Bittman Lab Discovers Mutation That Affects Internal Clocks

Research in Biology professor Eric Bittman's lab has identified a mutation that affects the internal circadian clocks that control the timing of mammalian physiology and behavior. The mutation causes an animal's "master clock" (a pacemaker in the brain that sets the clocks that run in cells throughout the body) to run abnormally fast, and also profoundly increases the ability of light to reset biological rhythms. Identification of the gene responsible for the mutation will clarify the mechanisms by which physiological functions are coordinated in time and thereby help explain why we suffer from jet lag and have trouble adjusting to shift work. The lab's findings are described in two recent publications in the Journal of Biological Rhythms.

Hazen Wins DOE Early Career Research Award

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has announced that Biology professor Sam Hazen is among 65 scientists from across the nation who have been selected for five-year awards under the Office's Early Career Research Program. The five-year awards are designed to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work. Dr. Hazen's project, "Plant‐Microbe Genomic Systems Optimization for Energy", will explore the genetics of feedstock digestibility.

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Hazen Receives DOE-USDA Grant to Improve Energy Crops

A collaboration between Todd Mockler of the Danforth Plant Science Center and UMass Biology professor Sam Hazen is among ten projects selected to receive funding from the DOE-USDA Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy Program. Mockler and Hazen seek to use genomics and genetics in the model grass system Brachypodium distachyon to identify genes involved in light perception and signaling that will increase the yield and improve the composition of bioenergy grasses.

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Tropical Field Biology Spring 2013 Applications Now Available

Accepting Applications for Tropical Field Biology (Bio 487H)

We are looking for a few good men and women to join us in the latest version of Tropical Field Biology. This 4 credit course meets twice a week during the spring semester and features a field trip to Costa Rica and Panama over spring break. You will learn from 6 excellent instructors who have extensive field experience in the tropics, which means that this is among the highest teacher-to-student ratio courses that you are ever likely to find. The course provides a safe experience that will introduce you to one of the most diverse and beautiful places on the Earth, while giving you an introduction to the realities of field research. We had a fantastic time last year and this year promises to be even better. Enrollment is limited to 24 students so apply now!

Biology Undergraduate Research Apprenticeships (BURA) Now Available!

Biology Undergraduate Research Apprenticeships (BURA) Applications Available. Click Here to see projects and apply.

Applications due by midnight September 7, 2012.