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Return to Table of Contents
Promotions and Appointments
The MBL Science Council recently approved the promotion of Ecosystems Center researcher Chris Neill to Associate Scientist
Chris Neill received his B.S. from Cornell University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He joined the staff of The Ecosystems Center in 1991 as a postdoctoral scientist. He was promoted to assistant scientist in May 1997. Neill’s research focuses on understanding how changes in land use and other human activities alter the structure of ecosystems and the ways that nutrients cycle in soils and move to adjacent water bodies. He has been working in the Brazilian Amazon since 1992, where he investigates how deforestation alters the emissions of greenhouse gases from soils and how deforestation of upland forests affects the ecology of small Amazonian streams and rivers.
In coastal Massachusetts, Neill recently began a study that investigates how different methods of land clearing and prescribed fire can be used to recreate rapidly disappearing coastal shrubland and grassland communities on Martha’s Vineyard. This study examines how these conservation management strategies influence water balance, the ability of ecosystems to retain nitrogen, and the movement of nitrogen through shallow groundwater into adjacent coastal bays.
The Biological Bulletin Welcomes
New Editor
In January, The Biological Bulletin will welcome its new editor-in-chief, James L. Olds. The director of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, Olds has had close MBL ties since 1978. He reports for duty in January and will serve a five-year, renewable term at The Bulletin. MBL president John Dowling conducted the search to fill the post.
“Dr. Olds brings a wealth of experience in administration, scientific research, and publishing to his editorship,” says William T. Speck, MBL director and CEO.
After graduating from Amherst College and obtaining his Ph.D. in neurosciences from the University of Michigan, Olds served as a staff fellow, project officer, and later senior staff fellow at the NINDS/NIH. He was executive director of the American Association of Anatomists from 1995 to 1998, where he oversaw the management of that society’s journal, The Anatomical Record. He has been the director of the Krasnow Institute since 1998.
A neurobiologist whose research examines the role of neurons in learning and memory, Olds first came to the MBL after college to participate in the “Year in Science Program.” He was elected to the MBL Corporation in 1991 and served on a special editorial board of The Bulletin in 1992. He was also a member of the computer advisory committee from 1991 through 2002. In 1994, Olds led a team of MBL summer investigators in the first-ever imaging of the memory-related protein, protein kinase c, in live fertilized sea urchin eggs. The team used laser-scanning confocal microscopy to capture the image.
Olds uses neuroimaging technology to image and simulate the machinery that permits neurons and neuronal assemblies to store and recall memories, both under normal and diseased conditions. He shares two U.S. patents for cutting-edge neuroimaging devices and hopes to eventually develop imaging techniques that will reveal the three-dimensional structure and maps of memory function in both animal and human brains in near real-time.
“We are delighted that Dr. Olds has agreed to be The Bulletin’s tenth editor,” says Speck. “We searched extensively to find the right blend of scientist and editor, and Olds seems perfect for the job.”
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