BioSciences at Rice

Congratulations to Joyah Watkins for her receipt of an HHMI Gilliam Fellowship!

Scott Egan has been elected a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.

On Friday July 12th, the Lwigale and Uribe lab group celebrated the recent promotion of Dr. Peter Lwigale to full professor and Dr. Rosa Uribe to associate professor with tenure.

This summer, Drs. Jamie Catanese and Joey Olmos hosted students from local community colleges at Rice University as part of the Take Flight STEM Pathway and the Office of the Provost. The students participated in a summer research program in molecular biology and biochemistry.

Our NSF BioNetworks REU students arrived on Memorial Day weekend and will be on campus doing independent research projects through early August!

Dr. Scott Solomon and his BIOS 323 (AFRICAN SAVANNA ECOLOGY) students embarked on an unforgettable journey to Tanzania on June 15th!

This short, intensive summer field course offers students the unique opportunity for first-hand examination of the ecology of the east African savanna biome. Students will learn methodologies and gain practical experience in the fields of ecology, paleontology, and paleoanthropology.

Stay tuned for updates from their summer field course!

Check in for regular installments of "From the Field," research updates from our Ecology & Evolutionary Biology students.

Promotion to associate professor with tenure:
James Chappell
Rosa Uribe
Promotion to full professor:
Peter Lwigale
Promotion to full teaching professor:
Scott Solomon
Promotion to assistant teaching professor:
Caná Ross

https://news.rice.edu/news/2024/rices-yousif-shamoo-elected-aaas-fellow

Rice’s Yousif Shamoo elected AAAS fellow Rice University bioscientist Yousif Shamoo has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

BIOS/EEPS Crawfish Boil!
April 26, 2024

On April 19th, two BioSciences professors were recognized with prestigious awards for their remarkable contributions from the Dean of Natural Sciences!

Join us in applauding Dr. Julia Saltz for earning the Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring Award and Dr. Scott Solomon, honored with the Excellence in Outreach Award!

A former doctoral student in the Dunham Lab, Onja Razafindratsima, has been selected for the Recent Alumni Award of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Congratulations, Onja!

The BIOS award winners at the 2024 University Awards Ceremony on April 23 (pictured from left to right):
Annie Finneran, Doctoral student in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology - Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Student Support; Eric Wuesthoff, Doctoral student in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology - Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Course Support; Evelyn Chiu, Graduating Senior in Biosciences - Student-Taught Course Teaching Award; Jamie Catanese, Associate Teaching Professor of BioSciences - George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching.

Jamie Catanese, Associate Teaching Professor of BioSciences, will receive one of this year's George R. Brown Awards for Superior Teaching. Annie Finneran, EEB Graduate Student, will receive the CTE Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Student Support. Eric Wuesthoff, EEB Graduate Student, will receive the CTE Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Course Support. Join them at the 2024 University Awards Ceremony tomorrow, April 23, at 3 pm in McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall.

Biochemistry & Cell Biology GSA Fund: https://tinyurl.com/RiceBCBGSA
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology GSA Fund:
https://tinyurl.com/RiceEEBGSA

TODAY IS THE DAY!! Please consider supporting our graduate student association budgets during the 24 hour challenge fund raiser. These funds allow our graduate students to plan events both social and scientific.

Biochemistry & Cell Biology GSA Fund: https://tinyurl.com/RiceBCBGSA
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology GSA Fund:
https://tinyurl.com/RiceEEBGSA

Please consider supporting our graduate student association budgets during the 24 hour challenge fund raiser. These funds allow our graduate students to plan events both social and scientific. The 24 hour challenge occurs April 11, but early gifts are allowed.

Congratulations to Annie Finneran and Robyn Alba, new recipients of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship! Annie is in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Doctoral Program in Biosciences, and Robyn is in the Biochemistry & Cell Biology Doctoral Program.

Visit https://biosciences.rice.edu/

Visit [email protected]

On February 20th, the department celebrated Gerald's incredible journey as he embarks on a new chapter after 20 years of dedicated service to Rice! Gerald's hard work, and unwavering commitment have left an indelible mark on our community. Cheers to an extraordinary career and a well-deserved retirement! 🎉🥳 "

Night at the Museum - reception for our prospective 2024 doctoral students at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on February 23. Students who have more photos to donate on their cell phone can email [email protected] and we will post them here!

Friedman Holistic Garden Director Joseph Novak honored by Rice Board of Trustees.

Friedman Holistic Garden Director Joseph Novak honored by Rice Board of Trustees Rice University’s Board of Trustees recently recognized Joseph R. Novak, faculty lecturer in the biosciences department and director of the Betty and Jacob Friedman Holistic Garden, for his contributions to both the university and the community.

Last week, students of Dr. Maria Hartley's BIOS 271/571 (Environmental Management) were treated to a visit by The Wildlife Center of Texas. At the end of class, the students witnessed firsthand the release of a rehabilitated screech owl.

Biosciences at Rice is proud to introduce four new faculty members who joined the department for the 2023-24 academic year.

Harini Iyer seeks to illuminate the complex interplay between the nervous and immune systems during development, homeostasis, and in neurodegeneration from the perspective of microglia.

Sven Kranz studies phytoplankton ecology and biogeochemistry. He and his lab are specifically interested in how different phytoplankton groups respond to environmental perturbations such as changes in CO2, light intensity, and nutrient availability.

Theresa Loveless engineers mammalian cells so that temporary events that happen to them, like stress, are recorded forever as small programmed changes in their DNA. These engineered cells will then be used to do cancer biology and developmental biology experiments that weren't previously possible.

Andrea Rummel studies the physiology and mechanics of animal movement. In particular, her research explores how locomotor physiology, thermal physiology, and biomechanics interact to determine an animal’s response to changing environmental conditions on short and long timescales.

Visit biosciences.rice.edu