College of Sciences E-newsletter

November 2006

In this issue:

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National Science Foundation Grant Awarded to Assistant Professor of Geoscience, Adam Simon

Assistant professor of geoscience Adam Simon has received his initial NSF grant, for a project entitled, "An Experimental Study to Elucidate Platinum Group Element, Base Metal Sulfide and Gold Fractionation in Mafic Layered Intrusions," ($155,000). Layered mafic intrusions can be thought of as fossil mamga chambers where the magma is similar in composition to the basalt lavas which erupt quiescently at places such as Hawaii and Iceland. In Hawaii and Iceland, the lavas contain trace quantities of metals such as platinum. However, layered mafic intrusions, essentially fossil magmas, in Earth's crust at depths of several miles contain significant quantities of platinum, palladium, iridium, gold and other important technogenic metals. As such, there is significant interest in locating new deposits. In order to located new deposits, geologists must first understand how the metal-rich magmas form. Currently, there are few data which allow us to model the evolution of metal-rich layered intrusions. This research project will elucidate the formation of these ore deposits by combining experimentally determined thermodynamic data and computational modeling. The experiments will be performed in the new Experimental Geochemistry Laboratory here at UNLV. Analyses of the experimental products will be performed at UNLV and also the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. The computation modeling will be done with a collaborator at Duke University.  This three-year project also includes funding for one Ph.D. and two undergraduate students.

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"Tropical Glaciers: Geologist Hunts Clues to Global Warming," Las Vegas Review Journal, October 23, 2006, by Lawrence Mower

Assistant professor of geoscience Matthew Lachniet is the subject of an article in the October 23, 2006 issue of the Las Vegas Review Journal. Lachniet discusses his NSF-funded research on tropical glaciers and caves, including the implications forclimate studies and global warming.

"...Like many things in the societies of scientists, Matthew Lachniet admits, the passion came about by accident. Lucky thing for him, the accident happened in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Ten years ago, the then-23-year-old geologist noticed peculiar landmarks around the mountains of central Costa Rica while on a trip studying the area's ancient volcanoes. Around the mountains was a ring of dirt and rock mounds, known as moraines, which could mean only one thing: glaciers.

Lachniet soon had a mystery on his hands: How big were Costa Rica's glaciers, and what could they tell us about global warming today? "The reason it's important is it allows us to understand how sensitive the tropics are to climate change," Lachniet said. Through conversations with the locals and other scientists, Lachniet discovered that there indeed had been glaciers in the tropical climate during the last ice age, possibly as late as 10,000 years ago..."

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National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant Awarded to Assistant Research Professor Oliver Tschauner

Oliver Tschauner has received an NSF grant entitled, "CSEDI: Collaborative Experimental and Fluid-Dynamical Study on Core Formation of the Earth," ($ 110, 164). A collaborative effort, this project also involves professors Paul D Asimow and David J. Stevenson from the California Institute of Technology.

Abstract: This project is a collaborative effort to study the origin of Earth's core and its relationship to the timing and mechanism of planetary accretion. This effort combines experimental and theoretical work and relies on a novel concept of high pressure-temperature chemical studies in diamond cells, on fluid dynamic modeling of multiphase flows and planetary evolution, and on geochemical modeling combining parameters from the experiments and the fluid-dynamic modeling to establish confidence limits on models of core-formation and evolution of an impact-induced magma-ocean. The experimental program will determine the partitioning of a set of key elements near the lithophile-siderophile boundary and certain highly siderophile elements that are involved in important radioactive decay systems. Geochemical signatures of both types of elements in the Earth's mantle provide the record of core-formation, because this process efficiently extracted siderophile elements out of the mantle. Temperature, pressure, and time-scale of this extraction processes are the unknown parameters the proposed combination of experimental, theoretical, and geochemical findings shall constrain. The proposed experiments will focus on partitioning of Hf and W and of Re and Os between liquid silicate and metal using W-, Re-, and Os-rich iron-alloys as internal metal heaters embedded in liquid silicate systems in high-pressure experiments. Varying bulk Fe content in the starting materials provides sets of Fe-normalized partition coefficients (kD-values) for the silicate-metal system which then can be extrapolated from the actual experimental redox conditions (close to the respective metal-oxide buffers) to the more reducing conditions of Earth's core formation and from the highly enriched experimental metal-silicate systems to natural abundances of the examined elements. Along with this experimental effort these researchers will start to incorporate for the first time fundamental advances in understanding emulsification of fluid mixtures into methods of fluid dynamic modeling of impact accretion and planetary differentiation processes.

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National Science Foundation (NSF) Workshop, "Really Big Biogeographically-Based Integrative Historical and Ecological Science: Grand Collaborative Studies of Whole Biotas," to Professor Brett Riddle

Brett Riddle has received NSF funding ($48,625) for a workshop designed to form "new, integrative and collaborative template for doing large-scale, multidisciplinary science on the historical development and current ecological attributes of the world’s most fascinating and important biotic assemblages."

Abstract: Many of the really exciting advances in science happen when researchers from different disciplines come together to collaborate on very large-scale questions. Yet, in the biological arenas of ecology, evolution, and biogeography, these sorts of grand collaborations have yet to emerge—and as such, our capacity to understand the complex interaction of biotic and abiotic processes involved in the assembly of the world's terrestrial and marine biotas is currently inadequate. The goal of this workshop is to bring highly productive researchers representing each of these disciplines together for three days of discussion on how to form a new, integrative and collaborative template for doing large-scale, multidisciplinary science on the historical development and current ecological attributes of the world's most fascinating and important biotic assemblages. Objectives will include exploration of cyberinfrastructure requirements, and structure needed in funding agencies to support such large-scale and integrative efforts.

Of broader significance, this workshop will provide biologists with a new approach to understanding processes involved in assembling and sustaining the world's biological diversity—critically important at this time given the combined threats of stresses such as habitat destruction, invasive species, and global climate change on the future health of the Earth's biological diversity.

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Emeritus Professor Donna Weistrop Endows Graduate Student Scholarship

Donna Weistrop, emeritus professor of physics, and her husband David B. Shaffer, have generously endowed a scholarship to assist graduate students in the UNLV College of Sciences. The Donna Weistrop and David B. Shaffer Scholarship will support graduate students enrolled in the disciplines of astronomy, chemistry, geoscience, or physics, who maintain a 3.25 cumulative grade point average. Preference will be given to students in astronomy and physics programs, areas of particular interest to the donors.

In announcing the award, Ron Yasbin, dean of the College of Sciences noted, "During her distinguished academic career Donna Weistrop touched the lives of countless UNLV students, faculty, staff, friends, and area residents. With this generous scholarship, Donna and David expand their reach and to touch the lives of future generations of UNLV students."

During her noteworthy career, Donna Weistrop devoted countless hours to things she could not touch. As a leading astronomer, Weistrop was part of a team that developed an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope and analyzed data gathered from distant galaxies. And, all the while, she opened the heavens to students in both introductory and advanced astronomy classes.

Weistrop understands the wonders and the limits of science. As she wrote when reflecting upon teaching and research, " …science is not infallible. As we keep learning things, our interpretations will change. It's part of being an informed citizen." She is also committed to the unending search for knowledge – as a teacher and a student. She noted, "There's this amazing thing that happens when you're working with graduate students. Around the time they finish their master's and start working on the Ph.D., they just blossom. They transform from student into colleague — instead of me teaching them, we start learning from each other."

Thanks to Donna Weistrop and David Shaffer the complimentary wonders of teaching and learning will continue to shine in the classrooms and laboratories of UNLV.

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UNLV Center for Molecular Medicine and Radiation Biology

The NSHE Academic Affairs Council approved the following name change at their October 2006 meeting. The UNLV Cancer Research Center is now titled the UNLV Center for Molecular Medicine and Radiation Biology. For further information, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean at 895-0946.

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"Technology Gives Cheaters a Boost: Instructors Watching Out for Fishy Behavior", Las Vegas Review Journal, by John Przbys, October 22, 2006

Dean Ron Yasbin and other UNLV officials discussed efforts to meet the technological challenges that universities face with regard to student cheating in an October 22, 2006 article in the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Answers to the history exam written on the inside of chewing gum wrappers? Math formulas scrawled on the palm of the hand? Who are you, Andy Hardy? Forget about the lame, the passé, the low-tech. Modern students put their cell phones, PDAs and the Internet to use in ways previous generations of lazy, ethically hazy students could only dream about. A cell phone can be used to take a picture of an exam, which is then e-mailed to an accomplice on the outside who sends the answers back as text messages. Tricky mathematical formulas can be entered into a BlackBerry for future reference. And term papers come together quickly when entire passages of material can be lifted from the Internet.

College professors and administrators are discovering just how creative some students can be. "If they'd just spend that time studying," says Ron Yasbin, dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Sciences, who learned about that cell phone gambit firsthand a few years ago. But, he cautions, cheating involves "a minority of students."

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Ph.D. Student in School of Life Sciences Receives Prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship

Zhen Xie, a doctoral student in the laboratory of professor Jeffrey Q. Shen, accepted an invitation from professor Yaakov Benenson (FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts) to join his research group as a postdoctoral scholar, starting in October 2006.

At Benenson’s laboratory, Xie will study molecular automata. Molecular automata are complex, artificially constructed networks of interacting biomolecules immersed in a native biological environment. Automata gather information encoded from cellular components through molecular sensors, submit it to programmable processing by a computing module, and produce an output that can directly affect the cell. The potential applications of molecular automata include performing complex, real-time measurements in single cells and diagnosing and treating diseases at the cellular level.

Prior to departing for Cambridge, Xie presented a dissertation seminar at the UNLV Campus on Friday, September 22, 9:30 A.M., in White Hall, Room 105. The title of his talk was, "Roles of WRKY Proteins in Mediating the Crosstalk of Hormone Signaling Pathways: An Approach Integrating Bioinformatics and Experimental Biology."

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Alumnus of Graduate Program in Biology Named Chief Scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey

On May 1, 2006, former biology graduate student Dr. Kenneth Bruce Jones became Chief Scientist for Geography at the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The geography program of the USGS monitors land surface change by observing the Earth with remote sensing satellites, studies the connections between people and those changes with insightful geographic analysis, and provides individuals and society with science information they can use to manage the consequences of those changes.

Jones is known for his leadership in the areas of remote sensing, landscape ecology, biogeography, and geographic information systems. He arrived at the USGS from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he served as senior scientist at the National Exposure Laboratory Office of Research and Development in Las Vegas, Nevada. While at EPA, Jones' research focused on developing methods for describing the qualities or peculiarities of chemical and physical stressors such as contaminants, land use, and habitat change. His long-term research is geared toward increasing the capability to assess ecological landscapes at varying geographic scales.

One of his great successes involved a land-used change assessment. Jones' research demonstrated that spending $500 million to protect an upstate watershed, and therefore water quality, would save New York City the $7 billion required to build a filtration system. This often-cited work is one of the first instances of placing economic value on services freely provided by ecosystems, such as water purification. Jones is currently involved in a NATO project with Europe and Australia to assess watershed conditions across the continents.

His achievements have brought him wide recognition within the geographic science community, as well as awards from organizations such as EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Society, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the International Statistical Institute.

A native of New Jersey, Jones holds a B.S. in Biology from Jacksonville University, Florida, an M.S. in Ecology from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Nevada, La Vegas, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Brett Riddle.

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New Website for Beal Savings Bank Southern Nevada Regional Science and Engineering Fair

The UNLV College of Sciences launched a new website for the Beal Savings Bank Southern Nevada Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

http://sciences.unlv.edu/engineeringfair/

The website recognizes our title sponsor, Beal Savings Bank, and contains up-to-date information for students, teachers, and parents interested in learning about the requirements for participating in the annual fair, hosted by the College of Sciences on the UNLV campus.

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"Rebel Science: Geology Grad Student Gets Rocky," The Rebel Yell, by Shirley Robinson, October 2, 2006

"… Alex Roy, a UNLV graduate student, is the first scientist to map and describe the only glaciated portion of Guatemala. Roy is working closely with Dr. Matthew Lachniet of the UNLV Geoscience Department and is pursuing a master's in geology with an emphasis in glacial geology and geomorphology (the study of landforms).

"I always enjoyed analyzing the outdoors," said Roy, a former land surveyor in his native New England. Although an avid collector of fluorescent minerals as a youngster, formally studying geology was not Roy's initial plan when he decided to pursue higher education. Intrigued by all aspects of the vast world of the sciences, Roy took various college-level science courses before narrowing his focus. Geology 101 was his last science to try, and he got "hooked."

"…While doing research on glaciers for a term paper, Roy repeatedly encountered the name of Dr. Lachniet within publications on glacial geology. By this time, Roy had decided to pursue post-graduate work in glacial processes and took the initiative of contacting Dr. Lachniet. Lured by the opportunity to work with one of the leaders in his chosen field and to learn in a vastly different geologic setting than that of the East Coast, Roy decided to attend graduate school at UNLV."

Read the full text article.

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"Answering the Call of the Libraries: Undergraduates Take Research to the Next Level," by Jesus Cruz, Rebel Yell, October 12, 2006

This article on the first Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards competition details two winning entries submitted by College of Sciences' students.

The two winners are: Alexi K. Nedeltchev, for his work entitled "Synthesis and Characterization of Polypyridine Salts with Anthracene Moieties Exhibiting Both Lyotropic Liquid-Crystaline and UV Light Emitting Properties," and Jacob T. Smigel, for a project entitled "Conglobation in the Pill Bug (Armadillidium vulgare) as a Terrestrial Adaptation." Nedeltchev's research work has already been accepted for publication and will be published in a peer-reviewed science journal. Smigel is currently revising his paper for publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

Read the full text article:

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Eighth Annual UNLV Mathematical Competition

At the Eighth Annual UNLV Mathematical Competition on Saturday, October 7, 2006, three UNLV students received awards. The winners of this year’s competition are: First Place: Tae Kim, Sophomore, (Biochemistry); Second Place: David Hannasch, Junior, (Computer Science/Mathematics); and Third Place, Francisco Diaz, Junior, (Mathematics/Computer Science).

The competition includes a set of five problems that require little technical knowledge beyond calculus, and all persons with an appreciation for mathematics are encouraged to participate. The first-, second-, and third-ranked contestants will receive prizes of $300, $200, and $100, respectively. These awards are made possible through a generous donation from alumnus Steven Scroggin, M.S., Mathematical Sciences (2000) and the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

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UNLV Magazine, "Beautiful Minds, Healthy Bodies," Fall, 2006

Professor of chemistry Bryan Spangelo is one of several UNLV faculty members featured in the current issue of Inside UNLV. Spangelo discusses his research on the chemical processes in the brain involved in the onset of Alzheimer's disease. A $221,750 three-year grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is supporting this important research.

Read the full text article.

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Professor Brett Riddle on “Face to Face,” September 28, 2006

On September 28, 2006 Professor Brett Riddle discussed the implications for continued population growth and water use in Southern Nevada, offering his thoughts on the possible ramifications for our natural environment. "Face to Face" is a political discussion program that appears on Las Vegas 1 (COX Cable channel 19), the all-news cable channel that is a joint operation of Cox Communications, KLAS-Channel 8, and the Las Vegas Sun.

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Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) and Green Up Nevada Project

Twenty-four members of Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED), the pre-health honor society for UNLV undergraduates pursing careers in health-related fields, participated in the Green Up Nevada Project at the Las Vegas Wash south of Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, September 30th. AED members succeeded in planting approximately 250 mesquite trees in the wash in an effort to prevent soil erosion. With their usual combination of enthusiasm and determination, the students completed the work well in advance of the 5:00 PM deadline. On Saturday, September 9th, approximately 40 AED members gutted a warehouse to facilitate renovation efforts. AED members successfully removed all debris generated by the demolition of the interior walls and loaded the debris into containers for disposal at the city dump. Our students again surprised the on-site supervisor, by completing the project in half the allotted time.

AED members also coordinate other important student activities including: the Physician Shadowing Program; Dentist Shadowing Program; Humanitarian Service Program; Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive; Organ Donor Registration Drive; annual visits from nationally ranked medical schools (Duke University School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, etc,); annual presentations from pharmacy programs (Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, etc.); and an annual tour of the UNLV School of Dental Medicine.

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Chemistry and Physics Seminar

The departments of chemistry and physics hosted a seminar on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 by professor Micha Polak, department of chemistry, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel entitled, "Diverse Segregation Phenomena at Alloy Surfaces: Al(Pb) vs. Ni(Al)."

Abstract: Comparison of free surface segregation characteristics, measured by AES, for two solid-solutions, Al(Pb) and Ni(Al), reveals substantial differences, with the latter exhibiting significant Al segregation suppression and the former a massive Pb segregation. These variations are related mainly to hetero-atomic interactions and their manifestation in short-range order (SRO). The diminution of the SRO suppression effect with increasing temperature can lead to anomalous increase in equilibrium segregation levels, as observed in the Ni-Al experiments. In Al(Pb), concurrent segregation and evaporation from the surface lead to severe deviations of the time and temperature dependences from the usual segregation kinetics behavior. Pre-adsorbed oxygen retards Pb segregation, but eventually segregating Pb atoms displace a large fraction of the surface oxygens.

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Honors College Seminar

On October 26, 2006, professor Peter Starkweather delivered a presentation entitled, "Defending Secular Science in 21st Century America: A Case for Evolutionary Biology."

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Upcoming Seminars

The College of Sciences has established a listserve to better publicize and promote scientific seminars offered throughout the academic year. For more information on upcoming seminars and to subscribe to the listserve, please visit: http://cmse.unlv.edu/seminar/.

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Submit Your News Stories

The College of Sciences E-Newsletter is published on or about the first of each month. Please submit news items via email by the fifteenth of each month, for consideration. You may send your submissions to: Bill Brown, Director of Development william.brown@unlv.edu.

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