06 May 2010
CNR Homecoming 2010
510-642-6707 or donnachan@berkeley.edu.
Friday-Saturday, October 8-9, 2010
Come back to campus and enjoy all the festivities being planned for CNR alumni parents, friends and students.
Join us in the lovely Giannini Hall lobby and enjoy continental breakfast with Peets coffee, fresh pastries, and other refreshments during the State of the College Address by Dean J. Keith Gilless Giannini Hall Lobby 9:30a.m.
CNR Faculty & Alumni Homecoming Lectures
There are a variety of faculty lectures to choose from all across campus, including current CNR Faculty! This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the wonderful research being done at CNR and the opportunity to ask questions during the interactive Q&A session following each.
Friday, October 8, 2010 11am
Banatao Auditorium,
Sutardja Dai Hall
Professor Peggy Lemaux, Plant & Microbial Biology
“Food, Famine and the Future of Farmingâ€
Friday,October 8 4:00-5:30 pm
Bancroft Hotel
2680 Bancroft Way
Neal Ewald '78, Green Diamond Resource Company
S.J. Hall Lecture
"Declaring Peace in Timber Country: Sustainable Forests in a Perpetual Businessâ€
Saturday, October 9 10:30 am
Alumni House
Professor Andreas Stahl, Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology
“Fat Chance:How exploring the mechanisms of cellular lipid uptake may change the ways we treat obesity related diseasesâ€
Saturday, October 9 1:30 pm
Banatao Auditorium Sutardja Dai Hall
Professor Kimberly Tallbear, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Environmental Policy
“'Our DNA is Your Property?' Reconfiguring Ethics in Genome Researchâ€
CNR Alumni Association Picnic
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 5:43
04 March 2010
Former President Bill Clinton and Our Very Own Jenn Jehnsen
Photo by Peg Skorpinski
Jenn Jehnsen is a CNR Student majoring in Environmental Sciences. She is also minoring in Global Poverty and Practice via the Blum Center for Developing Economies.
She was given the opportunity of presenting a gift to former President Bill Clinton from the Blum Center for Developing Economices because she is a peer adviser for her minor, Global Poverty and Practice. She presented the gift after Clinton's speech on what global citizenship means. "It was really exciting to share that moment with president Clinton because he had
just talked about what global citizenship means, and I have been trying to
figure that out myself ever since my trip to Uganda. I also love that
President Clinton inspired us as young people, because we are the
generation that can bring change", says Jenhsen.
She spent the Summer of 2009 as an intern with the Uganda Village Project (UVP), working as a team leader for the "Healthy Villages Initiative". The Healthy Villages Initiative is an aims to take a grassroots approach to addresssing rural healthcare and public health in Uganda. Its main goal is to improve the provisions of healthcare and access to preventative health education to underserved populations in the Iganga District, one of the poorest districts in Uganda. "Through Healthy Villages Initiative, UVP targets the primary health risks of the region at the village level, working with the District Health Office (DHO) of Iganga, with Sub-County Officials, and with local Health Center Staff", describes Jehnsen. " UVP launched Healthy Villages in five 'pilot' villages during the summer of 2009, and will eventually expand to work
in a total of 70 chosen villages. All villages are based around the same
five health centers, and all fall into the bottom quartile in sanitation
and access to clean water".
Her team sold insecticide-treated mosquito nets at a subsidized price
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Posted by Pinar Aybar at 2:51
03 February 2000
Not even Berkeley kids eat sprouts, says new UC Berkeley report on middle school nutrition
By Kathleen Scalise, Public Affairs
BERKELEY--Their parents might be consuming zucchini pancakes and wheat grass juice, but for kids in the city of Berkeley it's mostly thumbs down on fruits and vegetables, according to a new nutrition study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
The survey of middle-school students found teens and preteens in Berkeley eating only half as much produce as national standards recommend. And what little they did eat wasn't exactly carrot sticks and apple chunks.
"Generally, we're talking more like tomatoes, lettuce and onions on hamburgers or sandwiches," said study co-author Patricia Crawford, a UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension nutritionist.
She and UC Berkeley public health professor Gladys Block surveyed 252 students ranging in age from 11 to 15 at Martin Luther King and Willard middle schools in Berkeley. Study participants were asked to report everything they ate over a 24-hour period, whether the food came from school or from home.
Crawford said that, despite Berkeley's fame as a health food mecca, the diet of its children looks much like the rest of the state. The number one vegetable was the potato, which kids enjoyed most in the form of french fries. In the fruit category, packaged, processed juices dominated.
"Twenty percent of the kids reported eating no fruits or vegetables on the day assessed, and 55 percent reported only two or fewer servings of fruits and vegetables," Crawford said.
She said nutritionists recommend five daily servings of produce.
The new data could be discouraging to parents. If even Berkeley kids raised in a climate of whole food and nutrition awareness can't be persuaded to eat their greens, some might think there is no hope to get any kids to eat right. But not so, said Crawford.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 4:21
06 September 2001
Doris Calloway, pioneering nutritional scientist and UC Berkeley professor
By Patricia McBroom, Media Relations
Doris Howes Calloway, a pioneering nutritional scientist who first studied the dietary needs of healthy people under controlled conditions and a professor emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, died Friday, Aug. 31, of Parkinson's disease at a nursing home in Seattle.
She was 78.
Known internationally and on campus as a ground-breaking scientist and a sensitive human being, Calloway rose to the top of her career in several arenas during her 27 years at UC Berkeley.
She started the "Penthouse" studies, which recorded in detail the food and energy needs of six volunteers who lived for several weeks on campus in an isolated environment. These studies, begun in the 1960s, later became a model for careful dietary research.
Calloway also was the first woman to break into the ranks of senior administrators at UC Berkeley, becoming a provost for UC Berkeley's professional schools and colleges in 1981.
In the late 1980s, during and after her time as UC Berkeley provost, Calloway led a nine-university, $14 million research project in Kenya, Egypt and Mexico aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of moderate malnutrition. That study not only uncovered the physical and cognitive consequences of undernutrition, but pinpointed the poor education and low empowerment of women as a cause.
At the same time, Calloway raised two children and took the time to mentor younger faculty members and graduate students as well.
"She was one of the greats," said Leonard Bjeldanes, professor and chair of the UC Berkeley Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology. "She was a superbly trained, highly respected scientist who had great courage about what she took on. Yet, she was also insightful, a warm person you could have fun with. I was in awe of her abilities."
Appointed to head UC Berkeley's 13 professional schools and colleges from 1981-87, Calloway set about turning the creativity of scientific innovators toward solving human problems created by technology. As in so many other areas, she led the way for women in senior positions on campus.
"She broke the ice, and it wasn't easy," recalled Ira Michael Heyman, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of law and city planning who was chancellor on campus at the time. "I had enormous faith in Doris's professionalism and sensitivity. She was one of my most cherished appointments as chancellor."
Calloway's scientific work has strongly affected all subsequent research in diet and nutrition. She found early on that Americans did not need as much protein in their diets as they believed, said former colleague and Calloway graduate student Janet King, who now heads a U.S. Department of Agriculture research center located at UC Davis.
"In the 1950s, nutritionists believed a person needed 100 grams of protein a day. Doris showed that you only need about half that amount, and the more protein you eat, the more you excrete, because your body can't use it," said King, also a UC Berkeley professor emerita of nutritional science.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 3:44
18 March 2004
Research Questions Efficacy of Fire Management Strategies in California Shrublands
by Sarah Yang
BERKELEY - The age of vegetation in California's shrublands does not strongly influence the probability of wildfires, finds a new study led by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. The findings challenge a basic assumption underlying fire management strategies used to prevent wildfires like the ones that swept through southern California in October 2003.
"If the goal is to save people's homes and avoid loss of life, then treating extensive portions of the landscape to create a mixture of young and old vegetation is not money well spent," said lead author Max A. Moritz, wildland fire specialist at the UC Center for Forestry's Fire Program. The center is based at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources.
Conventional wisdom has been that older shrubs have a higher percentage of dry, dead biomass that can more easily fuel intense wildfires, said Moritz. In addition, decades of fire suppression are believed to have allowed extensive stands of older vegetation to accumulate. As a result, fire management strategies have focused on various techniques to create an "age-patch mosaic" on the landscape because it is assumed that fire will not spread through younger stands of regenerating shrublands.
The findings of the study, reported in the March issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, break from a school of thought in fire management that incorporates treatments of extensive portions of the landscape, such as prescribed burns, to reduce fire risk.
In forested ecosystems that prehistorically experienced frequent, low-intensity surface fires, decades of successful fire suppression are typically blamed for allowing the accumulation of underbrush and medium-sized trees, particularly in the ponderosa pine forests of the southwestern United States. Many researchers believe that fire suppression has led to the formation of "ladder fuels" that now allow high-intensity fires to climb into the canopies of taller trees.
This view of a direct link in an ecosystem between fire hazard and the time since the last fire appears to have been adopted in shrubland fire management without really being tested, said Moritz. The rationale for shrublands was that suppressing smaller fires promoted the accumulation of older, contiguous stands of more flammable vegetation. Fire management strategies therefore included methods such as small, prescribed fires as a way to initiate the growth of new vegetation that, theoretically, is less prone to burning.
"One problem is that the model of fire hazard for some forests is not necessarily appropriate for the shrublands of southern California, which are characterized by periodic, high-intensity fires," said Moritz. "There has been ongoing debate in fire management about whether the age and spatial patterns of fuels are really an important constraint on the development of large shrubland fires. Our study provides evidence that different strategies should be used for the different ecosystems."
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:23
22 April 2005
Schools can Improve Nutritional Value of Food While Increasing Revenue
by Sarah Yang
BERKELEY – When schools kick high-sugar sodas and high-fat chips off their campuses, food service department revenues tend to increase, according to a new report by researchers at CNR's Center for Weight and Health.
The findings provide encouraging news to school officials concerned about the budgetary hit they might take if they eliminate junk food from school grounds.
"Our results show that when kids have less access to high fat, high sugar snack foods and beverages, they will switch to healthier meals," said Patricia Crawford, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health and co-author of the report. "This trend can benefit the students' health as well as the school food service department's bottom line."
The conclusion comes from a fiscal analysis of 16 middle and high schools in nine school districts in California that participated in a pilot program called Linking Education, Activity and Food (LEAF). The Nutrition Services Division of the California Department of Education established the LEAF program with funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to pilot test the implementation of Senate bills 19 and 56 (SB 19/56).
The state education department contracted with UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health to evaluate the impact on schools that implemented SB 19/56. The fiscal analysis is the first in a series of evaluation reports on the LEAF program to be produced by the center, which is based at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources.
The state bills, together called the Pupil Nutrition, Health and Achievement Act of 2001, set nutrition standards for food and drinks sold outside the federally regulated school meal programs, such as items in vending machines, snack bars, student stores or on a la carte menus. Such offerings - classified as "competitive" foods by school nutrition experts - are typically high in sugar and/or fat, and low in nutritional value.
Under the bill's guidelines, the percentage of total calories from fat in such foods would be capped at 35 percent, and the total weight from sugar limited to 35 percent or less. Sodas would be replaced with water, milk and fruit drinks that have at least 50 percent fruit juice and no added sweeteners. Certain sports drinks would be allowed only if they contained, at most, 42 grams of added sweeteners per 20-ounce serving.
"I am glad to see evidence that schools do not have to forfeit revenue as a tradeoff to offering healthy options to students," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "We know from prior studies that students with healthy eating habits perform better in class. I hope this study will encourage more schools to increase the availability of nutritious food and drink options and eliminate unhealthy snacks."
Schools that participated in the pilot program were each given $200,000-250,000 to implement SB 19/56 regulations as well as policies promoting consumption of fresh produce grown in California. These funds were particularly critical for upgrading kitchen facilities and improving the appeal of the meals and serving areas in order to encourage students to participate in the school meal program. Some ongoing funding for coordination and evaluation, as well as to support nutrition education and promotion, would probably also be beneficial to ensure fiscally sustainable institutionalization of the nutrition standards.
The report analyzed two academic years' worth of data - from September 2002 through June 2004, excluding summer months. The researchers focused on sustainable daily revenues and expenses, so they did not include grant funds in revenue figures, nor did they include one-time capital expenditures in their calculation of expenses.
The report's authors found that 13 out of the 16 participating sites saw increases in food service per capita gross revenues ranging from 1 to 38 percent during the study period.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:18
05 May 2005
CNR Awards Ceremony and Reception
May 5th, 3:00-5:00
Alumni House (Bechtel and Toll rooms)
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:41
05 May 2005
College Honors Two with CNR Citation
This month, the college honored two individuals for their extraordinary commitment and accomplishments in 2005. The CNR Citation, the highest honor of the college, was awarded for the first time to two deserving recipients, Iona "Rocky" Main and Helen Ullrich.
Rocky Main and her family were instrumental in creating and endowing the William Main Distinguished Visitor Program, an academic program that has made, and continues to make, significant contributions to the study of forest and natural resources management. Main has made her impact elsewhere on campus, as well. She has served as a trustee of the University Library, a leader of her alumni class, and a benefactor of the popular "Lunch Poems" series.
Many of her nominators stressed Main's personal supportiveness of faculty and recognized that, as one supporter put it, she "has sustained a grace and civility that helps us to appreciate the very best in our institution."
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:37
22 May 2005
Fall 2005 Commencement Address by Chief Oren Lyons
On May 22, Chief Oren Lyons delivered the following commencement address to CNR's class of 2005.
Introduction by Executive Associate Dean Barbara Allen-Diaz
Commencement address by Chief Oren Lyons
INTRODUCTION by Executive Associate Dean Barbara Allen-Diaz
It is a great pleasure for me to introduce Oren Lyons, our Commencement Speaker today. Oren Lyons is Faithkeeper and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Chief Lyons is Professor of American Studies at State University of New York at Buffalo.
We are honored today to have the opportunity to hear Chief Lyons speak. He was raised in the traditional lifeways of the Iroquois on the Seneca and Onondaga reservations in northern New York State. He served in the U.S. Army. He graduated from Syracuse University of Fine Arts where he immediately began a long career in commercial art and became a well known American Indian artist.
Since returning to the Onondaga in 1970, Professor Lyons has been a leading advocate for American Indian causes, both nationally and internationally. He has participated in meetings of indigenous peoples held in Geneva under the auspices of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations; he serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forums of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival; and he is a principal leader in the traditional Circle of Indian Elders which is a council of grassroots leadership of major Indian Nations of North America.
Chief Lyons has spoken widely about spirituality, environment, natural laws, human rights and the ethics of authority. He has received numerous honors and awards, including an honorary doctor of law from Syracuse University.
In addition, Chief Lyons has been a lifelong Lacrosse player, a game that was invented by the Iroquois people. He was All-American in Lacrosse and inducted into the Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 1993.
Oren Lyons perhaps has set the stage best of all for all of you graduating here today when he said, "When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them."
Please join me in welcoming Oren Lyons, professor and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation.
ADDRESS by Chief Oren Lyons
(Chief Lyons greeted the audience in his native language.)
I said thank you for being well. That’s our greeting. I am Onondaga, I am from the Haudenosaunee, called the Iroquois and I am also of the Family of the Wolf. And so I greet you. In my initial greetings, it is our protocol to extend our first greetings and respect to the original peoples of this land here: Pomos, Yuroks, and Chumash and others. They are the original landholders of where we stand and it is our protocol first to greet them and to honor them.
And my second greeting is to the Graduation Class of 2005, at this great university in the College of Natural Resources. My greetings to you and what you represent. You are like my grandchildren. (When you get to be my age, everybody is your grandchild.) So I greet you.
Then my next greetings are to the Chancellor of this University and to the Dean who has done so well, and to the faculty and staff and all of the visiting colleagues, and to these professors that work so hard for this particular day. This is our day as well as yours. It’s an accomplishment. You are like our children. We want to see you off. To all of my colleagues who are here, I extend my greetings to all of you and to your work. What is our work? Our work is instruction, our work is education, inclusively, large, inspired. And our work is to keep education a passion, as was mentioned by one of the student speakers. Passion, of course, is important and we don’t want to stifle that.
When the Haudesonauee meet, whether it is a large gathering or a small gathering, we have several greetings. I think it is apropos that I tell you what these greetings are. It begins with the people. When we meet, and these are called The Words Before All Words, we give these greetings. We say to all the people gathered, “We are grateful and happy to see you healthy and gathered here.†We also think about all of the people who are not here, who cannot be here for whatever reason, and then we think about the peoples of the world as they go about their business. And we think how wonderful this is. So we put our minds together as one, and we give a big thanksgiving for all the peoples of the world.
Then we look at Mother Earth and we say this is our mother and we give a big thanksgiving for our mother, with all our love, because that is what mothers gather: great love. And we look at Mother Earth and we think of how she supports us, helps us survive and keeps all life going. How wonderful, powerful, all enduring is our Mother the Earth and we give a thanksgiving for the earth itself.
And then we move to everything that grows on the earth, from the grasses to the medicines to the bushes. We think of all of this and what they do for the earth and how they support us. And we put our mind around the world and we try to see all of these places and we give a thanksgiving for all of the growing things of the earth.
Then we move to the trees, our grandfathers. I was so pleased that we came under the shade and shelter of these powerful elders that surround us here. These are our relations. Look how you gather in their shade, how you keep cool. Look how clean the air is and look about. These trees are listening. They hear what we have to say when we have a thanksgiving. They are listening. So we give a big thanksgiving for all of the trees of the world. We acknowledge their work and we acknowledge their leader which is the maple, the great chief of the trees.
Then we move on to everything that moves about and runs about in the forest with four legs. And we think about them and how they sustain us and how they are related to us and how we depend upon them, and how they have supported our life for so long and provided our identities. (I am a wolf.) We give thanksgiving for all of these 4-footed creatures for they sustain us and we are dependent.
And then we move to what lives in the trees and flies above—all of the birds. How powerful they are! How the song of a wren can lift our hearts when we’re down. They wake us in the morning, they plant seeds, they sing to us, they move about. They are messengers. And the leader, the great eagle, flies closest to the Creator and carries our word. We revere his feathers, we revere the hawks, we revere the hummingbird. These are our relatives and we give a big thanksgiving for them.
And then we move on to the waters of the earth, from the very beautiful springs to the seas. Anybody that has seen a spring and looked at that crystal-clear water and can see everything on the bottom knows it’s beautiful and pure. And that’s the way we want your minds to be, as pure as those crystal springs. Do not pollute your minds! Do not throw dirt into that spring. That’s your mind. Keep it clean. Keep it pure so that you can see. From those springs, we go on to thank the streams, the rivers, the lakes and the mighty oceans themselves, these great waters. The first law of life is water. We are water. We are born in water, we are water. Without it, there is no life. So we give a big thanksgiving as we put our minds together for all of the waters of the earth.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:19
23 May 2005
Conference: California Forest Futures 2005
Forests provide a wealth of public benefits - water, wildlife, wilderness, wood and a well-balanced climate. Yet, many in our state are unaware of how greatly we depend on forest goods and services. Even more are unaware of the dangers facing California's forests today. Losing more and more forests to development is a crisis of historic proportions we must work together to solve.
California Forest Futures 2005 is a two-day conference that will examine the forces dramatically re-shaping our forest landscapes and explore the strategies and actions necessary to secure an economic and ecologically rewarding future.
Topics include:
* making California's forest industry more competitive in a global market while simultaneously protecting forests
* adapting “smart growth†principles to lessen the impact of rural development
* developing new, ecological-based revenue streams from carbon sequestration, water flows and habitat
* expanding the use of working conservation easements to preserve the private forest infrastructure
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:10
02 June 2005
CWH now jointly administered by CNR and SPH
A recent celebration announced the partnership between the School of Public Health and the College of Natural Resources as co-directors over the Center for Weight and Health.
On Thursday, June 2, CNR Dean Paul Ludden and Stephen Shortell, dean of the School of Public Health, announced a new partnership between the schools to jointly administer UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health.
The Center for Weight and Health co-sponsors the largest nationwide conference on childhood obesity, the California Childhood Obesity Conference, and provides the most comprehensive resource on the subject though its extensive research.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:01
07 June 2005
Recent Awards
In case you missed May's CNR Awards Ceremony, you should know the college honored two friends with the CNR citation, and also recognized several staff and faculty.
* * *
Congratulations to Beth Boyer, Justin Brashares and Per Palsboll, all of whom recently received Junior Faculty Research Grants from the Committee on Research.
* * *
Andy Jackson received the Ruth Allen Award from the American Phytopathological Society for "outstanding, innovative research contributions."
* * *
Bob Buchanan was honored with the Stephen Hales Prize, the highest award of the American Society of Plant Biologists; he also recently received the highest award bestowed by his alma mater, Emory and Henry College.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:51
05 July 2005
Kent Daane named grape and raisin liaison
by Jeannette Warnert
Kent Daane, Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley, has been appointed the University’s research liaison with the California Raisin Marketing Board and the California Table Grape Commission effective July 1.
In this role, Daane consults with the commodities’ research advisory boards, which provide guidance on grant requests that have been submitted by researchers. The California Raisin Marketing Board disburses about $200,000 annually and the California Table Grape Commission disburses about $550,000 annually to fund research in the crops grown by their members. Daane’s work as research liaison will be in addition to his current duties.
Daane has studied pest control strategies for California crops since 1990 at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center in Fresno County. He and his research staff focus on the development of ecologically based pest management systems. Programs are developed to help farmers achieve economic success while farming using environmentally and socially sustainable practices.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:48
01 August 2005
Student Resource Center gets new computers
The College of Natural Resources’ Student Resource Center located in 260 Mulford recently acquired ten new computers, replacing older computers that did not meet University security standards.
The new computers not only meet security standards, but also provide faster and more powerful computing.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:40
22 August 2005
Cal Still No. 1 National Public University
by Michelle Maitre
Magazine ranks Berkeley top public university, 20th among all colleges in country
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY has again ranked as the nation's best public university in U.S. News and World Report's annual list of top colleges.
The magazine's "America's Best Colleges" rankings, released today, are based on a formula that includes graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, peer review and other factors. UC Berkeley has held the top public spot for several years, occasionally tying with the University of Virginia.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:37
05 September 2005
Jobs & Internships
Institute for International Public Policy: Sophomores
California Wilderness Coalition Policy Intern
Institute for International Public Policy (open to underrepresented minority)
The IIPP Fellowship program provides students with specially designed education and training experiences critical to entry and advancement in international affairs careers. Students are recruited from across the nation and apply as sophomores to participate in a multi-year sequence of summer policy institutes, study abroad, intensive language training, internships, and graduate study, complemented by career development services along the way. UNCFSP is aided in the student recruitment effort by its institutional partners and distinguished selection panels comprised of practitioners, academics, graduate school admissions directors, foundation executives, and IIPP alumni.
Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements: Sophomore student, enrolled full-time at four-year (baccalaureate) institution; U.S. citizen or permanent resident (documentary support required)
Minimum 3.2 grade point average (on 4.0-scale) Strong interest in international affairs
CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION
Job Announcement
JOB TITLE: Policy Intern
ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:32
30 September 2005
Networking 101: Students mix with alumni in environmental fields
Networking events can really help students with their career choices, and those who attended the Environmental Alumni & Students Mixer on Sept. 30 certainly got their share of information and resources.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:29
02 September 2009
Homecoming at CNR 2009
Come back to Cal on October 2-4! You can register online and then check out who's coming.
Be sure to check out these fascinating lectures by CNR professors:
Friday, October 2
"Evolutionary Biology of Fungi: Human Pathogens"
John Taylor, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology
9:30-10:30 am
Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall
Some fungi specialize as parasites of animals, including humans. Two such species, Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii, cause valley fever, a potentially fatal flu-like illness that mostly affects rural residents in the Southwest. This seminar will focus on how we have found genes that show evidence of natural selection and might be important to preventing or treating the disease.
"The Buzz on Bees: Why We Need Them for Our Health"
Claire Kremen, Associate Professor, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Bechtel Engineering Center Sibley Auditorium
2:00 - 3:00 pm
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:58
05 September 2008
Michael Rodriguez, MD, tackles health care disparities
When Michael Rodriguez replied to an ad for undergraduate research subjects, he had no idea it would be the beginning of his career as a medical researcher and physician. His intent had been to be a guinea pig, but Sharon Fleming, professor of nutritional sciences and toxicology, suggested he come aboard as a researcher instead. Rodriguez agreed to the higher-paying gig and went to work studying the effects of fiber on the digestive system. He ended up as a co-author on the resulting research paper. "I probably wouldn't be here without her," Rodriguez says.
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Posted by Cyril at 2:04
06 May 2009
NST Professor Wins Searle Scholars Award
Assistant Professor Danica Chen of Nutritional Science and Toxicology has won a 2009 Searle Scholars Award, one of 15 young professors nationwide.
The Searle research grant provides $100,000 per year for three years to promising assistant professors early in their careers.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 4:12
30 October 2008
Indonesian biodiversity grant, CNR toxicologist seeks to discover human health solutions in Indonesian biodiversity
University of California scientists have received a five-year, $4 million grant to study the biodiversity of fungi, bacteria, plants, insects and vertebrates on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a southeast Asian island threatened by the loss of biodiversity in its tropical forests.
An international team of collaborators will conduct biodiversity surveys, screen microbes and plants for applications to human health and energy needs, recommend strategies to conserve endangered species, and develop and encourage local conservation. The project is organized into six associate programs -- five led by UC Davis scientists while one program, focusing on discovery of human health solutions is being led by Len Bjeldanes, professor of toxicology at CNR.
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Posted by Cyril at 2:01
20 February 2009
Report Details Increasing Overweight and Obesity in California
Health and medical professionals have cited sobering statistics in recent years about the ever-increasing waistline of adults and children in the United States and the long-term impact carrying that extra weight will have on our collective health and economy.
The facts are staggering: nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese; 34 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight or obese. The increase in obesity - fueled by unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity - has led to a surge in diabetes during the last 20 years. Moreover, in California, some ethnic groups - Latinos, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans - are affected disproportionately. And if nothing is done to curtail the increasing rates of obesity in children, they will be the first generation of offspring who will not outlive their parents.
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Posted by Cyril at 6:27
13 January 2009
Mice without key enzyme eat without becoming obese
Researchers CNR have identified a new enzyme that plays a far more important role than expected in controlling the breakdown of fat. In a new study in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers report that mice that have had this enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet and losing a hormone that suppresses appetite.
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Posted by Cyril at 0:28
03 December 2008
Broccoli compound targets key enzyme in late-stage cancer
An anti-cancer compound found in broccoli and cabbage works by lowering the activity of an enzyme associated with rapidly advancing breast cancer, according to a study released in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Indole-3-carbinol, or I3C, is a chemical compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables and which is known to stop the growth of breast cancer cells. UC Berkeley researchers' discovery of how I3C works will help them modify the compound to improve its anti-cancer effects.
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Posted by Cyril at 3:11
19 December 2008
Three CNR faculty members named AAAS Fellows
Three faculty members at the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources have been named 2008 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society.
The researchers, along with eight others from UC Berkeley are among 486 new AAAS fellows to be named tomorrow in the Dec. 19 issue of the organization's journal, Science. The honor, bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, recognizes distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
With this announcement, UC Berkeley now boasts 216 AAAS fellows among its faculty.
The new fellows and their citations are:
Steven E. Brenner, associate professor of plant and microbial biology, for computational biology research in the area of protein and structure classification, service to professional societies, co-founding of PLoS Computational Biology, teaching and committee work.
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Posted by Cyril at 5:05
19 August 2008
Senior leadership changes at CNR
Several changes in CNR's senior leadership go into effect with the new semester.
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Posted by Cyril at 9:50
24 July 2008
Dr. Robert Nesheim, beloved friend of the College of Natural Resources, has died at 86
Dr. Robert O. Nesheim, a research and development executive in the food industry, past lecturer in the department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at UC Berkeley, and a beloved member of the College of Natural Resources community, died Saturday, July 19 at his home in Monterey, Calif. He was 86.
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Posted by Cyril at 9:55
10 July 2008
Genes could solve pollution mysteries
Researchers have for the first time identified environmental pollutants by looking at the genes of a small, freshwater crustacean. This new gene-based technique could lead to better and faster lab tests for pinpointing pollutants in contaminated ecosystems.
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Posted by Cyril at 9:14
24 August 2007
Adjunct NST prof honored by American Chemical Society
Adjunct professor of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology Elizabeth C. Theil has been awarded the 2008 Francis P. Garvan- John M. Olin Medal by the American Chemistry Society.
The award recognizes distinguished service to chemistry by women chemists, and was established in 1936 through a donation from Francis P. Garvan and has been supported by a fund set up at that time. The award was sponsored by W. R. Grace and Co. from 1979 to 1983. The Olin Corp.began sponsoring the award in 1984.
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Posted by Cyril at 5:12
20 August 2007
Compound in broccoli could boost immune system, says new study
A compound found in broccoli and related vegetables may have more health-boosting tricks up its sleeves, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Posted by Cyril at 6:09
20 July 2007
Preventing obesity: What should we eat?
Reports in the press related to diet and nutrition are often conflicting -- and can easily confuse than clarify the issue of what people should eat to prevent obesity.
Researchers at the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health recently conducted a comprehensive review of the literature published between 1992 and 2003 on the dietary determinants of obesity in children
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Posted by Cyril at 1:30
20 July 2007
Teaming up helps bring down childhood overweight
The statistics are alarming: the prevalence of overweight children has tripled over the last 30 years, and now affects one in six school-aged children nationwide. But while the problem is plain to see, the remedy has been elusive. Recent studies by UC researchers and others reveal that the rise in childhood obesity is rooted in fundamental social changes, explaining why this epidemic is so hard to control as well as bringing us closer to a solution.“We used to think the primary cause was parenting, then we thought it was genetic,†says Pat Crawford, co-director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health. “But neither could explain the rapid increase in childhood obesity — we found that a significant fraction is environmental.â€
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Posted by Cyril at 1:07
20 May 2007
Commencement address by Dr. Florence Wambugu, CEO, Africa Harvest
Graduation day is a significant and memorable event in one's life time. It marks a transition from one phase of life to another. It is, therefore, an immense privilege for me to be here today, to celebrate with you this significant day for the graduands, faculty, administration and parents.
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Posted by Cyril at 2:00
17 May 2007
Nancy Amy, Kathleen Ryan honored with College Distinguished Teaching Award
Two of CNR's finest teachers -- one known for teaching the largest lecture on campus, the other for recently creating one of Berkeley's most intimate courses -- have been named the recipients of the College of Natural Resources 2007 Distinguished Teaching Award.
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Posted by Cyril at 5:43
17 May 2007
J. Keith Gilless named Interim Dean
Professor J. Keith Gilless has been appointed interim dean of the College of Natural Resources effective July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Gilless joined the faculty in1983 and is professor of Forest Economics and Management jointly in the departments of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and of Agricultural and Resource Economics. He is currently serving as the executive associate dean of the College and will succeed Dean Paul Ludden, who has accepted the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at Southern Methodist University.
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Posted by Cyril at 9:58
07 May 2007
University Medal Finalist Betty Sousa
This year, CNR student Betty Sousa was one of four finalists for the University Medal.
Betty Sousa: Making the connection between public health and the environment
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Posted by Cyril at 5:55
25 January 2007
Atkins Foundation pledges $10 million to Center for Weight and Health
The Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation has pledged $10 million to the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley, to support nutrition research and obesity prevention programs.
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Posted by Cyril at 5:15
17 January 2007
Across the board, CNR doctoral programs ranked among the top
The faculty of each of CNR's departments have been ranked among the top 5 in their fields, according to a new "Scholarly Productivity Index," with the Plant Biology program ranked #1 in the nation.
The rankings, assessed by the private company Academic Analytics, are based on measurements of faculty productivity in terms of publications, federal-grant dollars awarded, and honors and awards.
Data from the 2005 rankings -- which are not without their share of controversy -- were published and explained in depth in The Chronicle of Higher Education (available by subscription here).
UC Berkeley doctoral programs from within CNR received impressive rankings:
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Posted by Cyril at 1:30
22 December 2006
Solved: Structure of Iron Regulatory Protein-RNA Complex
A new understanding of the structure and properties of a protein responsible for regulating iron as it binds its target RNA has yielded some surprises.
The study is the first to show that partial copies of DNA called mRNA (or messenger RNA) morph into specific, three-dimensional shapes when combined with a protein regulator called IRP1. This discovery is important to researchers who design medications based on the specific characteristics of a disease.
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Posted by Cyril at 3:56
20 December 2006
New study shows promise of genomics in monitoring environmental toxicology
A new study led by researchers from the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology identifies specific gene expression changes in a species of water flea in response to contaminants, lending new support for the role of toxicogenomics in environmental monitoring.
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Posted by Cyril at 9:57
09 October 2006
Biochemical Moving Pictures: Homecoming Podcast
On Homecoming weekend, Professor Marc Hellerstein presented major themes of his current research in nutritional sciences, including working with complex systems, promising research in ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease), and harnessing the health benefits of caloric restriction and exercise.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:32
19 July 2006
Child diets don't fight obesity
Dieting, particularly in adolescence, can be counterproductive.
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Posted by Cyril at 6:38
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