On September 27th, President Obama named seven prominent researchers as recipients of this year's National Medal of Science, the highest honor the U.S. government bestows on scholars in the sciences and engineering. Among this year's recipients are two former Sloan Research Fellows, chemist Jacqueline Barton from the California Institute of Technology, who received a Sloan Research Fellowship in 1984, and mathematician Srinivasa Varadhan of New York University, who received a Sloan Research Fellowship in 1969. According to the White House press release, Barton was recognized for "for [the] discovery of a new property of the DNA helix, long-range electron transfer, and for showing that electron transfer depends upon stacking of the base pairs and DNA dynamics. Her experiments reveal a strategy for how DNA repair proteins, locate DNA lesions, and demonstrate a biological role for DNA-mediated charge transfer." Varadhan received the honor "for his work in probability theory, especially his work on large deviations from expected random behavior, which has revolutionized this field of study during the second half of the twentieth century and become a cornerstone of both pure and applied probability. The mathematical insights he developed have been applied in diverse fields including quantum field theory, population dynamics, finance, econometrics, and traffic engineering." Also among this year's receipients is Dr. Richard Tapia, an engineering professor at Rice University. Dr. Tapia is a grantee in the Foundation's Education for Underrepresented Groups program, and has spearheaded Rice's impressive efforts to recruit more students from underrepresented minorities into graduate programs in STEM fields and to support these students throughout their studies. In addition to his scholarly work on optimization theory and numerical analysis, the White House mentions Dr. Tapia's work fostering diversity as a reason for his selection for the National Medal of Science. The Sloan Foundation congratulates Dr. Barton, Dr. Varadhan, and Dr. Tapia for this well-deserved recognition and is proud to have had the opportunity to support the important work of such high caliber scholars.
On Friday, November 5th, President Obama named 85 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers , the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Among the scientists honored were ten Sloan Research Fellows . The awards, established by President Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach. Winning scientists and engineers have received research grants for up to five years to further their studies in support of critical government missions. A list of Sloan Research Fellows included among this year's winners appears below. Fellow Discipline SRF Year Scott J. Aaronson Computer Science 2009 Amy N. Finkelstein Economics 2007 Andrew A. Houck Physics 2009 Manolis Kellis Computational & Evolutionary Molecular Biology 2008 Joshua W. Shaevitz Physics 2008 Doris Y. Tsao Neuroscience 2009 Jacob G. Wacker Physics 2010 Haoxing Xu Neuroscience 2009 Martin T. Zanni Chemistry 2006 Martin W. Zwierlein Physics 2008 The Foundation congratulates all 85 of this year's winners of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.
More than 300 marine scientists from all over the globe converged in London, England on October 4-7, 2010 for the official release of the first Census of Marine Life. The week's events mark the finale of the Census, a ten-year, $650 million scientific endeavor involving over 2700 scientists from more than 80 nations who worked collaboratively to catalog the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the world's oceans. The release of the Census's findings represent the synthesis of a vast amount of scholarship. Over the past ten years, Census researchers have gone on more than 540 research expeditions; spent 9,000 days at sea; obtained, cataloged, and archived nearly 6.4 million observations of marine species; and published more than 2,600 academic papers—about one every 1.5 days. The result is a picture of life beneath the sea unprecedented in its breadth and detail. Read more about the release of the first Census of Marine Life Watch video of the London events Read a summary of Census findings, First Census of Marine Life 2010: Highlights of a Decade of Discovery Visit the Census of Marine Life Web site
(Photo: David Strathairn as J. Robert Oppenheimer) The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer , the American Experience's story of the rise and fall of the American scientist who headed the Manhattan Project and helped develop the atomic bomb, has received two Emmy nominations from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Supported in part by a grant from the Sloan Foundation and starring David Strathairn in the title role, The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer was nominated in the categories of Outstanding Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming. The 61st Primetime Emmy awards air Sunday, September 20th. Watch The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer online. View the complete list of this year's Primetime Emmy nominations.
Alan Alda will be hosting the World Science Festival's panel "What It Means to Be Human" on Friday, June 12th at 8pm. The panel hosts E.O. Wilson, Sarah Hrdy and other leading evolutionary biologists, anthropologists and humanitarians as they examine the origins and evolution of human cooperative behavior. During the course of the discussion Mr. Alda will be showing clips of the upcoming, Sloan-sponsored show The Human Spark . The Human Spark, premiering November 9th on PBS, explores the question, "What makes us human?" For more information regarding the panel discussion, please visit the WSF website To "Share Your Spark" and give your take on what it means to be human or to learn more about the show visit The Human Spark
