Philip Christensen, Korrick Professor of Geological Sciences and Mars explorer was inducted as Regents Professor on January 22, 2004. Regents Professors are known for their excellence in teaching, exceptional achievements in research or other creative activities, and national and international distinction in their fields. It is one of the highest honors the university can bestow on faculty.
This is a high honor - a maximum of only 0.1 % of the members can be elected in any given year.
Congratulations Dr. Christensen!
Laurie Leshin was appointed director of the Center for Meteorite Studies.
Also in 2003, Leshin was also named Dee and John Whiteman Dean's Distinguished Professor, becaming the first CLAS faculty member to be named a Dean's Distinguished Professor.
Congratulations Dr. Leshin!
The Astrobiology Fellowship Program is an internationally competed opportunity administered for the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) by the National Research Council (NRC). Presently, ASU is hosting two NRC-NAI postdoctoral fellows.
Congratulations ASU scientists on this prestigious fellowship!
2002:: Dr.
Christopher Staples
Proposal
Title: The Evolutionary Connection Between Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Fixation
Chris has been awarded one of six postdoctoral fellowships given this year by
the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). Chris will be sponsored by Prof. Robert
Blankenship (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry).
2001:: Dr.
Michelle Minitti
Michelle
was awarded postdoctoral fellow last year, and is sponsored by Prof. Lauie Leshin
(Dept. of Geological Sciences).
In 2002, a total of 18 NAI/NRC Fellows are being supported by the NAI. The Institute looks to these young investigators to define astrobiology for the next generation, and to lead the direction of research in this new field ever closer to its objectives.
For more information about the NAI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, please see: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/pga/rap.nsf/frmLabInfoSearchResults?ReadForm&44.15~NAI
Student
Awards...
2002:: Jason
Raymond
Jason
received 2nd prize in the Student Poster Competition at the 2002 Astrobiology
Science Conference. Jason has highlighted the research his poster displayed:
"There are five different bacterial phyla where photosynthesis is found. The photosynthetic machinery in each of these five groups is similar enough that it is thought that photosynthesis has evolved only once during the evolution of life, but was then somehow passed on to these other bacteria (and later to the Eukaryotes through chloroplast endosymbiosis). Just recently, whole genome sequences for representatives for each of these five groups have become available and so what we're trying to do is compare all or most of the homologous, or evolutionarily related, genes in order to determine phylogenetic histories for these organisms. What's really interesting is that we're seeing evidence for quite a bit of horizontal gene flow between these organisms, and most excitingly it appears to have included many components of the photosynthetic apparatus. This horizontal gene flow idea has been hotly contested in recent years but the way it looks to us is that this is the necessary and logical explanation for how photosynthesis has been distributed among the bacteria."
Congratulations Jason!
2000:: John
Moreau
John
Moreau received an Outstanding Student Paper Award from the American Geophysical
Union (AGU) during their fall 2000 meeting.
John received his award for a poster titled "The Submicron Structure and Composition of Ancient Terrestrial Microfossils: Taphonomy and the Effect of Diagenesis on Preservation".
The April 3, 2001 issue of EOS contains the full citation.
Congratulations John !