Incoming Classen lab student
Relena Ribbons will join the department as a PhD student in the Classen lab this fall and was awarded a Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (CIRE) fellowship.
Archives for April 2011
Honorable mention for NSF GRFP proposal
Classen lab student Jessica Bryant was awarded an honorable mention for her NSF GRFP proposal.
American Association of University Women postdoc fellowship to Lara Souza
Classen lab postdoc Lara Souza was recently awarded an American Association of University Women (AAUW) post doc fellowship.
Professor Musfeldt Attended NUFO Capitol Hill Display
Professor Janice Musfeldt (center) attended the National User Facility Organization (NUFO)‘s display on April 7 at U.S. House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building in DC.
Along with Roy Goodrich (left) from George Washington University and David Graf (right) from National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), Musfeldt and the team represented NHMFL, one of the NUFO facilities during this Science Exhibition.
NUFO was invited by several Members of Congress to hold this exhibition on Capitol Hill to educate members and staff about the research being conducted at national user facilities, as well as the ultimate benefit of this research to the United States.
Last September, Musfeldt was elected as the Chair of NHMFL Users Committee, effective January 2011. Her article Magneto-elastic Coupling in Magnetically Frustrated Co3V2O8 was recently selected for inclusion in the annual Mag Lab Reports Research Highlights Issue. Only 40 reports were chosen out of the 417 submitted. The selected reports will also be featured in chapter two of the lab’s Annual Report to the National Science Foundation.
Chemistry Faculty and Student receive Chancellor’s Honors Awards
The Chancellor’s Honors Banquet is held each spring to recognize students, faculty, staff and friends of the University of Tennessee for their extraordinary achievements.
The 2011 banquet was held April 11th at the University Center.
Professor Jeff Kovac, Professor Ben Xue and senior student in Chemistry Katherine Sharp received awards during the banquet.
2011 Excellence in Academic Outreach
This year’s award goes to Jeffrey Kovac, a tenured faculty member of the Department of Chemistry since 1976. Kovac directs the department’s undergraduate instructional program, carries a regular teaching load, and maintains an active program of scholarship and research.
His talents as an educator reach well beyond the UT campus. As director of the Governor’s School for Science and Engineering, Kovac designs curriculum and activities for 150 of Tennessee’s brightest high school students every year, recruiting appropriate faculty members and teaching at least one seminar himself.
In 2009, he was invited to direct the Tennessee Science Olympiad State Tournament. This program introduces middle and high school students to science and engineering concepts through competitive events. He has improved the state Science Olympiad website and has developed and staffed a coaches’ workshop for Tennessee teachers.
2011 Research and Creative Achievement
Ben Xue, professor of chemistry, joined the faculty in 1992. Since then, he has been recognized for his contributions in chemistry, especially inorganic compounds and their novel analysis. His work has led to the understanding of the formation of advanced materials and new catalysts, as well as the development of novel analytical methods. His research has been constantly supported by the National Science Foundation, and he has been honored with awards from foundations and associations around the world.
Research and Creative Achievement honors are awarded to tenured faculty who have received national or international recognition in their field.
Also awarded is chemistry senior student Katherine Sharp as one of the 2011 Top Collegiate Scholars.
Click to view more award recipients of 2011 Chancellor’s Honors
Incoming Classen lab student
Relena Ribbons will join the department as a PhD student in the Classen lab this fall and was awarded a Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (CIRE) fellowship.
Science article on economic importance of bats
Bats in North America are under a two-pronged attack but they are not the only victim – so is the U.S. economy. Gary McCracken, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, along with lead author Justin Boyles of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and coauthors Paul Cryan of the U.S. Geological Survey and Thomas Kunz of Boston University, analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the $3.7 to $53 billion a year range. This was published in the April 1 edition of Science.
Since 2006, more than a million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). At the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. This hurts the economy because bats’ diet of pest insects reduces the damage the insects cause to crops and decreases the need for pesticides.
In fact, the researchers estimate the value of bats to the agricultural industry is roughly $22.9 billion a year, with the extremes ranging as low as $3.7 and $53 billion a year.
“These estimates include the reduced costs of pesticide applications that are not needed to suppress the insects consumed by bats. However, they do not include the downstream impacts of pesticides on humans, domestic and wild animals and our environment,” said McCracken. “Without bats, crop yields are affected. Pesticide applications go up. Even if our estimates were quartered, they clearly show how bats have enormous potential to influence the economics of agriculture and forestry.”
According to the researchers, a single colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year — insects that could potentially be damaging to crops.
WNS infects the skin of bats while they hibernate. Some species such as the little brown bat are likely to go extinct in parts of North America. The disease has quickly spread from Canada to Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma and actions to slow or stop it have proven unsuccessful.
It is unknown how many bats have died due to wind turbines, but the scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone. Why migratory tree-dwelling species are drawn to the turbines remains a mystery.
Due to the economic and ecological importance, the researchers urge policy-makers to avoid a wait-and-see approach to the issue of widespread declines of bat populations.
“Not acting is not an option because the life histories of these flying, nocturnal mammals — characterized by long generation times and low reproductive rates — mean that population recovery is unlikely for decades or even centuries, if at all,” said McCracken.
According to McCracken, solutions will only be fueled in the next few years by increased awareness of the benefits of insectivorous bats among the public, policymakers and scientists.
Science article on economic importance of bats
Bats in North America are under a two-pronged attack but they are not the only victim – so is the U.S. economy. Gary McCracken, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, along with lead author Justin Boyles of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and coauthors Paul Cryan of the U.S. Geological Survey and Thomas Kunz of Boston University, analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the $3.7 to $53 billion a year range. This was published in the April 1 edition of Science.
Since 2006, more than a million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). At the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. This hurts the economy because bats’ diet of pest insects reduces the damage the insects cause to crops and decreases the need for pesticides.
In fact, the researchers estimate the value of bats to the agricultural industry is roughly $22.9 billion a year, with the extremes ranging as low as $3.7 and $53 billion a year.
“These estimates include the reduced costs of pesticide applications that are not needed to suppress the insects consumed by bats. However, they do not include the downstream impacts of pesticides on humans, domestic and wild animals and our environment,” said McCracken. “Without bats, crop yields are affected. Pesticide applications go up. Even if our estimates were quartered, they clearly show how bats have enormous potential to influence the economics of agriculture and forestry.”
According to the researchers, a single colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year — insects that could potentially be damaging to crops.
WNS infects the skin of bats while they hibernate. Some species such as the little brown bat are likely to go extinct in parts of North America. The disease has quickly spread from Canada to Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma and actions to slow or stop it have proven unsuccessful.
It is unknown how many bats have died due to wind turbines, but the scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone. Why migratory tree-dwelling species are drawn to the turbines remains a mystery.
Due to the economic and ecological importance, the researchers urge policy-makers to avoid a wait-and-see approach to the issue of widespread declines of bat populations.
“Not acting is not an option because the life histories of these flying, nocturnal mammals — characterized by long generation times and low reproductive rates — mean that population recovery is unlikely for decades or even centuries, if at all,” said McCracken.
According to McCracken, solutions will only be fueled in the next few years by increased awareness of the benefits of insectivorous bats among the public, policymakers and scientists.