Monthly Archives: January 2013

Congratulations to Ryan Kelly, 2012 winner of the Deevey award from the Ecological Society of America.

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Ryan Kelly, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois, is the winner of the 2012 Deevey award for his presentation: “Pushing the limits of the boreal-forest fire regime: recent changes in a 10,000 year context.” His presentation was coauthored by Melissa Chipman, Philip E. Higuera, Linda B. Brubaker, and Feng Sheng Hu.

His research reconstructed 10,000 years of boreal-forest fire history from analysis of macroscopic charcoal accumulation in sediment cores from Alaska. He presented evidence that the boreal fire regime has been changing through fuel depletion. Mr. Kelly completed a Bachelor of Science in Integrative Biology from the University of Illinois in 2005.

Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/full/10.1890/0012-9623-94.1.35

IGERT Students in Panama

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Hello everyone,

We are first-year Ph. D. students at the University of Illinois in the School of Integrative Biology. Our interests range from pollen and plants to bees and birds. We are spending our spring 2013 semester in Panama thanks to NSF-IGERT VInTG fellowships (National Science Foundation, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship: Vertically Integrated Training with Genomics). This fellowship gives us a chance to spend time outside of a laboratory and learn more about how organisms interact in the field. According to the IGERT website, “Our goal is to produce a new generation of biologists with novel training that provides a modern blend of genome-enabled biology and taxon-centered expertise, with specific emphasis on how the genome and the environment interact to give rise to diversity.”

The program in Panama is in two parts. For the first month, we are taking a tropical biology course that involves a series of seminars and field trips to various Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) research stations. After the course, we will all be conducting our own individual research projects  at STRI, and you can follow our progress at our blog webpage! http://igertstriillinois.wordpress.com/

Written by Kelsey Witt, edited by Cassie Wesseln (IGERT VinTG Fellows)

Summer undergraduate research fellowships

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Developing Drought Tolerant Biofuel Grasses

Dr Leakey (www.life.illinois.edu/leakey/) has multiple fellowship positions in his research group available for summer 2013. The positions are for a minimum of 10 weeks of full-time work paid at $10 per hour. Participants will work with a team of post-docs and graduate students studying the genetic basis for drought tolerance in the new model C4 grass setaria. The project is funded for $12.1 million by the Department of Energy and provides a unique training opportunity encompassing genomic, biochemical and physiological analyses in the field. Interested students should e-mail Melinda Laborg (laborg@illinois.edu) expressing their interest and attach a brief CV before the deadline of Feb 1 2013.

Developing Stress Tolerant Corn

Dr Ainsworth (www.life.illinois.edu/ainsworth/), Dr Leakey (www.life.illinois.edu/leakey/) and Dr Brown (http://cropsci.illinois.edu/directory/pjb34) have multiple fellowship positions in their research team available for summer 2013. The positions are for a minimum of 10 weeks of full-time work paid at $10 per hour. Participants will work with a team of post-docs and graduate students studying the genetic and genomic basis for oxidative stress tolerance in maize. The project is funded for $5.7 million by the National Science Foundation and provides a unique training opportunity encompassing genomic, biochemical and physiological analyses in the field. Interested students should e-mail Melinda Laborg (laborg@illinois.edu) expressing their interest and attach a brief CV before the deadline of Feb 1 2013.

Illinois lecturer selected to examine child survival issues in India with the International Reporting Project

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The International Reporting Project (IRP) has selected ten innovative journalists and new media experts from around the world to participate in a ten-day trip to India. Joanne Manaster, Lecturer for the School of Integrative Biology, is among those selected. The new media journalists will meet with a wide range of Indians and explore issues of child survival in India. Among the topics they will examine are the development of vaccines, child malnutrition, tuberculosis, polio, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, access to clean water and hygiene, privatization of health care and its affect on child survival, and the impact of agricultural and rural development on child survival.

Check out Joanne’s blog posting at Scientific American!

Insect Fear Film Fest T-Shirt Design Contest

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This is being sent on behalf of Michelle Duennes

Hello Everyone,

EGSA is officially announcing the T-Shirt Design Contest for The 30th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival! The theme this year is: “The InsX-Files: The Truth (about insects) Is Out There” because creator/director/producer of The X-Files, Chris Carter, will be a special guest this year! We’ll being showing two episodes of The X-Files TV show and the feature film will be “The X–Files: Fight the Future.”

Designs are due to Audra Weinstein in 320 Morrill Hall by 5pm on Friday, January 25th and voting will be from Jan 28-Feb 1. The winner receives a $50 cash prize and their design will be immortalized at the IFFF30 T-shirt!

Below are a few rules and guidelines for the contest. Please spread the word about IFFF (#IFFF30 on Twitter, via Facebook, etc.)!

“The InsX-Files: The Truth (about insects) Is Out There”
IFFF T-Shirt Design Contest Rules and Guidelines:
1. “Insect Fear Film Festival” must be present in the design.
2. The number of the festival (30) must be present in the design.
3. The date of the festival (February 23rd, 2013) must be present in the design (this can be in any notation).
5. The theme of the festival, “The InsX-Files: The Truth (about insects) Is Out There,” must be present in the design.
6. NO weapons (guns, knives, bombs, etc.) can be present in the design.
7. The design can contain a MAXIMUM of three colors (not including the T-shirt color/background).

Here is a link to winning designs from previous years for inspiration.

Below are links to the shirts we order every year, and the color choices. Instead of letting the designer of the winning T-shirt pick the colors after the contest, we’ve decided to present you with the available colors beforehand so you can pick them as you design and so you can incorporate the “background” color into your submission.
Please pick a color(s) that can be found in each of the different styles (or something very similar).

Short-Sleeved
Women’s Cut
Long-Sleeved
Youth