Biology DepartmentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

Biology Assistant Professor Tom Maresca has been selected by the American Academy of Anatomists (AAA) as the recipient of the 2013 R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology. The award, first given in 1979, recognizes a cell biologist who has made a distinguished contribution to the advancement of anatomy through discovery, ingenuity, and publications in the field of cell biology. Past winners include: John Heuser, Elaine Fuchs, Tim Mitchison, and Ron Vale (2012 Lasker Award Winner). Maresca will present the R.R. Bensley Award Lecture in the Young Investigator Award Symposium at the upcoming AAA Annual Meeting in Boston in conjunction with Experimental Biology 2013.

Biology professor Peg Riley (right) is among the new class of Fellows of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences, elected by her peers to its prestigious community of scientists, engineers, research physicians and others who are deeply concerned about science and science education in the Commonwealth.

Riley, president and founder of MAS, announced the academy’s latest fellows:
UMass alumna and astronaut Catherine Coleman, Irving Epstein of Brandeis University, Robert Dorit of Smith College, Ward Watt of Stanford University, Mandana Sassanfar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Junior Academy of Sciences, Megan Rokop of the Broad Institute, and James Hamilton and Paul Trunfio of Boston University.

Riley says, “Each year, the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences honors distinguished individuals through its fellowship awards. They join an elite group of professional scientists and science educators who are recognized for extraordinary scientific accomplishments and service to the science community and the public. The academy is thrilled to welcome these stellar individuals to its elite group. They are crucial to the future success of the academy and it is an honor to announce their commitment and involvement.”

Riley’s research interests range from experimental evolution of microbes to developing novel antimicrobials and redefining the microbial species concept.

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Biology emeritus professor Joseph Kunkel and Michael Jercinovic, Director of the Electron Microprobe and SEM Facility in Geosciences have collaborated on the discovery of bone-like mineralogy in the lobster cuticle (see cross-section at left). An article describing the discovery appeared in the Journal of Shellfish Research and is available via the UMass Library and is featured in the newly minted UMass Research Site.

Biology professor Tobias Baskin has received two new grant awards. He received a $510,000 grant from U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Basic Energy Sciences) for a project entitled "Cellulose and the Control of Growth Anisotropy". This award is a competitive renewal for an on-going project that attempts to understand how the mechanical properties of the cell wall are established by a plant and how these properties influence the fundamental process of growth. In addition, Dr. Baskin has won a new, three-year, $480,000 National Science Foundation award for a project titled "The nano-mechanics of cellulose synthesis". Baskin is Co-PI on the project, along with Lori Golner of the UMass Physics Department. The goal of the project is to use both high resolution imaging of living cells and biochemical analysis of extracts to deepen our understanding of how cellulose, perhaps the most abundant polymer on Earth, is synthesized.

Mike Selden, an undergraduate working in Sheila Patek's lab, designed a new website to simplify matching undergraduates with research positions.

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