Around the college

Sterner heads NSF division

Robert Sterner, professor of ecology, evolution and behavior, has been appointed to a two-year term as director of the environmental biology division at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The division supports basic research and education in ecology and evolutionary biology in such areas as biodiversity, molecular genetic and genomic evolution, population dynamics, ecosystem processes, conservation biology, restoration ecology and the ecological effects of global climate change.

Sterner’s first two priorities are to complete grant awards for fiscal year 2006-07 and evaluate future categories of research funding. “We are already discussing possible initiatives for the year 2010, so we need to look far ahead and anticipate new needs,” Sterner says.

“I hope to improve the health of federally funded environmental biology research in the United States by attracting new funds that can go to the many outstanding researchers who have many important ideas to pursue. At no time has environmental biology been more important to the nation than it is today.”

New biofuels grants awarded

The Institute on the Environment has awarded $2.7 million in Discovery Grants to 10 intercollegiate teams of researchers tasked with developing next-generation biofuels. The collaborative projects involve 30 faculty members from 12 departments across four colleges and schools. The two-year grants, which range from $126,000 to $350,000, will advance research initiated by the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment.

CBS researchers Daniel Bond, Jeffrey Gralnick, Marc von Keitz, Romas Kazlauskas, Claudia Schmidt-Dannert, Larry Wackett, Sue Gibson, Jane Glazebrook, Fumi Katagiri and Nathan Springer are among those who will receive funding. Research will focus on, among other topics, increasing the efficiency of biomass conversion, using bacteria to store energy, and biofuel production.

Students respond to bridge collapse

A handful of current and former CBS students were among first responders following the 35W bridge collapse in August. Wade Schulz, Ken Dodd, Shelby Williams, Sean Polster, Bryan Eberle and Lindsey Taylor—all members of the U’s Emergency Medical Services ambulance team—were among the CBS students who treated victims and provided support to emergency workers.

“I was impressed by the number of CBS students who responded to the disaster through their connections with local organizations and hospitals,” says Dodd, a neuroscience and physiology major. “Many people literally ran to the scene, and others stayed late into the night.”

A new chapter for Cedar Creek

Cedar Creek Natural History Area is now Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. The new name reflects Cedar Creek’s critical role as a home to high-impact ecosystem science research at the University of Minnesota. The Lindeman Research and Discovery Center, a new building housing dry labs, faculty and staff offices, and meeting space, has been named in honor of ecology pioneer Ray Lindeman. The new center will give a boost to Cedar Creek’s research, education and public outreach efforts.

Legislature renews IREE funding

The Omnibus Energy and Natural Resources finance bill, signed in May by Governor Tim Pawlenty, continues funding for the University’s Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) through mandated renewable energy set asides from Xcel Energy. IREE will receive about $5 million a year—a $1 million boost from current levels.

“The funding will allow us to maintain and increase our renewable energy research and outreach activities,” says IREE's Assistant Director Todd Reubold. “Renewable energy research is critical to positioning the University of Minnesota as a top three public research institution and also helping the state achieve its goal of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.”

New scholarship funds study at Itasca

This summer, Alice Vislova and Jilian Schmidt received the first two Denneth and Joan Dvergsten Itasca Summer Scholarships. The $2,500 scholarships support outstanding students interested in taking field biology courses at Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories, a CBS field station located at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota. Denneth devoted his career to biology education both as a high school biology teacher and a member of the CBS staff from 1986–91.

Graduate programs get a boost

The Provost recently awarded the College of Biological Sciences $1 million in recurring funds in addition to existing funding for graduate programs across the college. The funds will help CBS increase the quality of graduate programs and, by extension, boost the productivity of faculty research labs dependent on highly qualified students.

A new approach to teaching bio basics

This fall, an inaugural class of 48 students helped launch “Foundations of Biology for Biology Majors,” the first of two new introductory courses. The Foundations sequence represents the culmination of five years of planning involving 22 faculty and steering committees of 47 faculty and staff.

In this year-long course sequence, students consider the relationships among biological disciplines, chemistry and other physical sciences, and apply what they learn through activities and labs in which they use scientific approaches to solve real-world problems. In the laboratory, they move beyond inquiry labs into authentic scientific investigations with the potential to produce publishable work.

Matching the innovation in course design, the class meets in a newly remodeled “Active Learning Classroom,” designed to foster teamwork and sharpen problem-solving skills. Groups of nine students sit at large round tables, each equipped with three laptop computers and a large plasma screen display. The technology and organization promote interaction at many levels, including student to student, student to faculty, and student to technology.

Dean joins governor’s energy board

CBS Dean Robert Elde has been appointed by Gov. Pawlenty to the newly formed NextGen Energy Board, which will provide recommendations to the legislature and the governor about how the state can most efficiently achieve energy independence.

The blogosphere evolves

For the last year, adjunct professor R. Ford Denison has been posting his thoughts about recent research related to evolution on his blog, This Week in Evolution. He explores peer-reviewed papers on everything from social amoebae to the spread of agriculture, writing in an accessible style for a diverse audience. Check it out!

“Biology may be going in the same direction [as physics] … We may be moving into a less common sense world that will take us in a very exciting but possibly strange direction.”

—Sir Paul Nurse, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine, spoke at the Magee Symposium in August.