You may be surprised by the organism that in recent years has become one of the hottest topics of biological research - the zebra danio or Danio rerio of the scientific literature.  Those of you who have maintained a fish tank as a hobby, or just for the sake of having 'easy' pets, will attest to how easy it is to breed zebrafish.  Ease of breeding is a major reason why the field of developmental genetics has chosen the zebrafish as its premier 'model system' for the study of vertebrate development.  Mus musculus move over, zebra danio is here! 
The Biology Department is fortunate to have recruited to its faculty one of the world's expert zebrafish breeders and investigators, Dr. Rolf Karlstrom.  Rolf has established a zebrafish breeding facility in the Biology Department at UMass Amherst and is developing his research projects around that resource.  Besides his research on the nervous system of the zebrafish, Professor Karlstrom is widely known for his motion pictures of zebrafish embryogenesis.  An excerpt of that process can be viewed by visiting Rolf's web site, URL: http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/karlstrom/karlstrom.mov.  The objective of the superb cinematography is to enable one to be so thoroughly versed with development of the zebrafish that any deviations from the usual pattern will be immediately obvious.  Rolf's zebrafish cinematography was featured in a "Nature" segment on PBS this spring.
A measure of local respect has already been gained for the zebrafish.  The investigators of the Five College area who use Drosophila as their experimental organism have renamed their Flyclub the "Flyfishing Journal Club".  This group holds intellectually stimulating weekly meetings to discuss the latest research in neurobiology, genetics and development of Drosophila and now the zebrafish.  The meetings attract undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.

Chairman
Woodcock's
Corner
 
The 1999/2000 academic year has been remarkably busy in the Biology Department, and very successful in many respects. A major event was the Academic Quality Assessment and Development (AQAD) review mandated by the trustees for all UMass programs on a seven year cycle.  We were a guinea pig department, in the first round of reviews.  The assembled self-assessment document was two-inches thick, and was sent to four distinguished biologists at peer institutions in the USA.
This March the external review

panel visited for two days of intensive meetings with students, faculty and administrators.  The reviewers report was a strong vindication of the strength of the department, and its crucial need for more faculty to balance the huge increase in student interest. Here are a few excerpts from that report:
"The AQAD review team was simply overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and commitment that the Biology faculty have throughout their ranks for teaching at the undergraduate level" ... "Undergraduates respond to this special commitment on the part of the faculty in a very positive way." ... "The excellent attitude by the

entire Department should not be taken for granted and should not be squandered." ... "A minimum of one new faculty must he hired each year for the foreseeable future ... "Department members need to be acknowledged for their outstanding achievements, ... to be assured that the University recognizes the centrality of basic biology in the mission of the University, and to have the University take whatever steps are necessary to adequately support the Biology Department".  For the text of our self-assessment or the full external review, e-mail chair@bio.umass.edu.
The process now moves to the Dean and Provost and ultimately to the President and trustees.  We must make sure the administration is aware of the recommendations of

the report, and look forward to a stronger level of support for our work.
Several Biology faculty were recognized for their extraordinary contributions in teaching, research, and advising:  Elizabeth Connor, College Outstanding Teacher Award ('99); Lawrence Schwartz, Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship ('99) and Distinguished Faculty Lecture ('99); William Bemis, Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship ('00); Bruce Byers, Outstanding Academic Advisor of the Year ('00); Elsbeth Walker, Lilly Teaching Fellow ('00).
Finally, we were a recipient of an $88,000 Beckman Fellows Award for the support of undergraduate research. It has been a challenging and rewarding year, and, as usual, a great privilege for me to chair such an active and committed group of students, faculty, and staff.