research & scholarship at william & mary winter, 2008-09 ideation A close look at the new Integrated Science Center a brighter shade of plaid • be afraid, be very afraid • studying music in time of war ideation research in the big leagues research & scholarship at william & mary The College of William & Mary in Virginia Chartered February 8, 1693, by King William III A look inside the Integrated page and Queen Mary II of Great Britain. Phi Beta 1 Science Center Kappa, the nation’s premier academic honor More than updated facilities, the ISC is a building that society, and the honor code system of conduct both acknowledges how science actually gets done. were founded at William & Mary. 4 Biological research in the ISC c h a n c e l l o r r e c t o r What can the DNA of yeast tell us about the mechanics Sandra Day O'Connor Michael K. Powell ’85 of cancer and other diseases? Plenty. p r e s i d e n t p r o v o s t Taylor Reveley P. Geoffrey Feiss 6 Chemical research in the ISC Alzheimer’s. Lou Gehrig’s. Parkinson’s. Anti-oxidants. d e a n o f a r t s & s c i e n c e s All have a chemical root...and we’re looking into it. Carl Strikwerda v i c e p r e s i d e n t f o r s t r at e g i c Undergrad research at the ISC 8 initiatives Why let the faculty have all the fun? A group of James R. Golden freshmen are discovering new things about phages. v i c e p r o v o s t f o r r e s e a r c h & g r a d u at e / professional s t u d i e s Dennis Manos PLAID shines even brighter 10 d i r e c t o r o f s t r at e g i c Support from the Gates and Hewlett foundations allow this communications Consumer Reports of international aid to grow. Michael J. Connolly Music in time of war and peace Ideation is the crystallization and conceptualiza- 13 The Middle Eastern Musical Ensemble offers a window into a tion of ideas. It is part of the process through which culture that is becoming more and more a part of our own. thought ultimately becomes deed. Ideation is published semiannually by the College of William & Mary, Office of University Relations, P.O. Fear itself Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795. 16 The Perception Lab is showing how fear actually does change Address all correspondence to the editor, Joseph M. things. Really. McClain, at the address above or e-mail below. Phone 757-221-1615 A head start on research 20 e d i t o r The new Dintersmith Fellows program puts our rising Joseph M. McClain seniors to work with our soaring faculty. g r a p h i c d e s i g n e r s Lucinda Baker Not Fidel’s show Rachel Follis 23 p r i n c i pa l photographer Ninety miles south of Miami, they speak a whole different cinematic language. Stephen Salpukas All photography in Ideation is by Stephen Salpukas, unless noted Lab, Field and Library 25 g r a p h i c a s s i s ta n t / proofreader Awards, plaudits, achievements, grim news about striped Teresa Edmundson bass. e d i t o r i a l a s s i s ta n t Ann McGrath On the cover w h at d o y o u t h i n k Jill Hamilton, a member of William & Mary's class of 2010, works in one of the new ? [email protected] labs in the Integrated Science Center. "Every student at William & Mary will use the ISC," says Carl Strikwerda, dean of Arts & Sciences. r e a d i d e at i o n o n l i n e : www.wm.edu/news/ideation ISC 1 is completed… ISC 2 is in progress… Integrating sciences: …just wait until we build ISC 3 by Joseph McClain he Integrated Science Center at William and Mary is a matter of the College’s past, present and future. ISC Phase 1 is past—that is to T say, it’s completed and up and running. ISC 2 is, at this writing, about midway towards completion. ISC 3 is still on the draw- ing boards, but will be very much a part of the future of research at the College, as it will contain activity devoted to “things that we don’t even have names for yet,” in the words of Den- nis Manos, vice provost for research. ISC 1 got up and running in the summer of 2008, housing all of the Department of Chemistry and elements of the Department of Biology. Chemistry moved over from the adjacent Rogers Hall, which is being gutted and transformed into ISC 2. ISC 1 and 2 will be con- nected, once the renovation process of ISC 2 is complete. ISC 1 holds research labs and teach- Chemist J.C. Poutsma works in his new lab with grad student Ashley Janiga and Omar Hamdy ’09. ing labs, along with meeting areas and faculty offices—but no classrooms. The philosophy is USEwill emerge," Manos said. PDF“Who knows what Equations=ISC1+2 to foster collaborative creativity among scien- intellectual chimeras may emerge in areas like tists and researchers—including students. neuroscience, biochemistry or in the molecular Total cost, both phases = $65 million “I tend to see the ISC as a progression in the correlates of consciousness?” million = Commonwealth of trend of how we do business in the sciences at $43.425 First things first Virginia’s contribution William and Mary,” Manos said. “That trend is Before the sciences are to be integrated, they away from the isolated, individual investigator need proper working conditions. Gary Rice, 70 = number of laboratories working on one or two problems in a narrowly chair of chemistry, points to a number of practi- Number of departments housed = 3 defined discipline, towards engagement in solv- cal improvements in the working environment ing larger-scale problems through teamwork.” of his department. 179 = number of fume hoods Both chemistry and biology had been making “Chemistry requires a lot of air handling,” do with outdated and worn-out facilities. The Projected savings from Rice said. “The air handling systems in Rogers high-efficiency HVAC =15% opportunity to put the two in the same building were shot. One of our standing jokes was that was fortuitous. you could tell which organic lab was running 96 = hours of backup emergency power “The boundaries between chemistry and that week by the smells in the hall. That is not biology long ago began to dissolve,” Manos said. 10% = energy savings from heat an issue in this building.” recovery from exhaust “The techniques, the instrumentation, and the The business end of any air exchange system various methods the individual practitioners is in the laboratory hoods: vented, enclosed “Some faculty do research that requires a lot use are often the same. For instance, the differ- workspaces behind sash doors. The work of ventilation for the type of work they do; oth- ence between fluorescent resonant excitation capacity of any lab that uses chemicals is more ers do not," Rice said. "So, some research labs transfer in chemistry and various forms of accurately described in terms of number of only have two hoods. Some have four. Some fluorescent microscopic imaging in biology may hoods, rather than, say, square footage of space. have six. The six-hood labs are for those that someday disappear altogether.” The two chemistry floors of ISC 1 have plenty of tend to work with a lot of organic chemicals that The sciences, Manos says, have been integrat- hoods, placed strategically among teaching and require constant ventilation.” ing themselves for years, and the ISC concept research labs—double the number the depart- Over the years the chemists adapted Rogers will further the process here at William and ment had in Rogers Hall. for their own purposes, creating a warren of Mary. Chemistry shares part of ISC 1 with “We had three teaching labs in Rogers Hall. labs, offices, classrooms and other necessary biology, while psychology will move into the Each lab had four hoods along one wall,” Rice spaces. The ISC provided a blank slate for lab first floor of ISC 2, with more biologists on the said. “Now, we have four teaching labs with 12 design. second floor. The anticipated result will be a hoods in each of them.” “As research became a bigger mission of the type of cross-fertilization, or at least a dissolving The department’s research labs have hoods College, we did every conceivable renovation of traditional departmental boundaries. appropriate to the research that goes on inside. possible in Rogers to create research space for “By melding the interests and capabilities The air handling capacity of the building is our faculty. Lab space varied from a few hundred of various types of scientists, and having them also designed to accommodate additional hood square feet up to 500-600 square feet, tops,” collide in hallways, share study spaces, and requirements as faculty needs change. Rice explained. “Now everybody has essentially interact over common equipment, new things continued on page 2 1 | ISC Integrating sciences continued from page 1 a 900-plus square-foot research space.