014 - NatSci News Rewind August 2020 Transcript

You're listening to NatSci News Rewind a podcast that looks back at the monthly news headlines in the world of NatSci. Let's take a look back at the news for the month of August 2020.


NSF-funded project to track genetic "adapt or die" responses to environmental change
Michigan State University integrative biologist Sarah Fitzpatrick is set to investigate the genetic factors that facilitate or limit adaptation to environmental change, with the help of a three-year, $858,000 grant through the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology’s new Bridging Ecology and Evolution program.

NatSci releases college climate survey results
The MSU College of Natural Science has released the results of its Organizational Climate Survey, which was undertaken in the spring of 2019 to gauge the current college climate on work and learning environments. The survey, conducted by MSU’s Office for Survey Research, was sent to 13,682 members of the NatSci community.

MSU joins $20 million AI initiative for the future of sustainable agriculture
MSU earth and environmental sciences researcher Bruno Basso has a reputation for bringing ideas celebrated in the tech world to the farm field. Basso no stranger to big data or artificial intelligence (AI). Today, however, he’s finding appreciation for a less technical concept he and his colleagues believe will play a central role in the future of digital agriculture: synergy. He and his team at MSU is joining a $20 million initiative that brings together institutions across the country with the shared goal of using AI to lower costs and cultivate an even higher degree of sustainability on American farms.

Lynmarie Posey named NatSci associate dean for undergraduate studies
Lynmarie Posey, professor of chemistry, was selected as associate dean for undergraduate studies in the MSU College of Natural Science, effective Aug.16. She replaces G. Mark Voit, who served in this role since January 2013. Voit, an astronomy professor who is internationally known for his research on galaxy formation, stepped down from the position to spend more time pursuing his teaching and research interests.

World bird lists combined to aid study, conservation efforts
Pam Rasmussen, MSU integrative biologist and assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the MSU Museum, recently participated in a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on the consolidation of world bird lists. The paper represents a valuable first step in emphasizing some of the problems that occur when trying to work out what species occur where and what species are priorities for conservation and study based on different lists.

Exploring the mechanisms of pain remission and relapse
One of the forces driving opioid abuse in the United States is chronic pain, which affects 50 to 100 million U.S. adults. MSU physiologist Geoffroy Laumet , who recently received a three-year, $150,000 Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain grant, investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the remission and relapse of pain and to decipher how and why it occurs, with the end goal of developing ways to mitigate chronic pain among sufferers.

Under climate change, good things come to bugs who wait
The past decade was the hottest on record, according to NASA scientists, and while humans can adjust air conditioners and don shorts and tank tops, it is hard to predict how cold-blooded animals will handle the heat. In their research, recently published in the journal Ecology, MSU integrative biologist Phoebe Zarnetske and Ph.D. student Laura Twardochleb provide insight into the fate of these animals under climate change.

MSU biochemist receives NSF grant to study isoprene emission from plants
Building on years of breakthrough research, MSU biochemist Thomas Sharkey has received a four-year, $898,946 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue his research on isoprene emission from plants.The grant will focus on the evolutionary pattern of the appearance and loss of isoprene emission among various land plants, and the impact these emissions have on the atmosphere.

And that will wrap up the rewind for the month of August 2020. To read more about these stories, head on over to our website at natsci.msu.edu/news. You can also stay up to date by following us on social. You can find us on Twitter @msu_natsci, on Facebook @MSUCNS, and on Instagram @msunatsci. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to check us out next month.