Gary Nelsestuen
launches CBS Forum
| Gary
Nelsestuen, Samuel Kirkwood chair in Biochemistry, launched the
CBS Forum last Friday with a lecture about his research on blood
coagulation and the importance of a Minnesota
education to his studies. About 100 faculty, staff, and students
attended the event. The forum will continue with a lecture every
semester to feature leading CBS faculty and to explore connections
between CBS disciplines. Next semester the forum will be co-hosted
by the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development. |
All College Meeting
Mark your calendars. The CBS All College Meeting will be December 19,
at 12 noon in 239 Gortner. For more information, contact Alaine Siniff,
sinif002@umn.edu.
U scientists crack
genome sequence of Johne’s disease pathogen
U researchers have completed sequencing the genome of the bacteria that
causes Johne’s disease, a major chronic wasting disease found
in dairy cattle. Mycobacaterium paratuberculosis is considered
one of the most important threats to the health of dairy cattle worldwide.
The achievement will enable researchers to develop new methods for early
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Vivek Kapur, associate
professor of veterinary pathobiology, and director of the Advanced Genetic
Analysis Center in Biodale, was principal investigator.
Workshop opportunities
CBS is sponsoring a workshop on creating a respectful workplace for
the second year. The workshop is open to all faculty and staff. Dean
Elde encourages everyone who did not attend last year’s workshop
to take advantage of this opportunity. The workshop will be offered
three different times on the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses.
Tuesday, December 3, 9-11
a.m. 2-101 BSBE.
Register to Ann Johnson, swans143@umn.edu
Wednesday, January 15, 9-11
a.m.150 Ecology.
Register to Lisa Wiggins wiggins@umn.edu
Tuesday, January 28, 9-11
a.m.2-101 BSBE.
Register to Laurie O’Neill oneil032@umn.edu
Got a great T.A.?
Nominations are being accepted for the 2002 Outstanding Performance
Award for Teaching Assistants. T.A.s who taught classes in spring semester,
summer session, or fall semester 2002 in any CBS or affiliated departments
are eligible. Any CBS student, staff, or faculty member can submit a
nomination. To nominate a T.A from Biol 1001 or 1009, contact Bruce
Fall, bafall@umn.edu or 612-625-4391.
For all other CBS courses, contact Jane Phillips, janep@umn.edu
or 612-624-2789. Awards will be presented at commencement this spring.
Even Mother Nature Loves
Maroon and Gold.
 This
year’s “Even Mother Nature Loves Maroon and Gold”
posters feature the photography of U alumnus Jim Brandenburg. The
posters show a whitetail fawn bathed in early morning light near
Brandenburg’s family house in southwestern Minnesota. Posters
can be picked up free of charge in 3 Morrill Hall. Note card and
envelope sets are also available for a charge.
|
CBS phone directory
There is now a link to the updated CBS phone directory at the bottom
of the home page, www.cbs.umn.edu.
Please contact Justin Piehowski, jpiehows@cbs.umn.edu,
if you detect any errors or omissions.
New ecological stoichiometry
class
Bob Sterner will offer one-credit course next semester to discuss his
new book Ecological Stoichiometry: the Biology of Elements from Molecules
to the Biosphere (2002, Princeton University Press). The book explores
how ecology and evolution can be understood by considering organism
interaction as a mass-balanced chemical reaction. The course number
is EEB 8990. The first chapter of the book is available online: http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/7434.html.
Top
Sharon Jansa, EEB, received $100,000 from the National Science
Foundation to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships among South
American marsupials using DNA sequences from several nuclear genes
Sara Vetter,
graduate student in Microbiology, will receive the 2003 Raymond Sarber
Award from the American Society for Microbiology. The Sarber Award recognizes
academic achievement, outstanding research accomplishments, and potential.
Vetter will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
Bobbi Sislo
and the Biological Sciences Student Association collected
over 1,160 lbs. of canned and dry food “trick or canning”
on Halloween in the neighborhood near the St Paul campus. The food was
donated to Sharing Korner, a local charity.
December 5
Understanding Neurodegenerative Disease Through the Use of Cell
and Animal Models: Studies of the Polyglutamine Repeat Disease Spinals
and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy
Diane Merry, Thomas Jefferson University
12 noon, 2-101 BSBE
Contact: Laura Ranum, 624-0901
December 12
Genetics and Genomics of Autoimmune Disease
Kathy Moser, Institute of Human Genetics
12 noon, 2-101 BSBE
Contact:Meg Titus: 625-8498
December 19
All College Meeting
12 noon, 239 Gortner
Contact: Alaine Siniff, sinif002@umn.edu
February 12
NSF Workshop
7:30 a.m. rooms 135 B and D, Earle Brown Center
March 6
Presentation of Outstanding Achievement Award to Douglas DeMaster,
Ph.D. '78 EEB, Director of Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
Lecture, "Impossible Problems, Improbable Solutions: The Life of
a Wildlife Biologist in a Federal Regulatory Agency," to follow.
4 p.m., Earle Brown Center
Contact: Lija Greenseid, lgreense@cbs.umn.edu.
CBS
seminar listings
Cynthia
Weinig, new faculty member in the Department of Plant Biology,
has received a Young Investigator Award from the National Science
Foundation’s Plant Genomics Research Project (PGRP) for
$1.7 million over four years. Weinig uses Arabidopsis to study
evolution of plant fitness to the environment. She and collaborator
Julin Maloof at UC Davis, who will share the award, are interested
in understanding how selection acts on crowding responses in agricultural
settings. More specifically, plants can modify their phenotype
(for instance shape or form) in response to crowding and the onset
of competition for sunlight. There is now strong evidence that
flexible developmental responses to crowding, such as stem elongation,
confer a fitness advantage to individual plants in natural settings.