CNAS

The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) is unique among land-grant colleges, with agricultural sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematical sciences together in one academic unit. This diverse environment creates a flourishing interdisciplinary culture that we call "The CNAS Advantage."

Eleven CNAS faculty and alumni named 2008 AAAS Fellows

Eight of the 13 UC Riverside researchers and all three of the UCR alumni who have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2008 are affiliated with the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. They are:

Daphne J. Fairbairn, professor of biology: "For distinguished contributions to the field of evolutionary biology, particularly for elucidating the evolutionary dynamics of dimorphic traits and for promotion of international discourse."

Jianying Gan, professor of soil science: "For distinguished contributions to the field of soil and environmental chemistry, particularly for understanding environmental fate and risks of pesticides and for efforts in resource protection."

J. Daniel Hare, professor of entomology: "For distinguished contributions to the fields of ecology and evolution of plant/insect herbivore/natural enemy tritrophic associations and ecological genetics."

Marshall W. Johnson, extension specialist in entomology and a UCR alumnus: "For distinguished contributions to the fields of biological control and integrated pest management, particularly for the development of more environmentally friendly arthropod management programs."

Cynthia K. Larive, professor of chemistry and a UCR alumna: "For significant contributions in applying NMR diffusion measurements to characterize complex mixtures, polydisperse samples, and ligand-protein interactions."

Carol J. Lovatt, professor of plant physiology: "For distinguished worldwide contributions to research in basic and especially applied plant physiology in the horticultural industry, particularly for citrus and avocado, and for outstanding teaching."

Alan McHughen, cooperative extension plant biotechnologist: "For distinguished research in agricultural biotechnology and genetics, and for contributions to food and environmental biosafety, public education in science, science policy and regulation."

Eugene A. Nothnagel, professor of plant physiology: "For distinguished leadership in plant science research related to signaling, development and structure of the plant cell wall and for outstanding teaching service to students."

Brandon S. Gaut '92 Ph.D. genetics, now at UC Irvine: "For distinguished contributions to the field of evolutionary genetics, particularly for the population genetics of domestication and the molecular evolution of plant nuclear genomes."

William Fenical '68 Ph.D. chemistry, now at UC San Diego: "For distinguished contributions to organic chemistry and natural products chemistry of marine invertebrates and bacteria from deep-sea sediments, particularly for the discovery and characterization of new antitumor compounds including salinosporamide A."

Stephan von Molnar '65 Ph.D. physics, now at Florida State University: "For seminal research on magnetic polarons, the metal-insulator transition, dilute magnetic semiconductors and magnetic nanoparticles."

Also receiving AAAS honors were Steven Brint, professor of sociology; Jie Chen, professor of electrical engineering; Mart Molle, professor of computer science and engineering; and Yushan Yan, professor of chemical and environmental engineering.

All the 486 2008 AAAS Fellows will be announced in the Dec. 19 issue of Science. New fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Feb. 14 during the annual meeting of the AAAS in Chicago.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the AAAS's sections; by three current Fellows; or by the association's chief executive officer.

The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society. Founded in 1848, the association includes about 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.