Attending #SACNAS2024? Stop by our booth in Academic Expo Hall, Row 300, to meet UC Berkeley’s Biosciences Division grads, faculty, and staff! Let’s chat about our STEM graduate programs and all things #STEMBerkeley!
Assistant Professor Daniel Okamoto will co-lead a new center to advance use of seaweed in the global economy. The International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center (IBMC) at UC Berkeley, will address the need for foundational knowledge, technological approaches, supply chain designs, policy frameworks, community engagement, and educational materials for businesses and consumers to build sustainable macroalgal-based bioeconomies. Read the full article here
Assistant Professor Víctor Ortega Jiménez and his research on Electrostatic Ecology is featured in a fascinating article about how insects use static electricity for many purposes such catching prey and collecting pollen. Read the Full Article
Professor Cindy Looy's research reveals that the Pacific Coast’s kelp forests, rich ecosystems supporting diverse marine life, originated over 32 million years ago, much earlier than previously believed. Read more in this article linked here.
In the La Brea Tar Pits, few of the recovered Saber Tooth Tiger skulls still have the sabers attached. But in the batch that had the sabers, a handful exhibited a peculiar feature: the tooth socket for the saber was occupied by two teeth, with the permanent tooth slotted into a groove in the baby tooth. Paleontologist Jack Tseng, Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, doesn’t think the double fangs were a fluke. Read more in this Berkeley news article linked here.
Watch the video of Professor Emeritus Jim Patton interview Professor of the Graduate School Marvalee Wake about her current and past scientific contributions to campus and the Department of Integrative Biology (video linked here).
June 19th marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Gabriel Trujillo, a beloved member of our IB community. As we continue to mourn this loss, we invite you to celebrate Gabe’s life and legacy by sharing memories, photos, and reflections on our IB Kudoboard (linked here).
Congratulations to José Pablo Vázquez-Medina for his promotion to the rank of Associate Professor. The Vázquez-Medina lab studies mechanisms of adaptation to natural and anthropogenic stressors in marine mammals and pre-clinical models of disease at the molecular, cellular and organismal level.
Integrative Biology graduate student Robert Leija and the whole Professor George Brooks Lab make a discovery. The study was part of a larger NIH-funded study to determine how well people switch from fat to carbohydrate metabolism as they age. Read the Berkeley News Article.
Integrative Biology Professor Doris Bachtrog was elected to the American Academic of Arts & Sciences in 2024. She was elected in the Evolution and Ecology section of the Biological Sciences elected members.