College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences News!
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Departments of Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and School of Earth Sciences
March 5, 2007
Volume 4 Issue 11
Today's headlines:
- OSU joins the search for dark energy
- Gupta earns NSF CAREER Award, ACIPA prize
- Peruvian glacier may vanish in five years
- MacEachern elected member of ISI
- BPRC researchers quoted in Dispatch
- Elliot receives Board of Trustees Student Recognition Award
- Guerard earns U.S. EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship
- Thompsons receive Distinguished Explorer Award
- Getting a grip on black holes
- Comprehensive, worldwide research network needed to really understand what is changing in the Arctic, researchers say
- Antarctic warming to reduce animals at base of ecosystem, shift some penguin populations southward
- Hakala, Jacobs win ACS awards
- College office personnel update
- Upcoming Events (MBI Public Lecture, Jewelry Show and Sale, Smith Lecture, Evening in the Atrium)
OSU joins the search for dark energy
Ohio State University has been accepted as an Institutional Member in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Collaboration. DES is a multifaceted effort designed to determine the properties of the dark energy that makes up 70 percent of the Universe, but has no compelling theoretical explanation. Other DES members include U.S. universities Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, and Penn; international university collaborations in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Spain; and national facilities at Argonne, Fermilab, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the National Center for Supercomputer Applications. Members of the Ohio State collaboration are Darren DePoy, Klaus Honscheid, Christopher Kochanek, Paul Martini, Donald Terndrup, Terry Walker, and David Weinberg. Ohio State's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP) played a central role in gaining DES membership, providing a rich intellectual environment, along with critical postdoctoral support, and monetary contributions. For more information, see ccapp.osu.edu.
Gupta earns NSF CAREER Award, ACIPA prize
Jay Gupta, assistant professor of physics, has received an NSF CAREER award supporting research into the electronic and optical properties of nanostructures. This research will be integrated with educational and outreach activities at Ohio State revolving around web-based Access Grid videoconferencing tools. The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education. This integration is intended to improve the participation and training of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related fields. Gupta’s CAREER award totals $500,000 to cover research expenses over a five-year period. The American Chapter of the Indian Physics Association has also recognized Gupta’s work by awarding him their inaugural Outstanding Young Physicist Prize. This prize carries an honorarium of $500 and recognition at a session of the American Physical Society’s March meeting.
Peruvian glacier may vanish in five years
When Lonnie Thompson, Distinguished University Professor of Earth Sciences, returns to Peru's Qori Kalis glacier early this summer, he expects to find that half of the ice he saw during his visit there last year has vanished. What troubles him the most is his recent observations that suggest that the entire glacier may likely be gone within the next five years, providing possibly the clearest evidence so far of global climate change. This research was covered by National Geographic, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and numerous other media outlets. The complete Ohio State news story is available at researchnews.osu.edu.
MacEachern elected member of ISI
Steve MacEachern, professor of statistics, has been elected as a member of the International Statistical Institute. Membership in this international statistical organization is offered to a person only through a full vote of its members.
BPRC researchers quoted in Dispatch
Byrd Polar Research Center scientists Berry Lyons and David Bromwich were quoted in a September 16 Dispatch article titled "Antarctica poses climate-change puzzle." The complete article is available at dispatch.com.
Elliot receives Board of Trustees Student Recognition Award
Garrett Elliott, an undergraduate student majoring in astronomy and physics, was presented with the Board of Trustees Student Recognition Award on March 2. He has been doing research with Dr. David J. Tholen of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii on the orbits of Pluto's recently discovered small satellites, Nix and Hydra. Elliot was nominated by his advisor, Donald Terndrup, associate professor of astronomy and selected by MAPS from a group of outstanding students nominated by the departments. The Student Recognition Award is presented each month by the Board of Trustees to a student in honor of that student's achievements in his/her area of study, research achievements that have been a credit to the college or university, and/or service to the university and/or community.
Guerard earns U.S. EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship
Jennifer Guerard, graduate student in the Environmental Science Graduate Program, received the 2006 U.S. EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship. It is three-years long and pays $20,000 per year plus tuition and an annual research budget of $5,000. Guerard is the fourth person from the group of Yo Chin, professor of earth sciences, to receive this award.
Thompsons receive Distinguished Explorer Award
Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie Thompson, world-renowned climate researchers, will share the fifth Roy Chapman Andrews Society Distinguished Explorer Award. The 2007 award is the first to tap a woman explorer, and the first to be presented to two individuals. The Thompsons will receive a $5,000 prize which they are donating to the Byrd Polar Research Center Ice Core Salvage Fund. For more information, see roychapmanandrewssociety.org.
Getting a grip on black holes
Christopher Kochanek, professor of astronomy, was quoted in a February 21 article in USA Today titled "Getting a grip on black holes." The story also appeared on foxnews.com.
Comprehensive, worldwide research network needed to really understand what is changing in the Arctic, researchers say
An Ohio State University geologist has outlined a new plan that would consolidate much of the world's studies on the Arctic region into a global observation network. “This is basically a plan to better understand how the Arctic is changing, but doing it in a new systematic, international and ‘pan-Arctic' way,” explained Berry Lyons, professor of earth sciences and director of the Byrd Polar Research Center. Lyons chaired an 18-member National Academy of Sciences committee that submitted a report, “Toward an Integrated Arctic Observing Network,” outlining their proposal. The complete Ohio State news story is available at researchnews.osu.edu.
Antarctic warming to reduce animals at base of ecosystem, shift some penguin populations southward
The warming most global climate models predict will do more harm than simply raise the sea levels that most observers fear. It will make drastic changes in fragile ecosystems throughout the world, especially in the Antarctic. A warming trend during the last few decades in the Antarctic Peninsula has already forced penguin populations to migrate south and perhaps diminished the abundance of krill that are at the base of the massive food chain at the bottom of the world. “We're already seeing the marine ecosystems respond dramatically to increases in temperatures along the Antarctic Peninsula,” explained Berry Lyons, professor of earth sciences and director of the Byrd Polar Research Center. The complete Ohio State news story is available at researchnews.osu.edu.
Hakala, Jacobs win ACS awards
J. Alexandra (Ale) Hakala, graduate student in earth sciences, and Laura Jacobs, graduate student in the Environmental Science Graduate Program both won the Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award presented by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Hakala also received a Student Paper Award from ACS. This is the highest award given to students by the Division of Environmental Chemistry.
College office personnel update
Ben Lewis has accepted a new position at Ohio State and will be leaving MAPS. His last day in the office will be Thursday, March 8, and he’ll start his new position of communications manager in the Office of Human Resources on March 12. His e-mail address will remain lewis.485@osu.edu. Communications and alumni questions should be directed to Teresa Hagerman, hagerman.1@osu.edu or 614-292-8908.
Upcoming Events:
MBI Public Lecture Series - Alan S. Perelson: March 14
Alan S. Perelson, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will give the next Mathematical Biosciences Institute Public Lecture on Wednesday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fawcett Center Auditorium (2400 Olentangy River Road). Perelson's lecture is titled "HIV/AIDS: How Mathematics Has Saved Lives." The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, see mbi.osu.edu.
Jewelry show and sale to benefit MAPS Alumni Scholarship Fund: March 29
Staff members Kathi Hess, Nancy Jacobs and Maria Soliman, in the college’s administration office, are hosting a spring jewelry show and sale in the MAPS conference room at 425 Stillman Hall, 1947 College Road. Ten percent of the sales will be donated to the MAPS Alumni Society Scholarship fund. Please join them on Thursday, March 29 from 11:30 - 1:30 p.m. for this excellent opportunity to purchase fine, handcrafted jewelry products and support our scholarship fund. Light refreshments will be provided. Terms of sale are cash, check, or credit card.
Smith Lecture: April 12
Dr. George F. Smoot, 2006 Nobel Laureate, will present the 2007 Alpheus Smith Lecture on Thursday, April 12 at 8 p.m. in Hitchcock Hall. Smoot is a research physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Smoot and John Mather share the Nobel Prize "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic micro-wave background radiation."
2nd Annual Evening in the Atrium: April 27
The 2nd annual MAPS Alumni Society Evening in the Atrium wine tasting and silent auction will take place on Friday, April 27 from 7-10 p.m. The cost is $40 per person or $75 for two people. All proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the MAPS Alumni Society Scholarship Fund. Guests must be at least 21 years old to attend. Get more information at the 2007 Evening in the Atrium page or register now.
Please email Teresa Hagerman at hagerman.1@osu.edu with news items. See www.mps.ohio-state.edu for an archive of past newsletters.
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