Cargill Building tenants settle in

The Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics is filling up. Most principal investigators have settled into their offices and labs. They are: Ron Phillips (agronomy and plant genetics, CMPG director); Kenneth Vernick (microbiology); Dan O'Sullivan (food science and nutrition); Sue Gibson (plant biology); Fumi Katagiri (plant biology); Jane Glazebrook (plant biology); Nevin Young (plant pathology); Phillip Pardey (applied economics); Vivek Kapur (microbiology); Sagarika Kanjilal (veterinary pathobiology); Nathan Springer (plant biology); and Jonathan Kahn (law).

PI's are in the process of assembling their research groups. Several bioinformatics faculty and staff are expected to move in soon. There will be 160-200 people working in the building when it is fully occupied.

Nature of Life program launched in August

Freshman had the opportunity to meet each other and faculty at the Nature of Life program, held at Itasca in August.

Freshmen got their first taste of life at CBS at the Nature of Life program in August at the Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories. Nature of Life is a new program designed to introduce freshmen to each other, faculty, curriculum, research opportunities, and social activities.

Nearly all of the 340 members of the freshman class attended the one-credit program. Dean Elde thanks to all of the faculty, staff, and students who helped to get Nature of Life off to a strong start.

Students and donors honored at annual dinner

More than 200 people attended the College's Recognition and Appreciation Dinner, which was held this fall at the McNamara Alumni Center. The purpose of the annual event is to recognize students who received scholarships and fellowships, to thank donors who provided the funds, and to provide an opportunity for them to meet each other. Alumna Carol Pletcher also received the University's Outstanding Alumni Achievement award at the dinner. Pletcher, who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, is now a vice president at Cargill, Inc.

Meet the class of 2007

Welcome to the 327 freshmen who arrived at CBS this semester. Here's a little bit about them:

61 percent are female;
39 percent are male
65 percent are MN residents;
25 percent are WI residents
34 percent were in the top five percent of their high school class
77 were admitted to the honors program

Welcome, new faculty

Welcome to new faculty who have joined the CBS community over the past few months. They are:

BMBB: Timothy Griffin, Reuben Harris, Romas Kauzlauskas

EEB: Jeannine Cavender-Bares and Jacques Finlay

PBIO: Jane Glazebrook, Fumiaki Katagiri, and Nathan Springer

GCD: Robin Wright, Associate Dean

Microbiology: Ken Vernick

Curriculum Task Force

Associate Dean Robin Wright has convened a task force to review the bachelor of science curriculum and make recommendations for improvement. Their goal is to develop an undergraduate program that will move the University of Minnesota to the forefront of biology education. Toward that end, they will review programs at peer institutions, consult with leaders in biology education, refer to scholarly analyses, and seek input from CBS students and faculty as well as people from other colleges and departments and University administrators. Agendas, minutes, and other information are posted on the CBS Web site at www.cbs.umn.edu/main/ctf/.

People

Claudia Neuhauser has been named head of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, replacing Robert Sterner, who stepped down to devote full time to research. Neuhauser, who has been interim head since September, brings many strengths to her new role, ranging from expertise in applied mathematics to leadership in education. She serves as EEB's Director of Graduate Studies and last year received the Stanley Dagley-Samuel Kirkwood Undergraduate Education Award for her course and textbook "Calculus for Biology and Medicine." After earning a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1990, Neuhauser was on the faculty at the University of Southern California and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She came to the University of Minnesota in 1996 (initially in the School of Mathematics) and joined EEB fulltime in 2001. She has also held a faculty appointment at the University of California, Davis.

Jean Underwood was named Director of Student Services this summer by Associate Dean Robin Wright. Underwood oversees recruitment, orientation, registration, advising, residence life, career development, and graduation programs. She is also responsible for strengthening collaboration between Student Services and CBS faculty, as well as University of Minnesota offices that serve undergraduates. Underwood, who has 25 years of experience in student services, has a B.S. in Sociology and an M.S. in Counseling and Guidance for College Student Personnel from Minnesota State University, Mankato. The search committee, chaired by David Bernlohr, included Sehoya Cotner, Stu Goldstein, Jane Phillips, Jerry Reinhart (Carlson School of Management), Sue Wick, and CBS students Cassie Kistler-Anderson and Chuck Hernick.

Elizabeth Wroblewski joined the Dean's Office as Chief Administrative Officer in October. She came to CBS from the office of Christine Maziar, Provost and Executive Vice President, where she had been chief of staff since 2002, and previously was deputy chief of staff for former President Mark Yudof. Prior to that, Wroblewski was an administrator at the College of St. Catherine for 16 years. Wroblewski brings a variety of skills and experience to her position, including program development, enrollment management, program review, learning assessment, market research, fundraising, and strategic planning. She will serve as the dean's "right hand" and work with the CBS community to develop and implement the dean's vision for the College of Biological Sciences. Wroblewski has an M.A. degree from the University and a B.A. degree from Northland College.