Birch Aquarium Teams up with Sally Ride
Science to Educate Teachers About Climate Change
A group of teachers huddled Saturday in the Birch Aquarium’s climate change exhibit, trying to decide what they would do to curb global warming. Should they build more nuclear power plants? Should they require higher fuel efficiency standards for cars? Should they increase the use of solar power? More

Study Finds Future 'Battlegrounds'
for Conservation Very Different to Those in Past
UCSD biologists have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss. More

Gene That Controls Ozone Resistance
of Plants Could Lead to Drought-Resistant Crops
Biologists at UC San Diego, working with collaborators at the University of Helsinki in Finland and two other European institutions, have elucidated the mechanism of a plant gene that controls the amount of atmospheric ozone entering a plant’s leaves. More

La Jolla High Surfs to Victory
at Ocean Competition Hosted by Scripps
What does “eutrophication” mean in reference to a lake? What is the term used to describe organisms which are planktonic only in the larval stage? These questions have you stumped? Perhaps you should turn to one of the 80 high school students who competed Feb. 23 at La Jolla Surf Bowl 2008 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. This one-day regional ocean science competition, part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, tested students’ knowledge of marine sciences with mind-bending challenges. More

Employees Get Scoop on
New Program to Help Them Stay Healthy
How can I get advice to lose weight and become healthier? What free services do I have access to? Will my health information remain confidential?These were some of the questions that a few dozen UCSD employees asked about the new UC-wide StayWell program Tuesday at the Price Center. More

Fourth Evolution Matters Lecture
Unravels the ‘Abominable Mystery’ of Flowers
For thousands of years, people have pondered the mysteries of flower development and how these flowers ultimately give rise to fruit. Recent studies have begun to unravel these long-standing mysteries, leading to a detailed understanding of how a handful of genes interact to direct the formation of flowers and fruit. This new-found knowledge offers remarkable opportunities for increasing the yield of agriculturally important crop plants. More

This Week in Pictures
Straight talk from a “mumblecore” filmmaker and curvy color from an aspiring artist. Our cameras were there to capture the moment. Click to see more of This Week in Pictures. More

Developer of Earthquake Magnitude Scale
to Address Kyoto Laureate Symposium on Campus
Hiroo Kanamori, a geophysicist whose studies on great earthquakes and tsunamis affect populations from San Diego to Southeast Asia, will share his insights during a Kyoto Laureate Symposium to be held at 4 p.m. March 13 in the Price Center. A professor emeritus at California Institute of Technology, Kanamori has dedicated his life to studying the rupture process that produces earthquakes and tsunamis with the hope of discovering new ways to protect and preserve human life. More

UC San Diego Researcher Named 2007 Hartwell Fellow
Douglas A. Mitchell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of pharmacology at the School of Medicine, thinks that it might be a more diplomatic strategy to disarm bacteria rather than kill them. His efforts have uncovered a wealth of potential targets for novel antibiotics to fight childhood disease, which led to his recent selection by UC San Diego to receive a Hartwell Fellowship, which provides support of his research for two years at $50,000 per year. The support is made possible by The Hartwell Foundation to enable scientists in the early stages of biomedical research careers to pursue further specialized training as part of their career development. More

Communications and Psychiatry Professors
Receive Faculty Research Lecturer Award
Carol Padden, a communications professor, and Marc A. Schuckit, a psychiatry professor, have received the Academic Senate Faculty Research Lecturer Award for the 2006-07 academic year. The award recognizes faculty whose research has made a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge. The award is presented annually to two researchers: one from the arts, humanities or social sciences, and one from the sciences. More