Newsmakers in the College of Natural Sciences

These scientist-turned-teachers are "scientific ambassadors," says Bruce Alberts, former president of the National Academy of Sciences. Because "they've got PhDs and therefore are well connected and respected by the scientific community," says Alberts, they can be more effective liaisons between the education system and the scientific community. Irene Salter agrees. Read More.

California State University, Chico students will be receiving $10,000 scholarships to become math and science teachers, thanks to a new $749,180 grant from the National Science Foundation. CSU, Chico and California State University, Sacramento are joint recipients of the grant and collaborators on the project, called Teaching Excellence in Math and Science. The new grant will result in the University awarding 32 new scholarships over the next four years. The grant is in place until 2011. Read More.

Denis Hayes, one of the organizers of the original Earth Day in 1970, former director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and one of Time Magazine's "100 Heroes of the Planet," gave a message of hope and a message of warning to a crowd of hundreds Wednesday night (April 11, 2007) at Laxson Auditorium on the Chico State University campus, reports the Chico Enterprise-Record. Part of the message was that the world is headed toward catastrophe if serious changes aren't made to slow global warming.
Chico State University President Paul Zingg gave an honorary doctorate of science to Jack Rawlins, whose endowment to the university has provided scholarships for ecology and conservation, student research and an award for environmental achievement. Read more

A new facility in Chico to train nurses using lifelike, state-of-the-art patient simulators is a reality. California State University, Chico's School of Nursing received one of three grants awarded by the state Employment Development Department to establish the center. The $250,000 grant was matched through facilities, supplies and faculty and staff time by the Rural Northern California Clinical Simulation Center Partnership, which includes CSU, Chico, Butte College Nursing Program, Enloe Medical Center and Feather River Hospital. Read more

The Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion (CNAP) at California State University, Chico has been selected for honorable mention by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. The mission of the CNAP, created in June 2006, is to create innovative partnerships that enable Californians in the North State, especially those in high-risk populations, to adopt healthy eating and physical activity patterns as part of a healthy lifestyle. Read more

The Northern California Natural History Museum (NCNHM) Board and California State University, Chico are pleased to announce that a design and construction team has been selected for the museum building project. Read more

Chico State biologist, Professor Michael Marchetti, joins international team. Read more

Cindy Wolff, Chico State's Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion director, is concerned about how much kids are growing--not up, but out. Read more

Master's in Environmental Sciences. California State University, Chico is one of 12 CSU campuses to offer the new Professional Science Master's (PSM) option and the only one to have a program in environmental sciences. The new programs are being started thanks to an $891,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which was announced Tuesday, Dec. 12, at CSU headquarters in Long Beach. Read more

Larry Hanne, Biology, and Larry Kirk, Chemistry, write about the "Evolution of a Scientific Research Group." Twenty years ago we began a research group with five undergraduate student participants. We chose a research project that would be multidisciplinary and would accommodate the interests of microbiology, cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry students. From Inside Chico State, Dec. 7, 2006. Read more

People are surprised to learn that dinosaur fossils have been found throughout the North State, some from around, and even within, Chico. It is understandable that most people are not familiar with the fossil heritage of this region, for few researchers have recently studied the topic and few museums locally display the exciting fossil finds (something that the Northern California Natural History Museum will address, at least in part). You could be standing on a dinosaur!

Business Student Wins $10,000 Jack Rawlins Award. Taylor Bass, who has an option in management with a pattern in entrepreneurship and minors in marketing and in managing for sustainability, wrote a winning proposal titled “Social Entrepreneurs Emerging with new Direction,” or SEED. Read more

Physics students bring home Blake Lilly Prize members of our Society of Physics Students (SPS) are honored for their effort to positively influence the attitudes of school children and the general public about physics. Read more

Jeff Price, assistant professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences, and other leading scientists talk about climate changes on National Public Radio in Cleveland. Read more

Professor Carol Huston welcomes 130 nursing students into Nursing Honor Society (Also see November 2005 below).

Retired Dean Roger Lederer walks on the wild side. Read more

President George W. Bush seeks to double National Science Foundation Budget.
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