Change to EBIO 213 for Fall 2012
EBIO 213 will begin at the start of the semester and end with Centennial Cellebration Days for the Fall 2012 semester
Luay Nakhleh wins Guggenheim Fellowship
Nakhleh, associate professor of computer science, ecology and evolutionary biology, and biochemistry and cell biology, was one of two recipients in the Guggenheim category of organismic biology and ecology. The award will help further his research into new methodologies and software to study the history of both specific genes and entire genomes. more info
Ford Foundation Fellowships
EEB graduate student Christopher Roy received one of the approximately 60 predoctoral fellowships awarded by the Ford Foundation. These fellowships provide three years of support for individuals engaged in graduate study leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree.
Juli Carrillo received Honorable Mention for one of the approximately 35 Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. The dissertation fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a dissertation leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree.
Awards are made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
EEB Students awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Rice undergraduates Kelsy Rule and Carolina Simao and incoming graduate student Andrew Bibian all were awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, while current graduate student Michelle Sneck received honorable mention. The National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.
Ben VanAllen awarded Research Grant
Graduate student Ben VanAllen has been awarded a Conchologists of America Research Grant. Since the inception of the program in June, 1985, the COA has awarded over $140,290.00 in grants in the field of malacology. Individual grants range between $1,000 and $1,500 per project.
Juli Carrillo recieves AAUW Education Grant
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has a long and distinguished history of advancing educational and professional opportunities for women in the United States and around the globe. Fellowship and grant recipients perform research in a wide range of disciplines and work to improve their schools and communities. Their intellect, dedication, imagination, and effort promise to forge new paths in scholarship, improve the quality of life for all, and tackle the educational and social barriers facing women in the United States and around the globe.
Kohn quoted in Pest Control Technology
House mice in Germany and Spain have acquired resistance to a group of widely used rodent poisons through hybridization with a different species. Michael Kohn, associate professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is quoted.
Pest Control Technology
Nick Rasmussen receives NSF Grant
For the fourth year in a row an EEB Graduate student has received a NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG). Nick Rassmussen will use the funding to further examine the implications of phenological timing for species interaction and more specifically the mechanisms underlying seasonal community dynamics.
chris Dibble and Nick Rasmussen recieve Honorable mention for American Society of Naturalists Student Research Award
The American Society of Naturalists ASN Student Research Award supports research by student members that advances the goals of the society.
Maria Meza-Lopez has winning Ecology poster
Maria's poster, "Exotic herbivory limits plants while nutrients increase herbivore size" received first place for poster presentation in Ecology at the 2012 Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) February 23-25 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Savage wins 2011 OTS Outstanding Student Paper Award
“Traitmediated indirect interactions in invasions: unique behavioral responses of an invasive ant to plant nectar” by Amy Savage and Ken Whitney, has been selected as the winner of the 2011 Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) Outstanding Student Paper Award. Amy has also been ask to give a research seminar on this work at the 2012 OTS Meeting March 9-10 at the La Selva Research Station in Costa Rica.
Liu recieves Keck Center Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Liu for receiving a Keck Center fellowship; NLM Training Program in Biomedical Informatics. He will be in the labs of Luay Nakhleh (primary mentor, Rice Computer Sciences) and (Michael Kohn, (secondary mentor, Rice EEB) as a postdoctoral fellow.
Onja Razafindratsima's poster named best student poster at 2011 TABA Conference
Dunham Lab graduate student Onja Razafindratsima's poster, "Influence of Frugivorous Lemurs on the Germination and Survival of Their Host-Plants", was named best student poster at the annual meeting of the Texas Association of Biological Anthropologists, November 4-5, 2011 at Baylor University, Waco, TX
Ching-Hua Shih's Receives Best Poster Award
Kohn lab graduate student Ching-Hua Shih's poster "Hybridization between rhesus and cynomolgus macaques inferred from analyses of published genomic resources", C-H Shih and MH Kohn, received the best poster award at the 34th annual meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, Sept 16-19 2011, Austin, TX.
Rice research clears Ben Franklin of blame for Chinese tallow invasion
Genetic tests on Chinese tallow trees from the United States and China prove the statesman did not import the tallows overrunning habitats along the Gulf Coast. Rice University's Evan Siemann, co-author of a study in the July issue of the American Journal of Botany, says descendants of Franklin's trees remain in a few thousand square miles of coastal plain in northern Georgia and southern South Carolina. The majority of troublemakers are linked to seeds brought to this country by federal biologists in the early 1900s.
Kohn Lab paper garners much press
Research by the Kohn lab, reported in the online journal Current Biology, analyzes a genetic mutation that has given the ordinary European house mouse resistance to common poison. Thier work demonstrates how hybridization can occur naturally among animals, yielding non-sterile individuals with beneficial attributes. In this case, the result is a mouse that is resistant to warfarin, a toxic and, usually, deadly ingredient in many rodent poisons. The results were discussed on several sites including Science, Science News, Discovery News, and more. (read the paper)
Texas ants cultivate cold-hardy fungus
PNAS paper co-authored by Scott Solomon featured in Futurity
Graduate Students Receiving Grants and Fellowships in 2011
For the third year in a row an EEB graduate student has been awarded a NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG).
This year's recipiant is Juli Carrillo.
Lukas Bell-Dereske and Maria Meza-Lopez have been named recipients of NSF Predoctoral Fellowships. Maria was also awarded an EPA STAR Fellowship.
Onja Razafindratsima was awarded the prestigeous Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Fellowships and a second year Leaky Foundation Baldwin Fellowship
Whitney paper featured in Nature Research Highlights
The paper published in the PloS Genetics "Did Genetic Drift Drive Increases in Genome Complexity?" by Whitney and Garland was highlighted in the Sepetember 9 issue of Nature in the Research Highlights section. In the paper the authors found after reanalyzing the data found no clear link between populaiton size and genome size. Read the article.
Ye jin Kang named Rhodes Scholar
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Major Ye Jin Kang was one of 32 Americans who was named a Rhodes Scholar in 2011. Kang, who was one of two awardees selected from 14 finalists in the district that includes Texas, will spend two years at Oxford. She plans to earn two Master of Science degrees — one in global health science and one in global governance and diplomacy. (more info)
Nik Putnam co-author of Nature paper presenting the draft genome sequence of Amphimedon queenslandica.
This paper reports and analyses the draft genome sequence of the demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Sponges lie on the earliest branching lineage in the animal kingdom and thus have been important in studies of the origins of multicellularity. Comparative genomic analyses presented here provide significant insights into evolutionary origins of genes and pathways related to the hallmarks of metazoan multicellularity and to cancer biology. Read the paper.
Nik Putnam's lab acquires desktop gene sequencer
A high-tech wonder in Rice's Putnam Lab will give the university a new foothold in basic genome research. A desktop gene sequencer will allow Rice researchers to decode long sequences of DNA extracted from cells. (more info)
Dunham research featured on cover of Global Change Biology
Amy Dunham's research featured in NSF Science 360
Research by Amy Dunham, a Rice assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, detailed for the first time a direct correlation between the frequency of El Niño and a threat to life in Madagascar, a tropical island that acts as a refuge for many unique species that exist nowhere else in the world. The study in the journal Global Change Biology is currently available online and will be included in an upcoming print issue.
Nicholas Putnam co-author of Science paper on Xenopus tropicalis
The western clawed frog Xenopus tropicalis is an important model for vertebrate development that combines experimental advantages of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis with more tractable genetics.This paper present a draft genome sequence assembly of X. tropicalis.
Read the paper.
Nicholas Putnam co-author on Hydra sequence paper published in Nature
The genome of the fresh water polyp Hydra, which has played a key role as a model organism in modern evolutionary and developmental biology, has been sequenced by an international consortium which included Dr. Nicholas Putnam. The resulting paper has been published in the journal Nature. Read the paper.
Graduate Students Receive Grants and Fellowships
Congratulations to the following graduate students on being named to receive the following grants and fellowships:
Jeff Ahern - NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG)
Debbie Brock - NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG)
Onja Razafindratsima - has been awarded a prestigious Franklin Baldwin Fellowship from the Louis Leakey Foundation. Only about 2 awards are made each year from an international pool of applicants for graduate work in physical anthropology. Onja has also been selected as an International Peace Fellow by the Philanthropic Educational Organization which provides scholarships for promising international women to pursue graduate study in the United States and Canada. Onja is also the recipient of grants from the Explorer's Club of America, Primate Society of Great Britain, and Primate Conservation International to support her research on seed dispersal by lemurs in the southeatern rainforest of Madagascar.
Maria Meza-Lopez - Ford Fellowship
Scott Chamberlain - Vaughan Fellowship
Rudgers research feature in Nature News and Views
The paper published in the Journal of Applied Ecology "Managing plant symbiosis: fungal endophyte genotype alters plant community composition" by Rudgers et.al. was highlighted in the March 10 issue of Nature in the News and Views section. Read the article.
Anthony Moore accepted at Duke University
Former labmember, EEB major, and Rice 2009 graduate, Anthony Moore has been accepted into the PhD program at Duke University. Anthony was a recipient of a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and parts of his honors thesis are currently in preperation for publication.
Paper by Kohn et al recieves Artery Research Best Paper Award for 2009
A cardiovascular phenotype in warfarin-resistant Vkorc1 mutant rats by Michael H Kohn, Roger Price, and Hans-Joachim Pelz recieved the Artery Research Best Paper Award 2009 at the Artery 9 meeting which was held at Queens’ College, Cambridge, UK, 10-12 September 2009.
Joan Strassmann and David Queller are co-authors on paper published in Nature
In work appearing today in the October 1st issue of Nature, Rice evolutionary biologists Joan Strassmann and David Queller join forces with BCM geneticist Gad Shaulsky to determine how altruistic mutants help preserve cooperative behavior by single-celled amoebas. Read the paper.
Putnam Awarded Beckman Award and NSF American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant
Nicholas Putnam, Assistant Professor. has recieved a 2009 Beckman Young Investigaotrs Award from the Arnold and Mable Beckman Foundation. The Beckman Young Investigators (BYI) Program is intended to provide research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers in the chemical and life sciences
The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation makes grants to non-profit research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.
Nik has also recieved a NSF grant for nearly $1 millon to create genome-analysis tools under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. More Info
Tom Miller wins 2009 American Naturalist Student Paper Award
Thomas E. X. Miller is the recipient of the inaugural 2009 American Naturalist Student Paper Award for his contribution, “Herbivore-mediated ecological costs of reproduction shape the life history of an iteroparous plant” (T. E. X. Miller, B. Tenhumberg, and S. M. Louda, American Naturalist [2008] 171:141–149).
New theory on why male, female lemurs same size offered by Amy Dunham
In a paper featured on the cover of this month's Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Dunham offers one of the first new theories on lemur monomorphism in more than a decade. Read more about the find
This paper was also highlighted in Rice News.
Whitney project recieves Rice Faculty Intiatives Funding
Kenneth Whitney, assistant professor in ecology and evolutionary biology, and Michael Covington, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, are studying seed-to-seed chemical signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. The newly discovered process involving the small, flowering plant has implications for evolutionary ecology and molecular mechanisms.
Owen Gilbert's finding featured in the NY Times
Texas can now boast what may be its most bizarre and undoubtedly its slimiest topper yet: the world’s largest known colony of clonal amoebas. Read more about the find
Joan Strassmann elected President of the Animal Behavior Society
PLoS Biology paper featured online
The recent paper published in PLoS Biology, Kin Discrimination Increases with Genetic Distance in a Social Amoeba by Ostrowski, Katoh, Shaulsky, Queller and Strassmann was recently featured online at both MSNBC and Science Daily.
James Coleman’s study of ecosystem carbon dioxide published in Nature
Dr. James Coleman is co-author on a paper published in the September 18 issue of the journal Nature. Their findings suggest that more frequent anomalously warm years may lead to a sustained decrease in carbon dioxide uptake by terrestrial ecosystems.
Nicholas Putnam’s study of Trichoplax genes published in Nature
Dr. Nicholas Putnam co-authored a study published in the journal Nature that breaks down the genetic code of the Trichoplax, a simple saltwater creature one might find anywhere in the world, even in the common household aquarium.
Read the RiceNews article
Lesley Campbell - Teaching with Technology webcast
Dr. Lesley Campbell explains how she uses OWL-Space CCM as part of her teaching, but also to promote collaboration and gather research data along with her students. This presentation is part of the Teaching with Technology Brown Bag series. Watch the webcast
EEB articles in Rice News
Carina Baskett receives Arbor Day Award from Trees of Houston
In amoeba world, cheating doesn't pay
Michael Kohn finds rodents immune to poison provide clues to medical mystery
Rice graduate student Chandra Jack choreographs cross-species cellular ballet
Ron Sass honored for his role in Nobel Prize-winning research on global warming
EEB undergraduates pair up on two peer-reviewed articles
Microbial cheaters help scientists ID social genes - Strassmann / Queller Lab
Animal Behavior Seminar for Bellaire Students
Owen Gilbert, Strassmann/Queller Lab
Animal Behavior and Evolution Day at Rice for Bellaire High School students
On Saturday morning, November 10th, the Rice students in Biosciences 321, Animal Behavior, hosted over 80 students from Ms. Loonam's AP Biology II class at Bellaire High School.