Founded in 1888 as the Marine Biological Laboratory Catalyst Fall 2010 Volume 5, Number 2 IN THIS ISSUE 4 Diamond In the Rough 8 Life, Interrupted 10 Bird Strike! Where Are They Now MBL People Shaping Science and Society Page 2 F r o m t h e D i r e c t o r Dear Friends, MBL Catalyst One of the great pleasures of teaching is hearing good news from former students. For those who have taught at the MBL—whether it was in a summer course, or in Fall 2010 Volume 5, Number 2 our resident undergraduate and graduate programs—alumni news is often very MBL Catalyst is published twice yearly by the Office rewarding. We hear from former undergraduates who are now enrolled in the best of Communications at the MBL in Woods Hole, Ph.D. programs in the country. We hear from post-docs who have published exciting Massachusetts. The Marine Biological Laboratory research, and who find the dream of establishing their own lab is within reach. We (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery and are delighted to hear from senior scientists who are in leadership positions, or are improving the human condition through research recipients of the highest accolades in science and scholarship, yet who stay in touch and education in biology, biomedicine, and with their colleagues or mentors at the MBL. environmental science. Founded in 1888, the MBL is an independent, nonprofit corporation. This is the scientific family that so much defines the MBL: the successive generations of teachers and their students, many of whom eventually come back to the MBL to Senior Advisors Director and CEO: Gary Borisy teach. The same bonds of lineage form among our visiting investigators: they often Chief Academic and bring a few lucky students with them to Woods Hole, who then become imbued with Scientific Officer: Joshua Hamilton the MBL “magic” and find a way to return, sometimes as independent researchers Director of External Relations: Pamela Clapp Hinkle themselves. Some of our alumni may come back and deliver one lecture; others return to lead a course, or become MBL trustees. Some of them haven’t yet returned, but we MBL Catalyst Staff look forward to the day they will! Editor-in-Chief: Andrea Early Managing Editor/Senior Writer: Diana Kenney This issue of MBL Catalyst profiles just a few of the extraordinary scientists who Guest Science Editor: Donald Faber have been, or still are, connected to the MBL. They include exceptionally creative Designer: Beth Ready Liles and notable people, such as polymath writer/scientist Jared Diamond (Invertebrate Contributors: Robert Cooke Zoology, ’57) and biologist Mark Roth (Embryology, ’80), both of whom are recipients David Gallagher Gina Hebert of MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellowships. Porter Anderson (Microbial Diversity, Sarah Stanley ’89) co-invented a vaccine that has protected millions of children from scourges such Pamela Wilmot as bacterial meningitis. And while Gregory Henkes only recently (2006) completed the MBL Semester in Environmental Science program, he found himself in headline Photography: Inside front cover: MBL Archives (alumni photo), E. Armstrong (Gary Borisy). P. 1: Dreamstime.com (Earth), news stories in 2009, thanks to expertise he gained partly at the MBL. MBL Archives (1980 Embryology class), Courtesy A. Cohen (Adam Cohen teaching in Liberia), Courtesy Jared Diamond, MBL alumni are the leaders in their fields. Dyann Wirth was a young post-doc Dreamstime.com (geese). Pp. 2-3 (counter-clockwise from top): MBL Archives (1957 Invertebrate Zoology class), Courtesy W. looking for her path when she took Biology of Parasitism in 1980. Now she leads Young (Wise Young and patient in 2005), Courtesy Shimere a department at Harvard School of Public Health. Molly Miller Jahn (Microbial Williams, Courtesy Matthew Winkler, Courtesy Justin Widener, Courtesy Adam Cohen, Lauren DuBois (Judy St. Diversity ’81) recently served in a leadership post at the U.S. Department of Leger). Pp. 4-5: MBL Archives (1957 Invertebrate Zoology class), Agriculture, which further expanded her vision of how to apply scientific discoveries Courtesy Jared Diamond, Dreamstime.com (bowerbird). Pp. 6-7: (top left) J. Orfanon, Barbara Harmon (Xenopus for the betterment of our world. illustration), M.A. Alliegro (top right), G. Galford (bottom right). Pp. 8-9: P.C. Miller (Mark Roth), MBL Archives (1980 Embryology The names of some MBL alumni are known the world over, such as Rachel Carson. class), Dreamstime.com (bear). Pp. 10-11: Dreamstime. com (birds), K. Foreman (Gregory Henkes), U.S. National In fact, this issue of MBL Catalyst could have turned into a book, and we still would Transportation Safety Board (US Airways plane), T. Kleindinst not have exhausted the pool of fascinating and influential scientists who have ties to (Gregory Henkes as SES student). P. 12: K. Dayton (Dyann Wirth), V. Trakinsky (children and clinicians in Senegal), MBL Archives the MBL. We love to hear from them, and we hope you like reading about where they (1980 Biology of Parasitism class), Dreamstime.com (Anopheles). are now. P. 14: T. Kleindinst (Millicent Bell), E. Armstrong (John W. Rowe and Valerie Rowe), J. Cherry (MBL FIR course), D. Remsen (cuttlefish). P. 15:Courtesy Porter Anderson, Dreamstime. My deep thanks to Donald Faber, chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at com (horseshoe crab). P. 16: W. Hoffmann/University of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who served as guest science editor for this issue Wisconsin-Madison (Molly Miller Jahn), MBL Archives (1981 Microbial Diversity class). P. 17: MBL Archives (Rachel Carson), of MBL Catalyst. Past chairman of the MBL Science Council, and formerly a Grass Dreamstime.com (ocean waves). Back cover: H. Ducklow (Avian Fellow (1969) and Neurobiology course co-director (2000-2003) and instructor Island, Antarctica). (1995-2003), Don is well woven into the MBL family. About the cover: Dreamstime.com (Earth), MBL Archives (1957 Invertebrate Zoology class). Online extras: For full image descriptions, supplemental materials, and other information related to this issue, visit: www.mbl.edu/catalyst Send correspondence to: MBL Communications Office Gary Borisy 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543 Director and Chief Executive Officer 508-289-7423, [email protected] i n t h i s i s s u e Catalyst F e at u r e s 2 Where Are They Now? People who have invested time at the MBL, either as students, faculty, researchers, or trustees, are a formidable group that is shaping science and society in profound ways. In this issue, we catch up with a few of these movers and shakers. 4 Diamond in the Rough Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, who also has a National Medal of Science to his credit, believes the best course he ever took was at the MBL. 8 Life, Interrupted MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Mark Roth illuminates the study of suspended animation. 10 Bird Strike! Gregory Henkes, a Semester in Environmental Science program graduate, combed through the evidence behind one of the biggest news stories of 2009. D e pa rt m e n t s 6 News & Notes 15 C o o l t o o l 17 m e m o r a b i l i a The latest findings from our A Life-Saving Test A Gift to the Sea laboratories and field sites. Porter Anderson relied on MBL basic Rachel Carson’s legacy of science (and horseshoe crabs) to environmental protection began test the purity of his first-generation with a summer at the MBL, where 12 MBL m o m e N t vaccine for childhood diseases. her love for marine ecology emerged. The Evolution of a Cure Dyann Wirth sets her sights on a vaccine 16 s c i e N t i s t ’ s e y e V i e w against the ever-shifting malaria parasite. The Whole Landscape Molly Miller Jahn’s focus on genetics 14 G i F t s & G r a N t s and breeding of crop plants was reaping rewards—and then she looked up. 14 A c c o l a d e s MBL Catalyst Fall 2010 1 MBL Where Are They Now? A vaccine inventor, They tend to be high They are behind major flyers, the MBL’s alumni, breakthroughs in cell, an explorer of trustees past and present, developmental and and Corporation members. regenerative biology, suspended animation, neuroscience, microbiology, Many of them credit the and environmental research. and a Pulitzer Prize- MBL with playing a pivotal role in their careers, and in They are recipients of some winning author are shaping the mark they are of the world’s top awards: making in the world. the Nobel Prize, the Lasker some of the members Award, the Tyler Prize for They are leaders at esteemed Environmental Achievement, of the MBL family. institutions, entrepreneurs, to name a few. governmental advisors, founders of global health initiatives. Wise Young MBL ties: Student, Neurobiology course, 1972; Grass Fellow, 1973; spent winter 1973-74 completing Ph.D. thesis in Loeb Laboratory Present position: Distinguished researcher on spinal cord injury; chaired professor, Rutgers University; founding director, W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers 2 MBL Catalyst Fall 2010 Judy St. Leger MBL ties: Student, Aquavet course, 1990, 1991 Present position: Director of pathology and research, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, San Diego As you read about their experiences, you may see a common theme in many of their reflections. While In this issue of MBL Catalyst, Adam Cohen they recognize the powerful we’ll hear from several MBL ties: Student, Physiology insights coming from our course, 2007 scientists whose work is era’s emphasis on how genes making a vital contribution Present position: Assistant work, they keep in mind the professor of Chemistry and to society.