Biology Student Thesis Presentations 4/26 at 4:00

Biology Professor Pat Wadsworth and her Bioimaging students will discuss their students' thesis projects from 4:00-5:30 on April 26. The presentation is in the Bernie Dallas Room (in Goodell). Reception to follow. Click here for details.

Francis Receives Student Choice Award

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.

Irschick Receives Technology Award

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."

Irschick and Colleagues Win $900,000 Grant


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.

Dumont and Searcy Speak at Hokkaido University Museum

Biology professors Betsy Dumont and Karen Searcy recently returned from Sapporo, Japan, where they were invited speakers at the opening of an exhibit at the Hokkaido University Museum. The exhibit focused on vascular plants and lichens collected by W. S. Clark and D. P. Penhallow between 1876 and 1877. The two men journeyed from Amherst to Japan to open an agricultural college that is now Hokkaido University, and are well known and highly regarded throughout Japan. The exhibit included specimens borrowed from the University of Massachusetts Herbarium as well as displays about the Amherst area, the University of Massachusetts campus, and Sapporo.