Shark Hunting In Montana And Early Vertebrate Evolution, Lecture March 25

Chestertown, MD, March 15, 2004 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, as part of its Women in Science Lecture Series, presents “Snorkeling a Paleozoic Bay: Shark Fishing in Montana,” a lecture by Eileen Grogan, a Washington College 1984 alumna now associate professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University, Thursday, March 25, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The lecture is free and open to the public.

After completing her bachelor of science in biology at Washington College in 1984, Dr. Grogan received her M.S. in biology from Adelphi University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in marine science from the College of William and Mary in 1993. She has taught at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia since 1994.

Her research interest, and the focus of her talk, is the origin and evolution of early chondrichthyes (cartilage fish, such as sharks) and their connection to early vertebrate evolution.

The talk is sponsored by the Washington College Sigma Xi chapter, which was officially installed in April 2001. Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is an international, non-profit membership society of more than 80,000 scientists and engineers elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. In addition to publishing the journal American Scientist, Sigma Xi awards annual grants to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society, and sponsors a variety of programs supporting science and engineering, science education, science policy, and the public understanding of science. The College's affiliation allows faculty and students to advance scientific education and research through grants; to fund faculty and student projects, travel awards and conferences; and to sponsor visiting scientists and collaborative research with other institutions.

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Symposium To Honor Washington College Chemist

Chestertown, MD, April 1, 2003 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and the Women in Science Program present "COPPER IN THE BODY: YOU GOTTA HAVE IT - BUT NOT TOO MUCH", a symposium in celebration of the recent publication of Washington College Professor Rosette Roat-Malone's new text, Bioinorganic Chemistry: A Short Course. The symposium will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Panelists for the event include Professor Valeria Culotta, Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University; Professor Amy Rosenzweig, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology at Northwestern University; and Professor Rosette Roat-Malone. Alice Hogan, Director of the ADVANCE Program of the National Science Foundation will serve as moderator. ADVANCE is a federal program designed is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through the increased representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers.

Professor Rosenzweig's research is concerned with determining the three dimensional structures of proteins involved in delivering copper to distinct cellular locations and particular proteins. These proteins, called copper chaperones, are linked to human diseases, including Menkes syndrome, Wilson disease, and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), and are potential targets for new therapeutics. Professor Culotta's work focuses on the role of metal ions in biology and in disease. Researchers in her group have cloned and characterized a number of yeast genes involved in metal trafficking and virtually all of these have human homologues. They have helped to establish a novel paradigm of copper trafficking in eukaryotic cells that involves the combined action of metal transporters and soluble copper carrier proteins. Their discovery of the CCS copper chaperone for the superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD1) has facilitated studies addressing the mechanism by which mutations in human SOD1 lead to the fatal motor neuron disease, ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is a non-profit membership society of nearly 75,000 scientists and engineers who were elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. Sigma Xi has more than 500 chapters at universities and colleges, government laboratories and industry research centers.

Award Winning Nuclear Chemist To Address Imaging Drug Addiction In The Human Brain

Chestertown, MD, April 19, 2002 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi and the Department of Chemistry, as part of the Women in Science Lecture Series, present, "IMAGING DRUG ADDICTION IN THE HUMAN BRAIN," a talk by Joanna S. Fowler, Ph.D., recipient of the 2002 Glenn T. Seaborg Award in Nuclear Chemistry, and Senior Chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The lecture will be held on Tuesday April 23, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in Litrenta Lecture Hall of Dunning Hall. The public is invited to attend.

Dr. Fowler has been a pioneer in the development of organic compounds labeled with radioactive isotopes and their use in medicine. Her work in the synthesis of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has led to the rapid growth of positron emission tomography (PET) as a diagnostic tool for brain mapping. Her work with C-11 labeled cocaine led to the first assessment of the mechanistic action of cocaine in the human brain. In addition, her brain mapping studies have provided new insight into the behavioral and epidemiological effects of smoking.

Dr. Fowler received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1964 from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1967 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her long and distinguished career at BNL followed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of East Anglia. Dr. Fowler's many awards include the 1998 Francis P. Garvin-John L. Olin Medal of the American Chemical Society, established in 1936 to honor distinguished service to chemistry by U.S. women chemists; the 1997 Paul Aebersold Award of the Society of Nuclear Medicine; the1999 E. O. Lawrence Award of the Department of Energy.

Rivlin To Address Dilemmas Of Successful Capitalism March 25th

Chestertown, MD, March 19, 2002 — The Goldstein Program in Public Affairs and the William James Forum as part of the Women In Science Lecture Series present "DILEMMAS OF SUCCESSFUL CAPITALISM," a lecture by Dr. Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Brookings Institution, on Monday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m. in Washington College's Norman James Theatre. The public is invited to attend.

Dr. Rivlin has a long and distinguished career in economics in both the public and private sectors. Dr. Rivlin has served as Director and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton Administration, founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, serving from 1975 to 1983, Chair of the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority, and Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Rivlin also served as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Coordination at HEW.

A recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, Dr. Rivlin has taught at Harvard and George Mason University. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from Radcliffe College in 1958. A member of the boards of directors for several corporations, she is a past President of the American Economic Society. Dr. Rivlin has written numerous books, the most recent of which is "Reviving the American Dream." She is a frequent contributor to newspapers, magazines and journals, and currently serves as Director of Economic Studies for the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.

Dr. Rivlin's visit is sponsored by Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, named in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, the College's former Chairman of the Board of Visitors and Governors, a 1935 alumnus, and Maryland's longest-serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lecture series, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders experienced in developing public policy.

Men and Women: Are We Hard Wired to Think Differently? Lecture Explores Sex Differences in the Brain

Chestertown, MD, January 11, 2002 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi and Psi Chi the National Honor Society in Psychology, as part of the Women in Science Lecture Series, present "SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE BRAIN: FACT OR FICTION?", a lecture by Margaret M. McCarthy, Ph.D., University of Maryland, on Wednesday, February 13, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the Litrenta Lecture Hall, Dunning Hall. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

As a researcher with the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Physiology, Dr. McCarthy focuses on the influence of steroid hormones on the developing brain. For humans and animals, perinatal life—the time period immediately preceding and following birth—is a sensitive period for hormone exposure during which permanent structures in the developing brain are established.

Males and females are exposed to different hormones and hormonal concentrations during this period that result in sex differences in the brain. These differences include alterations in the volumes of particular brain nuclei and patterns of synaptic connectivity. McCarthy believes that the mechanisms by which sexually dimorphic structures are formed in the brain need further exploration and can shed light on how hormonal differences in the perinatal period may contribute to gender differences neurological disorders. For instance, males suffer more from developmental disorders such as dyslexia, autism, stuttering, early-onset schizophrenia, and attention deficit disorder, while females suffer more from adult-onset disorders such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Dr. McCarthy is investigating whether these gender differences are due to the difference in hormonal make-up during the perinatal period.

Dr. McCarthy has published widely in numerous peer-reviewed journals including Journal of "Neuroscience", "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", "Brain Research", "Hormones and Behavior", and "Neuroendocrinology". She also has presented her work at numerous national and international scientific meetings.

This Women in Science Lecture is cosponsored by the Washington College chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, a non-profit membership society of more than 80,000 scientists and engineers supporting excellence in scientific research, education, science policy, and the public understanding of science, and by the Washington College Chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology.

Burkholder to Address Pfiesteria and Coastal Water Quality Issues

Chestertown, MD, November 30, 2001 — The McLain Program in Environmental Studies and the Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi, as part of the Women In Science Lecture Series, present PFIESTERIA AND OTHER COASTAL WATER QUALITY ISSUES, a lecture by Joann M. Burkholder, Ph.D., on Wednesday, December 5, 2001, at 5 p.m. in the Hynson Lounge. The event is free at the public is invited to attend.

Burkholder is a professor of botany and director of North Carolina State University's Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology. Her research focuses on the nutritional ecology of algae, dinoflagellates, and aquatic angiosperms in relation to the impact that harmful algal blooms have on freshwater and marine coastal ecosystem functioning.

Through the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, Burkholder has studied the toxic dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscicida, which has been implicated as the primary causative agent of major fish kills and fish disease events in North Carolina estuaries, coastal areas and aquaculture operations. Pfiesteria and closely related toxic species have also been confirmed in fish kill/disease areas and aquaculture facilities outside North Carolina, from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf Coast. According to research Pfiesteria has been in this region for thousands of years as a nontoxic predator on other organisms (bacteria, algae, small animals), but experiments in the lab and the field indicate that human influences such as animal waste and nutrient run-off from farming have slowly shifted the environment to encourage Pfiesteria's fish-killing activity.

Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, is a non-profit membership society of more than 80,000 scientists and engineers elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. Sigma Xi awards annual grants to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society, and sponsors a variety of programs supporting honor in science and engineering, science education, science policy and the public understanding of science. This affiliation allows Washington College faculty and students to advance scientific education and research through grants, travel awards, conferences, and visiting scientists.

Sigma XI Hosts Panel Discussion on Women in Science October 17

Chestertown, MD, October 3, 2001 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, presents the panel discussion, "Barriers to and Opportunities for Women in Science," on Wednesday, October 17, 2001, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Tawes Theater, Gibson Performing Arts Center. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

The panel–representing women in science from government, academia and industry–will feature Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation, as lead speaker and moderator, accompanied by Dr. Mary Lou Soffa, Professor of Computer Science at University of Pittsburgh and Co-Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research, and Deborah Grubbe, P.E., Corporate Director for Safety and Health at DuPont and past director of DuPont Engineering's 700 person engineering technology organization. The panel will discuss the issues, obstacles and opportunities unique to women developing careers in science, medicine, technology and engineering.

Washington College currently offers bachelor degrees in the scientific fields of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science, environmental studies, anthropology and sociology, economics, and psychology, as well as a master of arts degree in psychology. More than 70 percent of the science degrees at Washington College have been granted to women in recent years.

"Traditionally there have been obstacles to women pursuing careers in science related professions," said Leslie Sherman, Clare Boothe Luce professor of chemistry at the College. "This forum will allow our students to ask women with highly successful careers in the sciences how they have been able to overcome these obstacles, what barriers to women still need to be addressed, and what opportunities are available today."

The Women in Science event is sponsored by the Washington College chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, a non-profit membership society of more than 80,000 scientists and engineers supporting excellence in scientific research, education, science policy, and the public understanding of science.

Additional Link:

Read Dr. Rita Colwell's Remarks From Her Visit to Washington College