Events

Annual Business Meeting and Awards Banquet 2016

Four outstanding professors, teachers and researchers were recognized at the Annual Award Banquet for the University of Florida Chapter of Sigma Xi for their outstanding contribution to scientific research. Dr. Rebecca Butcher, Assistant Professor in the department of chemistry was awarded the “Junior Faculty Research Award”. Dr. Jose Santos, Professor in the department of animal science was awarded the Senior Faculty Research award. Ms. Janet Wisby was awarded the “Teacher of the Year” award and Dr. Eduardo Ribeiro who recently completed his PhD program was awarded the outstanding graduate student award. Competition is rigorous for these prestigious awards. The recipients represent the highest standards of Sigma Xi.

L – R: Dr. Rebecca Butcher, Dr. Jose Santos, Ms. Janet Wisby (not pictured – Dr. Eduardo Ribeiro)

University of Florida Installs New Officers and Initiates New Members

The University of Florida Chapter of Sigma Xi installed new officers and initiated new members this month. Sigma Xi has served as a Research Society at the University of Florida for over 70 years and has functioned during that time to promote research excellence in science and engineering. One of major objectives has been to recognize and honor those who have excelled in scientific pursuits so as to encourage and inspire others to do the same. More than 200 Sigma Xi members have received the Nobel Prize, including: Albert Einstein – 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”. Linus Pauling – Prize for chemistry in 1954 chemical bond the structure of complex substances and Norman Borlaug 1970 – Father of the green revolution in agriculture. George Edwards a professor in geology at Santa Fe College was installed as the new president with the following Governing Council Members: Adegbola Tolulope Adesogan (Animal Sciences), Robert Deserio (Physics), George Edwards (Santa Fe College), Margaret U. Fields (Liberal Arts and Sciences), Peter J. Hansen (Animal Sciences), William W. Thatcher (Animal Sciences), Paula Tribulo (Student Representative), Charles E. Wood (Physiology and Functional Genomics).

The following faculty members were initiated: James Bromfield, Emilio Miguel Bruna, James Walter Weichold and George Mead. The following graduate students were initiated as follows: Yun Jian, Esther B. Olasoji, Samantha Leanne Lewis, Emily Kathryn Pulliam, Nathalie Munguía Durón, Shavone Taylor, Achilles Vieira Neto, Letícia Sinedino, Andres Cervantes, Lorena Maldonado-Camargo, Carolina Collazos, Miguel Zarate, Jacquelyn Walejko, and Andrew Antolic.

George Edwards, Incoming President

New members initiated.
Top row:
Gregory Mead, Miguel Zarate, Andrew Antolic, Andres Pech, John Bromfield, Jacquelyn Walejko, Emilio Miguel Bruna, Aquiles Viera-Neto, Emily Kathryn Pulliam
Bottom row:
Lorena Maldonado-Camargo, Carolina Collazos, Yun Jiang, Samantha Leanne Lewis, Nathalie Samaria Munguía Durón, Esther Olasoji, Shavone Taylor

GAIR Achievers

The University of Florida Chapter of Sigma Xi recognized the national Grants-in Aid of Research award recipients, Megan Bentz, Lauren Cirino, Zachary Emberts, Robert Johnson, Jennifer Moore, Jerold Pinson, and Mark Sandfoss at its Annual Awards Banquet this month. This prestigious group of graduate students conduct research in ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation biology, physiology and morphology. From its beginnings in 1886, Sigma Xi has sought to foster and encourage research among investigators from all scientific disciplines. The Grants-in-Aid of Research program has been a tangible expression of this purpose for several generations of scientists and engineers. Since 1922, the program has invested in the future of science by awarding grants to more than 30,000 researchers, grants that in many cases have helped launch careers. Funded largely by the Society and administered by its members, the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research program is unique among small-grant funding agencies in that it provides grants in all areas of science to encourage and facilitate research among young investigators. Grant proposals are judged solely on the basis of their scientific merit.

L to R – Travis Guy, Mark Sandfoss, Lauren Cirino, Zachary Emberts, Robert Johnson (not pictured Jennifer Moore, Megan Bentz, Jerold Pinson)

Speaker Dr. Greg Glass

Dr. Greg Glass, Professor in the department of geography, was the invited speaker for the Sigma Xi Annual Awards banquet at the end of March. He is one of the newest additions to the Emerging Pathogens Institute faculty. As part of University of Florida’s Preeminence Plan, Glass comes with more than 30 years of experience in immunology, ecology, epidemiology and other public health areas. His research at UF focuses on furthering the mathematical modeling of disease outbreaks. His talk to the group was “Seeing mosquitoes and mice with satellites; Forecasting diseases in changing environments.”

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