News
11/23/2010
Joshua Figueroa named as a 2010 Cottrell Scholar
Assistant Professor Joshua Figueroa has been named as a 2010 Cottrell Scholar for the proposal titled "Isocyanide Analogues of the Unsaturated Metal Carbonyls." The awards are unusual in that they recognize faculty who excel in both teaching and research. The honor carries with it an award of $75,000 to further the research and teaching of the Scholar.
11/05/2010
Prof. Gianneschi Receives White House Science Award
A chemistry professor at the University of California, San Diego was among 85 scientists and engineers who today received the nations highest honor awarded by the White House to researchers at the outset of their professional scientific careers. Nathan Gianneschi, an assistant professor of chemistry at UCSD, was among this years recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, which he will receive formally from President Obama at a White House ceremony. Established in 1996, the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. Nine federal departments and agencies annually nominate scientists and engineers who are at the start of their independent careers and whose work shows exceptional promise. Gianneschi, who is developing next generation advanced hybrid materials that combine naturally occurring molecules such as DNA and protein with manmade molecules, was nominated by the Defense Department, which will provide him with a research grant along with the award. He was informed of the award by John P. Holdren, President Obamas science adviser and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
10/06/2010
UCSD Chemists and Scripps Researchers to Create Center Devoted to Chemistry's Influence on Climate
(Center for aerosol impacts on climate and the environment to build ocean-atmosphere simulator on Scripps campus) Scientists in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego have been awarded a Center for Chemical Innovation to study prevailing mysteries about how chemistry influences climate and atmospheric processes. The $1.5 million National Science Foundation award establishes the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE), which aims to determine how the chemical composition of aerosol particles and the chemical reactions occurring at their surface impacts Earths climate. Until now, studies focused on determining the impact of aerosol chemical processes on climate have been conducted on either highly simplified model systems in the laboratory, making extension to real-world conditions challenging, or under overly complex atmospheric conditions, making deduction of the underlying driving mechanisms cloudy. As a result, chemical processes associated with aerosol particles are poorly constrained in most computer models used for climate predictions. Were going to understand how real systems behave and how chemistry affects climate, said center principal investigator Kim Prather, an atmospheric chemistry professor, who holds appointments at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD as well as at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This knowledge will be used to dramatically improve the representation of aerosol chemical mechanisms in global climate models, and how they impact climate processes such as cloud formation, cloud lifetime, precipitation patterns, and direct aerosol absorption. The center is designed to bring together experts in all areas of chemistry, with physical, chemical, and biological oceanographers with the intent of determining how chemical processes impact climate from the molecular scale all the way to the global scale. Were understanding at fundamental level when is chemistry important, said Prather. To overcome such observational hurdles, the award, which in later phases could direct as much as $40 million toward the center, will support the modification of an existing wave tank on the Scripps campus to create CAICEs research centerpiece, a closed chamber that can simulate ocean-atmosphere interactions. Researchers will add various atmosphere-changing ingredients from carbon dioxide to phytoplankton to varying levels of light to measure the effects of different variables. Were going to build an ocean and then were going to build an atmosphere over the ocean, said Prather. Well be able to do all kinds of experiments in this microcosm. The test tank, currently used to generate waves for fluid dynamics studies, could be ready for the centers experiments by January 2011. The center will include research led by both investigators in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Scripps who represent fields ranging from fundamental chemistry to biological, chemical, and physical oceanography. Co-investigators and advisors from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry include: Timothy Bertram, Francesco Paesani, Robert Pomeroy, Mario Molina, and Mark Thiemens. Scripps co-investigators and advisors include: Grant Deane, Lynn Russell, Lihini Aluwhihare, Brian Palenik, Andrew Dickson, and V. Ramanathan. It will also feature an educational component that will be worked into marine education programs at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Prather said that Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Encinitas and Castle Park High School in Chula Vista are incorporating related atmospheric studies into their curricula using the centers outreach budget. We are delighted that the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment is being established, said Birch Aquarium at Scripps Executive Director Nigella Hillgarth. We are looking forward to collaborating on outreach programs that are designed to bring awareness to schools and the public about this cutting-edge research on aerosol particles and oceans, atmosphere, climate, chemistry and biology.
08/30/2010
07/26/2010
Akif Tezcan to give Saltman Award Lecture
Assistant Professor Akif Tezcan has been chosen to give the Saltman Award Lecture at the Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference (GRC) to be held in Ventura, CA (Jan. 30-Feb 4, 2011). The award recognizes Tezcans superb accomplishments in the broad field of biological inorganic chemistry . It is given to the individual considered to have made the most important contributions to the field in the early years of their independent research career. The award is named for Professor Paul D. Saltman, who was a founding member of the Metals in Biology GRC and an important influence on its evolution into one of the premier incubators of new research in bioinorganic chemistry. Saltman was also a key visionary in the growth and development of the University of California, San Diego.
07/22/2010
DOE Awards UC San Diego Consortium $9 Million for Algal Biofuels Research
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a consortium of universities and companies (San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology also known as SD-CAD) headed by biologists at UC San Diego up to $9 million over the next three years to conduct basic research that will pave the way toward making biofuels from algae a viable and competitive alternative to gasoline for our nations transportation fuel. The $9 million in federal funds are being supplemented by $3 million from a consortium of biotechnology and energy companies, providing a total of $12 million for the three year research effort that will begin this summer. Professor Mike Burkart of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry was appointed Associate Director of SD-CAB. For more information, please see link: http://biology.ucsd.edu/news/article_062810.html
07/13/2010
Ross Walker joins our physical chemistry division in the fall of 2010. He is also an Assistant Research Scientist at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Dr. Walker earned his Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry in 2003 from Imperial College London.
06/30/2010
Peter Wolynes receives 2010 Einstein Professorship from Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peter Wolynes, UCSD professor of chemistry and biochemistry and of physics, has been named a 2010 Einstein Chair Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Einstein Professorships are awarded each year to 20 leading international scientists working at the frontiers of science and technology in all disciplines. These recipients are recognized as international leaders in their specific fields as measured by awards and prizes, national or international committee leadership, and history of publications and lectures. Wolynes will visit three major sites in China this July culminating in two Einstein Professor Lectures at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry in Changchun, Jilin. These lectures represent the wide spectrum of Wolynes' current research interests. One presentation will address his recent advances in protein folding studies, and the second will discuss the glass transition. For further information please see: http://english.bic.cas.cn/AF/Fe/200906/t20090615_6342.html
05/25/2010
Jeff Rances wins 2009-2010 Principal Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year
The campus recently announced, on behalf of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, the names of the ten Professional and Support Staff members who are being recognized as the 2009-2010 UC San Diego Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year Award recipients. Our very own Jeff Rances, Admissions/MS Coordinator, has won the highest award based on criteria communicated in the 2009-2010 Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year Award Program notice. The Review Committee, consisting of representatives from the Chancellor's Office, each vice chancellor area and the UCSD Medical Center, evaluated all eligible nominations submitted by members of the campus community. We are greatly honored for Mr. Rances' selection as it recognizes his exemplary service and significant contributions to our department impacting UC San Diego and the community at large. Mr. Rances joined the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry in 2008 and during his short tenure he has made a significant and direct impact in the areas of diversity and graduate wellness/community. His accomplishments and service go above and beyond his administrative responsibilities through his personal approach to making an inclusive environment for a diverse population. His vested commitment to diversity was instrumental in recruiting a higher number of talented underrepresented students into our program (and an increase in the overall admissions pool) during the current admission cycle. His commitment to diversity also secured campus fellowships for underrepresented students which represented departmental savings towards graduate student support. Additionally, he is working on a specific pilot program that will bring current students together across disciplines for talks and workshops that will strive to improve climate and race-relations. The pilot program will also aim to assist in the retention of those traditionally underrepresented students by providing out-of-the-classroom training through mentorship for success in graduate study, research and beyond. Mr. Rances has become a key staff in making a difference in overall student wellness and community. He has mobilized and inspired our students in common interests to provide an environment that will cater to their success. Overall, Jeff's hard work, dedication and "best interest at heart" makes him the best the University has to offer during difficult economic times. His genuine goodwill has made the department a better place. We are definitely honored and lucky to have him as an employee of the University. Please join us in congratulating Jeff on this wonderful recognition as the Principal Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year.
05/19/2010
Sustainability Awards won by Dr. Robert Pomeroy and Ms. Lindsay Hatch
Dr. Robert Skip Pomeroy (faculty category) and Ms. Lindsay Hatch (graduate student category) will be presented with Sustainability Awardsat a ceremony to be held next Tuesday, May 25th, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Weaver Center at the International Center. Each year UC San Diego honors individuals, teams, and departments who have worked outside the capacity of their job descriptions to advance one or more of the goals of the Advisory Committee on Sustainability; * To make sustainability part of the ongoing education, research, planning, operation or outreach programs at UC San Diego. * To share information about the education, research, planning, operation or outreach activities related to environmental stewardship and sustainability at UC San Diego with the campus community and public.
05/18/2010
Prof. Kimberly Prather named inaugural holder of the Distinguished Chair in Atmospheric Chemistry
Kimberly A. Prather, who is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC San Diego and at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has been named the inaugural holder of the Distinguished Chair in Atmospheric Chemistry in the Division of Physical Sciences. Dr. Prather was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Named 2009 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she also won the American Chemical Society 2010 Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology and was elected 2010 American Geophysical Union Fellow for her eminence in earth and space sciences.
04/23/2010
03/02/2010
To: Faculty, Staff and Students of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry RE: Our Commitment to Diversity From: Chair Robert Continetti on behalf of the Faculty and Staff The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry reaffirms its commitment to ensuring an educational and research environment that fosters racial and cultural diversity in all of our activities. Creative scientific research depends on diversity in the educational, social, cultural and racial backgrounds of researchers. The faculty and staff of our Department condemn the recent acts of racial stereotyping and intimidation that have occurred within our community, and we reaffirm that members of all racial and cultural communities are welcome within our Department. We believe in and pledge our continued efforts to create an environment free of prejudice and intimidation that fosters our mission of education, research and discovery. The Departmental faculty and staff support the widespread calls for action (for example, some of the specific points raised by the Academic Senate's Committee for Diversity and Equity) to improve the campus climate in the short and long term, and demand that the promise of higher education as a public good be realized. In that regard, we prioritize the recruitment of students, staff and faculty from underrepresented minorities to further diversify our Department. As a student in our Department, if you have any questions or comments about recent events, or comments about personal experiences that you wish to share, please feel free to speak with staff members in our Office of Student Affairs, York Hall 4010, or with any faculty member.
03/02/2010
Hosted by the American Chemical Society and the UCSD Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, July 23, 2010, 9:00AM-2:00PM, Price Center Theater. Final schedule and registration info to follow.
01/28/2010
Professor Prather elected 2010 AGU Fellow
Professor Kimberly Prather was recently elected 2010 American Geophysical Union Fellow for her eminence in earth and space sciences. To be elected is a special tribute for those who have made exceptional scientific contributions. This designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1 percent of all AGU members in any given year.