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News Briefs
MBL Scientists Promoted
The MBL Science Council recently approved the promotion of three MBL scientists. We congratulate Joseph Vallino of The Ecosystems Center who was promoted to Associate Scientist; Hilary Morrison of the The Josephine Bay Paul Center in Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution who was promoted to Associate Research Scientist; and James McClelland, also of The Ecosystems Center, who was promoted to Assistant Research Scientist.
Joseph Vallino received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.S. from the California Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked at the MBL since 1993. His research interests include using nonequilibrium thermodynamics to describe living systems as distributed metabolic networks. Because the majority of metabolic diversity lies almost entirely within microorganisms, his investigations target microbial systems, which have the added benefit of fast characteristic timescales that can be studied in the laboratory. Vallino’s research focuses on modeling and experimental investigation of microbial dynamics related to the processing of inorganic and organic material in aquatic and marine ecosystems, primarily estuarine and coastal systems. Among other projects, Vallino is currently overseeing a demonstration project looking at the effectiveness of permeable reactive barriers in intercepting and removing nitrate from groundwater along the shore at two sites in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts.
Hilary Morrison received her A.B. from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in epidemiology and public health from Yale University. She has worked at the MBL since 1995. Morrison is interested in eukaryotic genomics, particularly the comparison of the genomes of early diverging eukaryotes. Eukaryotes include humans, other animals, plants, and fungi and a rich variety of microorganisms, including parasites. They are usually distinguished from other forms of life by the presence of nuclei and the presence of a cytoskeleton. Morrison is currently leading two genome sequencing projects in the Bay Paul Center (Giardia lamblia and Anotonospora locustae) and is particularly interested in microorganisms that cause disease in humans and agriculturally important species. Morrision believes that understanding the genomes of parasitic organisms and their vectors will ultimately lead to highly specific and effective methods of disease prevention.
James McClelland received his B.S. from the University of Washington and his Ph.D. from Boston University. He has been on staff at The Ecosystems Center since 2001. McClelland’s research interests reside under the broad umbrella of biogeochemical cycling and include topics as diverse as zooplankton biochemistry, regional nitrogen cycling, and the global water cycle. A major focus of his research is biogeochemical fluxes from Arctic rivers. In 2002 McClelland and his colleagues made the significant observation that flow of freshwater from rivers into the Arctic Ocean has increased significantly over recent decades. Scientists contend that a significant increase of freshwater flow to the Arctic Ocean could slow or halt the Atlantic Deep Water formation, a driving factor behind the great “conveyor belt” current that is responsible for redistributing salt and thermal energy around the globe, influencing the planet’s climate. McClelland and his colleagues are focusing their research efforts on figuring out where all the extra water is coming from and how the increasing discharge may be influencing productivity in the Arctic’s coastal waters.
Honors and Awards
MBL Corporation member and Trustee Gerald Weissmann (New York University) has been named the new editor of the FASEB Journal, which is ranked number one in the area of biology. The journal will be based in Woods Hole during the summer months. Corporation members Robert Goldman (Northwestern University) and Robert Haselkorn (also an MBL Trustee from the University of Chicago) have been named Associate Editors. FASEB is composed of 22 scientific societies with approximately 70,000 members.
Weissmann has also been named the recipient of the Presidential Gold Medal of the American College of Rheumatology. This is the highest award given by the college for contributions to the field. The award will be given in San Diego on November 12th.
MBL Corporation member and summer investigator David Gadsby (The Rockefeller University) was recently named a Fellow of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science. He shares this honor with such science luminaries as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking. Gadsby is recognized for his “elegant work on the mechanisms of ion pumping in cell membranes and in particular [for the elucidation of] the dysfunctions in ion transport processes which cause cystic fibrosis.”
MBL Corporation Member and recently retired resident investigator Osamu Shimomura received the 2004 Pearse Prize of the Royal Microscopic Society. This is a significant prize in the field of microscopy, and was given in recognition of Shimomura’s discovery of aequorin and the green fluorescent protein.
MBL Distinguished Scientist John Hobbie will receive the 2005 Odum Lifetime Achievement Award from the Estuarine Research Federation in October. The award, which is named for three distinguished ecological scientists in the Odum family, recognizes the lifetime achievements of an outstanding scientist “whose record of sustained accomplishments has made important contributions to our understanding of estuaries and coastal ecosystems.”
MBL Physiology Course alumna (1993) Clare Waterman-Storer of The Scripps Research Institute was one of 13 scientists awarded the prestigious 2005 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. The award recognizes “exceptionally creative scientists who take innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research.” Waterman-Storer is developing a system for quantifying imaging complex physical behaviors in living cells. Pioneer Award winners receive up to $500,000 in direct costs per year for five years from the National Institutes of Health.
Corporation Elects Science Council Members
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Anne Giblin
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Catherine Carr
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In August, the MBL Corporation elected two new members to serve on the Science Council. Anne Giblin, a Senior Scientist at The Ecosystems Center, will fill a one-year vacant term representing resident science. Catherine Carr, a Professor at the University of Maryland and incoming director of the Grass Fellowship Program, will serve a three-year term, representing Education.
Paul De Weer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine was reelected to a three-year term representing summer and visiting science. He will also serve another one-year term as Chair. Steve Hajduk of the Bay Paul Center was also reelected and will serve a three-year term representing resident science.
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