In Brief

Gabriel Lander Named 2014 Searle Scholar

Gabriel Lander, assistant professor in The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, has been named a 2014 Searle Scholar, one of just 15 selected from among 172 nominations nationwide.

Chosen by an advisory board of distinguished scientists across a wide range of fields, Searle Scholars are recognized for innovative research and the potential to make significant contributions to chemical and biological research in the future.

Lander’s award project is titled “Determining the Structural Basis of Neurological Diseases and Disorders.”

Other TSRI faculty members previously named Searle Scholars include Phil Baran, Dale Boger, Benjamin Cravatt, Larry Gerace, M. Reza Ghadiri, Jeffrey Kelly, Katja Lamia, Ben Shen, Jamie Williamson and Chi-Huey Wong.

Facilities, Construction & Engineering Wins Green Feat Award

For energy-saving environmental efforts that have substantially cut Scripps California’s utility usage, the Facilities, Construction & Engineering staff has been awarded the 2014 Keith McKeown Green Feat Award. Presented annually by the Green Team, the award recognizes sustainability leadership on the California campus.

Facilities, Construction & Engineering sustainability activities include the Beckman building's fume hood/phoenix valve recommissioning; Hartman Loop projects (BCC, MB, IMM) to conserve natural gas, electricity and water; native/low-water landscaping projects (IMM, MB, Lot 2); reclaimed water irrigation projects (west campus, NSI/Hazen, Lot 2) as well as ongoing retro-commissioning and other utility-usage reduction projects.

“The Facilities, Construction & Engineering team has helped reduce the institute’s utility bills by well over $1 million per year,” said Pete Herold, TSRI vice president of facilities. “The 9.9-percent electricity-rate increase TSRI sees in its energy bills, beginning April 1, makes their achievements especially significant, as is the continued need for all of us on campus to conserve electricity use wherever and whenever possible—simple actions such as turning off lights and closing fume hoods.

The award is named for the late Keith McKeown, who served as TSRI vice president of communications and public relations from 2002-2010 and was founding chair of the California campus Green Team.

Career Workshops: From Effective Science Teaching to Meet the Alumni

The Office of Career and Postdoctoral Services is sponsoring a variety of career training and networking opportunities on the California and Florida campuses.

California

Financial Planning
Tips on investment strategies will be presented in an “Investing 101” seminar scheduled for Tuesday, April 15, from 3 to 4:30 PM, in the Human Resources Training Room, 3377 building, suite 205. James Lingelbach and John Tokar, MetLife financial education facilitators and advisors, will conduct the seminar. Register online.

Interview Skills
A small-group workshop offering interview training for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students will be held Wednesday, April 16, from 3 to 4:30 PM, in the Graduate Office conference room, building 3377, suite 300. Registration is required.

Meet the Alumni
Jem Efe, a former TSRI postdoctoral fellow and current research investigator for the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, will share his career experiences in a small, casual setting, Tuesday, April 22, from 4 to 5 PM, in the Faculty Club Library. Efe leads a team of biologists on projects that span basic research, drug discovery and early development work. Registration required.

Florida

Teaching in the Sciences
Teaching science effectively is the focus of part one of this workshop, to be held Wednesday, April 23, from 1 to 3 PM, in classroom B159. Students will learn pedagogical approaches and learning styles, methods and best practices of instructional design and classroom management and classroom use of media and technology. Bill Roush, associate dean and executive director of medicinal chemistry, and Brian Coppola, professor and associate chair of educational development and practice, and professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan, will conduct the workshop. Registration is required

Conveying Science with Posters
The fundamentals of poster design, creation and communication will be taught in this workshop scheduled for Friday, April 25, 1 to 2:30 PM, in classroom B158. Mike Matrone, program coordinator with the Office of Career and Postdoctoral Services, will conduct the session. Register online.

Lunch with Philip Hanawalt
A Speaker Luncheon with Philip Hanawalt, the Morris Herzstein Professor in Biology at Stanford University, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30, noon to 1 PM, in Conference Room B114. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, biologist Hanawalt has been a productive researcher in the field of DNA repair since his 1963 pioneering discovery of repair replication in E coli. RSVP is required.

For additional details on these and other upcoming career resources provided by the Office of Career and Postdoctoral Services, visit the office’s website.

FL Campus NWiS Meeting to Feature Patsy McDonald

TSRI Assistant Professor Patsy McDonald will share her career experiences in both industry and academia at the Florida Network for Women in Science (NWiS) spring chapter meeting, Wednesday, April 23, 4 PM, in room B158. A faculty member in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics, McDonald will also discuss her perspectives on working in the United States and United Kingdom. Refreshments will be served.

Green Teams Celebrate Earth Day

California and Florida campus Green Teams will celebrate the 2014 Earth Day with e-waste and litter cleanup activities.

California faculty and staff can dispose of unwanted household electronics during the Green Feat E-Waste Recycling Day, scheduled for Wednesday, April 23, from 8 AM to 1 PM, in the CIMBio (CarrB) building.

Allowable recyclables include televisions, microwaves, computer towers, monitors, keyboards, wires, speakers, scanners, fax machines, printers, laptops, cell phones (with or without batteries), radios and stereo equipment. No hazardous waste will be accepted, such as paint, oil, aerosols, pesticides, pool chemicals, fluorescent light bulbs or alkaline batteries. For further information, contact David Hinton at djhinton@scripps.edu or email the CA Green Team, sustain@scripps.edu.

Florida campus faculty, staff, family and friends are invited to spend a few hours outdoors helping to tidy up Mother Nature during the Green Team’s Adopt-a-Spot clean-up day on Saturday, April 26, from 8 to 11 AM. Volunteers will collect trash and litter along a section of road adjacent to the campus. Participants are advised to wear comfortable old clothing, gloves, closed-toed shoes and sunscreen. Cleanup equipment will be provided.

The Adopt-a-Spot program is a partnership with the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County. For additional information, contact Green Team members Peter Norris, pnorris@scripps.edu, or Sheri Resnick, sresnick@scripps.edu.

Lunch & Learn: Healthy Relationships

Guidance on building, maintaining and enjoying healthy, happy relationships will be offered at the next Lunch & Learn presentation, “Measuring Your Relationship I.Q,” to be held Wednesday, April 30, noon to 1 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck Amphitheater on the California campus.

Psychologist Daphne Lurie, director of the TSRI Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, will present the workshop. Participants will learn what qualities to look for in a partner, factors that contribute to healthy relationships and red flags that can warn of unhealthy relationships.

For more information on the Lunch & Learn series and other resources provided by the Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, visit the office’s website.

CA ScrippsAssists Projects: Creek-to-Bay Cleanup and Blood Drive

ScrippsAssists, the TSRI volunteer group, offers two upcoming service opportunities for the California campus community.

I Love a Clean San Diego

Faculty, staff, family and friends are invited to enjoy a Saturday morning along the Del Mar beach while helping to spruce up the environment as part of I Love a Clean San Diego’s 12^th Annual Creek-to-Bay Cleanup, Saturday, April 26, 9 AM to noon.

Assigned to the Del Mar Powerhouse Park location, TSRI participants will collect litter and marine debris. Volunteers are asked to bring a reusable water bottle and to wear comfortable closed-toed shoes and long pants. Cleanup supplies will be provided.

Parking is available in the park’s dedicated lot and nearby. Directions and a map to the location are available at the I Love a Clean San Diego website. Participation waivers must be signed in advance and volunteers under the age of 18 require a parent’s or guardian’s signature. For further information and to register for the event, contact ScrippsAssists project coordinator Jess Sheu-Gruttadauria at jgruttad@scripps.edu.

May 8 Blood Drive

Once again, the TSRI community is encouraged to help meet the ongoing urgent need for blood donations. Appointments are now available for the next ScrippsAssists-sponsored blood drive, scheduled for Thursday, May 8, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM. The bloodmobile will be located in the parking lot adjacent to the Molecular Biology/Skaggs Building, 10596 N. Torrey Pines Road.

Appointments are made on the San Diego Blood Bank website. Walk-in donors will be accepted. Guidelines and eligibility requirements are also listed on the blood bank website. Donors should bring photo identification, a record of medications they currently take and a list of locations visited outside the United States in the past three years.

All donors will automatically be entered into a prize raffle. For further information on the blood drive, contact ScrippsAssists project coordinator, Leslie Madden at lmadden@scripps.edu.

Food, Fun and Games on Menu for SF-SRF’s International Party

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SF-SRF) will celebrate the geographical and cultural diversity on campus at its second annual International Party on Friday, April 25, 6 PM, in the cafeteria.

Postdoctoral fellows are asked to bring cuisine traditional to their native countries. Tables representing regions of the world will be organized. Activities following dinner will include games, dancing and a DJ. SF-SRF will supply beverages. For further information, contact Cesare Orlandi at corlandi@scripps.edu.

At the Auditorium: Argentine Tango, Mainly Mozart

The San Diego Symphony Chamber Music Series concert will present the Quint Quintet performing chamber works exploring the Argentine tango tradition on Tuesday, April 22, 7:30 PM. Grammy-nominated violinist Phillipe Quint will lead the quintet in works by composer Astor Piazzolla. Ticket and additional concert information is available on the San Diego Symphony website.

Mainly Mozart’s Spotlight Chamber Music series will feature internationally acclaimed pianist John Lill Saturday, April 26, 7:30 PM. Lill will perform Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 12 in F, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C, Op. 53 “Waldstein” and Prokofiev’s Toccata in D minor, Op.11. Visit the Mainly Mozart website for ticket information.

The Auditorium at TSRI is located at 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego, 92121. Directions and parking information are available on the auditorium’s website.

News&Views Takes a Spring Break

News&Views will not be published next week to accommodate Spring Break. Regular publication will resume Monday, April 28.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

award2
Standing in front of energy-efficient 14.4 million-BTU chillers in the Beckman building basement, Morgan Hoffman (left), facilities, construction and engineering director, and Clyde Brown, facilities supervisor, pose with the 2014 Keith McKeown Green Feat Award recognizing their department’s sustainability efforts. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

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