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NEWS March
2002
"News from
the College of Life Sciences at the University of Maryland,
College Park"
NEWS
ITEMS
- The
Dean's Message
- Upcoming
Events
- Welcome
to New Faculty
- Faculty
Recognition
- In
the News
- Alumni
& Student News
- Arabidopsis
Minisymposium
- Nominations
for Faculty/Staff Awards
- Clean-Up
Awards
- Peer
Mentors
- Reminder:
Faculty Converting to 9-Month Contract
- Funding
Alerts
- How
to Post Your News Here
FROM
THE DEAN
As the length of this newsletter indicates,
this has been a very busy and productive time for
the College. Many faculty members have received honors,
been in the press or received new funding. The most
remarkable accomplishment is perhaps that of Victor
Munoz in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
and the Center for Biological Structure and Organization
who has defeated the odds and become a Searle Scholar,
in addition to being a Packard Fellow. Since only
24 Packard fellowships and only 15 Searle scholarships
are awarded nationally each year, the odds of receiving
both are extremely low. Victor's accomplishment is
a testament to the creativity and promise of his research
program in protein folding. I am also especially pleased
that two of our junior faculty have secured major
funding from NIH --David Fushman in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Biological
Structure and Organization for his NMR studies of
the solution structure and dynamics of polyubiquitin
chains, and Betsy Quinlin in the Department of Biology,
for her studies of glutamate receptor trafficking
in the visual cortex. They are off and running!
As many of you know, the Provost has provided two
years of seed money for a Center for Biodiversity,
which the College augmented. I am very pleased that
Dr. Sara Via has accepted the position of Acting Director.
Major short term goals for the Center are to strengthen
related graduate programs, develop a "star"
seminar series, obtain training grants for graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows in basic and applied
ecology, evolution and systematics and dentify foundations
and individuals from whom additional support might
be obtained. This is clearly an ambitious agenda,
but, with the support of her colleagues, I am confident
that Sara is equal to the task!
Several important events are coming up--our annual
poster session and dinner for undergraduate researchers
supported by our HHMI undergraduate program in the
biological sciences; the Junior Science and Humanities
Symposium; the annual Arabidopsis Minisymposium; our
second Board of Visitors meeting; the Alumni Awards
Gala; the Faculty/Staff Awards program and a reception
for academically successful undergraduate students.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, the
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium brings more
than one hundred of the best and the brightest high
school students in Maryland to the University to present
posters and talks and to compete for participation
in the national competition. Dr. Amel Anderson and
Bobbi Donley have done a great job of organizing this
event. The Alumni Awards Gala will be particularly
exciting for us this year since Dr. Brian Farrell,
a former student of Dr. Mitter, who is the first entomologist
in 35 years to receive tenure at Harvard, will be
honored. A one minute movie will highlight people
and programs in the College. The reception for academically
successful students is a new and much needed event
for the College that Dr. Lisa Bradley has organized
and will be held in the Clarice Smith Center for the
Performing Arts.
Last week we brought about 20 faculty from Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to campus
for a two day program to acquaint them with opportunities
for students in our graduate programs. This event,
organized by Dr. Amel Anderson, appears to have been
a great success. Our visitors clearly enjoyed the
opportunity to renew old friendships and to learn
about the growth and development of the life sciences
here. Many thanks to the department chairs, directors
of graduate programs, graduate students and College
staff who participated. The next step is to have faculty
volunteers from College Park give seminars at these
HBCUs. We plan to repeat this program next year with
a second set of colleges and universities.
I am very pleased that Student Services has successfully
launched a peer mentoring program for our undergraduates.
The students who have been recruited are a talented,
experienced and committed group who have a great deal
to offer. Thanks to Wendy Loughlin, Eden Garosi and
Dr. Lisa Bradley for spearheading this effort.
As many of you know, Bill Katsereles has taken on
the job of being the College's interim Assistant Dean
of Finance while we carry out a search, in addition
to his regular responsibilities. Bill has really waded
into our budget and payroll issues with a vengeance
and is doing much more than just keeping us afloat.
I am very grateful to him for his advice, assistance
and support.
Bill's help is particularly welcome, since it is likely
that we will be budgetarily challenged next year.
The Senate budget committee has just recommended a
zero budget increase in the operating budget for higher
education for next year. This would be a major challenge
for all of Maryland's universities and colleges, since
we all have commitments in the out years. This recommendation
is being hotly debated throughout the state at the
moment, and we are hopeful that the recommendation
of the House will be more positive. We urge you to
contact your local legislators. On the bright side,
there appears to be good support for planning funds
for our new Bioscience Building, which is of course
funded through the capital budget, although of course
it's not over until it's over.
The College Undergraduate PCC committee is continuing
its work on our undergraduate curriculum. The focus
at present is on modifying our current BSCI 105 freshman
level course in cell and molecular biology so that
it better serves our majors. The new course would
have one semester of Chemistry as a pre-requisite.
In conjunction with this, we are considering that
the first course that our majors take be a course
in ecology, evolution, and behavior (current BSCI
106). A new, more integrative course in structure,
function and evolution of organisms (microbes, animals,
and plants) is also being considered. I am very grateful
to the members of the committee for their hard work
and commitment, and I appreciate the energy and thought
that is being put into these discussions throughout
the College.
Have a great Spring Break!
Norma Allewell
Dean
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UPCOMING
EVENTS
Schedule of Classes
March 25 — 31: Spring Break
April 12: Last day to drop with a "W" (one
course — up to 4 credits)
May 14: Last day of classes
May 15: Study Day
May 16-22: Final Exams
May 22: Commencement for College of Life Sciences,
6:00 p.m.
May 23: UM Main Commencement
June 3: First Day — Summer Session I
Events
March 11 & 12: Junior Science
& Humanities Symposium
March 14: HHMI — Poster Session
April 6: Alumni Awards Gala
April 13: Arabidopsis Minisymposium (See info below)
April 15-16: Board of Visitors Meeting
April 16: Celebration of Scholarships
April 29: Faculty/Staff Awards Reception
May 1: Reception for Academically Successful Students
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Welcome
to New Faculty
We wish to welcome two faculty members
who recently joined our College family.
Dr. Jonathan Dinman joined the Department of
Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics as an associate
professor, moving from the University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey and the Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School. Dr. Dinman received his Ph.D. from
the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and
Public Health, where he worked with Dr. Alan Scott.
His postdoctoral work was with Dr. Reed Wickner at
the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and
Kidney Diseases. He studies the regulation of gene
expression by ribosomal frameshifting in yeast and
the role of this process in eliminating viruses from
the cell. His research interests make him a most welcome
addition to our virology group.
Dr. Eric Haag joined the Department of Biology
as an assistant professor. He came to us from the
University of Wisconsin where he was a postdoctoral
fellow with Dr. Judith Kimble working on the evolution
of sex determination in nematode worms. His graduate
work was done with Dr. Rudy Raff at the University
of Indiana. He will be an important player in the
"evo-devo" (evolution of development) group
assembling in Biology.
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FACULTY
RECOGNITION
The news of Dr. Earlene Armstrong’s
receipt of the Presidential Award for Excellence in
Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring has
appeared in newspapers in North Carolina: The Durham
Herald Sun, and the Raleigh News and Observer, as
well as The Afro-American Newspaper in this area.
On March 24, 2002, North Carolina Central University
(Earlene’s alma mater) will present to her the
Distinguished Alumni Citation. Earlene says that,
"the best rewards have come from the students
who have thanked me for enriching and touching their
lives and believing in them when they had doubt in
themselves."
Thursday, February 23 was the 80th birthday of Dr.
John O. Corliss, former Chair of the Department
of Biology. Dr. Corliss held university positions
at Yale University (1952-54), University of Illinois
(1954-64), University of Illinois-Chicago (1964-70),
and the University of Maryland (1970-89). He held
the rank of full professor at the last three institutions,
and he was department chair at the last two listed
institutions. Happy Birthday!
Congratulations to Drs. Catherine Fenselau, Paul
Mazzocchi, John Ondov, and Steve Rokita,
Chemistry & Biochemistry; Margaret Palmer and
Arthur Popper, Biology; and David Mosser, CBMG, who
were recently honored by the University for their
research contributions. They made the list of this
year’s Rainmakers, those PI’s whose grant
awards exceeded $500,000.
Dr. David Fushman, Chemistry & Biochemistry,
was awarded $750,000 from NIH to study "Solution
structure and dynamics of polyubiquitin chains"
over the next five years.
An image from the lab of Dr. Zhongchi Liu,
CBMG, is featured on the cover of the January issue
of the journal "Development." The image
is of club-like petaloid organs formed by the seuss
leunig agamous triple mutant flowers. Details about
the image can be found in the article "SEUSS,
a member of a novel family of plant regulatory proteins,
represses floral homeotic gene expression with LEUNIG."
(Franks, R. Wang, C., Levin, J. Z., and Liu, Z., Development
129: 253-263)
Dr. Bernard Lohr, Faculty Research Assistant
in Biology, received a three-year NIH grant to study
"High Frequency Auditory Sensitivity in Birds."
The grant is worth $222,000.
Dr. John M. Ondov, Chemistry & Biochemistry,
received a one year grant through Johns Hopkins University
from a Center Grant in which he is collaborating.
The $55,000 grant will go toward researching "Leachability
of Metals from Urban Dust."
Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Quinlan, Biology, received
an NIH — NEI award for her research, "Experience-dependent
GluR trafficking in visual cortex", at $100,000
direct costs per year for three years.
Dr. Kerry Shaw, Biology, had a very nice review
published in "Science" (Feb 15 2002: 1238-1239)
of the book "Genes, Categories, and Species"
by Jody Hey. Check it out.
Dr. Margaret A. Palmer, Biology, has accepted
two offers to sit on important advisory boards: the
Advisory Board for the NSF National Center of Ecological
Analysis and Synthesis at UC-Santa Barbara and the
Advisory Board for the Grand Canyon Assessment and
Research Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. In addition,
Margaret has been nominated for membership on the
Ecological Society of American Governing Board.
Last month, Drs. Marjorie Reaka-Kudla, David Inouye
and Arthur Popper attended the annual meeting
of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. All are members of the association in the
Biological Sciences section with Dr. Reaka-Kudla as
the section Chair.
Dr. Paula Shrewsbury, Entomology, is the P.I.
of a new grant, "Feasibility of Implementing
ŒLeast Toxic‚ Alternatives as Components
of an Integrated Pest Management Approach for Public
Schools in the Northeast," from the N.E. Region
IPM Competitive Grants Program (USDA). This research
and extension project seeks to develop feasible, research-based
strategies for reducing pesticide use in public schools.
Co-P.I.s are Michael Raupp, Barbara Thorne, and Colin
Stewart in Entomology; Peter Dernoeden in NRSLA (AGNR),
and Jennifer Grant of Cornell.
Dean Allewell received the Emily M. Gray Award
for her leadership in the recruitment of talented
young people into careers in science and for her many
contributions to the education of biophysicists at
the annual meeting of the Biophysical Society. She
gave a presentation on "Molecular Machines"
at the student symposium. She has also been appointed
an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Lucinda Jack is acting as her editorial assistant.
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IN
THE NEWS
Bowerbirds in the News: Dr. Gerald
Borgia, Biology, appeared on ABC World News Tonight,
February 13, to talk about the romantic tactics of
the bowerbirds of Australia, the subject of 22 years
of study for him. Robert Krulwich interviewed Borgia
about the male bowerbird's propensity for using blue
trinkets to attract the ladies.
CNN interviewed Gail Patricelli, a biology
doctoral candidate under Dr. Borgia, about her knowledge
of bowerbird mating rituals as Valentine’s Day
approached.
January 31 http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/01/31/bowerbirds.mating/index.html
The push by Far East countries to
use biotechnology as "a major engine for economic
development" is a feature story in Genetic Engineering
News. Dr. Spencer Benson, Cell Biology and
Molecular Genetics, gave a presentation at a conference
sponsored by the various Taiwanese and U.S.-Chinese
organizations, in which he described a traditional
Chinese medicine-model system that has a "combination
of anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and would-be
healing activities."
February 2002
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/InstAdv/newsdesk/Clips/2002/0227.html
On February 1, the Style section of the Washington
Post was smitten by the orchid research of Dr.
Douglas Gill, Biology. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6241-2002Jan31.html
In addition, Doug will give a slide show presentation
of his orchid discoveries on Saturday, 16 March 2002,
7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM) at the US Botanic
Gardens, West Wing, located at the SE corner of the
Mall, directly in front of the Capitol. This one-time
presentation adds a lively dimension to the on-going
video and exhibit of Doug's work on the Pink Lady's
Slipper Orchids, part of the ALLURE OF ORCHIDS show
in the East Wing of the Botanic Gardens that runs
to 7 April. Pre-registration for tickets is necessary
- call Katie Palm at 202-226-8038, or contact KPalm@AOC.gov.
Norman Bourg, a doctoral candidate
in Biology, Dr. William McShea of the Smithsonian
Institution's Conservation and Research Center, and
Dr. Douglas Gill, Biology, were recently awarded
a $38,100 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation for their research project "Fire in
Appalachian National Forests and Its Role in the Landscape
Conservation and Management of Turkeybeard (Xerophyllum
asphodeloides), a Disturbance-dependent Rare Forest
Herb".
In a national story by the Washington
Post on how the subject of terror changed curriculum
and class room content, Dr. Sammy Joseph, CBMG,
comments on dropping the study of Lyme disease for
anthrax. February 8
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42355-2002Feb7.html
The research of Dr. Margaret Palmer, Biology,
and graduate student Bradley Cardinale has
been reported in The Forestry Source, March 2002.
Their work revealed that species help one another
capture food and may explain why ecosystems become
less productive when the diversity of species within
them is decreased. http://www.safnet.org/archive/302_caddisfly.html
Dr. David Poeppel, Department of Linguistics
(ARHU) and Biology, speaks on a basic problem of cellular
calls: "Attention is a limited-capacity process.
You can switch willy-nilly, back and forth, but you
can't do both [tasks] at the same time." Baltimore
Sun, February 16
http://www.sunspot.net/bal-te.md.cell16feb16.story
David also talks about the MEG (magnetoencephalography)
brain scanner housed in the Cognitive Neuroscience
of Language Laboratory. Poeppel and Colin Phillips,
Linguistics, did graduate work that led to a relationship
with Kanazawa Institute of Technology, which produces
the MEG. The MEG Lab is so unique, institutions like
Johns Hopkins and NIH do not have such a scanner.
Daily Record, March 2
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/InstAdv/newsdesk/Clips/2002/0305.html
Maryland Public Television's Direct Connection visited
the open house of the newly opened cutting edge laboratory
and interviewed David and Colin on February 26.
Insects are loving the mild winter,
but everyone else is worrying about the drought. Dr.
Paula Shrewsbury, Entomology, tells the Baltimore
Sun to expect a heavy turnout of Japanese Beetles
and other unwanted species this summer. February 18
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.spring18feb18.story
Dr. Jeffrey Shultz, Entomology, is one of the
experts quoted about the brown recluse spider and
its bite. He thinks the presence in Maryland of the
notorious arachnid is unlikely. Washington Post, February
5
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22272-2002Feb4.html
Dr. Anne Simon, Cell Biology and Molecular
Genetics, appeared before the Massachusetts Biology
Council's agricultural biotechnology symposium at
the Massachusetts Statehouse. She warned of herbicides
and dead frogs and birds, but defends the use of Bt
corn, which was accused of killing monarch butterflies.
Mass High Tech, February 4
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/InstAdv/newsdesk/Clips/2002/0227.html
The fascinating story of Biology graduate
student Daphne Soares entertains the region’s
children as the lead in for "KidsPost,"
the Washington Post’s children’s page. Daphne,
who grew up on a Brazilian horse farm, studies sensory
systems in alligators. A regular at Louisiana swamps,
she comes back to her College Park lab with small
critters that grow big teeth. Getting leg whipped
and bitten does not deter her. March 6
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45910-2002Mar6.html
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ALUMNI
& STUDENT NEWS
Julia Dolan (Julia Harris,
B.S.,Chem, 88) was promoted to the status of Fellow
of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences at their
annual meeting in February 2002 for her contributions
to the field of forensic science, primarily in the
area of evidence related to accelerants used in incendiary
fires. Congratulations to Julia on this honor!
Leah Siskind, graduate student in Biology,
was selected by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities
to attend the 52nd meeting of Nobel Laureates in Landau
Germany. Leah was the campus nominee and was selected
as one of 35 graduate students nationwide to attend
the conference.
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Arabidopsis
Minisymposium
The 3rd Annual Arabidopsis
Minisymposium will be held on campus on Saturday,
April 13th. This Minisymposium will highlight the
latest work of Arabidopsis researchers from eight
regional Universities and Institutes. Topics will
include plant defense, signal transduction, development,
functional genomics, gene expression and genome
analysis.
For the complete Program and other information regarding
the symposium, please go to http://www.umbi.umd.edu/~cab/arabidopsis.html.
Registration, lunch and refreshments will be provided
free of charge to participants. If you are interested
in attending, please send a reply to Dr. Caren Chang
(cc203@umail.umd.edu) so that adequate seating can
be
arranged.
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Nominations
for Faculty/Staff Awards
Nominations are being collected now
for the annual LFSC Faculty/Staff Awards. Mark your
calendars for the reception to be held on April 29
from 2-4 p.m., following an all-college meeting. Awards
are given in the following areas.
Junior Faculty
Research
Teaching and Course Development
Service
Staff
Nomination information will be distributed
through the department chair’s offices.
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Clean-Up
News
Dr. Charles Delwiche
won the clean-up prize in CBMG for being the most productive
member of his department during our recent College Clean-up.
For his prize, he requested that his graduate students'
office be painted in H.J. Patterson. Dr. Margaret
Palmer has the winning space in Biology. There’s
no word yet on exactly which walls she wants painted.
Our appreciation goes out to both of you!
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Peer
Mentors
The College of Life Sciences
established a Peer Mentor Program in the Spring
2002 to supplement the services provided by the Student
Affairs Office. Peer Mentors will be available to
work with undergraduate students in the
following areas:
1. assisting undergraduates in developing four year
academic plans prior to their pre-registration appointments
2. assisting students with course registration via
VENUS,TESTUDO, DROP/ADD, MARS
3. acting as ambassadors during recruitment events
4. partnering with UNIV 100/101 sections starting
Fall 2002
5. holding office hours in Symons Hall throughout
the semester
6. providing the student perspective and feedback
to the Student Affairs staff on issues related to
the undergraduate experience
If you have any questions about this program, please
contact Wendy Loughlin
at 301-405-3086.
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Reminder:
Faculty Converting to 9-Month Contract
Last year the University began offering
faculty the option of converting 9.5- or 10-month
contracts to an academic year 9-month contract. Faculty
who wish to convert to the 9-month contracts for the
2003-2004 academic year must submit the required paperwork
by March 15. The relevant forms and answers to frequently
asked questions are available
at http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/FacRes/FacultyAppointment/9monthcontract/
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FUNDING
ALERTS
List of
Funding Alerts - The list of funding alerts is lengthy.
Community of Science Database of Funding
-
If you want information about the Community of Science
database of funding sources go to the Office of Research
Administration and Advancement at http://www.umresearch.umd.edu/ORAA/.
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How
to Post your NEWS!
If
you would like to share your accomplishments or other
news, please send a note to Gene Ferrick at gferrick@deans.umd.edu.
Issues are usually sent at the beginning of each month.
Maintained by
Gene Ferrick - gferrick@deans.umd.edu.
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