News and events

			Upcoming events Mark your calendars! The 2009 UCMP short course is set for Saturday,February 7, and this year's topic, in recognition of it being the centennial of Charles Darwin's birth, will be Darwin: the man, his science, and his legacy. Historians and evolutionary biologists will discuss Darwin's contribution to science and its influence in such diverse academic fields as biology, anthropology, and medicine. Keep an eye on the short course website for more details. News archive For older UCMP news see the news archive. Newsletter May 2008 issue Read the latest issue of the official UCMP newsletter, which includes stories on a recent field trip to southern California fossil sites, science initiatives inspired by UCMP, Cal Day, and more.

		Barnosky publishes on the relationship between human and non-human megafauna biomass and extinction November 19, 2008 Tony Barnosky's recent work appeared in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has since been discussed in the popular media. He points out shifts in balance between the human and non-human megafauna biomass, the energy needed to support this biomass, and how a man-made surge in biomass could lead to a crash. Read more about it at the Stones, Bones 'n Things National Geographic blog.

		Dive Into Your Imagination highlights the work of Roy Caldwell September 24, 2008 Roy Caldwell discusses his science, his concerns for our oceans, and the importance of museum collections on the Dive Into Your Imagination website in their Cool Scientists You Should Know series. Dive Into Your Imagination is a website for children to encourage them to learn more about our oceans and the people who study them.

		UCMP Tour for Homecoming! September 10, 2008 UCMP Assistant Director Mark Goodwin will be offering a behind-the-sciences tour of the UCMP in association with Cal's Homecoming on Friday, October 3rd, from 11:00 AM to noon. Just meet at the T. rex.

		UCMP receives a gift for COPUS August 8, 2008 UCMP is pleased to announce the receipt of a $50,000 gift from The Whitman Institute to support regional and national efforts in the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) project. For more information about COPUS, UCMP's involvement, and how you can participate, visit the COPUS website.

		Understanding Evolution in Turkish August 4, 2008 UCMP's Understanding Evolution website is now available in Turkish! The translated site is the result of a collaboration between Understanding Evolution and colleagues at the Biomedical Engineering Institute of Bogazici University in Istanbul.

		Padian receives the 2008 Western Evolutionary Biologist of the Year award May 30, 2008 Congratulations are due to Kevin Padian, who received the 2008 Western Evolutionary Biologist of the Year award at the Western Evolutionary Biology meeting (WEB*2) held at UC Irvine this month. The Webby is awarded annually by the Network for Experimental Research on Evolution to an individual from the west of North America (including western Canada and Mexico) who has contributed significantly to the scientific study of biological evolution.

UCMP student awards May 28, 2008 UCMP is pleased to announce the following student awards for 2008: Maya deVries and Joey Pakes each received a UCMP Graduate Student Research Grant; Erin Meyer and Molly Wright received the D.K. Palmer award; and Stephanie Bush received the Remington-Kellogg award. All awards are in support of individual graduate student research. In addition, UCMP congratulates Brian Swartz who is currently visiting Darwin College at Cambridge, where he is doing more work on the animals involved in the transition of vertebrate to land. For additional student awards see the latest UCMP Newsletter.

		Caldwell finds that stomatopods can perceive circularly polarized light March 25, 2008 Some stomatopods can detect and analyze circularly polarized light according to research by UCMP's Roy Caldwell and collaborators published in the recent Current Biology. No other animal is known to be able to perceive this sort of light. These stomatopods can actually distinguish between left-handed and right-handed circular polarization. The discovery has been widely reported, including by Wired and Science News.

		Pyramids, forams, and Red Sea reefs: Field notes from Lorraine Casazza, part 2 March 24, 2008 Grad student Lorraine Casazza's Egyptian adventure continues as she collects Nummilites and endures sandstorms in the Valley of the Whales.

		UCMP alum Malcolm McKenna dies at age 77 March 12, 2008 Malcolm McKenna, a retired curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and alumnus of UCMP, died on March 3, 2008, in Boulder, Colorado, according to the obituary in The New York Times (March 10, 2008).

For older UCMP news see the news archive.