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NEWS November 1, 2000"News from the College of Life Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park"
FROM THE DEAN With the fall semester in full swing, there is a wealth of rewarding activities, both on and off campus. Among the most exciting were the Russell Marker lectures, delivered by Dr. Peter Moore of the Department of Chemistry at Yale University last week. Over a period of many years, Dr. Moore, and his colleague, Dr. Tom Steitz have led an effort to determine the structure of the ribosome at atomic resolution. At the time that they began this, determining the structure of even a small protein was an arduous task. Enormous advances in crystallographic methods, instrumentation and computing in the intervening period gradually brought their target within range, and last summer they published the structure of the 50s subunit at 2.5 Angstroms resolution. In his lectures, Dr. Moore described with elegance and wit the insights that the structure has provided, most notably the finding that the ribosome is a ribozyme, that is, an RNA enzyme, and that the proteins in the ribosome are generally anchored in the structure by hatpin and hairpin like structures. The annual MEES colloquium, held at the Center for Marine Biotechnology on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, showcased research in ecology, oceanography and marine biology. Bats, deer, leopard frogs, kestrels, plankton, protozoa, shad, seabream, striped bass and whooping cranes were among the organisms studied, along with molecules such as acid phosphatase, catalase, galectins, gonadotrophin?releasing hormone, heat shock proteins, mercury and organic contaminants. The range of the systems studied reflects the range of the College very nicely. John Heidelberg, a MEES Ph.D., now a research scientist at TIGR (The Institute for Genomics Research) covered genomics from A to Z, with illustrations from the cholera genome, which he played a key role in sequencing, and laid out the crucial role that genomics will play in studies of biodiversity in the future. The ground breaking ceremony for the new FDA facilities at White Oak also took place this month. The FDA plans to consolidate many of its research activities there, in state of the art facilities, beginning with its Center for Drugs. Ten years of campaigning by the community and the FDA were required to secure funding and approval for this project, and the speakers, including Dr. Jane Henney, the FDA commissioner, Donna Shelala, Senators Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, our state senators and delegates, and Betsy Bretz, the community leader, were justifiably proud of what had been accomplished. Within the College, we hosted a program for about 20 high school seniors and their parents, as part of recruiting for the Academically Talented Program. The program included presentations by the Academic Affairs staff on admissions, Honors programs and pre-professional programs as well as a number of lab demonstrations by departmental staff. The students were an impressive group and our organization and new instructional labs in H. J. Patterson and the Plant Sciences building seemed to make a very positive impression on them. Thanks to everyone who participated! In the midst of all this activity, students are studying hard for midterms and many faculty are hard at work on grant proposals, as well as teaching and running labs. However, the sunshine and vibrant colors of a glorious fall remind us Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Norma Allewell
Spring 2001 Registration Registration has begun! Student athletes began registration for Spring 2001 on October 30 and upper class students began registering on the 31st. Freshmen will be able to register around November 13. Faculty and advisors should be prepared to accept advising appointments. Here are a few registration notes for the coming month:
As always, students who are confused about their advisor can get help at the front desk in Symons Hall, room 1300. Family Weekend - November 3-5 Parents will be on campus to join their student for the Family Weekend festivities on November 3-5. Events will include a football game. A full list of events can be found at http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/StudAff/Parents/FW. On Friday, November 3, several staff members in the College and current students will meet with families to discuss the academic experience, research and internship opportunities, and other programs of interest to our students. This event will take place in the Student Lounge, room 1318 Symons Hall, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Visit Maryland Day - November 10 The third Visit Maryland Day will be held on Friday, November 10, 2000. This is a campus open house for potential students and their parents. We will hold short presentations about our programs and offer tours of our facilities. Students and their parents are also welcome to sit in on an introductory chemistry or biology class. If a family wanders by your door, please welcome them. Academically Talented Program - November 11 On Saturday, November 11 the University will invite to the campus the most academically talented students from around the State. We will offer special presentations, programs, tours and lunchtime discussion. This is the chance to showcase our College to the brightest potential students. If you can join the staff of the Dean’s office and the Department Chairs to share your impressions with students, please contact Gene Ferrick at gferrick@deans.umd.edu. First Annual Bioscience/Biotech Research Review Day - November 13 The Bioscience Research Review Day, to be held on November 13, is a special open house event featuring the research of premier bioscience research units at the University of Maryland, including research in biodiversity, biophysics, biotechnology, computational biology, developmental physiology, environmental ecology, genetics, genomics, molecular and cellular biology, and neurosciences. Presentations in the morning will represent various research areas on campus. Bill Jeffery, Biology, and Catherine Fenselau, Chemistry & Biochemistry, will represent our College. In the afternoon, posters and exhibits will be shown. The event is free and you are encouraged to attend. Information about the day can be found at http://www.umresearch.umd.edu/BioScience. Please share the information with your colleagues, especially friends who are off-campus. Internship Day - November 29 The College of Life Sciences' Internship Day Fair will be held
on November 29, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Stamp Student Union.
Each year, students submit resumes to our Office of Science Outreach and
Dr. Tracy Dill, Director of the office, compiles the resumes into a book
for the corporate representatives who attend the Fair. Graduating
students for December or May are encouraged to submit a resume. All
students are welcome to attend the Fair to discuss future opportunities.
If you have any questions, contact Tracy Dill at outreach@umail.umd.edu.
SPENCER BENSON (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) was honored by the American Society for Microbiology for his service as Chair of the Board of Education Undergraduate Education Committee, 1997-2000. He will remain on the committee for a second term. Dr. Benson has also been appointed a visiting professor at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is spending six months on sabbatical at the Institute of BioAgricultural Sciences working on the biology of herbal medicines. ROBERT F. DENNO (Entomology) was chosen as a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher for 2000-01. As a part of this honor Dr. Denno will give a seminar entitled "A Bug-Eat-Bug World: Biodiversity to Biocontrol" on November 16 at 4:30 p.m. in room 1412 Physics Building. Last Spring Dr. Denno also won the College of Life Sciences' Research Award. ETHEL DUTKY (Entomology), Director of the Plant Diagnostic Clinic, was honored on October 16 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Phytopathological Society Diagnostic Committee, for her contributions to the field of plant disease diagnosis. This is only the second time in 20 years that such an award has been made. BARBARA THORNE (Entomology) received the College of Life Sciences' Teaching
Award last Spring.
SPENCER BENSON (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) represented the
American Society for Microbiology at the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning (CASTL)
AMY BROWN (Entomology) was elected President-elect of the American Association of Pesticide Safety Education. She was appointed to be the Pesticide Advisor to the National Pesticides Project on Educational Competencies and Practice Guidelines. Dr. Brown was also chosen to be one of two official delegates from the United States to the International Association of Agricultural Medicine and Rural Health. ROBERT DENNO (Entomology) has been asked to serve as an expert on a blue-ribbon panel in Davis, California, to assess the future impact of Pierce’s Disease on the California wine industry. Pierce’s disease is vectored to grapes by a newly-introduced leafhopper and is posing a serious threat to grapes in the West. CATHERINE FENSELAU (Chemistry & Biochemistry) has been appointed
to a four-year term on the Board on Chemical Science and Technology, an
oversight group of the National Research Council for the health of the
chemical sciences.
SPENCER BENSON (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) gave a presentation at the "International Conference on The Globalization of Traditional Chinese Medicines" held at College Park August 30 to September 2. ARTHUR POPPER (Biology) presented an invited talk, "Hair Cells, Hearing,
and Evolution of Hearing," at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Czech
Academy of Sciences, Prague, July 28, 2000.
ARTHUR POPPER (Biology) has recently published the 12th and 13th books in the Springer Handbook of Auditory Research that he co-edits with Dr. Richard R. Fay of Loyola University of Chicago. This series, which is now scheduled to have almost 30 volumes, is considered the definitive work on hearing and the auditory system. BRUCE CUSHING (Biology) received a NIH-NIMH Career Award of $513,000 for five years to study "Hormones and Behavioral Development." ROBERT DENNO and GALEN DIVELY (Entomology) received a three-year USDA Competitive Grant (NRICGP) for $234,000 to study "Induced Resistance By Potato Leafhopper And Its Impact On Colorado Potato Beetle." DAVID HAWTHORNE (Entomology) received a three-year, $150,000 grant from the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Panel to study "The Hazard Of Pest Evolution: Accuracy And Precision Of Genetic Risk Assessment." WILLIAM LAMP (Entomology) received a $30,000 one-year grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to study "Structural and Functional Assessments for Evaluating Elevated Nutrient Levels in Maryland Streams." JOHN ONDOV (Chemistry & Biochemistry) won a prestigious EPA Supersite
grant
PAULA SHREWSBURY (Entomology) received a three-year, $150,000 grant from the USDA National Research Initiatives program to study "Flowering Plants To Enhance Biological Control In Nurseries." SARAH TISHKOFF (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) is the co-PI of a $2.6 million dollar NSF IGERT training grant in Integrative Human Evolutionary Biology. The PI is Bernard Wood; other co-PIs are Daniel Lieberman and Alison Brooks, all from George Washington University. The grant will establish a graduate training program in integrative human evolutionary biology at UM, Howard, and GW universities with participants from the Smithsonian and NIH. HEATHER WILSON, JEFFREY SHULTZ and JEROME REGIER (Entomology) received a three-year NSF grant for $210,000 from the Division of Environmental Biology, entitled "Resolving Ordinal Relationships in Millipedes (Diplopoda) using Combined Comparative Anatomical, Fossil and Molecular Sequence Data." STEVE WOLNIAK, PI and Co PIs WENXIA SONG, CHARLES DELWICHE, STEVE MOUNT
(Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) and ERIC BAERHECKE (UMBI) received
a two-year NSF grant for $210,545 for "A Fluorescence Deconvolution Microscope
at the University of Maryland." This proposal also received $90,000
matching support from the campus.
SPENCER BENSON (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) was one of the organizers of the American Society for Microbiology Regional Conference on Microbiology Education held at Goucher College, September 8-9, funded by NSF. ROBERT DENNO (Entomology) was an invitational participant in an NSF-sponsored workshop (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at Santa Barbara, CA) on the "Ecological Stoichiometry of Plant-Herbivore Interactions." Dr. Denno was also invited to speak at a conference next month entitled "Evolution: From Molecules to Ecosystems," honoring the 500th anniversary of the University of Valencia, Spain. SARAH TISHKOFF (Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics) organized a workshop
on "West African Genetic Diversity: Implications for the Study of Human
Origins and Human Disease" at the American Society of Human Genetics Meeting
in Philadelphia, held October 4, 2000. The workshop was attended
by Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project at NIH as well
as 18 other researchers interested in the study of African genetic diversity
and the study of diseases prevalent in Africans and African Americans (e.g.
hypertension, diabetes, prostate cancer, obesity, HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis).
The workshop focused on practicalities of doing research in Africa and
ethical issues concerning the collection of samples and doing genetic studies
of African populations.
Congratulations The University of Maryland Pre-Dental Society was founded in Spring 2000. On October 4, 2000, they received word that the Society was accepted as a pre-dental chapter in the American Student Dental Association. They join 55 dental school chapters and only 9 pre-dental chapters in supporting and promoting lifelong involvement in organized dentistry. Congratulations to Pre-Dental Society President Reza Modarres, Vice President Amy Lin, Secretary Sameera Qaiyumi and Treasurer Heather Ilycia Baumbardt! The Department of Entomology recently awarded the 1999-2000 Allen L.
Steinhauer awards for teaching excellence to four outstanding teaching
assistants: Christopher Desjardins, Kelly
Andie Huberty (Entomology) received a three-year EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship Award. Margaret "Maisie" Miller (Biological Sciences: BEES) won both a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Fellowship Award and the Bioquip National Undergraduate Scholarship Award in Entomology. Alumni News Andrew Mitchell, a 1997 Ph.D. graduate in Entomology, was appointed to a faculty position in genetics at the University of Natal, South Africa. Position Available BBI BioSeq, an R&D division of Boston Biomedica, Inc., is seeking individuals to fill two full-time positions involving projects for evaluation of the effects of high pressure on biological materials and microorganisms. Requirements are: Research Associate I
Research Associate I
We offer excellent compensation, benefits and working environment. Interested
candidates should send a letter of interest and resume referencing job
code to:
Title: Research Fellowships in Marine Policy and Ocean Management
***** Title: Collaborative Research Programme (CRP)
***** Title: Animal Genome and Genetic Mechanisms
***** Title: Plant Responses to the Environment
***** Title: Soils and Soil Biology
***** Title: Watershed Processes and Water Resources
***** Title: Biology of Plant-Microbe Associations
***** Title: Entomology and Nematology
***** Title: Biology of Weedy and Invasive Plants
***** Title: Biologically Based Pest Management
*****
***** Title: Plant Genetic Mechanisms
***** Title: Plant Growth and Development
***** Title: Plant Biochemistry
***** Title: Ecosystem Science
***** Title: Food Safety
***** Title: Animal Genome: Basic Reagents and Tools
***** Title: IWWR Doctoral Fellowship in Wetland or Waterfowl Biology
***** Title: Molecular Evolution Fellowships
***** Title: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Physiological Genomics
***** Title: Environmental Fellowship Program
***** Title: Joint Program on Phytoremediation - NSF
***** Title: Administrative Supplements to Support DNA Microarray Facilities
- NEI
***** Title: Innovative Use of Non-Mammalian Model Organisms to Study
Membrane Transport
***** Title: Request for Research Proposals (RFRP)
***** Title: Small Grants Program - NICHD
***** Title: Bioremediation and its Societal Implications and
Concerns (BASIC) Research Program
***** Title: Research Grants
***** Title: Postdoctoral Fellowships
*****
*****
***** Title: Scientific Visitor and Postdoctoral Fellowship Appointments
***** Title: David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Formal
Analysis of Human Cognition
***** Title: Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry
***** Title: Beta Cell Biology Consortium - NIDDK
***** Title: Plant Genome Research Program - Collaborative Research
and Infrastructure Projects
***** Title: Decision-Making and Valuation for Environmental Policy
***** Title: Research Sites for Educators in Chemistry (RSEC): Special
Research Opportunity NSF 01-10
If you would like to share your accomplishments or other news, please send a note to Gene Ferrick at gferrick@deans.umd.edu. Future issues will initially be at the beginning of each month. Maintained by Gene Ferrick - gferrick@deans.umd.edu. |
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