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CBS News - July 2005
FROM THE DEAN
Work is under way to define and assemble 20 task forces to implement the U’s strategic positioning plan. Many of the task forces will have an impact on CBS, especially those focusing on the COAFES/CNR merger and large-scale, interdisciplinary research efforts, aka “Big Science.” We have submitted names of CBS faculty and staff to serve on these task forces. Meanwhile, we are having a busy and productive summer at CBS. Our big news is that Claudia Neuhauser has reeled in a $2.8 million NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) grant for graduate students. The NSF receives hundreds of proposals for these highly competitive grants each year, but funds only small percentage. Congratulations to Claudia and her colleagues for this outstanding achievement. The Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment is close to announcing $8.5 million in research grants. The grants, which reflect renewable research priorities identified by the Energy Alley Workgroup, will help advance University and state goals for developing and producing renewable fuels and materials. There’s a lot of activity at Itasca this summer. Many of us will soon leave for the Nature of Life Program at Itasca, where we will welcome all 350 + members of the freshman class, who will attend three-day orientation programs at Itasca between July 17-30. Later in the summer, we plan to begin construction on a new cabin for students with funds raised through Habitat for Biologists. There will be an opportunity for volunteers over one weekend in September. If you’d like to join us, contact CBS Alumni Relations, denz0018@umn.edu. I hope you are having a great summer, whether you are in a lab or on a lake. Bob Elde NEWS NSF awards EEB, IT $2.8 million for graduate training program Priorities for renewable energy research released Huber Warner, new CBS associate dean for research Ross Johnson is interim head of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development Nature of Life program Habitat for Biologists Genotyping Core Lab gets new equipment TRENDWATCH 125 Questions Facing Scientists Today PEOPLE Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics David Bernlohr, professor and head, has been invited to join the NIH study section on Integrative Physiology of Obesity and Diabetes. His term, which began July 1, continues through June 30, 2009. Selection is based on scientific achievements and judgment. Members review grant proposals and make recommendations on awards. Bernlohr is University Distinguished McKnight Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics. James Fuchs, professor, has been elected to the University Faculty Senate. Fuchs will join continuing Senators David Fan, Sue Gibson, Alan Hooper, and Richard Peifer. "Biocatalysis and Biodegradation,” a book by Larry
Wackett, professor and head of microbial biochemistry, has been translated into Chinese. Chemical Industry Press, Beijing, is the new publisher. Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Jim Cotner and Shinya Sugita received a $333,000, three-year grant from the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment on “Carbon sequestration in Minnesota’s wetlands: An important sink with management implications.” Joe McFadden (EEB) and Marvin Bauer (Forest Resources) received a $278,233,
three-year grant from the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable
Energy and the Environment on “New Technologies for Full Carbon Accounting
in Developed Land.” Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development Judy Berman, professor, received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for “Genome Integrity in Candida albicans.” Judy and colleagues have also had a paper accepted for publication in Science. David Kirkpatrick, assistant professor, has been awarded $1.4 million over five years from the NIH for the grant “Factors Controlling Minisatellite Stability in Yeast.” The overall goal of the research is to understand how genomes destabilize during meiosis. The grant focuses on repetitive DNA tracts called minisatellites that are susceptible to dramatic rearrangements during meiosis. Rearranged minisatellites have been linked to cancer and other human diseases. The proposal has two main aims: to identify the complete set of genes that influence the stability of minisatellites, and to investigate the links between minisatellite rearrangement and breast cancer development. Kirkpatrick and Peter Jauert also published a paper in recent issue of Genetics titled “Length and Sequence Heterozygosity Differentially Affect HRAS1 Minisatellite Stability During Meiosis in Yeast.” (Genetics 170: 601-612) Much of the work proposed in the grant continues from work in this paper. Anna Petryk, assistant professor, has two papers in print: Mary Porter, associate professor, has been selected to receive a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) from the National Institutes of Health. The award will fund Porter’s research for five years, and provide an option to renew for another three to five years. Her research focuses on use of Chlamydomonas flagella as a model system for understanding the mechanisms that target microtubule motors to specific sites inside cells and the mechanisms that regulate their activity. Terri Ritz is GCD’s new administrative director. Terri comes from the College of Natural Resources, where she worked in the Department of Bio-based Products for 10 years and in the Dean's office for five years. Plant Biology Anne Caton, administrative director, has been elected to serve as a University Senator representing the Executive Vice President and Provost area. Students Merima Helic, genetics undergraduate student, has won a Beckman Scholarship. The Beckman Scholars Program, supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, supports outstanding life science students by providing research training and mentoring opportunities. The award amount is $17,600 for two summers and one academic year. Merima works with Judith Berman in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development. Jenna Stangland, neuroscience honors undergraduate student and CBS Student Ambassador, has been selected to attend the Global Leaders Summit at Northwestern University on July 30. Mohamed Abdihalim, a biochemistry student who graduated this past spring, has won the Jack Kent Cook Graduate Scholarship. He is the first University of Minnesota student to win this award. CBS Administration Sarah Nadermann Johnson has joined the Office of Student Services as an adviser, bringing the total number of Sara(h)s in the office to four. Sarah Corrigan and Sara Georgeson are also advisers. Sarah Swanson is office assistant. EVENTS Peregrine Falcon: The Return of an Endangered Species Natural History at Cedar Creek
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Summer news update from the College of Biological Sciences