LabNotes Archive
In this issue
 Coming Up in Catalyst: "Powerful Partnerships"
The MBL’s success is due in large part to having strong public and private partners, who share in its vision of excellence in research and education in the biological and environmental sciences. In the spring issue of MBL Catalyst, available in May, meet several of the dynamic people and organizations that have forged powerful and forward-looking partnerships with the MBL.
Remembrances
The MBL announces with sadness the passing of:
Loeb Laboratory Update
The Loeb Project is on time and on budget, and is expected to achieve Silver LEED certification.
 Rooftop work is about 80% complete, third floor is about 80% complete, second floor is about 70% complete, first floor and ground floor are about 50% complete. The project employs 100 to 150 workers per day, about 20% local and 75% union. A certificate of occupancy is expected by June 1.
Mark Your Calendar!
March 5
Bay Paul Center Seminar - "Integrated Genome-Based Studies of Shewanella Eco-Physiology" - Margrethe Serres, MBL - Noon, Candle House 104/105
March 5
Falmouth Forum Series - "The Big Dig or The Big Pig?" - Dan McNichol, award-winning author of The Big Dig and The Roads That Built America - 7:30 PM, Lillie Auditorium
March 8
Woods Hole Scientific Informatics Seminar Series - "Biodiversity Informatics: Mining Untapped Resources" - P. Bryan Heidorn, University of Arizona - 12:15 PM Speck Auditorium
March 9
Ecosystems Center Seminar - "Environmental heterogeneity in coastal marine systems: Causes and consequences" - Heather Leslie, Brown University - 12:15, Speck Auditorium
More Events
Publications
MBL researchers have published many papers on a wide variety of topics since LabNotes was last published... More>>>
From the Front Lines of Climate Change
In November 2009, three journalists, recipients of an MBL Logan Science Journalism Program fellowship, were sent to work closely with MBL environmental scientists at Palmer Station Antarctica. They received hands-on training in some of the methods of ecosystems science, and observed first-hand how long-term research at Palmer Station is documenting a changing world... More>>>
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Director's Message
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I have been thinking a lot lately about climate change and the environment and the large part the MBL has to play in this critical issue for our society. This issue has been even more on my mind since my participation in the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, known as COP15, in December.
It was my privilege to attend COP15 with my colleagues from the Woods Hole Consortium. We went to achieve two goals: ... More>>>
MBL Education
 Director of Education Appointment
William Reznikoff has been named as the MBL's new Director of Education. Dr. Reznikoff is a senior research scientist at the MBL's Bay Paul Center, and was acting CASO between 2007 and 2008. His appointment starts March 1, 2010.
Wolbachia Workshop to be held at MBL
Discover the Microbes Within: The Wolbachia Project is designed for high school biology educators in an effort to modernize biology labs and lesson plans with discovery-based labs and biotechnology, to be held April 23-25, 2010,... More>>>
Brown-MBL Graduate Program: Students Receive Ph.D. as Program Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
The students are the first graduates of the Brown-MBL Graduate Program in Biological and Environmental Sciences to have entered the program at its inception in 2004 as new students... More>>>
Possible $250,000 for MBL Courses
The MBL could receive a quarter of a million dollars to endow its education program, provided that an equal amount can be raised from alumni, scientists and other friends of the laboratory. MBL Trustee David Hibbitt and his wife Susan have offered to match certain gifts for the MBL Education Endowment, up to $50,000 a year from 2010-2014. Although the MBL receives significant support from federal and foundation grants, additional funds must be raised every year to cover the costs of the intensive, full-immersion Discovery Courses. Increasing the endowment will help ensure the stability of one of the MBL’s signature programs in perpetuity. Anyone interested in learning more about how their gift can be matched should contact Kate Shaw at (508)289-7416 or kshaw@mbl.edu.
MBL Science
 Rare Microbes Wait to Flourish
Mitchell Sogin and colleagues show that certain microbe types in undersea vent chimneys can exist in low numbers for thousands of years - until conditions shift to favor their growth to dominate the microbial community... More>>>
Built-in Amplification: Scientists Explore How Subtle Head Motions, Quiet Sounds are Reported to the Brain
The phrase “perk up your ears” made more sense last year after scientists discovered how the quietest sounds are amplified in the cochlea before being transmitted to the brain... More>>>
 Watching the Planet Form
Oceanographers including MBL’s Julie Huber watched the Western Pacific’s West Mata underwater volcano erupt. This was the first observation of the formation of deep-ocean seafloor. Water samples collected there were highly acidic, yet Huber found microbial life... More>>>
Woods Hole Consortium Scientists Engaged in U.N. Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen
Directors and scientists from the Woods Hole Consortium went to Copenhagen in December to speak on climate change impacts on ocean, air, land, and polar-ice ecosystems—whose fates are inextricably linked—at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15)... More>>>
 A Convincing Mimic: Scientists Report Octopus Imitating Flounder in the Atlantic
On the open sand plains of the Caribbean seafloor, where soft-bodied animals are routinely exposed to predators, camouflage can be key to survival. Perhaps no group of animals is quite as adept at blending in with its surroundings as cephalopods, who along with relatives the cuttlefish and squid, have evolved a unique skin system that can instantaneously change their appearance... More>>>
 MBL In The News
Woods Hole Plays Key Role in Climate Change Conference (Boston Globe Green Blog)
Woods Hole Consortium presence at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is highlighted.
NIH Awards Stimulus Funds to Marine Biological Laboratory (Mass High Tech)
Mass. Lt. Governor Tim Murray joins press conference announcing MBL receipt of $802,500 to help recruit scientists for regenerative biology.
EOL Among Top 10 Education Websites
The London Telegraph ranks Encyclopedia of Life 10th Among the 16 best educational websites.
Cape Scientist Helps Haiti (Cape Cod Times)
The Woods Hole aquaculture project provides Haiti with Nile tilapia, a hardy freshwater fish efficient at converting plant protein into fish flesh.
MBL Helps Launch Offshore Mussel Farms (Cape Cod Today)
Pilot project joins scientists, fishermen, and industry to establish fishery in Southern New England
Supporting the MBL
$1 Million Contributed to Annual Fund in 2009
For the first time in its history, the MBL Annual Fund surpassed the $1 million mark. These funds were immediately available to meet operational needs in 2009, fostering a seamless experience for scientists and students in what was, for many institutions, a difficult year financially.
Development Committee chair, Jeffrey Pierce, attributed the strong results in 2009 to the increased generosity of loyal donors who have been watching the MBL evolve and excel in recent years. “I believe that our trustees, scientists, alumni, and friends feel the momentum and want to be part of a thriving, innovative institution.
“Our challenge now will be to maintain this level of support for the next few years and start aiming for the next milestone,” says Pierce. “So many people work so hard and do such brilliant work at the MBL; they deserve all the help we can give them.”
Gifts & Grants
The MBL has received a number of new gifts and peer-reviewed federal grants since LabNotes was last published... More>>>
Associates News
 The MBL Associates offered a fun, educational, interactive family event focusing on the Encyclopedia of Life during school vacation week on Thursday, February 18 at the MBL’s Speck Auditorium. The event was free and open to the public.
Members of the EOL team were there, along with digital cameras, laptop computers, and live specimens (horseshoe crabs and starfish), to demonstrate how the EOL is being built, and how we all can help contribute local information to this worldwide project.
The MBL has played a major role in developing the EOL, which was officially launched in 2007. EOL pages are created from an aggregation of text, images, video, scientific data, and other information drawn from many different sources, and all vetted by scientific experts.
Falmouth Forum
There’s one more Forum left in the 2009-2010 season. Join us on Friday, March 5th at 7:30 PM in Lillie Auditorium for a talk by award-winning author Dan McNichol titled The Big Dig or The Big Pig?
The Biological BulletinThe cover of the February issue of The Biological Bulletin features the mimic octopus, Macrotritopus defillippi, which has the unusual capability of changing its shape to mimic a flounder as a defensive mechanism. The article by Roger Hanlon and his co-authors describe the discovery of this mimicry and speculate on its function.
The Biological Bulletin thanks Olympus America Inc. for advertising in this issue.
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Announcements & Accolades
MBL corporation member and trustee John Dowling was awarded the Glenn A. Fry Medal in Physiological Optics during a ceremony at the Great Lakes Vision Research Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on November 21, 2009.
The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) has awarded the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) a 2010 Outstanding Collaboration Citation. It will be presented on June 27 during the American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C. MBLWHOI Library Director Cathy Norton is Chair of the BHL, one of the founding components of the Encyclopedia of Life.
Sheri Simmons was appointed to the Bay Paul Center as Assistant Scientist effective December 1, 2009
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