News Notes
 
 
High School Senior Reached Semifinal Round of National Science Talent Search

On January 16, 2002, high school senior Liz Vrolyk was named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. Liz's project RNA Oligomer Analysis Using Thin Layer Chromatography and Gel Electrophoresis stems from research she conducted with Crystal Springs Uplands Biology teacher Billie Jean Marks and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Dr. James Ferris, in the summer of 2000.

Liz joins a group of 300 high school seniors who were honored for their excellence in science by reaching the semifinals of the Intel Science Talent Search. For being named a semifinalist, Liz received $1,000 in recognition of her scientific achievements. In addition, Liz's school, Crystal Springs Uplands, received $1,000 in support of science and math programs.

The STS semifinalists were selected from 1,562 applicants, with females representing 48% of the total. The students represented 31 states, Washington D.C. and Guam. They ranged in age from 16 to 19.

Students were judged based on their individual research ability, scientific originality and creative thinking. The research projects cover all disciplines of science, including chemisstry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science and biology.
Over the past 61 years STS alumni have been recipients of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including five Nobel Prizes, three National Medals of Science, ten MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, and two Fields Medals. Often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize," the intel STS is America's oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition.

For more information on Science Service, who administers the program, visit www.sciserv.org. Additional information about intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

(excepts taken from Crystal Springs Uplands School web page and Science Service Press Room)
 
 
Whittet Receives Award

Professor Douglas Whittet, an Associate Director of the NY NSCORT is the 2002 recipient of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Teaching Award. This award was created in 1994 by the RAA Board of Trustees and is designed to recognize current members of the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for their outstanding teaching techniques, contributions to the campus experience and commitment to students.
 
 
Ambassador to the Stars

Nicolle Zellner was named one of NASA's Solar System ambassadors, a title given to 278 volunteers across the country and 13 in New York State. Dr. Zellner is the only one in the Albany, New York area.

Nicolle received her Ph.D. in Muldisciplinary Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2001, where she studied since 1996. Prior to that she was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nicolle was named an ambassador because of some of the activities she participated in. She ran the Public Observing program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, organized public events at the Henry Hudson Planetarium in Albany and spoke at local high schools, just to name a few.

NASA's Solar System Ambassadors Program is a public outreach program designed to work with motivated volunteers across the nation. Volunteers are asked to organize and conduct public events that communicate exciting discoveries and plans for exploration in Solar System research and technology through non-traditional forums, e.g. Rotary Clubs, libraries, museums, planetariums, "star parties," mall displays, etc.

The Solar System Ambassadors Program is sponsored by the JET PROPULSION LABORATORY in Pasadena, CA, an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a lead research and development center for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

For more information on the Solar System Ambassadors Program, go to:
NASA Ambassador program
 
 
Ferris Elected Trustee

Jim Ferris has been elected as a Trustee for the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) representing the Northeastern US region. USRA is a private non-profit corporation formed under the auspices of the NAS for eighty-two colleges and universities that have graduate programs in space science or aerospace engineering. It oversees a number of centers such as the Lunar and Planetary Institute and contracts for space research, e.g., The Stratosphere Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOPHIA).
 
 
Ferris Lectures at Conferences

Jim Ferris, research professor of chemistry and director of the New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life, lectured at the first Astrobiology Science Conference at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California on April 3, 2000. His lecture was titled "Mineral Reactions and the Origin of Life." Four days later, Ferris presented "From Building Blocks to the Origin of Life" at UCLA's Center for Studies of the Evolution and Origin of Life. Six scientists presented papers at the Gold Medal Symposium on the Origin of Life, and received awards from the International Society for Studies on the Origin of Life. For more see, Space Daily.
 
 
Invited Speakers


Jim Ferris was an invited speaker at the following meetings and workshops:

Origins of Life Gordon Conference meeting in Ventura, California, January 2005.

International Society for Studies on the Origins of Life meeting in Beijing, China in June 2005.

Molecular Geomicrobiology Workshop in Berkeley, California, December 2005. He also contributed a chapter to the book that was prepared for those attending the workshop that will be published.

Royal Society Discussion Meeting on the Conditions for the Emergence of Life on the Early Earth, in London, England, February 2006.

Nobel Workshop on the Origins of Life, Stockholm, June 2006.

Jim Ferris has been invited to write the article Mineral Catalysis and Prebiotic Synthesis: Montmorillonite-Catalyzed Formation of RNA for the inaugural volume of Elements, June 2005.

Dr. Ferris was one of five invited participants at the Philoctetes Center Roundtable on The Origins, Evolution and Future of Life on Earth, in New York City, December 2005.

Jim Ferris was an invited speaker at the Space Research Committee of the World Space Conference in Houston, Texas, on October 15, 2002. Ferris gave a presentation titled "Catalysis in Prebiotic Chemistry: RNA Synthesis".

Jim Ferris was a lecturer at the meeting of the International Society for Studies on the Origins of Life in Oaxaca, Mexico, June 30 - July 7, 2002.

Jim Ferris was an invited speaker the evening of March 19, 2002 at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC in the lecture series "Life Story of the Universe". He discussed the origins of life in a presentation entitled "Origins and Evolution of the Life on Earth and Elsewhere".

Jim Ferris was an invited speaker at the session "Planetary Atmospheric Processes and Astrobiology" at the American Geophysical Union meeting December 2000. He spoke on the topic "Laboratory Investigation of the Atmospheric Chemistry on Titan Using a Photochemical Flow Reactor". Co-authors of the paper were Buu N. Tran and Jeffrey C. Joseph.

Jim Ferris was an invited speaker at the session on "Chemical Studies Important to Astrobiology" at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, August 18-20, 2002.

Jim Ferris was an invited speaker at the Annual Conference of the Royal Society of Chemistry in Birmingham, England, July 2001. He spoke at the multidisciplinary symposium "Astrochemistry of Life" on the topic "Catalysis and Prebiotic Synthesis: The Formation of RNA".

Miyakawa, Awarded Prize for Best Poster

Dr. Shin Miyakawa of the NY NSCORT was awarded the prize for the best poster in which a postdoctoral or student was the principal author and researcher. The prize was presented at the meeting of the International Society for Studies on the Origins of Life in Oaxaca, Mexico, June 30 - July 7, 2002.

Ferris Visiting Professor at the University of Florence

Jim Ferris was a visiting professor at the University of Florence, where he collaborated on research on the origins of life. Ferris presented invited lectures at the University of Florence, the scientific meeting "Solids and Molecules in Space" in San Miniato, and the scientific meeting "The Origin of Life on Earth" in Cortona during the Summer of 2002.

Erika Gibb Awarded Annual Prize by Astronomical Society of New York
Erika Gibb was awarded the annual prize by the Astronomical Society of New York for the best journal article written by a graduate student in New York State in the Year 2000 for her paper "An Inventory of Interstellar Ices Toward the Embedded Protostar W33A", published in the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 536, pp. 347-356.

Erika Gibb Awarded Huntingdon Prize
Erika Gibb was awarded the annual Huntingdon Prize by the Physics Department at Rensselaer for the best thesis by a graduating Ph.D. student in the department for 2000/01.
 
 
WAMC's Environment Show, Health Show, Best of Our Knowledge and 51% to feature Origins of Life Segments

The Origins of Life segments will be featured on several of WAMC's programs. To listen to segments that have already aired check out our WAMC Segments page.
 
Tarlike macro-molecules detected in 'stardust' - Max Planck Society
Research News Release
 
 
Millennial Musings
The editors of Chemical and Engineering News (December 6, 1999 issue) asked prominent chemists what will be the major scientific questions for the next hundred years. Three responded the origins of life would be one of the major topics of study. Excerpts from their specific quotes are:

Shohei Inoue

Shohei Inoue
President, Chemical Society of Japan
Professor of Chemistry, Science University of Tokyo
"One of the most important unsolved scientific problems that chemistry should play a central role in is the origin of life. Recently, a system with order--one of the remarkable characteristics of life--has been demonstrated to appear on computer display from a disordered system by selecting an appropriate program. However, such a "virtual" system has no relation to the substances that constitute life existing on Earth. Physics tends to give less concern about particular substances, while biology deals with specific behaviors of particular types of substances. Chemistry, on the other hand, is free from these limitations and can even create a variety of substances that would have played an essential role on the way to the origin of life--that is, chemical evolution. Thus, the development of studies related to chemical evolution should bring about a new evolution of chemistry, emphasizing the identity of chemistry from other disciplines. The current examples of related studies are biomimetic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry. The development of these areas can lead to the resolution of the fundamental origin-of-life problem. There is even the possibility of the creation of a new ordered "living" system independent of existing life. It must be emphasized that such an "evolution of chemistry" should also find new applications, for example, as an information carrier based on a single molecule or artificial nucleic acid."

Rita R. Colwell

Rita R. Colwell
Director, National Science Foundation

"Chemists also will develop self-replicating molecular systems to provide insights into the molecular origins of life."

Frank H. Westheimer

Frank H. Westheimer
Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, Harvard University

"I look forward to spectacular advances in prebiotic chemistry that will add to the hesitant start provided by Juan Oro's synthesis of adenine and Albert Eschenmoser's synthesis of ribose-3,4-diphosphate."

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Center for Studies of Origins of Life, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY 12180
http://www.origins.rpi.edu
Email: Origins of Life