CNR Environmental Science Major Awarded Fulbright Scholarship
Senior Environmental Science major Daniel Song was watching the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament when he found the thick manila envelope addressed to him from the Fulbright Foundation.
“My heart skipped a beat,” he said. “I think it suffices to say I was ecstatic.”
Song, whose research has previously taken him to the Gump Station on Moorea, Cyprus, Turkey, and Washington D.C., will be spending a year as a Fulbright Scholar studying plants and bees on a Greek Island. The project is an extension of work he did last summer on the relationship between pollinators and a pesky species called the Yellow Star Thistle that has invaded California.
“Essentially I’ll be sitting outside in a thicket of thorny Yellow Star Thistle observing beetles, flies, bumble bees, solitary bees, and honeybees take sweet nectar from the flowers,” he said.
CNR Student Receives Environmental Leadership Award
By Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley Media Relations
A UC Berkeley student is among six young North American environmental leaders to win a 2007 Brower Youth Award for her work in boosting funding for environmental sustainability on the UC Berkeley campus.
Rachel Barge, 21, a junior majoring in conservation and resource studies and minoring in forestry, has been honored for spearheading such campus projects as The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), which finances clean energy and transportation, water conservation and improved recycling and composting programs.
In DC, we got the chance to meet many professionals who are involved in a broad range of environmental work—from someone at the World Bank to someone who works at Capitol Hill.
I loved the leadership training that we received in Washington DC. It really changed my life in that I realized what my strengths are and what I want to do in my future career. I finally accepted that you don't have to be a scientist to participate in conservation efforts. I fully realized my deep interest in green business and entrepreneurship and I now know that's where I want to put my energy and time.
Forestry Student’s Senior Project Applies New Technology to Old Data
John Dingman’s three-ring binder for his senior honors project overflows with data ranging from topographic maps to digital elevation models to tree cores. Dingman, a senior forestry major at CNR, spent the summer of 2006 trekking through Mount Diablo State Park to collect firsthand data for his project on vegetation type mapping using GIS.
Although hiking from sunup to sundown through ticks and scrub was often exhausting, Dingman talks about his research with a familiarity and enthusiasm that stems from a sense of personal accomplishment. He says, “I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed working on this project. I appreciated the time I spent outside collecting the data and analyzing the data to develop my own algorithms to reduce GIS spatial error.”His project is part of a unique CNR program called Sponsored Projects for Undergraduate Research, or SPUR Dingman says SPUR was a positive experience because, “it allowed me as an undergraduate to design a research project, and apply my knowledge to study vegetation change.” Through SPUR, Dingman worked with Professor Maggi Kelly of the Kelly Research and Outreach Lab to develop his plan and research methods.
"Young Bear" Mayra Ceja honored for service to her community
Mayra Ceja, a senior environmental economics major, has had a busy four years at Cal.
As well as being a full time student, she has worked at the College of Natural Resources since her freshman year, founded the Phi Nu Xi Sorority, volunteered for CalSo and the “fresh faces” student blog, and spent ten to fifteen hours per week working to help under-served high school students get into college.
This month, Mayra's dedication is being rewarded with the Young Bear award. Established in 1979, the Young Bear award recognizes exceptional achievement in community service.
Undergrad Subhajit Poddar researches genetics of green algae
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.
Undergrad Matt Stuckey uses DNA to understand butterfly evolution in the Sierra
Matthew Stuckey, fourth year in Environmental Economics and Policy and Conservation Resource Studies, is researching how the butterfly Colias behrii colonized the Sierra Nevada.
Through mentorship with Professor George Roderick and graduate student Sean Schoville, Stuckey has been working on cloning nuclear genes to assess genetic variation within and among populations of C. behrii.
Roderick’s team is using genetics to understand how organisms have colonized new areas. SPUR funds have helped provide chemicals and lab supplies necessary for molecular cloning – a technique essential for Stukey’s research.
The SPUR program also benefits the mentors who work closely with undergraduates on their research. For Schoville, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, having Stuckey's help has been a huge benefit. “These undergraduates are some of the brightest students,” he says. “Working with them gives me a great opportunity to see their minds grow and mature.”
Undergrad Laura Lagomarsino maps ancestral relationships using genetics
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.”
Although hiking from sunup to sundown through ticks and scrub was often exhausting, Dingman talks about his research with a familiarity and enthusiasm that stems from a sense of personal accomplishment. He says, “I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed working on this project. I appreciated the time I spent outside collecting the data and analyzing the data to develop my own algorithms to reduce GIS spatial error.”His project is part of a unique CNR program called 
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.
Matthew Stuckey, fourth year in Environmental Economics and Policy and Conservation Resource Studies, is researching how the butterfly Colias behrii colonized the Sierra Nevada.
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,