Biology DepartmentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Herbarium recently received an Andrew W. Mellon “Global Plants Initiative” grant to create a coordinated database of images and information for the approximately 1300 Type Specimens housed in the collection. The images and associated information will be freely available on the Worldwide Web in “JSTOR PLANTS.”

Dr. Kent Greenwood, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was selected by his peers as the 2012 Community Clinician of the Year for the Worcester North District Medical Society. The Massachusetts Medical Society established this Award in 1998 to recognize physicians who have made significant contributions to their community and patients.

Dr. Greenwood is a board-certified surgeon with Nashoba Surgical Associates in Fitchburg, specializing in general surgery, with staff privileges at HealthAlliance Hospital in Fitchburg and at Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. He graduated from the University with a bachelor's in biology, and he earned his medical degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Greenwood is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Biology lecturer Laura Francis has received Residential First-Year Experience (RFYE) Student Choice Award! She was nominated by Valentina Velasquez and Taylor Schille for her contributions to the experience of first-year students at UMass Amherst. First-year students were given the opportunity to nominate a professor or instructor who had a profound
influence on them during their first semester. Nominations were made for a variety of reasons, including: inspiring students to learn, hosting interesting and motivating lectures, going above and beyond to support first-year students, helping students adjust to college, challenging students to reach their full potential, and much more.

Biology professor Duncan Irschick along with colleagues Al Crosby (Polymer Sciences), and Brian Umberger (Kinesiology) has received a $25,000 Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) Technology Award. The award will help these scientists develop new products from their recent invention of Geckskin™, and to potentially create a startup based on these products.

Established in 2004, the fund was created and is maintained through licensing revenues supplemented by a contribution from the President's Office. According to UMass Present Robert Caret, "This program highlights University of Massachusetts researchers who stand at the forefront of scientific innovation."

Biology professor Duncan Irschick, along with Al Crosby (Polymer Sciences, UMass), and Walter Federle (Cambridge University, UK,) has been awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the Human Frontiers Science Program to study bioadhesion in geckos and insects. This grant is awarded to only 25 international teams from all over the world out from a total of about 800 applicants, and awards are only given to highly innovative teams that demonstrate that they have developed and can test a ground-breaking idea in the broader realm of the biological sciences.