Monday, January 15, 2007

  

ITS TIME FOR THE ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY SHOW!

Witchhazel blooming on campus on January 1st. Snowdrops in Urbana made their debut at the same time. Last year, they were out on Jan 21st. In 2004, they didn't even start to bloom until mid-February.

Spring semester is the time for Organismal Biology and all of us, or at least the professors, are really curious to find out what this course is. Prof. John Cheeseman and Prof. Chris Cheng have been busy dividing the time and topics, and working out at least some of the details of the labs. Especially interesting has been trying to figure out the differences been "plants" and "animals" and what to do about the millions of interesting and unique organisms that inhabit the earth, and even the inhabitants ofthe earth.

Quote of the day -

Nature is above all practical. The forms of nature are functional. And precisely because they are functional, we find them beautiful.

Andreas Feininger

Help recruit for IB Honors

Attention to all current IBHonors students... the time is NOW to find the next group of lucky students! The professors, the academic advisors, and the instructors for the freshman courses will all be out drumming up interest in the next class, but by far the most effective recruiters are the current students.

If you know someone who is just right for the program, let them know. Maybe even let the faculty know, but don't let them fall through the cracks.

IB270 - Evolution of Molecules and Cells - is a rousing success!

Or at least enough things went right to impress the profs and all the grad students who have heard about it. There are, indeed, few undergraduate courses in the country, let alone sophomore courses, that include hands-on experiences in PCR, RNAi and microarray analysis!

Congrats to Prof. Whitfield and TAs Lauren Kent and Jamie Zahniser for a job well done, and to all of the students who lived in the lab getting the final projects done and presentations organized.

So, how does the worm turn? click here to watch them! (QuickTime required)

Jobs, Internships & Scholarships - Improving your c.v.

Plant the seed - start thinking about next summer in those rare free moments you have. This month's additions - NSF REUs and Danforth Center Internships.

Announcements

Honors Biology information sessions and interviews are scheduled!

Freshmen are once again invited to attend infrormation sessions and sign up for interviews for the IB Honors program. Information sessions will be at 7pm, February 8th and 13th (Thursday and Tuesday). Sign up then, or by email, for interviews on February 20th thru 23rd.

Don't forget the Songs

No recording this month, but at least the lyrics. What else could you expect than "The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. Best of all, and of great import to future issues... this site is in a Math Department!