The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) named our own Mary Tierney ASPB Fellow for 2009. Established in 2007, the Fellow of ASPB award may be granted in recognition of distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology and service to the Society by current members in areas that include research, education, mentoring, outreach, and professional and public service. Mary currently serves on the ASPB Board of Trustees, has served as monitoring editor for Plant Physiology, and has served on the Society's Executive Committee, as Chair of the Women in Plant Biology Committee.
The annual Plant Biology Department holiday party is held each year on the first Saturday in December at Tom Vogelmann and Mary Neighbor's house. This year's party was once again a lovely affair, with delicious food, beautiful live music, and great conversation. A photo gallery of the festivities can be viewed at this link.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Plant Biology Department's new home, James M. Jeffords Hall, was held on May 16th, 2008. This $55.7 million project has received support from several sources: $10 million from the state of Vermont, $1 million from the Lintilhac Foundation, and $3 million in federal funds secured by Senator Leahy and other senate colleagues in honor of former Senator James M. Jeffords. Jeffords Hall will be a 97,000 square foot state-of-the-art research and teaching facility in the plant sciences (architect's rendition pictured above). The first floor of the three-story structure will contain seven teaching labs and three classrooms to be used for a variety of undergraduate and graduate classes in the life sciences. The upper two floors will house research laboratories and offices for the departments of Plant Biology and Plant and Soil Science. Construction of Jeffords Hall will be completed in March 2010.
The Field Naturalist (FN) program had its beginnings 25 years ago, and there was a reunion and celebration on May 31 and June 1, 2008, to mark this milestone. Current and Former students of the program gathered for a celebration at Oakledge Park on Saturday (see photo to the right). Sunday was spent at Shelburne Farms, taking nature walks, writing, drawing, and recalling fond memories from FN years past. Hub Vogelmann, founder of the Field Naturalist program, spoke to the group on Saturday. Please click here to view more photos from the reunion.
Dr. Brian Beckage and his students have been conducting climate change research on Camel's Hump. They are quantifying the range shift of trees as the climate warms. What they are finding is that winter-hardy coniferous trees, such as Spruce and Fir, are retreating up the mountain as northern hardwoods creep up the slope and replace the conifers. Pictured here is Ph.D. student Carrie Pucko, taking notes at one of her study plots on Camel's Hump. This timely research caught the attention of the Boston Globe, which ran a story about Dr. Beckage's research on March 17, 2008. Click here to read the Boston Globe article in full.
Our academic department, previously known as the Department of Botany, and most recently as the Department of Botany & Agricultural Biochemistry, is now called the Department of Plant Biology. Plant Biology best describes the diverse scholarly activities of the faculty, and it is a simple, straightforward, and self-explanatory name. Research in the department ranges from classical botanical studies to sequencing genes, developing new instrumentation, writing evolutionary computer code, studying invasive species, predicting global climate change, and shooting lasers through leaves. We hope that the new name of Plant Biology will focus attention on plants and will act as a magnet, drawing students with an interest in plant science in the broadest sense not only to our department, but also Plant & Soil Science, The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Biology, and other departments. As the only basic plant biology unit in the State of Vermont and one of 25 in the country, our department provides the University of Vermont with teaching, research, and service in the fundamentals of plant biology. We're pleased to announce a new name that describes so well what we do in the Department of Plant Biology.
Last modified March 23 2009 01:06 PM
