Congratulations to UNC Biology’s adjunct faculty member Dr. Aziz Sancar for an important anti-cancer discovery featured on the UNC Health website. From the website: “Experiments from the UNC School of Medicine lab of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, show how a common molecular tool for DNA labeling also has anticancer properties worthy of further investigation, especially for brain cancers.” Be sure to check out the full article here.

The Graduate School and the UNC-CH Materials Research Society are partnering with faculty members, Dr. Sophie McCoy, Biology, and Dr. Ashalla Freeman, Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program, to offer a four-part workshop series for students interested in applying for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).

The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers. Applicants must be pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education at accredited US institutions. Final year undergraduate and first and second year graduate students (who do not hold a graduate degree) are eligible to apply. NSF offers an eligibility quiz to confirm your eligibility, and the full solicitation can be found on their website.

The GRFP includes three years of support, including an annual $37,000 stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance, which is supplemented by The Graduate School to cover the full cost of enrollment and health insurance. Applications are due mid- to late-October.

Please consider joining us for the following events (registration links below):

Information for NSF GRFP Applicants: Overview and Strategy
Date: Tuesday, August 30th
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Hosted by: Sophie McCoy
Location: Kerr 1001
REGISTER

Information for NSF GRFP Applicants: Brainstorming Your Essays
Date: Thursday, September 1st
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Hosted by: Sophie McCoy
Location: Kerr 1001
REGISTER

Understanding Broader Impacts for the NSF GRFP Application
Date: Monday, September 12th
Time: 5:30-7:00pm
Hosted by: Ashalla Freeman
Location: Virtual
REGISTER

Peer Review Workshop – Connecting Applicants with Fellows
Date: Wednesday, September 28th
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Hosted by: Materials Research Society and The Graduate School
Location: Kenan Science Library (Ground Floor of Murray Hall)
REGISTER

Be sure to check out this Endeavors article which features Kelly Hogan’s and Viji Sathy’s new book, Inclusive Teaching! Find the article here.

Dr. Allen Hurlbert has been featured in an article on The Well titled “How to help endangered monarch butterflies.” From the article: “Allen Hurlbert, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ biology department, researches the impact of climate change on biodiversity and the geographic patterns of birds and insects, including butterflies like the monarch. He started Caterpillars Count!, a citizen science project that measures the seasonal variation of arthropods like caterpillars on trees and shrub foliage. At more than 150 sites across North America, anyone interested can conduct branch surveys, collect data and submit their findings.” Congratulations, Allen! Read it here.

Be sure to check out the Well’s profile on Senay Yitbarek in their article “Fresh faces: Meet a few of the College’s new faculty.” Read it here.

John Bruno gave a tour of the Galapagos Science Center to a contingent of Carolina VIPs (including the Chancellor and Provost) as part of the unique field station’s 10 year anniversary last month. John was instrumental in designing and implementing the facility and his group’s research is based there.

Be sure to check out the post about John Bruno’s lab and their research done all around the world on UNC’s website! Learn more about their research here.

“The UNC RNA Discovery Center, funded through the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, will cultivate an inclusive community of scientists dedicated to investigating all aspects of RNA biology, some of which has already been implicated in human diseases and much of which we know very little about.

Led by director Chad Pecot, MD, UNC Lineberger member and associate professor in the UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Oncology in the UNC Department of Medicine, the new center includes UNC’s multidisciplinary group of renowned RNA scientists,” including UNC Biology’s very own Amy Gladfelter. Congratulations, Amy! Read the full release here.

Congratulations to Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy for being special guests at the ELEVATE conference, hosted at Washington State University. The ELEVATE conference, meant to “engage learners, enhance voices, and advance teaching excellence,” will feature a special lunchtime workshop led by Hogan and Sathy and “will highlight the need for high structure in learning environments, and help teachers to model techniques designed to elicit equity in the classroom.” Read more about the conference here.

Happy 10th anniversary to the Galapagos Science Center! To celebrate this achievement, Todd Vision, Corbin Jones, and John Bruno all gave talks at the anniversary symposium last month. Some graduate students in John Bruno’s lab also presented posters. Be sure to check out the GSC on Twitter. Happy anniversary!