Vol. 2, Issue 3
May 2008
Sigma Xi Member Newsletter
Welcome to your Member Newsletter. This communiqué depends on your news and views. So e-mail us now, at kgreenaway@sigmaxi.org. We always welcome your contributions.
IN THIS ISSUE
WHAT WAS THE SPARK?
From the editor: What was that spark you were hit with as a child or teenager that helped or made you decide that you wanted to be a scientist or an engineer? Was it a teacher at school? A visit to a local museum? A parent explaining why the sky was blue, or not knowing why the sky was blue?! A magical book read under the covers at night? The ant that walked across your lunch one day or the snow flake that tipped your tongue?
And why do we want to know? We are wondering that if perhaps this information was collected in an anecdotal manner, and shared among our members, teachers, parents and grandparents, that perhaps your stories could create further opportunities for us "adults" to help generate our own sparks to catch the imaginations of the children we have contact with.
Do let me know what you think; and please send in your stories, to Kristen at kgreenaway@sigmaxi.org.
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SIGMA XI LAUNCHES SHORT SCIENCE FILM COMPETITION
In conjunction with a year-long focus on the issue of water, Sigma Xi is sponsoring a competition for three-minute student films on aspects of this precious and dwindling natural resource. The entry deadline is September 1, 2008.
Prizes of $1,000, $800 and $500 will be awarded for the top three films. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students, either individually or in teams. There is no entry fee, but individual entrants or at least one member of each team must be members of Sigma Xi.
Winning films will be screened at the 2008 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference next November 20-23 in Washington, D.C., during a forum on the topic of water.
Please help spread the word. Additional information, and a PDF promotional poster, can be found at: http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/issues/film.shtml.
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MEMBERS' NEWS
Yutao Liu (2001), M.D., Ph.D., at the Duke University Medical Center, writes: "I have won a $40,000 research grant from the Shaffer Fund for Innovative Glaucoma Research, from the Glaucoma Research Foundation. The project was evaluated and awarded from a large pool of proposals from all over the world." Liu's lab plans to investigate DNA copy number variants (CNVs), a form of genetic variation associated with inherited diseases, in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). CNVs include small portions of DNA that are duplicated or deleted in individuals. These duplications and deletions vary in size from a few thousand DNA basepairs to millions of basepairs. CNVs that are more common among individuals with POAG compared with those without POAG will be studied as potential risk factors for glaucoma. This study may lead to the identification of novel genetic components that increase individual risk to POAG and will improve our understanding of the inherited mechanisms of POAG.
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MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
Francisco J. Ayala (1964), Donald Bren professor of biological sciences at the University of California at Irvine, delivered the inaugural Louis Levine - Gabriella de Beer Lecture in Genetics on April 1, at the City College of New York. Ayala's topic was be "Design without Designer: Darwin's Most Significant Discovery."
Donald R. Bobbitt (1986) has been appointed the new provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, beginning July 1. Bobbitt will be leaving his post as dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1980, and where he has served in a variety of capacities since 1985. At UTA, he will serve as the university's chief academic officer, overseeing 11 colleges and schools - including the graduate school and the honors college, research administration, research funding and expenditures, student affairs, the libraries, strategic planning and distance education. Bobbitt will also be professor of chemistry in the College of Science.
Eugene (Gene) A. Cernan (1964), USN, Ret., has been awarded the National Space Trophy for 2008, the highest honor given by the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation. The award has been presented annually for the past 22 years to an individual who has excelled in furthering national goals in the field of space. Cernan's citation reads, "For outstanding achievements as an astronaut. Second American to walk in space (Gemini IX); crew member on second flight to the moon (Apollo X); and Commander of the last landing on the moon (Apollo XVII); and as an advocate for space exploration and education."
Lawrence E. Crooks (1976) has been awarded the University of California 2008 Excellence in Achievement award. Crooks began his career in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology at the prompting of engineering science professor Jerome L. Singer (1976). During the 1970s Crooks and Singer overturned widely held beliefs about the maximum magnetic field possible for MRI, advancing its use in detecting tumors and diseases. A former adjunct professor at the UCSF department of radiology and assistant director of the UCSF radiologic imaging laboratory, Crooks is writing a history of MRI technology.
Steven G. Driese (1982), professor and chair of the geology department at Baylor University, has been elected president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM). Driese will serve one year as president-elect and a second year as president of SEPM. "This is an internationally recognized 'flagship' society for sedimentary geologists, particularly in North America, and I am extremely honored to have been elected," Driese said.
Peter W. Glynn (1984), a professor at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has been selected to receive the 2007-2008 Provost's Award for Scholarly Activity. The award recognizes extraordinary research and scholarly pursuits, and provides the recipient with a cash award toward continued research support. This marks the second time Glynn, who received the award when it was first introduced in 1996, will receive this honor. "Peter is a 'Pied Piper' for our undergraduate marine science program. We are very appreciative of his dedication and his continuing contributions to our undergraduate students," stated Dr. Otis Brown, Dean of the Rosenstiel School.
Thomas (Tom) A. Gorell (1969), a member of the Colorado State University community for more than 30 years, has been named the new vice president of administrative services. Gorell had held the position in an interim capacity. He most recently served as vice provost for faculty affairs. Gorell has a strong record of accomplishment and success at Colorado State throughout his many years of service. He first arrived at Colorado State in 1975. Prior to his role as vice provost, he served as a professor of biology and associate dean in the College of Natural Sciences.
Manu Lopus (2008), Ph.D., a post-doctoral scholar in the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, U.K.
Robert D. Lyman (2007), the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State University, has been selected University of Southern Mississippi's new provost. He will begin his duties at Southern Miss on July 1, and will have overarching responsibility for the university's academic enterprise.
Benjamin Mosier (1958) has been awarded his third Space Act Award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), received March 27, 2008. The award was granted "For the creative development of a technological contribution which has been determined to be of significant value in the advancement of the space and aeronautical activities of NASA, entitled: Microencapsulation and electrostatic processing device (MEPS)."
John A. Orr (1979), Ph.D., has been appointed the new provost and senior vice president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He had served as interim provost for the past year.
Robert Ritch (2006), M.D., holds the first Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair of Ophthalmology at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. A $2 million gift to endow the chair was made by the Einhorn family to honor Ritch as a world leader in glaucoma and in gratitude for his skilled diagnosis and treatment. Ritch recently received the 2007 American Academy of Ophthalmology Life Achievement Honor Award for his many years of contributions to the field of ophthalmology, and the 2007 Dean's Research Award from New York Medical College for his work on exfoliation syndrome, a systemic disease associated with glaucoma. In addition, he was the Eighteenth American Glaucoma Society Lecturer at the American Glaucoma Society Meeting in March 2008.
The University of California 2008 Excellence in Achievement award was presented to ecologist and geographer, Lee M. Talbot (1974), "world-renowned environmentalist," for, among other things, pioneering work in developing ecosystem science, shaping national and international environmental policies and principles, establishing an ecosystem basis for conservation and conducting environmental work in 131 countries. The award was presented on April 5, 2008, at a black-tie gala in San Francisco, attended by over 1,100 people. Talbot is now a visiting professor of environmental science, international affairs and public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a senior environmental advisor to the World Bank. In his spare time he competes in motor racing, and has been named U.S. Regional Road Racing Champion.
Donald B. Taylor (1989), dean of the College of Science at Benedictine University (Lisle, Illinois), has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Tzu-Yang Yu (2007), a Ph.D. candidate in civil and environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), recently received the 2008 ASNT (American Society for Nondestructive Testing) Fellowship Award for his research on "Far-field Airborne Radar for the Condition Assessment of Critical Civil Infrastructures." The award is granted to a student recipient for conducting graduate research in the NDT field. Yu is developing a far-field radar inspection technique for the in-depth condition assessment of civil infrastructures, such as concrete bridges, applicable for the efficient field inspection of critical civil infrastructures.
Xiaozhou Zhang (2007), Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research associate in the department of biology at Georgia State University. He is a young microbiology scientist. Recently the Membership Board and the Underrepresented Members Committee of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) recognized him for outstanding service as an online mentor of the ASM Minority Mentoring Program 2008. Zhang received his Ph.D. from the College of Life Sciences at Nanjing Agricultural University in Nanjing, China, in 2006, working on applied and environmental microbiology and biotechnology. He has published 18 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Zhang also serves as a reviewer for three international journals in microbiology and biotechnology research field. You can read more about Zhang at www.nicebio.com.
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AMERICAN SCIENTIST WINS TWO AWARDS
American Scientist is a winner of two SNAP EXCEL Awards! Our September-October 2007 cover won an award in the cover illustration category. "Safer Salads," an article from the November-December 2007 issue, received an award in the feature article category.
The cover illustration depicts areas of overlap between the human genome and the dog genome.
Read the winning article..
SNAP, the Society of National Association Publications, presents the EXCEL awards each year.
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SIGMA XI'S WATER BLOG - A CALL FOR PAPERS
Don't forget Sigma Xi's blog devoted to water issues. If you have a background in water research in any respect, please share your expertise by writing a white paper (1,000 words) that we can post on the Web site and may disseminate to other audiences.
A list of suggested topics for white papers is below. We also welcome your suggestions.
- Water conservation: what's needed and what's possible
- Saving water to save energy: reducing energy needs through water conservation
- Water and global poverty: what's the connection?
- Water and neglected tropical diseases: lowering the global disease burden
- Adding water to the biofuels equation
- Global warming effects on coastal water supplies
- Water supply safety: a target for terrorism?
- Pharmaceuticals in water: should we worry?
- Water for the future: upcoming career opportunities in water research and industry
- Technological advances in water purification
- Bottled water: costs and benefits
- The toll on ecosystems
- Desalinization
- Threats to coastal countries
- Health issues and the oceans
- Surface water issues.
And while you're on the water blog site, do listen to our second podcast with Michael Celia, professor and department chair at Princeton University's department of civil and environmental engineering, about key issues and research in groundwater hydrology.
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SOCIAL NETWORKING VIA FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN
Sigma Xi now has its own Facebook and LinkedIn sites. The aim of the Facebook group is to inform, educate and even entertain our fellow Sigma Xi members and science enthusiasts. The group is open, so non-members can participate. This provides a broader exposure for Sigma Xi, and helps connect all of us who are interested in science. If you join, please invite your friends and colleagues who are interested in science to join the group. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that enables Sigma Xi members to build their online network of colleagues, coworkers and others sharing professional interests. Both online network groups can be accessed at: http://www.sigmaxi.org/member/benefits/networking.shtml.
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WHAT'S YOUR NEWS? WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU?
We always welcome your contributions to the monthly newsletters!
Editor: Kristen Greenaway
kgreenaway@sigmaxi.org
919-547-5210, or 800-243-6534, ext. 210
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
PO Box 13975
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
www.sigmaxi.org
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