BMB Weekly #50: December 20, 2024

 

Congratulations to BMB 2024 Undergraduate Awardees Professor Richard L. Anderson Endowed Undergraduate Research Prize To a Biochemistry major for excellence in scholarship, to support pursuit of an undergraduate research project. Ryn Van Winkle Mentor: Dr. Bjoern Hamberger Dr. James K. Billman, Jr., Undergraduate Research Award To a Biochemistry major for excellence in scholarship, to support pursuit of an undergraduate research project. Alphan Alpaydin Mentor: Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi Maya Pearce Mentor: Dr. Tommy Vo     Nayeema Siraj Mentor: Dr. Masako Harada Michael Burdick Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Scholarship To a Biochemistry major for excellence in scholarship and for support of education to embark on productive and successful careers in science. Ashtyn Hinz Pamela J. Fraker Undergraduate Scholarship To a Biochemistry major who has demonstrated the capacity to achieve educational and professional goals, the motivation to achieve these goals, and the initiative to seek opportunities to further their progress. Tahia Binta-Salim Moore-Billman Scholarship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology To a Biochemistry major for excellence in scholarship, to support pursuit of an undergraduate research project. Dakshesh Ravi Mentor: Dr. Jeremy Lohman Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award To a Senior Biochemistry Major for the Greatest Excellence in Scholarship and Research Mihn Anh Dang Mentor: Dr. Eric Hegg Megha Suresh Mentor: Dr. David Arnosti BMB Undergraduate Research Fellowship Given to a junior or senior for excellence in scholarship, to support pursuit of an undergraduate research project in Biochemistry. Matthew Barr Mentor: Dr. Maks Chruszcz Ana Ivanov Mentor: Dr. Ryan Sweeder Travis Yang Mentor: Dr. David Douches

 

 

Frank C. Schroeder from Cornell University – Boyce Thompson Institute will be presenting "Host-microbe metabolic interactions in C. elegans and mouse".

To join us on Zoom, click this link. Password: bmbseminar

The Spring BMB Seminar Series will run through April 24, 2025. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Spring Seminar Series website. If you are interested in meeting with any of these speakers please email Leslie Williams, glady@msu.edu. Many speakers are planning to visit in-person. A Zoom option will continue to be offered for all seminars.

 

In this session Dr. Shannon Lynn Burton (MSU Ombudsperson) will present key strategies in discussing the importance of academic integrity, as well as in preventing misconduct, both in its more traditional forms, as well as in the digital space. Participants will have the chance to discuss scenarios and think about strategies for how to communicate clearly with students including discussions about AI. Learn more and register here.

In this session, we will discuss the preparation you should go through in order to be able to assess students effectively based on Learning Outcomes. Examples on how to assess students in the various disciplines will be shared and discussed. Learn more and register here.

New graduate teaching assistants are invited to participate in the Spring 2025 Graduate Teaching Assistant Preparation Programs. These virtual sessions will help prepare you for your role and include topics like:

• Using D2L
• Managing your roles and responsibilities
• Developing a syllabus
• And more

Learn more here.

Registration for the BITSS Research Transparency and Reproducibility Training (RT2) 2025 is now open! Next year's RT2 will be held in Berkeley, CA from May 21-23, 2025. Participants will receive hands-on training on open science tools and methodologies, including pre-specification and data management. Participants are expected to come prepared to present their own research project and to provide a statement on how RT2 will benefit their current research. Learn more and register here.

The Office of Bioscience Postdoctoral Affairs at UCLA invites you to apply to UCLA Bio-Launch, a recruitment initiative for bioscience researchers. This program includes professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and a faculty matching service. Learn more and apply here.

 

Nominations are being accepted for the 2025 MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award competition. This Teaching Award is very competitive, so we are looking for exceptional PhD and Master’s students with great demonstration of teaching competence and knowledge of pedagogy, innovative teaching/instructional design, effective mentoring skills, and commitment to teaching professional development. Learn more here.

This fellowship will not be based on test scores or grade point averages, but rather the individual's commitment to fighting society's "isms" - including sexism, racism, and ageism. The recipient will invest his or her enhanced social capital to evoke positive action and changes in the community. Learn more and apply here.

 

The Graduate Educator Advancement and Teaching Office is conducting a study to explore the challenges and experiences faced by international graduate students and postdocs to enhance our understanding of their well-being and identify potential areas for support. This survey will take 15-20 minutes, and participants will be entered into a raffle to win a prize. Learn more here.

Nominations are now open for the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee’s Arabidopsis Community Awards! Nominate your colleagues, trainees, or yourself to recognize excellence in the Arabidopsis community in three award categories:

1. P. N. Benfey Arabidopsis Community Lifetime Achievement
2. Dissemination of Arabidopsis Knowledge (early & later career awards)
3. Excellence in Supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in the Arabidopsis Community (early & later career awards)

Learn more and submit a nomination here.

Looking for a meaningful way to give back during the holidays- or anytime? The MSU Student Food Bank supports over 300 individuals and families every week who are facing food insecurity. Contact us at foodbank@msu.edu for more information or to get started on your own drive! Let's make a difference together!

The MSU Student Food Bank is a resource available to students and scholars who may be experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank provides free food and other essential items to those in need within our MSU community. Learn more here.

 

Dr. Sue Rhee is seeking a highly motivated, organized, and creative person to coordinate the online and in person communications of several federally funded life science centers to promote the science and scientists of the centers. The current centers include the Plant Cell Atlas, Water and Life Interface Institute, and Plant Metabolic Network. The strategies and materials built for these centers should be made in ways for them to be easily adopted and adapted by other centers at MSU. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

Dr. Sue Rhee is seeking a highly motivated, organized, and creative person to coordinate the communications, outreach, and stakeholder engagement activities of an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional, international research center called C-SPIRIT (Center for Sustainable Plant Innovation and Resilience through International Teamwork).

C-SPIRIT addresses the critical challenge of stabilizing global food production amid unpredictable weather patterns. It brings together experts from the United States, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, to explore sustainable solutions for agriculture. By discovering and harnessing natural products from plants and microbes, it aims at enhancing plant and soil health. The goal is to ensure crop productivity despite increasing environmental stressors. One of the primary missions of the Center is to engage industry and agricultural stakeholders, ensuring that the developed solutions are practical, scalable, and adopted widely. A particular focus on public engagement and technology adoption aims to build trust and facilitate the widespread implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology invites applications and nominations for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position at the Associate or Full Professor level to serve as Co-Director of the nascent Center for Cancer Health Equity Research (CCHER). CCHER is a developing initiative in partnership with the Colleges of Human Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine and the Henry Ford Health System, with a mission to advance cancer health equity through innovative research, collaboration, and community engagement.

We seek an experienced and motivated leader with an established research program in cancer biology, cancer health disparities, or related fields, who is committed to playing a key role in shaping the Center's future and contributing to a growing initiative that addresses cancer disparities in underserved populations. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

 

 

Guzha, A., Gautam, B., Marchiafava, D., Ver Sagun, J., Garcia, T., Jarvis, B. A., Barbaglia-Hurlock, A. M., Johnston, C., Grotewold, E., Sedbrook, J. C., Alonso, A. P., & Chapman, K. D. (2024). Targeted modulation of pennycress lipid droplet proteins impacts droplet morphology and seed oil content. The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology, 120(5), 2151–2171. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.17109

López-Goldar, X., Mollema, A., Sivak-Schwennesen, C., Havko, N., Howe, G., Agrawal, A. A., & Wetzel, W. C. (2024). Heat waves induce milkweed resistance to a specialist herbivore via increased toxicity and reduced nutrient content. Plant, cell & environment, 47(12), 4530–4542. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15040

O'Malley, A., Ray, J. M., Kitlas, P., Ruethers, T., Kapingidza, A. B., Cierpicki, T., Lopata, A., Kowal, K., & Chruszcz, M. (2024). Comparative studies of seafood and reptile α- and β-parvalbumins. Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society, 33(12), e5226. https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.5226

Rhee, S. Y., Anstett, D. N., Cahoon, E. B., Covarrubias-Robles, A. A., Danquah, E., Dudareva, N., Ezura, H., Gilbert, K. J., Gutiérrez, R. A., Heck, M., Lowry, D. B., Mittler, R., Muday, G., Mukankusi, C., Nelson, A. D. L., Restrepo, S., Rouached, H., Seki, M., Walker, B., Way, D., … Weber, A. P. M. (2024). Resilient plants, sustainable future. Trends in plant science, S1360-1385(24)00302-9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.11.001

Suwayyid, F., & Wei, G. W. (2024). Persistent Mayer Dirac. Journal of physics. Complexity, 5(4), 045005. https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-072X/ad83a5

 

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 57, No.50