November 2012
Professor Luana Maroja’s article “Partial complementarity of the mimetic yellow bar phenotype in Heliconius butterflies” was recently published in PLOS ONE and is available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048627.
October 2012
Greg Johnson ’16, Shelby Shote ’16, Steve Swoap (Biology) and Alicia Romac (Science Center)
The annual Student, Faculty and Staff golf tournament was held on Sunday 21, 2012 at Taconic. The low team score of the day was a 52! The sciences were well represented by Professor Steven Swoap, Administrative Assistant Alicia Romac, Biology major Shelby Shote and general science major Greg Johnson, team score 65. Hank Art and Robert Kavanaugh played too!
October 2012 continued
Assistant professor of Biology, Tim Lebestky contributed to Dispensable, redundant, complementary and cooperative roles of dopamine, octopamine and serotonin in Drosophila melanogaster in The Genetics Society of America. His work investigates the regulation of Drosophila melanogaster behavior by biogenic amines. He and his co-authors examined the broad requirement of the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) for the vesicular storage and exocytotic release of all monoamine neurotransmitters.
http://www.genetics.org/content/early/2012/10/11/genetics.112.142042.abstract
September 2012
Biology Professor Luana Maroja published in EVOLUTION: EDUCATION AND OUTREACH, titled “Where Do I Come From? Using Student’s Mitochondrial DNA to Teach About Phylogeny, Molecular Clocks, and Population Genetics”. She uses this in Biology 305: Evolution. http://www.springerlink.com/content/t43q21224265w423/?MUD=MP
Williams Biology Department: Lois Banta and Derek Dean’s genomics curriculum development project made the cover story for Cell Biology Education-Life Sciences Education.
Cover story link: http://www.lifescied.org/content/11/3.cover-expansion Full article: http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/203?etoc
On top of that double dip of authorship, Lois has a second article in the same journal reporting the development and assessment for two bioinformatics modules that she uses in Microbiology
http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/1/81?etoc
July 2012
Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science: Phoebe A. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Williams College
The Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award will be presented to Phoebe A. Cohen, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for her 2010 Ph.D. research, “Investigations of enigmatic Neoproterozoic eukaryotes,” which is a significant contribution to the fields of paleobiology and geobiology. “In respect to research excellence and accomplishment,” writes nominator Roger E. Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cohen’s work is “characterized by broad geological and paleobiological understanding, fastidious attention to detail in experiment and observation, and an atypical degree of clarity in how her findings are communicated.” Supporting nominator Andrew H. Knoll of Harvard University writes that Cohen’s “broad and deep knowledge will serve her well in a new generation of teaching about our planet’s history.” http://www.geosociety.org/awards/
July, 2012
Ben Iliff ’10 just published a paper with Steve Swoap in the American Journal of Physiology. This manuscript was from his thesis work, for which he shared the David Bruce award for top undergraduate poster at the Experimental Biology meetings in 2010.
http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/early/2012/07/09/ajpregu.00081.2012.reprint
July, 2012
Uttara Partap
Uttara Partap, Williams College, Biology major and Honors student, collaborated with David R Hill, MD, Professor of Medical Sciences, Director of Global Public Health, Frank H. Netter MD, School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, on two recently published Global Health research papers. Uttara’s interest in Global Health issues started with a Winter Studies course taught at Williams College by Dr. Hill in 2010, “Global Health, Why We Should Care.” Uttara’s final paper was of the highest quality and at Dr. Hill’s urging she continued her research and wrote “The Maoist insurgency (1996–2006) and child health indicators in Nepal,” by Uttara Partapa, David R. Hill, MD in August 2011; it was published in May, 2012 in International Health, a Lancet-affiliated journal (International Health 4 (2012) 135– 142). In addition, Uttara and Dr. Hill published a second paper: “Teaching Global Public Health in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts: A Survey of 50 Colleges,” in The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 87(1), 2012, pp. 11–15). This summer, Uttara won a fellowship from the American Physiological Society to work with Steven Swoap, Chair and professor of Biology. Congratulations, Uttara!
May, 2012
Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species
Luana S. Maroja, Assistant Professor of Biology, was a contributing participant in this study of adaptive introgression in butterflies. “The phenomenon, known as adaptive introgression, involves different species sharing genetic material and has been considered very rare, especially in animals. Although many species can interbreed in the wild, the resulting hybrids are often infertile and considered an evolutionary dead-end. However, occasionally hybrids might introduce useful genetic material that can help populations adapt to changing conditions. This source of novelty might be more effective than having to wait for a mutation to occur in order to yield a similar result. In the case of butterflies, the effects can be clearly seen on their wings.” Chris Jiggins.
Read the complete paper at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11041.html
May, 2012
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Morgan McGuire founded the open-access international Journal of Computer Graphics Techniques for scholarly articles on 3D graphics and will serve as its first editor-in-chief. His cofounders on the editorial board span academia and industry, including Google, Harvard University, Pixar, University of Tokyo, and Autodesk. This is an important step towards making scientific knowledge universally available and removing barriers to publication and access. Read their founding letter and journal at http://jcgt.org/ In addition, Morgan McGuire published a new research paper on Scalable Ambient Obscurance with Michael Mara ’12 and David Luebke of NVIDIA Research. SAO is a technique for creating realistic lighting for interactive 3D applications such as video games, medical visualization, and architectural design software. He presented the work at the ACM SIGGRAPH / Eurographics High Performance Graphics conference in Paris, France. http://graphics.cs.williams.edu/papers/SAOHPG12/
Oral bezafibrate induces daily torpor and FGF21 in mice in a PPAR alpha dependent manner
by Lisa P. Chu, Steven J. Swoap
Lisa Chu ’10 just published a paper with Steve Swoap in the Journal of Thermal Biology. This manuscript was from her thesis work, for which she shared the David Bruce award for top undergraduate poster at the Experimental Biology meetings in 2010. Williams College, Department of Biology, published in Journal of Thermal Biology, Volume 37, Issue 4, July 2012, Pages 291–296
Thermoregulation: An Orphan Receptor Finds Its Way in the Cold
by Steven J. Swoap, Department of Biology, published in Current Biology, Volume 22, Issue 1, 10 January 2012, Pages R17–R18
Jan 22, 2012
Susan Loepp Wins National Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics
Celebrating Summer Research
Poster presentations highlight research findings and student-faculty collaborations.
Keck Geology Consortium Receives $261,000 Grant
posted June 29, 2011
The Keck Geology Consortium, a national alliance of 18 liberal arts colleges of which Williams College was the founding member, has received a grant of $261,000 to continue its support of intercollegiate collaborative research projects for geosciences undergraduates and faculty for the next year.
Williams and MIT Astronomers Observe Pluto and its Moons
posted June 28, 2011
A Williams College team of astronomers, headed by Bryce Babcock and Jay Pasachoff, have been in Hawaii, near Honolulu, to observe a rare double-double event about Pluto.
53 Seniors Inducted into Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
posted June 22, 2011
Fifty-three members of the Williams College Class of 2011 were awarded associate membership in Sigma Xi, the international scientific honor society, upon graduation in June.
Kevin Jones: Grant to Support Summer Students
posted May 6, 2011
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, through its Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program (NIST-SURF), has awarded Williams College a grant to support summer research by David Kealhofer and Christina Knapp, both current sophomores.
Rob Silversmith ’11, Seven Alumni Win National Science Research Fellowship
posted May 2, 2011
Rob Silversmith ’11 has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Williams Installs New Artwork by Jenny Holzer
posted April 11, 2011
This week, Williams will complete a public art installation by renowned artist Jenny Holzer.
Spotlight on Student Research
posted March 9, 2011
Antonio Lorenzo ’11 came to Williams serious about science.
Unplanned Lessons: A Fresh Eye
posted March 2, 2011
During a research trip to collect botanical data, one of Joan Edwards’ honors students spotted a “poof” in a field of forest flowers that opened up a whole new research avenue for the biology professor.
Unplanned Lessons: A Scientific Partnership
posted March 2, 2011
When professors encourage undergraduates to start “being scientists” earlyon, says physics professor Tiku Majumder, “we can approach more of a real scientific partnership.”
Astronomer Jay Pasachoff Awarded NSF Grant
posted February 24, 2011
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year grant of $158,234 to Jay Pasachoff.
Tenure Awarded to Seven Faculty Members
posted January 14, 2011.
On the recommendation of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, the Williams College Board of Trustees has promoted seven faculty to the position of associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2011. They are Edan Dekel, classics; Sarah Goh, chemistry; Sarah Hammerschlag, religion; Gage McWeeny, English; Bernard Rhie, English; Mihai Stoiciu, mathematics; and Tara Watson, economics.
Morgan McGuire: Wins Best Research Paper Award at ACM/Eurographics High Performance Graphics
posted January 7, 2011
Morgan McGuire’s paper on Ambient Occlusion Volumes wins best research paper award at ACM/EuroGraphics High Performance Graphics. Artists have long recognized the importance of soft shadowing effects for the perception of proximity and shape in 3D scenes. Ambient Occlusion is the technical term for this effect.
Frederick Strauch: Publishes Paper “Parallel State Transfer and Efficient Quantum Routing on Quantum Networks”
Posted January 3, 2011
Frederick Strauch, Assistant Professor of Physics, and Chris Chudzicki ’10 published a paper describing a new theoretical analysis of the routing of information in quantum networks.
Cesar Silva Awarded NSF Grant to Hold Oxtoby Centennial Conference
posted October 29, 2010
Cesar Silva, Hagey Family Professor of Mathematics and department chair at Williams College, was recently awarded a $36,525 grant from the National Science Foundation in support of the Oxtoby Centennial Conference. The project is under the direction of Silva, along with Leslie Chang and Paul Melvin of Bryn Mawr College.
Laurie Heatherington Honored for Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research
posted October 20, 2010.
Laurie Heatherington, the Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of Psychology at Williams College, was awarded the Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research Award along with collaborator Myrna Friedlander of the State University of New York at Albany.
NSF Awards Grant for Physics Professor Strauch’s Research
posted October 4, 2010
The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to support the research of Frederick W. Strauch on “Control and Measurement of Coupled Mesoscopic Quantum Systems.”
Majumder Receives Grant from National Science Foundation
posted October 4, 2010
The National Science Foundation has announced the award of a three-year, $285,000 grant to Professor of Physics Protik Majumder.
Phi Beta Kappa Members Announced
posted September 29, 2010
Williams College announced 27 members of the Class of 2011 elected into Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society.
Kevin Jones: Publishes on Quantum Information Technology
posted July 1, 2010
Kevin Jones, McElfresh Professor of Physics, in collaboration with colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, published a paper describing a laboratory realization of a near-ideal amplifier for light and a study of its effects on the quantum mechanical state of a pair of light beams.
Steven Miller: Recognized by International Journal of Research
posted June 29, 2010
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Steven Miller won paper of the year award from the International Journal of Research in Marketing. The paper discusses applying linear programming to movie theatres.
James Carlton: Chair of Committee on Assessing Numeric Limits for Living Organisms in Ballast Water
posted June 10, 2010
James Carlton, professor of marine sciences and director of the Williams-Mystic Program, has been appointed to the National Research Council’s Committee on Assessing Numeric Limits for Living Organisms in Ballast Water.
