AMES, Iowa - Nine researchers from Iowa State University - two of them are also affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory - have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The new AAAS fellows and their award citations are:
- Srinivas Aluru, Ross Martin Mehl and Marylyne Munas Mehl Professor of Computer Engineering, "For distinguished contributions to high performance computational biology, particularly for enabling large-scale genome analysis and systems biology through creation and application of novel parallel methods."
- Bryony Bonning, professor of entomology, "For distinguished contributions to research and teaching in the fields of insect virology, baculoviruses, insect pathology and insect molecular biology."
- Steven Fales, professor of agronomy, "For distinguished contributions to agricultural science through administrative leadership, and service to professional/scientific societies and industry."
- Karl Gschneidner Jr., Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and senior metallurgist for the Ames Laboratory, "For distinguished contributions to fundamental studies of the rare-earth elements, and their applications."
- Tom Holme, professor of chemistry, "For distinguished contributions to chemistry education through developing assessments as a researcher and as the director of the American Chemical Society Examinations Institute."
- Patrick Schnable, Baker Professor of Agronomy, professor of genetics, development and cell biology and director of the Center for Plant Genomics and the Center for Carbon Capturing Crops, "For distinguished contributions to our understanding of the structure, function and dynamics of the maize genome and the development of genomic tools and resources."
- Patricia Thiel, an Iowa State Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and a faculty scientist for the Ames Laboratory, "For increasing the level of understanding of surface properties of metallic quasicrystals, and for work on pathways by which metallic nanoclusters and thin films form and rearrange on metal surfaces."
- John Verkade, University Professor of Chemistry, "For distinguished contributions to the organic catalysis field through synthesis of new organophosphorus catalysts for important organic reactions, and for distinguished service to the American Chemical Society."
- Jonathan Wendel, professor and chair of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, "For distinguished contributions to our understanding of the phylogeny and genome evolution of higher plants, particularly the evolutionary fate of genes duplicated by polyploidy."
The nine researchers are among 503 association members who will be named fellows at the association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19. The award recognizes "scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications."
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science. The association was founded in 1848, includes 262 affiliated societies or academies and serves 10 million people.
