"We are delighted to receive the grant again," said Hammond, associate professor of biology. "It will support about 30 graduate students. The students will participate in two quarters of a seminar on current and controversial topics and issues in biology. Thanks to this grant, they will be given time off their teaching responsibilities as teaching assistants in order to help them focus more on their research. In addition, they will have the opportunity to participate in outreach to local K-12 schools."
The department of biology at UC Riverside first received a GAANN grant in 1998, also for three years. "This program of study was very successful in the past," said Hammond. "Students left the GAANN training feeling as if they were simultaneously allowed to pursue their research while also becoming more well educated about important issues in biology that span many different disciplines. We found that the students also left with a much greater awareness of the importance of educational outreach to K-12 schools."
Because of the grant, students in the biology, cell molecular and developmental biology, and genetics programs are able to focus on their research leading to the Ph.D. degree. "Students are chosen based on their potential to be excellent researchers, scholars, and teachers," said Cardullo, professor of biology at UC Riverside. "Receiving this award may potentially shorten their time toward their degrees. But more important, we hope that our GAANN fellows will have a broader and more in-depth understanding of biology."
The UC Riverside Department of Biology serves three main functions: undergraduate instruction, graduate education, and research in basic biology. The department conducts research and teaching in many areas of life science including cell biology, conservation biology, developmental biology, ecology, evolution, molecular biology, physiology, and population biology. The department is part of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, a multi-departmental unit dedicated to instruction and basic research in the physical and life sciences, and also to 'mission-oriented' applied research in the agricultural sciences. The Biology major is a popular undergraduate major on the UC Riverside campus, with approximately 1000 students currently enrolled. Biology also provides much of the undergraduate instruction for majors in other life science departments and other science majors.
The University of California, Riverside offers undergraduate and graduate education to nearly 16,000 students and has a projected enrollment of 21,000 students by 2010. It is the fastest growing and most ethnically diverse campus of the preeminent ten-campus University of California system, the largest public research university system in the world. The picturesque 1,200-acre campus is located at the foot of the Box Springs Mountains near downtown Riverside in Southern California. More information about UC Riverside is available at www.ucr.edu or by calling 909-787-5185. For a listing of faculty experts on a variety of topics, please visit http://mmr.ucr.edu/experts/.