Summer Research Opportunity in Behavioral and Evolutionary Genetics

I am a PhD student looking to hire 1-2 undergraduates who are interested in animal behavior, neuroscience and/or evolutionary genetics. Undergraduates will work on several projects in these areas including the development of aggressive behavior and the neurobiology of learning.

We study the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster; undergraduates will be involved in rearing flies and measuring their aggressiveness and/or learning capabilities. There may also be opportunities to learn basic techniques in molecular biology. Students will read and discuss relevant papers from the scientific literature, and are also encouraged to participate in other Nuzhdin lab and MCB intellectual activities.

I work best with students who are independent, self-motivated, and interested in basic conceptual research. No prior coursework or research experience is necessary. You can choose a salary ($3000 for the summer if you work full time) or course credit. Students who work during the summer will likely to be able to continue working during the school year. We always have lots to do!

For more information, please send an email introducing yourself to Julia Saltz at jsaltz@usc.edu.

Thanks!

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Phi Sigma Last Meeting: Dr. Ite Laird-Offringa Talks Genome Censorship

Hello!

First off, a big thanks everyone who came out last week to listen to Dr. Quick! It was a very interesting talk! To those who couldn't make it, we hope you can come to our LAST meeting!
Our last speaker for this year will be Dr. Ite Laird-Offringa, an Associate Professor from the Keck School of Medicine ().
Dr. Laird will be presenting on her research with a talk entitled: "Genome Censorship: Epigenetic Control of Cell Fate" this Thursday (4/21), at 8:00 p.m. at GFS 109, and will also be speaking about other research happening at the Health Sciences Campus, so you won't want to miss out! Please try to make it out that night! We will be having free milk and cookies, too!

Also, we'd like to remind everyone that applications for next year's e-board are due next Monday, 4/25, at 5pm. You may bring a copy of your application and CV to us at this Thursday's meeting, or send the files to us at uscphisigma@gmail.com. We look forward to learning more about you and your vision for Phi Sigma!

Don't forget that the application is in the Membership tab of our website http://uscphisigma.weebly.com/

Thank you! Hope you all have a great SECOND-TO-LAST week!
Fight on!!
Phi Sigma

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Phi Sigma Meeting: Dr. Michael Quick, Cookies & Milk

Hello everyone!
Hope you have all had a great start to our third-to-last week of school! We are excited to announce that Dr. Michael Quick will be speaking for us this week! Here are the details of the meeting:
When: Thursday, April 14, at 8 p.m.
Where: GFS 109
What: "From self-stimulating rats to knock-out mice: what they tell us about drugs, drug abuse, and addiction"

Dr. Quick is the Executive Vice-Provost and a Professor of Biological Sciences, and as many of you probably know, an incredibly fun and interesting speaker! Please visit the following site for more information about Dr. Quick and his research: http://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003622. And as always, there will be free food at the event: complimentary cookies and milk!

Also, if you're interested in joining the E-board for Phi Sigma, please fill out the attached E-board application by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, 4/25.
Let us know if you have any questions, and remember to stay updated on our latest events at our blog uscphisigma.weebly.com.
Thanks, and we hope to see you Thursday! :)
-Phi Sigma

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WorldTeach Looking for Science and Math Teachers

I am writing on behalf of WorldTeach (www.worldteach.org), a non-profit organization based at Harvard University that provides volunteer educators to Ministries of Education in the developing world to meet educational needs abroad.

This year, we have a high need for talented graduating science and math teachers to address the severe brain drain in Guyana. We are currently recruiting volunteers to serve for one academic year, starting in August, as teachers in Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics at some of the best public secondary schools in Guyana, one of the poorest nations on the South American continent. These teachers would be providing instruction in sought-after subjects that would otherwise go untaught.

We would be so appreciative if you would be willing to circulate this information and the attached flier to any relevant networks, and to inform your students of this unique opportunity to truly make a lasting impact while solidifying and sharing their skills in their areas of interest and expertise.
Thank you so much for your time! Please feel free to contact me at 617-495-5527 should you have any questions.

Maki Park
Guyana Program Manager

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Summer Problems Without Passports Course—BISC-499: The Ocean in a Changing World

Where: Catalina Island at the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies http://college.usc.edu/wrigley/home/index.cfm in Big Fisherman Cove

When: May 31^st till June 24^th

Estimated Costs: $1,007    (includes costs for meals and accommodation)

Eligibility: Freshmen and sophomore are not eligible BUT can enroll via waiver. The waiver is granted based on an interview with both instructors.

Available Fellowships: Students can apply for a SURF fellowship, which will provide $3, 000 for the students who qualify, which can be used towards paying the tuition of $5,000.

We will help you prepare the application. See http://college.usc.edu/surf for eligibility and application details.

Course details: The course will offer hands-on experience in oceanographic research with ~4 sampling expeditions planned and students will also be involved in planning, preparing and carrying out one of the expeditions as well as the sampling and measuring. There is a boat that will operate on a daily basis between San Pedro and the Wrigley station. For USC students the use is free of charge. The boat leaves the SCMI (Southern California Marine Institute) in San Pedro every morning at ~7:30 a.m. and leaves the station to return to SCMI) every afternoon at ~3:30 p.m. The passage time is ~ 1 hour 15 min. Students usually stay on the island during the week and leave for the weekends to return to the island on Mondays. Of course you can also stay on the island for the weekend.

Please contact us via email astrids@usc.edu and wziebis@usc.edu if you have any further questions or need to arrange for a waiver. If there is updates on course-specific information we will send further emails.

Hope to see you on the island,

Astrid Schnetzer & Wiebke Ziebis

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BioPharmGuy: Biotech/Pharm Career Resource Website

www.biopharmguy.com is a website consisting mainly of direct links to biotech/pharm company career pages categorized by business type and region. This setup allows for quick and efficient job searching. We also include a mapping tool for students who are unfamiliar with different geographical areas.

We now receive over 2100 visitors a month and are linked-to by many Colleges/Universities including Harvard, Michigan, Maryland & Illinois.
Our site is especially useful for students interested in smaller companies as they don't pay recruiters as well and generally won't advertise on Monster, Career Builder and the other large job sites.

Adam Wilson
www.biopharmguy.com

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Phi Sigma Event—Not-So-Sweet Talk to the Brain: Portal Vein Glucose Sensing in Hypoglycemia

Hello Trojans!

Hope that your week has started off well!
First off, a big THANK YOU to everyone who came out to the IMAX event on Saturday! It was awesome seeing you, and I think we can all agree that the IMAX cinematography was incredible! Hope that we can take more people with us next time around!
Second, we are very excited to announce another milk and cookies session, this time with guest speaker Dr. Casey Donovan, who is the Chair of USC's Kinesiology Department! Here are the details of our meeting with Dr. Donovan this week:
What: "Not-so-Sweet Talk to the Brain: Portal Vein Glucose Sensing in Hypoglycemia"
When: Thursday, 3/31, at 8pm
Where: ZHS 163
To read about Dr. Donovan and his research, please visit: http://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003213&CFID=14948279&CFTOKEN=30984708. Again, this is a great opportunity to connect with your fellow Phi Sigma members and to learn more about the amazing research happening on campus.

For more information about Phi Sigma news and events, please check out our website: http://uscphisigma.weebly.com/ 

Thanks, everyone, and have a great day! We'll see you Thursday! :)
-Phi Sigma

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Need Volunteers for Redefining Our Youth Project-Based Learning Workshops

I am the founder of Redefining Our Youth. We develop project-based learning workshops for high school students and we're currently working on our pilot project with Dorsey High school. The projects involve an in-depth research on diseases that affect the community such as Sickle Cell Anemia, Obesity, STD’s and HIV/AIDS. We would like to see if college students majoring in Biology would be interested in facilitating our workshops. They wouldn't need to be experts, but simply have the background and interest in biology. Using project-based learning, the high school students will develop focus questions that drive their learning.

We are completing the application to be considered as a fall-semester program under the Joint Education Program at USC. However, we would like college students to be involved with our pilot program starting after the high school students return from spring break in approximately 3 weeks. College students would receive a compensation for their time and investment.

I would like to give a brief introduction of Redefining Our Youth and the benchmarks we have planned to have college professors use our workshops as a review for their students. Please contact me at (818) 640-7842.

Aaron Carter
Founder/Executive Director
Redefining Our Youth
www.redefiningouryouth.org
2584 N Buena Vista
Burbank, CA 91504
818 640-7842

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The 7th Poe Symposium: Hurricanes, Po Boys, & Tarballs

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Fostering Science-Engineering Partnerships as a Means to Develop “Next Generation” Ocean Observatories

USC Water Institute Seminar

Friday, March 25, 2011; 11:00a – 12:00p; HNB Auditorium

Chris Scholin, President/Chief Executive Officer

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

David Packard founded the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in 1987 as an alternative to the traditional academic oceanographic research institution. He challenged us to develop and apply new methods, instruments, and analytical systems to address fundamental problems in ocean science and to identify new directions where innovative technologies will accelerate marine research. To achieve this vision, Packard created MBARI as an organization that is fundamentally based on a peer relationship between scientists and engineers, and one that enables ready access to the sea. In that light, over the past year, MBARI has cast a new strategic plan that will guide it for the coming decade. Emphasized are four major research themes – Exploration and Discovery, Ocean Visualization, Ecosystem Dynamics, and Ocean Biogeochemistry. Each theme focuses on different aspects of documenting the current state of the ocean and life within it against the backdrop of global change. In this presentation, I will provide a broad overview of MBARI and will highlight a number of ongoing projects that exemplify science-engineering partnerships stemming from our current research priorities.

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Phi Sigma IMAX Movie & Dinner, Research Assistant Opportunity

Hello Phi Sigma-ers!

Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing spring break. If you're still in the mood for some fun, though, Phi Sigma invites you to attend a free IMAX movie and dinner this Saturday (3/26)! We will be meeting at 5pm to head over together to the California Science Center and watch "Hubble" 3-D. The movie will last from 5:30 p.m. to approximately 6:15 p.m., and will be followed by a free Subway dinner. Space is limited, so if you are interested in attending, please RSVP to this e-mail by Friday, Mar. 25, at 5:00 p.m.

Also, we are excited to announce an awesome research opportunity!

Dr. Ite Laird of the USC Health Sciences Campus (HSC) researches lung cancer and is currently seeking a junior undergraduate researcher for her lab. She has emphasized that students will be considered on a first-come, first-evaluated basis, so please fill out the attached application and turn it in ASAP! You can learn more about Dr. Laird and her research at www.usc.edu/programs/pibbs/site/faculty/lairdoffringa_i.htm

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to e-mail us. Also, keep up with upcoming meetings and events by following us at uscphisigma.weebly.com.

Have a great rest of the week! :)
Phi Sigma

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2011 National Science Foundation REU Program in Cell and Molecular Visualization at Brandeis University

Brandeis University seeks qualified applicants for an NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in the Biological Sciences for a 10-week period (June 1 -August 5, 2011). Stipends of $5000, plus housing costs and meal allowances will be awarded to each participant. Participants must be US citizens or permanent residents and should have completed their sophomore or junior year of study and be enrolled in an accredited undergraduate college or university. We especially welcome applications from students of under-represented groups in science, or who come from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds (for example, first-generation college students), or who come from academic institutions with limited resources for research, or who are students with disabilities (i. e., a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities).

Selected students will be matched with a faculty researcher, from among 50 in the biological sciences, who will mentor the student through an independent research project using modern cell and molecular visualization techniques. Students will participate in weekly lunch seminars, which will include faculty research presentations, ethics discussions and professional development activities such as panel discussion with students and postdoctoral fellows from the Greater Boston area concerning careers in medicine, biotechnology and research. Students will develop a written synopsis of their summer work, with feedback and editing, and they will participate in a capstone symposium including poster presentations.

Applications are due by March 31, 2011. The application can be found online at

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/undergrad/summerresearch. To apply, send by mail the completed application, including personal essay (describing your academic and research goals and how participating in this program would help you achieve them), official transcript, and two letters of recommendation to:

Dr. Joan Press
Brandeis University
Rosenstiel Center MS 029
Waltham, MA 02454

Additional information may be found at the website http://www.bio.brandeis.edu, including faculty research interests and potential projects.

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Ocean Research and Exploration Internship

We are looking for an intern who could be available 10-15 hours a week from now to the end of the term and possibly through the summer to help with the planning and staging of an international, high profile, ocean research and exploration expedition. Exceptional candidates may even be invited on the cruise.

We are looking for people with ocean research experience, time at sea, knowledge of the field, and an affinity for organization and detail. Someone who can help track actions, create schedules and timelines and handle other missions and projects as assigned and who is resourceful, self starting, creative and good at problem solving.

We can talk about the position being paid or unpaid. You can work from home, but short be able to drive to Pasadena or Orange County as needed.

Email us with your resume and why we should pick you to oceanexplorer@mail.com

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Southern California Undergraduate Research Conference in Chemistry and Biochemistry

You are cordially invited to attend the 2011 Southern California Undergraduate Research Conference in Chemistry and Biochemistry.  This year's conference is held at the University of California Santa Barbara on Saturday, April 23, 2011.

Students from all Sections in the Southern California region are invited to participate. Undergraduate researchers are encouraged to submit
abstracts for oral or poster presentations. Please visit the conference website at: www.chem.ucsb.edu/~kalju/SCURC/ for more info, registration, and submission of abstracts.

Note that the deadline for the registration and abstract submission is April 3, 2011.

I encourage everyone to register as soon as possible, and then return before
April 3rd to submit the abstract.  There is no cost to register. Please contact us at scurc@chem.ucsb.edu if you have any questions that are not answered on the conference website.

With best regards,
Dr. Kalju Kahn
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
UC Santa Barbara, CA 93106

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West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference

The West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference will be hosted by Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA on Saturday, April 16th (the address for the Conference website is shown below). So far, students and faculty from 14 institutions in five states have registered to attend. It will be a great day for celebrating undergraduate research, with poster and seminar presentations by undergraduates, plus a keynote address by HHMI Investigator Dr. Randall Moon of the University of Washington. Dr. Moon is world-renown among scientists for his research dealing with the role of Wnts in development and disease.

The deadline for abstract submission is March 14th. For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me either by phone (253.535.7550) or via e-mail (smithmf@plu.edu).

Best Regards,

Matthew Smith, Organizer

36th Annual West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference

www.plu.edu/biology/WCBSURC/home.php

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Research Assistant Position in Molecular Genetics Lab

The Nuzhdin Genetics Lab is looking for motivated dependable undergraduate student for paid research assistant position.

At Nuzhdin Lab, we are focused in research related to quantitative genetics, population genetics, and the genetics of speciation of Drosophila. In addition, members of the lab work on a variety of other systems and topics including environmental interactions and maternal effects in Medicago, stem-cell migration and differentiation in Planaria, and social interaction and aggression among Drosophila genotypes.

The research assistant position would require at least 10 hours per week time commitment. Responsibilities would include maintenance of isogenic D. melanogaster specimens, food medium preparation, and attendance of weekly research article discussions. Potential opportunities for growth include: laboratory training and experience, training in various molecular laboratory techniques, and participation in upcoming summer/fall research project on the evolution of epigenetic regulation in relation to cancer.

If you are interested in this opportunity please contact and email you resume or CV to:
Michael Mesa
mmesa@usc.edu
Nuzhdin Laboratory Manager
Dept of Molecular and Computational Biology
University of Southern California

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Phi Sigma: Cookies, Milk, and a Presentation by Dr. Arnold

Hello Trojans!

Phi Sigma invites you to come hear USC's very own Dr. Donald Arnold present on "Visualizing synaptic structure in vivo." Dr. Arnold is an associate professor in the molecular biology department and received his Ph.D from Johns Hopkins University, so this is an excellent opportunity to not only network with fellow members of this prestigious Biological Sciences Honor Society, but also to learn more about Dr. Arnold's research and about research in general. Click here for more information about Dr. Arnold and his research. You do not need to be a member to attend (but this will be the last day to turn in applications for this semester) and free cookies and milk will be provided!

Date: Thursday, 2/17
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: ZHS 163
Dress: Casual
FREE COOKIES AND MILK!

For more information, visit our website: uscphisigma.weebly.com

Thank you and have a great day!
-Phi Sigma

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Summer Field Biology Internships and WestLand Resources

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Summer Research at the University of Michigan

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Coral Reef Ecology at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences

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