development: Rise of the Little
Squirts” by A. Graham in Current
Biology (Vol. 14, pp. R956-R958,
2004). The control of eye degeneration
in blind cavefish by the hedgehog
signaling pathway and the possibility
that it confers selective advantages
for life in caves, also published
in an October edition of Nature (“Hedgehog
Signalling Controls Eye Degeneration
in Blind Cavefish,” by Dr.
Yamamoto, University of Colorado
collaborator D. W. Stock, and Dr.
Jeffery), was reviewed in an article
titled “Why Cavefish are Blind” by
N. M. Tian and D. J. Price in Bioessays (Vol.
27, pp. 235-238, 2005). (See the
November
2004 newsletter for more information
about the Nature articles.)
Dr.
Margaret Palmer,
Entomology and Biology, is first
author on a paper
that appeared as the lead article
in a special issue of Frontiers
in Ecology and the Environment.
She and her coauthors, who include
former postdoc Dr. Emily
Bernhardt and
faculty research associate Dr.
Jennifer Morse, note
that ecologists must play a greatly
expanded role in communicating
their research and influencing
policy and decisions that affect
the environment. To accomplish
this, they will have to forge partnerships
at scales and in forms they have
not traditionally used. These alliances
must act within three visionary
areas: enhancing the extent to
which decisions are ecologically
informed; advancing innovative
ecological research directed at
the sustainability of the planet;
and stimulating cultural changes
within the science itself, thereby
building a forward-looking and
international ecology.”
Dr.
Janice Reutt-Robey,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, received
a 1-year, $67,000 grant from GMA
Industries, Inc. for “Molecular
Electronics Metrology of Organic
and Carbon....”
 The
research of Dr.
Kerry Shaw, Biology, and
former postdoc Tami Mendelson that
was recently published in Nature (see
February
newsletter) is the
subject of a February 14 Allentown
Morning-Call Valentine's
Day story. The
lead: "What
turns a lady cricket on?"
Their research was also the subject
of articles by the Xinhua News
Agency of China on February
6, the Honolulu Start
Bulletin on February
13 and
HonoluluAdvertiser.com February
22.
Dr.
Raymond St. Leger, Entomology,
lends his expertise to the topic
of exoskeletons in a February 10 Washington
Times article. “[The
exoskeleton] provides a very light
skeleton
of great strength compared to the
internal skeleton we have,” he
says.
Professors
Emeriti
Dr.
Rita Colwell,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
is interviewed about her work,
which could prevent the spread
of cholera, in two articles. In
a February 14 Voice of America
article,
Dr. Colwell says that her team
found that almost 99 percent of
cholera bacteria could be eliminated
using sari cloth as a filter.
In a February 14 Radio Netherlands
article,
Dr. Colwell is among several scientists
interviewed about ways of curbing
epidemics through “understanding
the natural habitats and ecology
of … disease-causing microbes.”
Dr.
Richard Highton,
Biology, is mentioned in a February
11 Agence France-Presse (Turkish
Press) article about
a hole-digging salamander that
lives in Alabama and dodges predators
and disasters of many stripes. "In
1961, scientist Leslie Hubricht
happened upon the Red Hills salamander
while looking for snails, said
Richard Highton….
After Hubricht sent the 25-centimeter
(10-inch) long salamander to the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
Highton wrote up a description
and gave it its scientific name, Phaeognathus
hubrichti."
 University
Senators for 2005-2006
Dr.
Daniel Falvey,
Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr.
Steven Hutcheson, Cell
Biology and Molecular Genetics, Dr.
Arthur Popper, Biology,
and Dr. David Straney,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics,
were elected to the University
Senate as faculty representatives
for their respective departments.
Each will serve a 3-year term starting
in May 2005.
The following is the complete list
of College faculty members who
will serve on the University Senate
for the 2005-2006 term, which begins
in May:
Dr. Amy Brown,
Entomology
Dr. Marco Colombini,
Biology
Dr. Daniel Falvey,
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dr. Steven Hutcheson,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
Dr. Arthur Popper, Biology
Dr. Janice Reutt-Robey,
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dr. David Straney,
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
Dr. John Tossell,
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Serving as a senator for another
year, Gene Ferrick ,
Dean's Office, is a staff representative.
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HHMI
Fellows Present Posters
 Thirty-five
undergraduate students in the HHMI
Fellowship program gave
poster presentations of their research
results to the campus community
at
the 6th annual HHMI Undergraduate
Research Symposium February 17.
The HHMI Undergraduate Research
Fellows receive support for their
faculty-mentored research through
a grant to the University of Maryland
from the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute.
The symposium was also attended
by 60 freshmen enrolled in the
HHMI Catalyst
Seminar, which introduces students
to the undergraduate research
opportunities available on campus.
The featured speaker was Jorge
Velarde, a
1997 graduate of the College of
Life Sciences and a former HHMI
Fellow, who
recently received a PhD from University
of Maryland School of Medicine
and
is nearing completion of an MD
degree.
Graduate Student and Postdoc
Recognition
Please
send
student and postdoc
news items to brittain@umd.edu.
Erich
Boger,
a doctoral student in Biology,
is co-first author of the cover
article in the February issue
of Nature
Cell Biology, titled “Myosin-XVa
is required for tip localization
of whirlin and differential elongation
of hair-cell stereocilia.”
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
(NACS) adjunct professors Dr.
Thomas Friedman and Dr.
Andrew Griffith, both
of the National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD), are coauthors on the paper.
Erich is mentored by Dr. Friedman
and Dr. Arthur Popper.
Erich is part of the joint program
of the Center for Comparative and
Evolutionary Biology of Hearing
(C-CEBH)
and the NIDCD. The paper is cited
in the “Editor's
Choice: Highlights of the Recent
Literature” section
in the January 28 issue of Science (it's
the last one listed).
Dr. Bernard Lohr,
a postdoc in the lab of Dr.
Douglas Gill, was featured
along with Dr. Gill in a Maryland
Public Television broadcast of “Outdoors
Maryland” on February 15. See
Dr. Douglas Gill in “Faculty Recognition
and In the News.” 
The
research of former postdoc Tami
Mendelson and Dr.
Kerry Shaw that was recently
published in Nature (see
February
newsletter) is the
subject of several articles in
the popular press. See Dr. Kerry
Shaw in “Faculty Recognition and
In the News.”
BEES
graduate student Holly
Menninger received $1,000
Grant-in-Aid from the Cosmos Club
Foundation for “The Effects of
Periodical Cicadas on Stream Ecosystems.”
A
paper that graduate student Al
StrickIer coauthored with Dr.
William Jeffery, Biology,
is the subject of a journal article
in Current Biology. See
Dr. Jeffery in “Faculty Recognition
and In the News.”
Alumni
News
For
more alumni notes, check out the Alumni
Notes web page. Please
send alumni notes to brittain@umd.edu.
Andrea
Ceresa (BS'02,
Physiology and Neurobiology) finished
her Master of Public Health degree
in December 2004 at the George
Washington University. She is
currently applying to osteopathic
medical school.
Damian
Crawford (BS'01,
Biological Sciences), a former
HHMI Undergraduate Research Fellow,
coauthored with Dr. Elena
del Campillo, Cell Biology
and Molecular Genetics, and others
the cover article of the September
2004 issue of Plant Molecular
Biology. See Dr. del Campillo
under “Faculty Recognition and
In the News.”
Deanne Dyer (BS'02,
Biological Sciences) works in the
lab of research microbiologist
Dr. Keith Lampel at the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration's Center
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
(CFSAN). Deanne interned with Dr.
Lampel while at UM, a position
that led to her current full-time
job. Deanne is quoted in an article
about the JIFSAN Internship Program
on p. 3 of the current
JIFSAN newsletter.
 Melissa
Hinson (BS'01,
Biological Sciences) recently passed
her nursing boards and is now working
as a nurse at Children's Hospital
in Washington, DC. She attended
the University of Maryland School
of Nursing. While an undergraduate
at University of Maryland, Melissa
worked as the student assistant
for Dr. Amel Anderson,
Assistant Dean for Administration,
and as a student worker for College
of Life Sciences Student Services.
After graduation, she worked for
two years as an advisor for the
College of Life Sciences before
going back to school for her nursing
degree.
Two
papers that Dr.
Yoshiyuki Yamamoto (former
postdoc, Biology) coauthored with Dr.
William Jeffery are the
subject of journal articles in Current
Biology and Bioessays.
See Dr. Jeffery in “Faculty Recognition
and In the News.”
Social
before April 15 Lacrosse Game
 Mark
your calendars for the pre-game
social for LFSC faculty, staff,
students, alumni and friends before
the Terps vs. Johns Hopkins lacrosse
game on Friday, April 15. In
the 101st meeting of these opponents,
see # 3 Maryland try to defeat
#1 Hopkins and avenge its 14-10
loss to Hopkins last year.
The
social is hosted by Dr.
Bill Higgins, Biology,
and the College of Life Sciences
Peer Mentors. Game
time is 8 p.m.; the social begins
at 4 p.m. on Hornbake Plaza. Sodas
and munchies will be provided along
with grills. You are welcome to
bring your own meat and beverage.
The social is free. Tickets for
the lacrosse game can be purchased
through the Ticket Office by calling
301.314.7070 (1.800.462.TERP) or
by logging on to the Terrapins
Athletics web site.
Tickets for students with University
of Maryland ID are free.
Please contact Bobbi
Donley (rdonley@umd.edu)
if you plan to attend.
In
Memoriam
Dr.
Elmer Clark "E.C." Stevenson,
PhD (BS'37, Botany) died February
26, 2005. He was 89. He attended
the University of Maryland, College
Park from 1933 to 1937, graduating
with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture
with a major in botany science.
He married his high school sweetheart,
Margaret Hammers, in 1939 in Washington,
DC. He received a PhD with a joint
major in plant pathology and agronomy
and a minor in plant physiology
from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison in 1942.
Dr.
Stevenson was employed by the Agronomy
Department at the University of
Wisconsin during the summer and
fall of 1942 before accepting a
position with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture in Beltsville,
MD, as a plant pathologist
in the division of drug and related
crops. In 1948, he accepted a position
as associate professor of horticulture
at Purdue University in West Lafayette,
IN. He was promoted to professor
in 1953 and was appointed head
of the Department of Horticulture
in 1958. During his tenure at Purdue,
his accomplishments included publication
of research on mint production
and mint diseases, research on
the implementation of mechanical
harvesters in the production of
tomatoes, and the production of
seedless watermelons. As head of
Purdue's Department of Horticulture,
Dr. Stevenson was also instrumental
in establishing a horticulture
park on campus that is still a
favorite among students and faculty
at the university. In addition,
he established a landscape architecture
major that grew to such stature
that the department was later renamed
the Department of Horticulture
and Landscape Architecture.
In 1967, he became associate dean
and head of resident instruction
of the School of Agriculture (now
the College of Agriculture ) at
Oregon State University in Corvallis,
OR. During his time at OSU, he
oversaw a major revision of the
university's agricultural curriculum.
He retired in 1980. In 1991, he
was inducted into Oregon State
University's Diamond Pioneer Registry,
which honors its members' contributions
to the development of Oregon agriculture
and natural resources and support
of OSU programs.
Music played an important part
in Dr. Stevenson's life. He enjoyed
singing in high school, college
and church choirs. He was a member
of a barbershop quartet with other
faculty at Purdue University.
He enjoyed gardening throughout
his life. While in Indiana, the
family had a small farm and sold
fruits and vegetables locally.
In Oregon, he enjoyed spending
time in his greenhouse and gardens
raising tomatoes, corn, seedless
watermelon, winter squash and other
fruits and vegetables for family
and friends.
He
is survived by his wife, Margaret;
6 children—Carol
Poe of Franklin, IN; Dr. Craig
Stevenson of Portland; James Stevenson
of Arcadia, CA; Karen Hedrick
of Davis, CA, Heather Jones
of Corvallis and Richard Stevenson
of Corvallis; and 16 grandchildren.
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The
Estate of Winifred Gahan (BS'31):
$105,882 bequest to the Gahan Scholarship
Fund
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*: Dr. William B. Walters**,
G. Forrest Woods Atrium Fund
Additional
gifts: Julianna
D. Booth (BS'01, Microbiology); Michael
M. Brown (BS'77, Electrical
Engineering); Dr.
Zhongchi Liu**; Dr.
Eugene Mazzola**, Chemistry
and Biochemstry Fund.
Annual
fund pledges: Allen
Wayne Burton (BS'95, Chemistry); Dr.
Irwin Forseth**; Nancy
Magdalene Gideon (BS'91,
Biological Science); Thomas
R. Kleh (BS'02, Biological
Science); Wendy
Richards Loughlin**; Michael
Minear; Mark W.
Noel (BS'80, Chemistry); Nariman
Salih; Gerald
I. Schuchman; Ensign
Shannon Michelle Stegall (BS'02,
Biological Science)
Corporate
support: Frito-Lay
Inc.: $5,000 (Joint Institute
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition), Bayer
Cropscience LP: $4,000
(Department of Entomology General
Fund), Gerber Products
Company: $5,000 (Joint
Institute for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition)
* 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.
University
Relations Wins Awards for Cicada
Reporting
 The
Division of University Relations
won eight Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE)
awards at the end of January. Two
were related to its coverage of
the invasion of the 17-year cicada
last summer. CASE recognized Ellen
Ternes with a gold award in the
Web Site – News
category for the University's cicada
web page.
The University Relations staff
in general received a silver award
in the Specific Media Relations
Programs category for the Cicada
Mania Campaign..
OTC
Inventors Manual Now Online
The
Office of Technology Commercialization
(OTC) has developed an Inventors
Manual and Glossary to enable readers
to learn about the technology transfer
process from an inventor's perspective;
click here to
view it. Understand your rights
and university policies and get
answers to many of your questions
about OTC and what it does. For
more information, contact Mari
Perry at 301.403.2711 ext.17 or
mperry@umd.edu.
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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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