I am writing to you after returning from a trip to China, where — apart from giving a lecture at a research conference — I had the pleasure of hosting two very lively alumni outreach events. In Shanghai and in Beijing, I gave a presentation on UCB research highlights to people visiting from distinguished universities as well as former students of our university. Many told me how much they had gained from their association with Berkeley, and how keen they were to know what was happening on campus.
Each of you will one day be an alumnus or alumna, so I hope you will consider being active as such, wherever you are. Alumni clubs and associations are great places for networking, for learning about employment opportunities, for learning about prospects who might be searching for employment that you are in a position to provide, and so on. We have a homepage for alumni and friends of the Graduate Division; check it out.
Well, the term is winding down. You likely have exams to take, or to grade. Maybe you're looking forward to catching up on research — not to mention some well-earned rest.
Best wishes over the break,
Andrew J. Szeri
Dean of the Graduate Division
Tips on filing
- Filing for your degree in December?
Graduate Fellowships
- A wide menu of possibilities to help fund your graduate education
Graduate Support
-
How are Berkeley alumni and friends helping you?
Calendar
- Upcoming events and workshops
Academic Services / GSI Teaching and Resource Center
- Ready for that big transition? This Summer Institute can help.
University Health Services
- Workshop for students with dependents in need of health insurance
Pacific Film Archive
- December at the PFA
UCTV
- Highlights of UC Berkeley programs in December
In the News
- Whale of a story for a Berkeley grad student and colleagues
- Teaching science in “Q”
Texture
- Notes, Links and Whatnot
If you are planning on filing for your degree this semester, here are some suggestions that can make the filing go more smoothly, direct from the Graduate Division office that deals with degrees.
The deadline to file for a December degree this year is December 20.
If you have any questions about the format of your manuscript you can bring a draft to the Graduate Services: Degrees office in 318 Sproul Hall for review. We are happy to help you identify any major problems with the format, paper stock used for the library copy, margins, type size, and page numbering. Our guidelines document (PDF), has all of the information on format, but sometimes having another set of eyes review the manuscript is helpful.
If you plan more than incidental use of your own previously published or co-authored material in your manuscript, you must have prior permission of the Dean of the Graduate Division. You must also provide signed written statements from each co-author and publisher granting you permission to use and reproduce the material as part of your dissertation. Please note that emails giving permission are now accepted.
The name you list on your title and signature pages must match your official registered student name. Check Bear Facts in time to submit an official request for a name change with the Office of the Registrar if that is needed. Also, on your title and signature pages, you should include the semester and year that you will be receiving your degrees, "Fall 2007."
You must list any previously received degrees that appear on your Berkeley transcript (check Bear Facts for the listed degrees). If any degrees you want to list are not currently on your Berkeley transcript, you will need to have original, official transcripts showing award of the degree sent to the Degrees office about 2 weeks before you plan to file. The Degrees office will review the transcripts and make a formal request to the Office of the Registrar to add appropriate degrees.
The members of your dissertation committee listed on your title page must match what is on file in the Graduate Division. If your committee has changed since you advanced to candidacy, be sure to file a Request for Change in Higher Degree Committee (PDF) form at least 2 weeks before you plan to file.
To be eligible to file your thesis or dissertation, you must be registered for this semester, or have an approved filing fee status.
TopListed chronologically by deadline date.
Graduate Division web summary of fellowships and awards for 2007-2008
Resources provided by the Graduate Services: Fellowships office
To be considered, applicants must be: African American; enrolled full time in a doctoral program in the life or physical sciences; engaged in and within 1-3 years of completing dissertation research; and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Postdoctoral Science Research Fellowships are also available. Applications and further information are available online. The application deadline is December 15, 2007.
The Schweitzer Fellowship was founded in 1940 to support Dr. Schweitzer’s medical work in Africa. In 1991, the organization launched its U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs, through which graduate students in health professions and related fields carry out direct service projects in underserved communities in this country. This is the program’s second year in California. As many as 16 fellows will be accepted in the Bay Area. Applicants must be enrolled in a degree program through March 2009. Apply online, where additional information is available (click on “U.S. Programs” for information and “Bay Area” for application). The application deadline is February 1, 2008. Information sessions will be held during October and November. For more information, contact Dale Ogar, director of the Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, by email at daleogar@schweitzerfellowship.org or phone 510-642-2857. Note that eligible fields include not only all “health professions” (medicine, nursing, public health, dentistry, social work, allied health professions, etc.) but also any other health-related field, including law, business, music, and the arts.
By the age of 29, Albert Schweitzer was the author of three books, a scholar in music, religion, and philosophy, an organist, a world authority on Bach, principal of a theological seminary, and a university professor with two doctorates. The next year, he decided to become a doctor and devote the rest of his life to direct service, helping Africans in desperate need of medical attention. He and his wife Hélène opened a hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, where he worked until his death in 1965 at the age of 90. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.
If the Ph.D. you’re pursuing is in an area of interest to stewardship science — such as high-energy physics, low-energy nuclear science, or the properties of materials under extreme conditions — you might benefit from the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship. More information is available online and from Steve Saldivar in the Graduate Services: Fellowships office by phone (642-0672) or email (stevesaldivar@berkeley.edu). Applications and supporting material must be received by January 9, 2008.
The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund awards fellowships for graduate study in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional fields like law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. The university may nominate three eligible candidates; each nominee must hold U.S. citizenship, be currently enrolled in a Berkeley graduate program, demonstrate financial need, and have an outstanding undergraduate academic record. The fellowship pays fees and a living stipend ($18,000 for 2008-09) for up to three years. Application instructions are available in 318 Sproul Hall (the office of Graduate Services: Fellowships) as well as online. Berkeley's internal application deadline is January 9, 2008.
The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) is accepting applications for its 2008 teaching fellowships for men and women who have recently earned at least a bachelor’s degree in science or mathematics and now want to teach high school mathematics, physics, physical science, earth science, or chemistry. The fellowship provides both financial and professional support for up to five years, including tuition assistance and a stipend while fellows participate in a recognized teacher credential program. In addition, KSTF is recruiting for its new Biological Science Teaching Fellowships, which will begin in June 2008. Details about eligibility, applications, and selection criteria can be found on the KSTF website.
C. Harry Knowles, the co-founder and board president of the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, was academically trained in physics and became a leader in a number of science-based businesses. At Bell Labs, he worked on diodes and was responsible for the 107 megahertz transmitter transistor for America’s first satellite, Project Vanguard. At Motorola Semiconductors, he invented and developed the 2N2222 “Star Transistor,” which is still an active design over four decades later. He started and led Metrologic Instruments, and recently retired from its presidency and board chairmanship. In 1999, he was inducted into New Jersey’s Inventor Hall of Fame. He is the inventor or co-inventor on more than 280 patents, with another hundred pending. Janet H. Knowles is co-founder and treasurer of the KSTF and has served as vice president of administration and treasurer of Metrologic Instruments for many years. She and Harry have meshed careers, marriage, and philanthropy for more than three decades.Recent graduates and graduate students have the opportunity to intern in Germany through RISE Professional. Program participants are matched with a German company, where they gain insight into the professional applications of science and engineering, obtain practical skills, and experience a new culture. RISE Professional features a scholarship to cover living expenses, a lump-sum payment for travel costs, and a three-day meeting in Bonn. Please note that the internship database for RISE Professional is now available. Applications for RISE Professional will be accepted until January 15, 2008. The list of summer 2008 internship opportunities is available online or you can request further information by email (rise-pro@daad).
This fellowship is for exceptional first or second year graduate students (as well as undergraduate seniors) planning full-time study toward a PhD. in the physical, engineering, computer, mathematical, or life sciences with emphasis in high performance computing. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens; departments must certify that fellows will not be required to perform services (e.g., GSI, grading, etc.) during the tenure of their fellowships.
The DOE CSGF program pays all tuition and required fees for up to 4 years of study at any U.S. university, provides a $32,400 yearly stipend, matches university funds (up to $2,500) to purchase a computer workstation for the fellow's exclusive use, and provides a yearly academic allowance of $1,000 to the fellow for professional development. Further details about the program are available at the program website and from the Program Coordinator, Ms. Rachel Huisman, by email. Apply online. The application and supporting materials must be received by January 16, 2008.
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship funds students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents to gain competence in modern foreign languages. Awarded to students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional fields, these fellowships are available for the study of languages in eight world areas (Africa, East Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Western Eurpose). The U.S. Department of Education’s FLAS Program provides grants to a select number of higher education institutions so they may offer these fellowships each year. Applications are available online. Monday, January 28, 2008, is the deadline for both the FLAS Fellowship and the Summer FLAS Fellowship. Note: an information workshop on this fellowship will be held Wednesday, December 12, 2007 from 11 a.m. to noon in 370 Dwinelle Hall. For more information, contact Gina Farales of the Graduate Services: Fellowships office by phone (642-7739) or by email.
Applications are now being accepted for the Willis W. and Ethel M. Clark Foundation Investment in Community Graduate Fellowship for 2008-2009. Up to $10,000 per academic year is awarded to students currently enrolled full time in a graduate program who have demonstrated a commitment to community service. Applicants must be directly connected to the Monterey Peninsula and intend to return to or remain connected through work and/or residence and community service. The Clark Foundation was incorporated in 1953 and has provided community service for more than half a century. Its founders were pioneers in the field of educational testing and research who started the California Test Bureau (now known as CTB/McGraw-Hill) in 1926. The fellowship may be renewed annually, but subsequent awards may be smaller than the initial award. Applications are due January 31, 2008. More information is available online.
Willis and Ethel Clark, pioneers in educational testing.
The mission of this fellowship is to advance the status of women. Its endowment fund offers fellowships for women enrolled in a graduate school within the boundary of Founder Region (as UC Berkeley is) and who are in the last year of their doctoral program. These grants-in-aid assist women in the completion of their doctoral degrees. Competition is open to any outstanding graduate woman who is a citizen of a nation with membership in Soroptimist International and who is working toward a doctoral degree, preferably in the last year of study but permissibly during the last two years. Fellowship application forms are available online. Applications must be postmarked not later than February 1, 2008.
“Founder Region” is so named because the Alameda County Soroptimist Club, the nucleus of what grew to be Soroptimist International, met and was chartered in Oakland in 1921. There are now 65 clubs in this original region alone, and more all over the world (3,000 in 125 countries and territories). The “founding president” of that first club (and therefore of the entire Soroptimist organization) was Violet Richardson Ward, who enrolled at Cal in 1911, graduated with a degree in physical culture (later called physical education), earned a master’s here in 1916, taught at Berkeley and other local colleges briefly, then was hired by the Berkeley School District and taught there for 41 years. The 80 members who chartered that new club in 1921 and elected Ward also chose the group’s name, Soroptimist being a coined word from the Latin soro (women) and optima (best), and they also came up with the motto that’s still in use: “Best for women.”
The National Research Council of the National Academies has announced its Postdoctoral and Senior Research Associate Programs for 2008, encompassing a wide variety of participating laboratories, locations, and areas of research. Detailed information, including instructions on how to submit online applications, can be found online. You can also make contact by email (rap@nas.edu). Search the site to identify laboratories and advisers that match your research interests and abilities. Application reviews take place four times during the year, but not all labs participate in all four reviews. Application deadlines for the reviews are February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1.
The goal of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is to support highly talented graduate students whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate leadership in their field. The fellowship provides a one-year cash award of $15,000 for graduate study as well as networking and leadership support to awardees. The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation specifically seeks active, enthusiastic individuals who have the ability, determination, and integrity to become environmental leaders in the 21st century.
Applicants for a Switzer Environmental Fellowship must:
More information and applications are available online. The application deadline is February 1, 2008.
Members of Phi Beta Kappa who are enrolled as doctoral students at UC Berkeley for 2007-2008 may apply for this fellowship, which is administered by PBK’s Alpha of California Chapter, Berkeley’s local group. Additional grants will be awarded by PBK’s Northern California Association through the same application process. Further information and the application form may be found online. Applications and all supporting materials are due in the PBK office (M14 Wheeler Hall, lower mezzanine, in the College Writing Programs suite of offices) February 20, 2008, no later than 3 p.m.
Most graduate students — nearly three quarters — benefit from private funding at some point during their time at Berkeley.
Some of it’s obvious, in the form of a fellowship named for the donor. Some of it’s much less evident, deriving from pooled donations from many people over many years, earning interest which can be used to help graduate students. Even the money paid to GSIs and GSRs (as full or partial fee remission) comes, in part, from private sources.
Who are these sources? Some are big foundations you may have heard of, like the Ford Foundation. More are smaller foundations, often set up by individuals or families, for many reasons but sharing a common purpose: to help graduate students — not graduate education in the abstract, but specific people seeking learning. Like you.
The donors, or the trustees of their foundations, tend to be quite interested in exactly how what they've given is helping people. They like to keep track, to hear progress, to connect. Sometimes a conversation or exchange of notes between a student and a donor can shed light on changes or new realities and result in increased support for graduate students at Berkeley.
In recent years, the Graduate Division has been increasing opportunities for donors and students to meet face to face, at receptions and other events.
And there's now an online method by which you can let donors know who you are, what you're studying, and what their support has meant to you.
If you've received a request to submit your profile, the donors of your specific award have asked the Graduate Division to let them know about your progress. Please visit the new graduate support recipients' website and fill out the short survey you'll find there. This information is a vital part in completing the Graduate Division’s financial aid process — and your response will also go to the donors who made your funding possible.
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Sather Gate lit for the holidays, December 2003 (photo © Peg Skorpinski)
Graduate Division Calendar
Campus Events Calendar
Denotes Graduate Division sponsored event
THROUGH FEBRUARY 28
Exhibit: Missionaries, Merchants, and Movable Type — Collectors and Collections of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library
Every day, Brown Gallery of the Doe (Main) Library
Berkeley’s East Asian collection began in 1896 with John Fryer’s personal library of 2,000 volumes and has grown to be a vital working resource of Chineses, Japanese, and Korean materials for the use of faculty and students. Gifts and purchases have enriched the collection in ways not always anticipated, reflecting the interests and idiosyncracies of their original owners.
More about the new East Asian Library facility, which will open next semester:
DECEMBER 5 (Wednesday)
Graduate Student Information Session: Teach for America
Teach for America (TFA) is a service-corps of outstanding individuals who commit two years to teaching in urban and rural public schools. Three TFA alumni will discuss how the program shaped their postgraduate careers:
All academic disciplines are welcome. The teaching period includes full salary and benefits. Food and drink will be served at the information session. Note: see application deadline for next program below.
DECEMBER 5 (Wednesday)
CITRIS Research Exchange: “Safe Drinking Water for Developing Countries”
Noon, 290 Hearst Memorial Mining Building
Ashok Gadgil M.A. ’75, Ph.D. ‘79, senior staff scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and adjunct professor in the Energy and Resources group (see Honors). Free.
DECEMBER 6 (Thursday)
Documentary screening and discussion: “No End in Sight: Iraq’s Descent into Chaos”
7 to 10 p.m., Wheeler Auditorium. Free admission.
Charles Ferguson, founder and president of Representational Pictures Inc., and director of “No End in Sight.”
The documentary outlines the miscalculations and errors of the American government’s Iraqi involvement. It’s based on 200 hours of footage with government official and military officers, analysts, American soldiers and Iraqi citizens who tell the story of Iraq’s flaws since the 2003 fall of Baghdad. Ferguson earned his BA in mathematics at UC Berkeley and his PH.D in political science at MIT. Mr. Ferguson also worked as a consultant for the White House, the Office of the US Trade Representative, and the Department of Defense. The film ends at 9 PM, at which time a talk with Charles Ferguson will begin.
DECEMBER 6 and 7 (Thursday and Friday)
Career Center Open House
3 to 5 p.m., 2111 Bancroft Way (between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue).
The Career Center, which encourages students to present a professional, polished, and friendly image, has itself done a bit of the “dress for success” thing, upgrading its facility to be more functional, colorful, and welcoming to students and employers. Everyone is welcome to tour, meet the staff, and enjoy light afternoon refreshments.
DECEMBER 10 (Monday)
Graduate Division offices will be closed for the afternoon (starting at noon)
Call 642-5068 if you need to speak to someone in Graduate Division during that time.
DECEMBER 12 (Wednesday)
Informational workshop on the FLAS Fellowship
11 a.m. to noon , 370 Dwinelle Hall.
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship funds students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents to gain competence in modern foreign languages. See the FLAS listing under Fellowships, above. For additional information, contact Gina Farales of the Graduate Services: Fellowships office by phone (642-7739) or by email.
DECEMBER 17 (Monday)
Berkeley Science Review deadline for story proposals
If there’s a story you’d like to write for the spring 2008 issue of the Berkeley Science Review, email a pitch to the editors. All article proposals must have a Berkeley connection. Check the BSR website for
The deadline for story pitches is Monday, December 17. (For those selected, first drafts will be due January 28.)
DECEMBER 20 (Thursday)
Deadline for filing dissertations and theses in Graduate Division
Deadline for applications for Ph.D. candidacy to receive the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship for spring 2008 (if eligible)
FALL SEMESTER ENDS
DECEMBER 21 (Friday)
Application deadline: Teach for America
Teach for America (TFA) is a service-corps program that sends recent college graduates and graduate students to teach in the nation’s poorest urban and rural school districts. Founded in 1990, TFA’s purpose is not only to help the students and communities, but for the TFA alumni — now over 12,000 strong — to become lifelong leaders committed to expanding educational opportunity for all. All academic and career backgrounds are welcome, and full salary and benefits are provided. The program was built with newly-minted undergraduate degree-holders, but in recent years many graduate students showed interest, including a number from UC Berkeley. More than 100 graduate schools offer two-year deferrals to TFA participants. (At Berkeley, these include programs in law, public policy, mathematics, and physics.) Applications are available online. Note: see info session December 5.
DECEMBER 21 (Friday)
Community Computer Recycling Event
9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1000 Folger Avenue (below San Pablo Avenue two block south of Ashby Avenue)
Old Tech overwhelming your living space? The campus Cal Overstock & Surplus Den accepts — free — laptops, laptop batteries, CPUs, monitors, television sets, portable DVD players, keyboards, circuit boards, and power cords at its loading docks during this event, an environmentally sound way to clear the decks of personal e-waste items. It’s open to everyone, so pass the word. Need more time to wipe confidential info from your hard drive and untangle the cords? This recycling event recurs on the third Friday of every month. The only proviso: you’ll need to complete a brief State of California form that shows the items originated or were used within the state. Questions? Contact Sherry Reckler (510-643-8232, sreckler@berkeley.edu or Dan Clipson (510-772-8397, dclipson@berkeley.edu) for more information.
This sixth annual Summer Institute for Preparing Future Faculty is designed to enable graduate students to excel in all aspects of academic life as they pursue an advanced degree at Berkeley and make the transition from graduate school to academic careers. If you're nearing the end of your graduate program and beginning to prepare for the academic job market, you're encouraged to apply. Approximately 40 students will be selected to be Institute Fellows for the program, which takes place May 28 through July 2, 2008. The application deadline is March 3, 2008. The program announcement, application guidelines, and forms are available online.
If you have questions, contact the GSI Teaching and Resource Center by email or phone (510) 642-4456.
Quote from a former Institute Fellow:
“Overall, the course was everything it promised. I feel like after so many years in graduate school, this is the first time I’ve gotten a comprehensive, systematic presentation/picture of what the field is really like…”
More quotes can be found online (PDF)
(Photos: Peg Skorpinski)
The Student Health Insurance Office at UC Berkeley has announced a new round of workshops for students with dependents in need of health insurance. Because there are a variety of coverage options available for the spouses, partners and children of students, it can be challenging to determine which plan or program is best for your family. Kathy Gage, Insurance Advisor for Dependents, will explain how to choose and enroll in a plan that meets your family's needs.
All workshops will be held in the Education Center on the first floor of the Tang Center, located at 2222 Bancroft Way.
The first two workshops will provide a general overview of individual health insurance for adults and children and will cover both public programs and private plans. Students may choose one of the following dates:
New workshop: During the summer workshop series we received requests for a workshop devoted to coverage for pregnant women and children. This workshop has been scheduled. The date is:
The format will include a panel discussion by insurance and public program representatives who will provide in-depth information on benefits, eligibility requirements, the enrollment process and premiums, and deductibles and co-insurance costs.
Each workshop will include a question-and-answer period after the presentations.
RSVP to ship@uhs.berkeley.edu. Contact the Student Health Insurance Office (SHIO) at 642-5700 if you have questions about this event.
TopThe Pacific Film Archive Theater is located at 2575 Bancroft Way. For more information, phone 510-642-5249 or visit the PFA online.
One Way, or "the Other": Asian American Film and Video
Revolutions in Romanian Cinema
Charles Chaplin
Ingmar Bergman: Light and Shadow
The Pacific Film Archive Theater is located at 2575 Bancroft Way (between Telegraph and Bowditch) in Berkeley. Advance tickets are available by calling (510) 642-5249 or online.
For more information on these and other programs, visit the PFA online.
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Walt Koenig earned his 1978
zoology Ph.D. up in trees
keeping a close eye on his
subjects, California coastal
Acorn Woodpeckers, as they
lived in their oak forest habitat
on the largely undisturbed
Hastings Natural History
Reserve, which the Berkeley
campus administers. He’s been
doing long-term studies there
in the three decades since on
staff as a research zoologist.
Behind the scenes in the busy (and sometimes sneaky) lives of Acorn Woopdpeckers
When you look at a listing for a UCTV program, it says something like this:
Go behind the scenes at the Hastings Reserve to examine the social structure of acorn woodpeckers and western bluebirds and take a look at the restoration of California's native grasslands. The Hastings Reserve, the University of California's Biological Field Station in the Santa Lucia mountain range in Monterey, was set aside in 1937 to be managed with minimal disturbance providing researchers an important ecosystem for study.
This particular show is about an unusual place down the coast that’s run by the Berkeley campus, and one of its key people earned his graduate degree, thanks to all the birds there.
UCTV brings you educational and enrichment programming from the campuses and national laboratories of the University of California. Options for viewing include:
UCTV has an extensive library of programs from the Graduate Council Lectures.
Playing hardball — A female
Acorn Woodpecker at the Hastings
Reserve is spied removing a rival’s
egg from the communal nest. As a species,
Acorn Woodpeckers score
unusually high on cooperation
within the family group, about food and
tolerance of young males of
breeding age — altruistic behavior,
it’s labeled — and yet they’re
intensely competitive about the
geography of reproduction. With
coalitions and power struggles,
it’s always an election year in their
precinct.
Nicholas Pyenson
Good place not to be: between a baleen whale and its intended meal, normally a passel of shrimp-like krill.
Integrative biology grad student Nicholas Pyenson (who also works in the Museum of Paleontology), with two colleagues, worked out the mechanics of the feeding lunges of these giant aquatic mammals and was blown away.
The Fin Whales they were studying — large filter-feeders closely related to the blue and humpback whales — get up to 88 feet long as adults. They feed in a series of short (six to 10 second) lunges during which they tank up on krill-filled ocean water, then strain out the krill. Critter-cams have allowed for video observation of the process in recent years, and the skeletons of museum specimens made precise measurements possible. Armed with that, the biologist came up the probably amount of water a 66-foot adult fin whale gulps in a single lunge: up to 2,900 cubic feet — a volume equal to a school bus.
For the few seconds it takes to squeeze the water (but not the krill) out through its rack of baleen filters, the whale has more than doubled its size. “The scale of this activity almost defies imagination,” says Pyenson.
Illustration: This sequence shows the six-second feeding lunge of a fin whale,
which can carry it 35 feet forward, letting it collect approximately 25 pounds of krill —
and a volume of water equal to a school bus. (graphic: Jeremy Goldbogen and Nicholas Pyenson)
A school bus, while not normally on the whale diet, would displace
around 2,900 cubic feet of water, the amount in one adult Fin Whale gulp.
Scale objects: Nick Pyenson, upper left, measures the jawbone of a Blue Whale (also a member of the baleen group) at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. (photo: R. Ewan Fordyce)
Mealtime: the krill (top left), a swarming life-form similar to shrimp, is a keystone species enjoyed by whales, penguins, seals, squid, fish, and humans (some of whom call it okiami). Many are bioluminescent. They tend to be about one to two centimeters long. Baleen hair (top right), like the teeth on combs, attach to baleen plates and filter whales’ food out of water. Baleen plates were used in buggy whips, parasol ribs, and corsets, but fortunately for whales these mainstays of civilization have gone out of style. (photo: U.S. government)
Pyenson and Jeremy Goldbogen, a grad student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver published their finding with zoology professor Robert Shadwick (also of UBC) in the November issue of the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Sharing the teaching — Berkeley grad
students Erik Douglas, Chip Crawford,
Michael Rousseas, and Alex Fabrikant.
(photo: Leif Schroeder)
Faculty-student chemistry — Chip
Crawford gets the concepts across
Overlooking San Quentin Prison
(photo: San Quentin State Prison Public
Information Office)
June ’07 grad — David Cowen, who
completed the chemistry course, was
among seven inmates who graduated
from the college program
(Photo: Peg Skorpinski)
Chemical and Engineering News, the news magazine of the American Chemical Society, ran a cover story in late October called “Chemistry Behind Bars, ” a visit to a chem course being taught to inmates at San Quentin State Prison by Berkeley grad students Charles (Chip) Crawford (chemistry), Michael Rousseas (physics), Alex Fabrikant (computer science), and Erik Douglas (bioengineering), all volunteers.
Like all the courses taught through the Prison University Project by students, staff, and faculty of UC Berkeley and other Bay Area universities, it’s a life-changer, for the teachers as well as the taught. The volunteers giving the course find the prisoners to be “some of the most motivated and hard-working students” they’ve ever taught. The participation in education, in turn, helps prisoners gain skills and hope, both of which make them less likely to relapse into crime once released.
The Prison University Project was founded and is directed by Jody Lewen, a Berkeley grad alumna (Ph.D., rhetoric, 2002), who was honored with the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award earlier this year for her work there.
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Nick Pyenson and the paleo museum were in the news just a few months ago with new conclusions about a fossil whale skeleton originally found on Año Nuevo Island, off the coast near Santa Cruz. The relatively small carcass (11 feet) had apparently sustained a whole community of tiny creatures for decades as it lay on the ancient sea floor 15 or so million years ago, and their remains had lodged in the whale’s bones, waiting for someone like Pyenson to notice them. See "In the News" feature above.
When you relocate, getting a feel for the area is important and hard to do quickly. But these days, websites are popping up that can reduce the effort considerably, combining the technology of Google Maps and other services like Craig’s List. One example is HousingMaps.com. A site with similar feature is jolocate.
eGrad is produced by Graduate Communications & Events, distributed by email, and archived online. Graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to send timely news and announcements of interest to or utility of graduate students and the graduate community. Please submit items to Dick Cortén, editor, at gradpub@berkeley.edu.
