Professor Tasios Melis is unlocking the chemical power of green algae to create clean hydrogen fuel that eliminates air-polluting fossil fuels in its production. Check out "Power of Green," a segment from Fueling America, the latest episode of USDA CSREES video magazine.
Donald Robert Kaplan, professor emeritus of plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and an influential expert on the development of the diverse forms and shapes of plants, has died at the age of 69.
Continue reading "Donald Kaplan, expert on plant shapes and forms, dies at 69" »
Peggy Lemaux, professor of Plant and Microbial Biology and cooperative extension specialist, has been selected to be a 2007 Crop Science Society of America fellow.
Continue reading "Professor Lemaux Awarded Crop Science Fellowship" »
A personal DNA sequence
is not yet practically useful.
But it could be, argues Prof. Steven Brenner, if we had the right resources.
Brenner calls for the establishment of "a public knowledgebase of human genetic variation and its effect, culled from databases, diagnostic laboratories, and the scientific literature."
Two CNR faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Robert L. Fischer, professor of plant and microbial biology, was recognized "for distinguished contributions to the study of epigenetic processes through pioneering work on plant gene imprinting, DNA demethylation and Polycomb group proteins."
Richard B. Norgaard, professor of agricultural and resource economics and of energy and resources, was recognized "for path-breaking contributions to environmental and ecological economics and for improving the scientific content of public and policy discourse on sustainability and the future."
In all, there were 10 fellows from UC Berkeley among the 471 academics honored in 2007 "for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications."
Continue reading "Two CNR Scientists named fellows of AAAS" »
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has named CNR’s Arash Komeili one of 20 new promising scientific researchers as a 2007 recipient of Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering. He will receive an unrestricted research grant of $625,000 over five years.
Komeili, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, is being honored for his work in elucidating the molecular mechanisms behind the formation of nanometer-sized magnetite crystals within the magnetosome organelles of magnetotactic bacteria.
Continue reading "PMB Assistant Professor Awarded Packard Fellowship" »
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.
Congratulations to all of you!
Continue reading "Commencement address by Dr. Florence Wambugu, CEO, Africa Harvest" »
Continue reading "Nancy Amy, Kathleen Ryan honored with College Distinguished Teaching Award" »
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.
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:
Agricultural economics - 3
Botany and plant biology - 1
Microbiology - 3
Nutrition - 3
Toxicology - 2
Environmental Science - 4
A full list of UC Berkeley rankings is here.
Growing genetically engineered (GE) crops in the United States continues to stir debate, but some University of California scientists believe attention should now be focused on how farmers opposed to the technology and those in favor of it can step back from the controversy and successfully produce and market their crops in the way they personally see fit.
Continue reading "Is peaceful coexistence with biotechnology possible?" »
Until he met the slimy green algae called Chlamydomonas, undergraduate Subhajit Poddar didn’t know he was interested in plant biology. “Once I began working with mutant strains of algae, I was totally hooked,” he says.
Poddar, fourth year in Plant and Microbial Biology, studies the green algae Chlamydomonas under the mentorship of Professor Krishna Niyogi. His research has focused on identifying and cloning genes responsible for two compounds involved in photosynthesis.
Using genetics as a novel tool to understand physiology, Niyogi and his team are isolating genes that are important in determining plant responses to stress and high light conditions. SPUR funds have helped Poddar purchase essential lab equipment necessary to maintain laboratory populations of Chlamydomonas.
Undergraduate research through SPUR is funded entirely by donations to the Berkeley Fund for Natural Resources -- and gifts are accepted online here.
Lagomarsino, third year in Plant Biology, is using nuclear and chloroplast genes to develop a phylogeny, or map of ancestral relationships between species of the genus Heliconia, a tropical plant. Her mentor, Assistant Professor Chelsea Specht in the department of Plant and Microbial Biology, uses molecular and evolutionary biology to understand lineages of related plants.
SPUR funding has allowed Specht to provide Lagomarsino with necessary laboratory materials to expand her research.
The SPUR program offers students a unique opportunity to develop as scientists with a level of independence that has often been reserved for graduate students. Not only does this help make Berkeley students more competitive, it develops of the kind of creative thinking skills so essential to the success of any scientist. “You learn all the techniques” says Lagomarsino, “But then you are also given a certain amount of freedom, and your thoughts are valued.”
For Lagomarsino, research in plant and molecular biology has also given her academic career a clear direction. “Now, I know exactly what I want to do and what I want to study.”
Aurora BioFuels, an alternative energy company based on technology developed by microbial biology professor and hydrogen fuel pioneer Tasios Melis, won both first prize and the People's Choice Award in the eighth annual UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition, held on April 27 at the Haas School of Business.
Continue reading "Aurora BioFuels Takes Top Prize in the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition" »
