Archived News

In December 2009, The Cohen Foundation of Maryland continued their long-term support of biochemistry research with a multi-year pledge. The Cohen Foundation was established in 2006 by Brad and Margo Cohen, Smith School of Business Maryland alumni, to support worthy scientific research. The Foundation particularly focuses on new and inventive approaches to understand and treat heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The Foundation chose to direct their funds to The Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization, a research program at the University of Maryland directed by George Lorimer, distinguished university professor, department of chemistry and biochemistry.

First created in 2008, alumna Catherine North (B.S., '82, Chemistry) endowed the Bruce Jarvis Student Support Fund in December 2009. Dr. North created the fund in honor of Bruce Jarvis, a favorite faculty mentor, in appreciation of his generous support of students in his more than 40-year career. Dr. Jarvis arrived at the University of Maryland in 1967, served as chair of chemistry and biochemistry from 1993 -1998, and impacted the lives of thousands of students as a researcher, teacher and mentor. In 1989 he was designated a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1991 he was named a University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. Dr. Jarvis retired in 2008 and is currently professor emeritus in the department of chemistry and biochemistry.

David Inouye, professor of biology and director of the Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology graduate program, was quoted in The Christian Science Monitor on "climate velocity," a new approach to assessing how changing climate will affect various habitats. A new study published in Nature indicates that globally, ecosystems will have to migrate at an average pace of nearly a quarter of a mile each year to keep up with shifting climate belts. The approach gives an idea of the pace of change, and which habitats will be affected most rapidly. "It's really going from sounding the alarm over climate change to really trying to say: Look, some change is going to happen. How do we adapt to that change?" Inouye said.

The Hindu, India's national newspaper, covered Assistant Professor of Biology Karen Carleton's research on the evolution of diverse visual systems in African cichild fish. Published in the December 21, 2009 issue of the journal PLoS Biology, the study is one of the first to look at how both gene sequence and gene expression can contribute to the same trait, and showed that they contribute in complementary ways. A comparison of fish who live in clear vs. murky waters showed that the expression of cone opsin genes is adaptively determined based on the fishes' light environment and method of foraging for food.

An international team of scientists has discovered how changes in both gene expression and gene sequence led to the diversity of visual systems in African cichlid fish. In research published in the December 21, 2009 issue of the journal PLoS Biology, Biology Assistant Professor Karen Carleton, and colleagues, including post-doctoral associate Christopher Hoffman and graduate student Kelly O'Quin, describe how over 60 species of cichlid fish from Lake Malawi and Lake Victoria have adapted their visual sensitivity in response to specific ecological factors, including what they eat and the clarity of the water in which they swim.

Bill Fagan, professor of biology, has been selected as a Distinguished Scholar Teacher for 2010-2011. This University of Maryland program recognizes faculty who have led the way in scholarship and teaching, who have brought a passion for learning to their colleagues and students, and who serve as models of what a professor should be. Dr. Fagan's research meshes field biology with theoretical models to address critical questions related to conservation.

A new special report from the National Science Foundation, "To What Degree: What Science Is Telling Us About Climate Change," features leading climate change experts who discuss one of the most complex scientific puzzles ever to confront humankind. Alumna Marjorie Mulholland (PhD, '98), a graduate of the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) program who is associate professor of biological oceanography at Old Dominion University, contributed expertise related to marine nitrogen fixation and climate change and algal blooms’ effects up the food chain for this special report.

The College is pleased to announce the winners of the Spring 2010 Graduate Student Fellowships. Out of many excellent applications, the Drs. Wayne T. and Mary T. Hockmeyer Doctoral Fellowship, Hokensen Doctoral Fellowship, and Emad Doctoral Fellowship were awarded to seven students. Congratulations to Sandra Blumenrath, Kelly O'Quin, Alison Heffer, Leonardo Oliveira, Courney Hollender, Maria Ingaramo, and Irene Kiburu.

Sarah Peitzmeier, a double major in cell biology and molecular genetics and music performance, was selected as a finalist for the 2010 Rhodes and Marshall scholarship programs. Two of the nation's most competitive scholarships, they cover all expenses of graduate study in the United Kingdom. The 20-year-old senior conducts complex research on the role of milk proteins in modulating autoimmune diseases in Dr. Ian Mather's lab, plays Chopin's sonatas on the piano with breathtaking accuracy, and also finds time to prepare fine French pastry, volunteer at a sexual assault hotline and maintain a 3.99 grade point average.

Dr. Galen P. Dively, Professor Emeritus of Entomology, will receive the L.O. Howard Distinguished Achievement Award at the upcoming Eastern Branch Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting, to be held in Annapolis, Md., March 7-9, 2010. The award recognizes a scientist who has made a significant contribution to entomology.