News and events

			Upcoming events Mark your calendars! The 2009 UCMP short course is set for Saturday,February 7, and this year's topic, in recognition of it being the centennial of Charles Darwin's birth, will be Darwin: the man, his science, and his legacy. Historians and evolutionary biologists will discuss Darwin's contribution to science and its influence in such diverse academic fields as biology, anthropology, and medicine. Keep an eye on the short course website for more details. News archive For older UCMP news see the news archive. Newsletter May 2008 issue Read the latest issue of the official UCMP newsletter, which includes stories on a recent field trip to southern California fossil sites, science initiatives inspired by UCMP, Cal Day, and more.

		Padian receives the 2008 Western Evolutionary Biologist of the Year award May 30, 2008 Congratulations are due to Kevin Padian, who received the 2008 Western Evolutionary Biologist of the Year award at the Western Evolutionary Biology meeting (WEB*2) held at UC Irvine this month. The Webby is awarded annually by the Network for Experimental Research on Evolution to an individual from the west of North America (including western Canada and Mexico) who has contributed significantly to the scientific study of biological evolution.

UCMP student awards May 28, 2008 UCMP is pleased to announce the following student awards for 2008: Maya deVries and Joey Pakes each received a UCMP Graduate Student Research Grant; Erin Meyer and Molly Wright received the D.K. Palmer award; and Stephanie Bush received the Remington-Kellogg award. All awards are in support of individual graduate student research. In addition, UCMP congratulates Brian Swartz who is currently visiting Darwin College at Cambridge, where he is doing more work on the animals involved in the transition of vertebrate to land. For additional student awards see the latest UCMP Newsletter.

		Caldwell finds that stomatopods can perceive circularly polarized light March 25, 2008 Some stomatopods can detect and analyze circularly polarized light according to research by UCMP's Roy Caldwell and collaborators published in the recent Current Biology. No other animal is known to be able to perceive this sort of light. These stomatopods can actually distinguish between left-handed and right-handed circular polarization. The discovery has been widely reported, including by Wired and Science News.

		Pyramids, forams, and Red Sea reefs: Field notes from Lorraine Casazza, part 2 March 24, 2008 Grad student Lorraine Casazza's Egyptian adventure continues as she collects Nummilites and endures sandstorms in the Valley of the Whales.

		UCMP alum Malcolm McKenna dies at age 77 March 12, 2008 Malcolm McKenna, a retired curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and alumnus of UCMP, died on March 3, 2008, in Boulder, Colorado, according to the obituary in The New York Times (March 10, 2008).

		Padian talks Darwin in Nature February 8, 2008 UCMP curator and professor of integrative biology Kevin Padian reflects on what constitutes Darwin's enduring greatness in this week's Nature. You can also hear Padian speaking about Darwin in the February 7 edition of the Nature podcast.

		Lee and Werning find that dinosaurs reached reproductive maturity during adolescence January 16, 2008 Dinosaurs reached reproductive maturity well before they stopped growing according to research by UCMP grad student Sarah Werning and recent UCMP Ph.D. recipient Andrew H. Lee published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By looking at many thin slices of dinosaur bone Werning and Lee were able to find individuals with calcium-rich deposits that accumulated prior to egg-laying. The fact that these individuals were still adolescents is an important piece of information for understanding the lives of dinosaurs. Read more about it at the UC Berkeley NewsCenter and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

		Patek receives 2008 George A. Bartholomew Award December 13, 2007 UCMP's Sheila Patek has received the Bartholomew Award from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Read more about it here.

		Pyramids, forams, and Red Sea reefs: Field notes from Lorraine Casazza, part 1 November 30, 2007 Grad student Lorraine Casazza files a report from Egypt, where she tracked down giant foraminifera in the Nile Valley and used modern and fossil forams to assess reef health in the Red Sea.

		Paleontologist Joseph Gregory has died at 93 November 30, 2007 Professor emeritus of paleontology and former UCMP director Joseph Gregory died on November 18. Read more about Dr. Gregory at the UC Berkeley NewsCenter.

For older UCMP news see the news archive.