Changes
in the Dean’s Office
If you’ve stopped by the Dean’s Office lately, you’ve
probably noticed some new faces. Elizabeth Wroblewski, associate to
the dean, and Nicole Letawsky-Shultz, assistant to Associate Dean Robin
Wright, joined us last month.
Elizabeth and Nicole bring strong administrative skills to the Dean’s
Office. Elizabeth comes to us from Provost Christine Maziar’s
office, where she was chief of staff. Previously, she was deputy chief
of staff to President Mark Yudof, and before that was an administrator
at the College of St. Catherine. Elizabeth earned a master’s degree
in education from the University of Minnesota. Nicole, who has a master’s
degree in higher education, was formerly an assistant dean of students
at Cornell University.
We are also working to fill vacant positions for a human resources director
and a development director.
These changes are allowing me to respond to suggestions made during
my comprehensive review last spring to strengthen CBS’ administrative
structure to meet our growing college’s needs. I want to assure
you that we are not just adding new positions or significantly increasing
administrative costs, but reorganizing our resources and filling vacancies.
Your suggestions for ways to improve our service to you are welcome.
As the players change and we continue to grow as a college, it’s
more important than ever to build our sense of community. Toward that
end, I encourage you to attend the CBS Research Forum at 3 p.m. on Friday,
November 21 in the Cargill Building.
CBS Forum was created to showcase outstanding research with implications
across disciplines and to bring us together for conversation and community.
Bill Gray, plant biology, will give a lecture titled “Molecular
genetics of auxin signaling: A degrading story of plant development.”
I hope to see you there.
Bob Elde
Top
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. Any suggestions should
be directed to Robin Wright, rwright@cbs.umn.edu.
Members are Sandra Armstrong (Microbiology), Frank Barnwell (EBB), David
Bernlohr (BMBB), Victor Bloomfield (BMBB), Sehoya Cortner (EBB), Mark
Decker (General Biology), Alan Hooper (BMBB), Fumiaki Katagiri (PBio),
Claudia Neuhauser (EEB), Richard Poppele (Neuroscience), Scott Selleck
(GCD), Mike Simmons (GCD), and Pete Snustad (PBio).
Agendas, minutes, and other information will be posted on the CBS Web
site in the near future. The Web address will be www.cbs.umn.edu/main/ctf.
CBS Research
Forum
“Molecular genetics of auxin signaling:
A degrading story of plant development”
Plant Biology will host the fall CBS Research Forum at 3:00 p.m. on
Friday, November 21, in room 105 of the Cargill Building. Bill Gray,
assistant professor of plant biology and McKnight Land-Grant Professor,
will lecture on the molecular genetics of auxin, a hormone that regulates
plant growth and development. Gray and colleagues recently discovered
that changes triggered by this simple hormone involve the degradation
of certain transcriptional regulators. This phenomenon has been found
to be widespread in the development of other higher organisms. Gray
will discuss his findings about the auxin response pathway and identify
key questions that remain.
CBS Forum is presented twice a year to foster interaction and build
community. All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to attend.
A reception follows.
Packer receives $1.7 million NSF grant
Craig Packer has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Science
Foundation for “Biocomplexity of the Greater Serengeti: Humans
in a Biologically Diverse Ecosystem.” He will use four different
models to study the impact of humans on the Serengeti. Packer is Distinguished
McKnight University Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior.
Packer will give a lecture titled “Into Africa: The Lions of Tanzania”
at the Bell Museum on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. The program is free
to students, faculty, and staff. For tickets, call 612-624-9050 or send
an e-mail to registrations@bellmuseum.org. This lecture is part of the
Bell Museum’s current exhibit, The Art of Cats, which is on view
through January 4, 2004.
Gombe Reunion
More than 100 scientists who worked with Jane Goodall at Tanzania’s
Gombe National Park over the past 43 years gathered at the University
of Minnesota in October for the group’s first formal reunion.
The event started with a chimpanzee pant-hoot that was led by Goodall
herself and included professors from Harvard, Stanford, and other distinguished
universities. The reunion provided an opportunity for participants to
learn about research at the Center for Primate Studies at CBS and to
discuss conservation efforts and future behavior studies.
CBS Mentor Program
The CBS Mentor Program has matched 144 undergraduate students with mentors
from the CBS community. Mentors have volunteered to talk with students
about their career experiences and provide advice about life after college
from November to April. Volunteers are alumni, friends of CBS, and members
of the community. Without our mentor volunteers, we would not be able
to provide this wonderful opportunity to our students. Thank you!
Post your news & events on CBS Bulletin Boards in MCB
Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to use the new CBS bulletin
boards in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Building to promote events,
seminars, research opportunities, and club news. The boards are just
across from the elevators on the second and third floors.
New CBS display unit
The Dean’s Office has acquired a large, new display unit that
is available to departments and programs for events. There is also a
smaller table-top unit available. Please contact Peggy Rinard, prinard@cbs.umn.edu,
or 614-0774 for information.
Even Mother Nature Loves Maroon and Gold
The new version of the University poster, “Even Mother Nature
Loves Maroon and Gold” can be viewed at http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/mothernature/
There are free copies available in the CBS Dean’s Office, in the
St. Paul Student Center, and at Coffman Union. This year’s design
shows a maroon and gold sunset.
Furniture available
Need a bookcase or coffee table in your office? The Dean’s Office
has one of each available. Contact Peggy Rinard, prinard@cbs.umn.edu,
or 624-0774.
Top
Ashley Haase, head of microbiology, has been named
to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Membership
in the Institute is one of the highest honors in the field of medicine,
given to those who have made significant contributions to medical sciences,
health care, and public health.
Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky
are helping Regenesis clean up a groundwater site in Wisconsin using
Arthrobacter aurescens TC1, which are being introduced into the ground
via injection wells. A. aurescens TC1 was isolated at the University
of Minnesota by postdoctoral associate Lisa Strong. It is very active
in degrading atrazine and many other s-triazine herbicides used throughout
the Midwest. The NSF recently granted Sadowsky and Wackett funding to
sequence the A. aurescens TC1 genome in conjunction with the Institute
for Genomics Research in Rockville, Maryland. Wackett is Distinguished
University McKnight Professor and head of the Division of Microbial
Biochemistry.
Lalitha Belur, Joel Frandsen, Adam Dupuy, David Largaespada,
Perry Hackett and Scott McIvor are co-authors
of a paper titled "Integration and long-term expression in lung
mediated by the Sleeping Beauty transposon system" published in
Molecular Therapy [8: 501-507 Sept, 2003]. Belur is a postdoctoral associate
and Frandsen is a junior scientist. Adam Dupuy, formerly a postdoc,
is now at the National Cancer Institute. Largaespada, Hackett, and McIvor
are faculty in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development.
John Ward, associate professor of plant biology, received
$110,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy for a project titled “Functional
Analysis of Arabidopsis Sucrose Transporters.”
Marc von Keitz, associate director of the Biotechnology
Institute, received $42,000. from 3M to support two biotechnology post-doctoral
research fellows who will work with Fredrich Srienc on a project titled
“Design and Construction of Efficient Reaction Networks.”
Top
CBS Fall
Forum
"Molecular genetics of auxin signaling:
A degrading story of plant development."
Hosted by the Department of Plant Biology
Lecturer:
Bill Gray, associate professor
November 21, 3 p.m.
Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics
CBS
seminar listings
