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Press Releases in April, 2008

Johanna Schmitt Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Welcome to the Academy: Brown evolutionary ecologist Annie Schmitt has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors bestowed on a scientist.
The National Academy of Sciences has elected Johanna Schmitt, the Stephen T. Olney Professor of Natural History at Brown University, to become a member of the society of distinguished scholars. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer. Schmitt, whose biological research integrates plant evolutionary ecology, physiological ecology, and ecological genomics, is the first female scientist at Brown to be elected into the Academy. 07-155 (Distributed April 30, 2008)
Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture

“Inconvenient Truth” Filmmaker Speaks at Brown University

Award-winning director and producer Davis Guggenheim ’86 will deliver the eighth annual Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture at Brown University on Monday, May 5, 2008. His talk, titled “Can Movies Be an Agent for Social Change?,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101. It is free and open to the public. 07-146 (Distributed April 29, 2008)

Brown Opens Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation

Science in the Small: Brown professors, students and affiliated scholars will engage in the study of matter at the molecular and nanoscale level at the new Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation (IMNI) at Brown University. The center holds its official opening from May 5 to 7, 2008.
Brown University hosts a three-day forum May 5 to 7, 2008 to highlight the opening of its Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation. The IMNI aims to design products, processes and therapies involving molecular science and nanotechnology, the scientific toolboxes of the 21st Century. 07-152 (Distributed April 28, 2008)

The Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation

The Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation (IMNI) is devoted to the study of matter at the molecular and nanoscale level. This research could be appled to a wide variety of products and services, ranging from sunscreen to improved drug delivery to solar cells. 07-153 (Distributed April 28, 2008)

ESPN’s Chris Berman Lectures at Brown

Chris Berman, ’77, ‘P08, ‘P09 returns to Brown University on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 to deliver a lecture titled "WBRU to ESPN: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been." The talk starts at 4 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101 and is free and open to the public. 07-151 (Distributed April 25, 2008)
International Affairs

Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass to Deliver Ogden Lecture

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, will deliver a Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 6 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101. The lecture is free and open to the public. 07-150 (Distributed April 25, 2008)
Brown Is Green

Brown Students Hold Environmental Sustainability Conference

Students at Brown University have organized a two-day conference to promote environmental sustainability. The conference brings together a wide range of environmental leaders, including Clinton Global Initiative Chairman Ira Magaziner, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, and Adam Werbach, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S. 07-149 (Distributed April 24, 2008)
Ecology

Brown Scientists Say Biodiversity Is Crucial to Ecosystem Productivity

Beauty and Biodiversity: Brown University scientists Osvaldo Sala and Pedro Flombaum conducted their studies of the effect of plant species diversity on ecosystem productivity in the Patagonian steppe, a semiarid grassland located on the east side of the Andes Mountains in Argentina.
In the first experiment in a natural environment, Brown University scientists have shown that greater plant diversity significantly enhances an ecosystem’s productivity. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores the importance of biodiversity to an ecosystem’s value, such as capturing the global warming gas carbon dioxide. 07-148 (Distributed April 24, 2008)
Biology of Aging

Eliminating Germline Lengthens Fly Lifespan, Brown Study Shows

Brown University biologists have found that eliminating germline stem cells, the cells that make eggs and sperm, lengthens the life of fruit flies and alters the insects' insulin production. These findings suggest a provocative general principle at work: Molecular signals from the reproductive system affect aging and metabolism in animals – and possibly in humans. The work also proposes a new mechanism of how this control may occur. Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 07-147 (Distributed April 23, 2008)
John Carter Brown Library

Celebrating A Voyage Long and Strange

Bestselling author and Brown University alumnus Tony Horwitz returns to Brown to talk about his newest book, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World. Free and open to the public, the event will be held on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. at the John Carter Brown Library, where Horwitz finished the manuscript as a Visiting Fellow last year. 07-145 (Distributed April 23, 2008)

Glaciers Reveal Martian Climate Has Been Recently Active

Moraine on a Martian Box Canyon: This high-resolution image, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the rock debris that Brown scientists believe was left by a glacier that rose at least one kilometer from the surrounding plain and flowed downward onto the canyon. The image is on the cover of May's issue of Geology magazine.
Brown University researchers have found compelling evidence of thick, recurring glaciers on Mars, a discovery that suggests that the Red Planet’s climate was much more dynamic than previously believed – and could change again. Results are published on the cover of Geology magazine. 07-144 (Distributed April 23, 2008)

Brown Funds Students’ Community Carbon Reduction Projects

Brown University will fund four student-initiated projects in Providence aimed at promoting environmental sustainability. The projects will be financed with a grant from the Sidney E. Frank Foundation and the Office of the President at Brown. They range from installing high-efficiency lighting to partnering with Providence homeowners to install programmable thermostats and weatherize homes. 07-130 (Distributed April 21, 2008)
Critical Oral History

Virtual reality: Vietnam if Kennedy had lived

Hot Doc(umentary): A "what-if" documentary on the Vietnam conflict premiers this week in Toronto.
Had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated, would the Vietnam War have happened at all? “Virtual JFK,” a new documentary film and book by James Blight, Janet Lang and Koji Masutani of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, explores what could have been. Their film has its international premiere on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at Toronto's prestigious Hot Docs film festival. 07-129 (Distributed April 21, 2008)
International Writers Project

“Under the Tongue”: African Writers Converge at Brown

Under the Tongue: A Festival of Literature from Africa: Writer Chenjerai Hove, forced out of Zimbabwe by the government of Robert Mugabe, is a fellow in Brown University’s International Writers Project. He and other African writers will share their work and their stories during a two-day conference at Brown, April 15 and 16.
The International Writers Project at Brown University presents Under the Tongue: A Festival of Literature from Africa, on Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16, 2008. This series of readings and discussions will feature award-winning African novelists Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria), Nuruddin Farah (Somalia), and IWP fellow Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe); poet Jack Mapanje (Malawi); and playwrights Pierre Mumbere Mujomba (Congo) and Charles Mulekwa (Uganda). All events are free and open to the public. 07-123 (Distributed April 14, 2008)