CNSM Highlights from the Office of the Dean

Volume 1, Number 5 :: Spring 2007 :: April 16, 2007

Welcome Back from Spring Break – Planning Ahead for Summer Scholarly Work

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Welcome back to the remainder of the 2007 Spring semester! I hope you had time for relaxation, rest, and rejuvenation over Spring Break. As we move into the second half of the 2007 spring semester, it is frequently the time when we begin to look forward to graduation and then ahead to the upcoming summer months. For many of us, summer is the time when we can truly concentrate on our research. With this in mind, I want to bring to your attention a wonderful opportunity being offered by the Office of University Research. On June 5, 6, and 7 they will be hosting a Scholarly Writing Institute (SWI) for faculty.

The previous Scholarly Writing Institutes held on campus 2004-2007 were an overwhelming success. Faculty members expressed a need for assistance in overcoming a variety of obstacles in beginning or completing scholarly writing projects required to reach immediate and long-term scholarly milestones. Those who participated in previous Institutes appreciated the time to write, reflect, and consult with colleagues about writing issues. The Scholarly Writing Institute (SWI) provides a three day intensive workshop to assist faculty in completing a substantial amount of writing on a specific scholarly writing project.

The program will provide participants several hours of dedicated writing time and resource consultants who are recognized for their expertise in specific areas such as editing, illustration, and statistical analyses. Consultants will be included in the Institute depending on the types of challenges individual faculty face.

Faculty interested in registering for the Scholarly Writing Institute are asked to have most of their research completed (i.e., ready to write) and to have a laptop or desktop computer available for their use. I hope you will consider this opportunity when making your summer plans. These three days could mean that a finished manuscript goes out the door, rewrites could be completed and resubmitted or perhaps a grant proposal might be started; please don't let this opportunity go by without consideration. If interested, please register early so that you will be able to join the writing group. Registration details can be found at http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/research/our/education/swi/.

If you'd like to set up your own writing retreat with your research team of students or a group of colleagues, check out the support available from the Office of University Research at http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/research/our/education/documents/WriteAway_000.doc [doc].

Have a great week!

Laura

Laura Kingsford, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
California State University Long Beach

Spotlight on Students

CSULB Scores Well at William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition: This is the oldest, most famous, and most prestigious intercollegiate mathematics competition. The competition took place on December 2, 2006, but the scores have just now been released. A total of 3640 students from 508 colleges and universities in Canada and the United States participated in this competition. There were teams from 402 institutions. (A team consists of three students, working independently of each other.) Out of these 402 teams, CSULB ranked 78th. This was our best finish ever. Our CSULB team consisted of senior mathematics major Joshua Lampkins, freshman biochemistry major Sarav Patel, and junior mathematics major M. Tip Phaovibul. A total of 7 CSULB students participated. Joshua Lampkins ranked 390th. This is the fourth-best individual result for a CSULB student since 1999. Joshua was one of only 4 students from any CSU ranking in the top 500. There were two from San Jose State and one from Cal Poly Pomona. The list of the top 500 students included only 8 from any of the University of California schools - 5 from Berkeley and one each from Davis, Santa Barbara, and UCLA. Kudos go out to the CSULB student team and their faculty advisor, Kent Merryfield!

Spotlight on Faculty and Staff

Editte Gharakhanian, Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences, was selected to the USDA's E. (Kika) De La Garza Fellowship Program. The program will support a three week summer 2007 study of the education and funding policy-making process at USDA, NSF, NIH, and DOE in Washington DC. It is an opportunity to learn about funding priorities, create awareness of our needs, and develop partnerships and better relations with government agencies. The specific aim of Editte's proposal is to communicate the value and need for student training grants at the masters level of education. Congratulations Editte - We need good people to do this important work!

Laura Henriques and Science Education faculty recently completed an in-house scholarly writing retreat. Setting time aside within their busy schedules, many of the Science Education faculty blocked out Friday, March 23, 2007, for a day-long departmental writing retreat. Similar to the CSULB Scholarly Writing Institute, this departmental writing retreat focused on writing productivity. With limited fanfare, some food, drink, laptops and the modest setting of PH2-133, Science Education faculty joined together to move forward on individual scholarly writing projects. Great idea! Talk to Laura Henriques or her colleagues if you'd like to do something like this in your department.

Zvonko Hlousek, physics faculty member, will participate in a summit on "Relevancy In Higher Education in an Age of Globalization" on April 27, 2007, at CSULB. Fifteen faculty members from across the colleges are contributing to this discussion. As one of the panelists Hlousek will deliver a short presentation on the relevancy of education in the Sciences in the 21st century. The objective of the summit is to (a) construct a position paper that pragmatically delineates the skill set (including values) that CSULB students need to compete in an era of globalization and (ii) to address how faculty can begin to integrate or reintegrate disciplines across colleges to support that skill set. The summit is organized and sponsored by Teri Yamada and Terre Allen in the Center for Faculty Development.

Eileen Tom, Carol Itatani, Francisco Castillo and Jesse Ramirez have been hard at work in the Jensen SAS Center's Health Professions Advising Office (HPAO)! The HPAO team recently received a 3-year, $150,000 core-support grant from The California Wellness Foundation. The grant will help us strengthen and expand continuing programs for students interested in health professions, particularly those from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. The Grant objectives are to 1) Sustain the provision of counseling and support services to disadvantaged and minority students and 2) Conduct outreach by continuing to provide the annual "Guiding the Health Professions Student" workshop to community college counselors and conduct at outreach visits to local high schools and community colleges. Through the grant, HPAO is able to offer test preparation scholarships, an expanded workshop series, and support for the student clubs. For example, HPAO is helping to pay to send two officers from the Minority Association of Pre-med Students (MAPS) to a national conference in April and worked with The Organization of Pre-Professional Students (TOPPS) to co-host a conference here on campus called "A Bridge to The Healthcare of the Future" last September. Great job HPAO team!

Informational Note: The HPAO opened in 1999 and provides services to students and alumni who are preparing to enter a graduate level health profession. Our primary role is to provide information and advising for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, veterinary, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, etc. HPAO provides counseling, workshops, a resource library, mock interviews, a letter of recommendation service, application assistance and support to the campus Pre-Health student organizations.

Ray Wilson visits ocean floor in ALVIN, the vessel famous for its use in the 1986 exploration of the wreckage of the Titanic. Wilson descended more than 13,000 feet to reach the ocean floor in the Pacific, about 125 miles southwest of Santa Maria, to study rat-tail fish. Wilson has been studying this fish for over 30 years; this dive to the depths of the ocean floor was designed to enable him to identify and count the rat-tail fish to get a better idea of the proportion of the two known rat-tail species in the area. Read more about Ray's exciting trips to the ocean floor at http://www.calstate.edu/pa/clips2007/march/29march/floor.shtml.

Kudos to CNSM Faculty Seeking and Earning External Funding: It is a challenge to begin and maintain an active, healthy research program while focusing on teaching and serving on departmental and university committees. Congratulations go out to all who have submitted proposals or been awarded external funding during this past month.

CNSM Faculty and Staff Members who submitted grants during March, 2007:

• Dillon, Jesse & Mason, Zed, Assessing The Role Of Sulfur Cycle Bacteria in Mercury Toxicity Along a Pollution Gradient in the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbors, Department of Biological Sciences, Funding Source: NOAA California Sea Grant
• Fernandez-Juricic, Esteban, Quantifying Avian Detection Windows and Responses To Vehicle Approach: Implications For Use of Aircraft Lights to Reduce Bird Strikes, Department of Biological Sciences, Funding Source: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Kisiel, James, Understanding Teacher Use of Informal Science Institutions, Department of Science Education, Funding Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
• Kisiel, James, Examining Visitors Engagement at Touch Pools, Department of Science Education, Funding Source: NSF
• Mason, Zed, Principles and Applications of MALDI-TOF-MS-MS Workshop, Department of Biological Sciences and IIRMES, Funding Source: CSUPERB
• Mason, Zed, Principles and Applications of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy Workshop, Department of Biological Sciences and IIRMES, Funding Source: CSUPERB
• Slowinski, Kris, Electrical Conductivity of Molecular Assemblies, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Funding Source: ACS-Petroleum Research Fund.

CNSM Faculty Members who were awarded external funding during March, 2007:

• Brevik, John, Low-Density Parity-Check Through Algebraic Analysis, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Funding Source: NSF
• Mezyk, Stephen, Optimization of Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) for Water Reuse, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Funding Source: Southern Nevada Water Authority.

College, Campus and Community Highlights and Events

CNSM joins CHHS and CSULB's Center for International Education to sign Memo of Understanding with American University of the Caribbean. Inside CSULB reports, "The Colleges of Health and Human Services as well as Natural Sciences and Mathematics agreed that the AUC would accept applications for admission from all CSULB students graduating with a bachelor's degree if they meet academic requirements. Students also need to satisfy all of the AUC's other admission criteria including course work meeting the AUC's entrance requirements and strong letters of recommendation from CSULB. The AUC also may require applicants to be interviewed prior to acceptance. The project began with discussions between CHHS's Gunatilake and Paul Schnatz, an M.D. and chief academic officer of the AUC's School of Medicine."

Diversity Week at CSULB is scheduled for April 16th-19th: Diversity week will include panel presentations, film screenings and discussions, and a book reading and signing. This event will benefit all students by supplementing classroom diversity instruction, providing opportunities for open dialogue among students, and preparing students to function effectively in a diverse society. Flyer of Diversity Week planned events [pdf].

CSULB's Spring Job Fair is April 17th and 18th: The Spring Job Fair will be held in the Student Union from 12:00noon-4:00pm. All students are invited, but graduating seniors are a specific target audience. Different employers, seeking students in all academic fields, will be present on both days. The campus expects over 200 companies in attendance with entry-level career positions, part-time employment and both paid and volunteer internships. While some companies do seek specific majors, the majority of companies are open to all majors. Students are strongly encouraged to research attending companies online and to attend preparatory workshops prior to the fair dates. Dress professionally and bring several current resumes. Many companies will also be available for on-campus interviewing, both preceding and following the fair dates. Check the BeachLINK On-Campus Interview Schedule. Please tell your current students about this event and encourage them to attend! CSULB Alumni are also invited to attend. Please pass the word along to our CNSM alumni with whom you stay in contact.

CSULB's Education Job Fair is April 20, 2007 in the Student Union from 12noon-4:00pm. This annual event is sponsored by Educational Career Services, CSULB College of Education. Over 50 educational employers and 500 candidates are expected to attend. For registration and additional information, visit http://www.ced.csulb.edu/ecs/jobfair/ or contact Judi Walker at (562) 985-5772 or ced-ecs@csulb.edu.

Kaleidoscope Celebration is set for April 28, 2007: One of Southern California's most popular family-oriented festivals since 1985, Kaleidoscope, will take place Saturday, April 28, 2007, from 11:00am-5:00pm at CSULB. As always, admission and parking are free for this campus-wide event. This annual event attracts some 30,000 individuals throughout the day with activities from one end of the campus to the other and more than 100 clubs and vendor booths. For information about Kaleidoscope, call Luke Davidson, Kaleidoscope coordinator, at (562) 985-2288, or visit its Web site at http://www.csulb.edu/kaleidoscope/.

2007-2008 Enhancing Educational Effectiveness Awards - Call for Proposals: EEE awards support curriculum development to enhance student learning and student success. Proposals may be submitted by individuals or collaborative teams, with a maximum budget of $10,000 and a maximum of 3 units of assigned time for an individual participant. Proposals are due in the Faculty Center for Professional Development by Friday, April 27, 2007, and awards will be announced by Friday, May 18, 2007. The Call for Proposals can be found at http://www.csulb.edu/aa/personnel/development/awards/eee/. Please direct your questions to Dr. Valerie McKay (vmckay@csulb.edu) or call the FCPD at (562) 985-5287.

SCAC Conference Grant Awards – Deadline Fast Approaching: Academic Affairs will provide funds for the Conference Grant Program this year. This program provides modest support to help defray expenses incurred by members of the faculty as active participants (speakers, presenters, session moderators, and poster sessions) at national and regionally-recognized scholarly and professional meetings between May 1, 2006 and April 30, 2007. Unfortunately, attendance or committee work alone does not qualify. The awards are intended to supplement funds received from departments/colleges. A minimum contribution of $75 must be made from college/departmental funds and the applicant must a full-time probationary/tenured faculty or other full-time faculty in Bargaining Unit 3 at CSU Long Beach. The deadline for applications is Friday, May 11, 2007. Detailed information and application [doc].

Upcoming Local Science and Math-Related Events of Possible Interest:

Apr 16: Public Lecture: "The Nature of Roughness in Mathematics, Science and Art," presented by Benoit Mandelbrot (reception to follow at IPAM) Location: LaKretz 110, Time: 4:30pm-5:30pm, UCLA.

Apr 16: "Evolution of the 70 Year Lifespan," University of New Mexico anthropologist Hillard Kaplan will discuss 5:00pm, Room 123 Humanities Building, Cal State Fullerton.

Apr 16: High Energy Physics Seminar, "Renormalization of MSSM Scalar Masses: Unwelcome News from the Hidden Sector," Andrew Cohen, department of physics, Boston University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Room 469 Lauritsen, Caltech.

Apr 16: Computation and Neural Systems Seminar, "Solving Intermediate Vision by Nonlinear System Identification," Jack Gallant, associate professor of psychology, UC Berkeley, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 24 Beckman Labs, Caltech.

Apr 16: Applied Mathematics Colloquium, "Mapping of Probabilities: A Theory for the Interpretation of Uncertain Physical Measurements," Albert Tarantola, professor of physics, University of Paris, 4:15pm-5:00pm, 101 Guggenheim Lab, Lees-Kubota Lecture Hall, Caltech.

Apr 17: Caltech/JPL Association for Gravitational-Wave Research Seminar Series, "'Magnetic' Components of Gravitational Waves and Their Effect in the LIGO-VIRGO Response Functions," Professor Leonid Grishchuk, Cardiff University and Moscow State University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 114 E. Bridge, Caltech.

Apr 17: UC San Diego's Richard Kolodner, one of the country's top cancer researchers, will discuss the genetics of cancer, 7:00pm, Beckman Center, Irvine, next to the UCI School of Medicine.

Apr 18: HEP Seminar, "Magnetowave Induced Plasma Wakefield Acceleration for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays," Dr. Pisin Chen (KIPAC/SLAC), 4:30pm, Knudsen 4-134, UCLA. Coffee and cookies 15 minutes prior.

Apr 18: Mathematical Physics Seminar, "Large Time Fluctuations of the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process," Alexei Borodin, professor of mathematics, 12:00noon-1:00pm, 351 Sloan, Caltech.

Apr 18: William and Myrtle Harris Distinguished Lectureship in Science and Civilization, "Watson, Crick, and the Mushroom Cloud," Soraya de Chadarevian, University of Cambridge, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Beckman Institute auditorium, Caltech.

Apr 20: Inorganic-Organometallics Seminar, "Surface Functionalization of Silicon Nanoparticles," David Gleason-Rohrer, graduate student in chemistry, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 151 Crellin, Caltech.

Apr 23: KNI Nanoscience Colloquia Series, "Commercializing Advances in Nanotechnology: Challenges and Opportunities," Chad Mirkin, professor of chemistry, Northwestern University, 1:00pm-2:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

Apr 23: KNI Nanoscience Colloquia Series, "The 'Antisense' Nanoparticle," Chad Mirkin, professor of chemistry, medicine, materials science, and engineering, Northwestern University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Beckman Institute auditorium, Caltech.

Apr 23: Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar, "Bioinorganic Chemistry of Titanium in Medicine and the Environment," Ann M. Valentine, assistant professor of inorganic and biophysical chemistry, Yale University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

Apr 24: Chemical Physics Seminar, "Structures, Energetics, and Reaction Dynamics of Neutrals and Ions by High-Resolution Photoionization and Photoelectron Methods," Cheuk-Yiu Ng, professor of physical chemistry and chemical physics, UC Davis, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

Apr 25: Francisco Ayala, winner of the National Medal of Science, will give a public talk titled, "Evolution and Religion: Concern, not Conflict," 7:00pm, Schneiderman Lecture Hall, UCI.

Apr 25: Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar, "Minerals, Microbes, and Contaminants: The Wonderful World of Iron Redox Chemistry," Michelle Scherer, associate professor of environmental engineering, The University of Iowa, 3:40pm-5:00pm, 142 Keck, Caltech.

Apr 25: Organic Chemistry Seminar, "Protein Semisynthesis," Professor Tom W. Muir, Laboratory of Synthetic Protein Chemistry, The Rockefeller University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

Apr 25: General Biology Seminar, "From Mechanisms to Functions: Plasticity of Somatosensory Representations," Dr. Tansu Celikel, department of cell physiology, Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 119 Kerckhoff, Caltech.

Apr 27: Bernardo Jaduszilwer of The Aerospace Corporation will discuss, "GPS, Time and Atomic Clocks," 1:00pm, Room 121, McCarthy Hall, Cal State Fullerton.

Apr 27: Inorganic-Organometallics Seminar, "Synthesis and Reactivity of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts Bearing Cyclic(Alkyl)(Amino)Carbenes," Kevin Kuhn, graduate student in chemistry, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 151 Crellin, Caltech.

Apr 27: Special Biology Seminar, "Data-Driven Biophysical Modeling of Gene Expression Regulation by DNA and RNA Binding Factors," Harmen Bussemaker, assistant professor of biological sciences, Columbia University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 119 Kerckhoff, Caltech.

Apr 30: Organic Chemistry Seminar, "Construction of Complex Amines: Mechanistic Insights and Synthetic Applications," Andrei Yudin, associate professor of chemistry, University of Toronto, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

May 2: Organic Chemistry Seminar, "Development of Chemical Tools to Monitor Protein Phosphorylation," Mary Kay H. Pflum, assistant professor of biological chemistry, Wayne State University, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 147 Noyes, Sturdivant Lecture Hall, Caltech.

May 4: Inorganic-Organometallics Seminar, "Electron Transfer and Protein Dynamics in Cytochrome c," John Magyar, postdoctoral scholar in chemistry, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 151 Crellin, Caltech.

If you know of information that you feel should appear in future issues of my semimonthly emails, please email Maureen McMahon, CNSM Director of Research and External Support, at mmcmahon_csulb@yahoo.com.