Announcements for Wednesday May 7, 2008
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The A&S e-newsletter editor does not verify content of submissions. All questions about content should be addressed to individuals mentioned in the announcements. The editor occasionally revises submissions to ensure a consistent style throughout the newsletter, but otherwise simply forwards news items as submitted.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists Gave Workshop in Geosciences
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Distinguished Instructor Dr. Kevin Bohacs, of ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, gave a day-long workshop for undergraduate and gradute students in Geosciences. Thirty undergraduate and graduate Geosciences students participated in the day-long workshop, where they examined outcrop, well-log, and seismic data sets and learned to interpret the sequence stratigraphy of mud-dominated depositional systems.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20223
Philip N. Smith Receives Award
Dr. Philip N. Smith, Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), has received a State of Texas Accelerated Research Program Award in the amount of $80,000. Dr. Smith's project is entitled, "Assessment of Airborne Anabolic Hormones from Confined Animal Feeding Operations."
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20309
TIEHH Chosen as Finalist for Texas Environmental Excellence Award
The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University was selected as a 2008 Texas Environmental Excellence Awards (TEEA) finalist in the "Education" area. Winners of the 2008 TEEA, recommended by the Governor's Blue Ribbon Selection Committee and approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Commissioners and Governor Rick Perry, were recognized at a banquet in Austin, Texas, on April 30, 2008, as part of an Annual Meeting of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The mission of the Texas Environmental Excellence Award is to honor the stateâ¿¿s most outstanding waste reduction and pollution prevention projects.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20311
Celine Godard-Codding Receives Grant
Dr. Celine Godard-Codding, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), has received a research grant from the PADI Foundation, which supports underwater science, education and environmental projects. Dr. Godard-Codding's project is titled, "Establishing skin cell lines from the endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta): creating new tools for investigating the effects of environmental pollutants."
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20308
Times of India Recognizes TIEHH Conference in India
The fifth edition of the international conference on Advances in Textiles, Nonwoven and Technical Textiles (www.atnt2008.com) has received wide recognition in India. The conference is, for the first time, comprising four world leading organizations dealing with advanced textiles: Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, Industrial Fabrics Association International, and the Society of Dyers and Colourists-England (India Chapter). This INDO-US collaborative conference is seen as an international platform to promote the growth of nonwoven and technical textiles and hence it is enjoying much support in India. Times of India, a leading national newspaper, has recognized this conference and news has appeared in the April 14th edition published from India's capital, New Delhi.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20310
Biology Graduate Students Nayoung Kim and Quinn Emmering Awarded Graduate Summer Fellowships.
Nayoung Kim, a PhD student with Dr. Lauren Gollahon, and Quinn Emmering, a MS student with Dr. Ken Schmidt, are recipients of the 2008 Graduate School Summer Dissertation and Thesis Fellowships. These fellowships will allow Ms. Kim and Mr. Emmering to complete work on their thesis and dissertation this summer.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20303
Colin Bell Receives Helen DeVitt Jones Graduate Fellowship
Colin Bell, a PhD student in Biological Sciences, is working with Dr. John Zak, Professor and chairperson in Biological Sciences, on understanding the impacts of climate change on microbial and nutrient dynamics in grasslands in the Chihuahuan Desert at Big Bend National Park. Colin's research is part of the work of a larger network of scientists across the southwestern United States to understand the impacts of climate change on arid ecosystems.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20307
Shan Bilimoria, Mark McGinley, and Michael San Francisco Receive Professing Excellence Awards
Dr. Shan Bilimoria , Dr. Mark McGinley, and Dr. Michael San Francisco, faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences, are recent recipients of the "Professing Excellence Award" given annual by the University Housing Association. These faculty were recognized for their contributions by students in university housing for their outstanding contributions to student learning.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20304
Research Team in Biological Sciences Publishes Key Article on Fungal Disease Contributing to Amphibian Decline
Dr. Michael San Francisco and his students, Angela Moss, Nikla Reddy and Ida Dortaj recently published an article in Mycologia (100, 2008, pp. 1-5) entitled: "Chemotaxis of the Amphibian Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and its Response to a Variety of Attractants" that describes how the motile zoospore of this chytrid responds to chemical signals given off by the host. This research is also part of a larger effort by faculty in the department of Biological Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics to understand the dynamics of this fungal pathogen. This research will contribute to understanding amphibian susceptibility to infection and virulence of the chytrid.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20306
Michael San Francisco Recipient of First "Champion of Women Award"
Dr. Michael San Francisco, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Director of the TTU-HHMI Program, received the first "Champion of Women Award" presented by the TTU Women in Science Club. The Women in Science Club is organized by CISSER and the TTU-School of medicine and is open to all interested students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty, staff , administrators and community members interested in fostering women in science. The club focuses on advancing women in science and encouraging networking and mentoring of women in science at TTU.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20305
Jose Olascuaga to Teach at Angelo State
Jose Olascuaga, PhD candidate in Spanish in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, has accepted the position of Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. He will begin his new position in the Fall, 2008.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20243
Robert Blake Organizes Symposium and Gives Talk at the 2008 Spring National ACS Meeting
Dr. Robert Blake, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, organized a symposium, "Faculty Development in Chemical Education" at the Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society between April 6-10, 2008. He also gave a talk, "Ten year process: from inorganic chemistry to chemical education" in that symposium and served on the First Semester General Chemistry exam committee of the Examinations Institute, which also met at the ACS meeting in New Orleans.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20283
Lynne Fallwell Receives Grant to do Research at Holocaust Museum
Lynne Fallwell, Assistant Professor in the History Department, has been awarded a follow-up grant to her two previous Curt C. and Else Silberman Summer Seminar Grants for University Faculty for study at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She will be working this July and August at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20323
Robert Blake Appointed to Chemical Education Research Committee
Dr. Robert Blake, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been appointed to the Chemical Education Research Committee of the Division of Chemical Education from 2008-2010 and elected secretary of that committee.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20284
Robert Blake Awarded Grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Dr. Robert Blake, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was awarded a grant of $149,996 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to redesign CHEM 1411/CHEM 1412, General Chemistry I and II. Active lecture strategies, online resources and peer-led discussions sections will be integrated into the course to improve student performance and reduce costs.
* See http://webapps.itsd.ttu.edu/asannouncements/s_aeView.php?announceid=20263
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