DNA Decoded by FSU Biologist Reveals Seven New Mice Species

International Team’s Discovery in Philippines Showcases Biodiversity, Evolutionary Wonders

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –– After living incognito for millions of years in a remote area of a forested mountain range in the Philippines, seven newfound species of mice owe their recent discovery to DNA evidence and the Florida State University biologist who deciphered it.

What’s more, the DNA drawn from the reclusive “new” mammals told FSU Associate Professor Scott J. Steppan an unusual evolutionary story. As he analyzed and compared the genetic codes of mice found in separate but proximate parts of a small area on Luzon, the largest Philippine island, he determined that while each mouse was a distinct species, they all belonged to the forest-mouse genus Apomys. That meant all seven mice were both “new” and closely related to one another.

“It is extraordinary, really almost unprecedented, to have so many closely related mammal species from such a small area that forms just one-half of one island –– let alone to have discovered so many so quickly,” said Steppan, whose laboratory at Florida State coordinates the DNA sequencing portion of an ongoing biodiversity project led by Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History.

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FSU Foundation Appoints Executive Vice President

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University Foundation announced today the appointment of Andy A. Jhanji to the position of executive vice president. Jhanji comes to the Foundation from the University of Colorado Denver, where he served as vice chancellor for advancement and chief of staff.

In his new role, Jhanji will oversee the Foundation’s day-to-day operations and continue to expand its advancement operations, in concert with Seminole Boosters and the FSU Alumni Association. In addition, he will play a key role in the planning and execution of a projected $1 billion capital campaign.

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FSU Film Students Grab Nation’s-Best Four Awards at 32nd Annual College Television Awards

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With a total haul of four trophies, recent graduates of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts (http://film.fsu.edu/) topped all other film schools in the nation at the 32nd Annual College Television Awards, held recently in Hollywood.

The gala event was black tie, with a number of film and television luminaries presenting awards, including actors Terrence Howard, Jane Lynch, Elijah Wood and Geena Davis.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Dean Frank Patterson. “This is an overwhelming recognition of our graduate students by the Academy.”

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Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen to Speak At Commencement

Fox News Channel’s Shannon Bream and Former Justice Raoul Cantero Also to Address Graduates at Spring Ceremonies

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces as well as President Obama’s principal military adviser, will deliver the commencement address at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 30 – one of Florida State University’s three spring graduation ceremonies.

Fox News Channel reporter and anchor Shannon DePuy Bream will be the speaker at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29, and former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero will be the speaker at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30. About 4,100 of 6,100 graduating students will participate in the three ceremonies, which will be held at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.

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FSU ADVISORY: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT PLANNED ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY AND DIGITAL EFFECTS STUDIO

Representatives of Florida State University, the Digital Domain Media Group and the city of West Palm Beach will gather Monday to announce the signing of an agreement that will result in an innovative collaboration between public- and private-sector entities. This unique arrangement will lead to the establishment of a program that will result in new educational opportunities, high-tech research programs, hundreds of high-paying jobs and a significant economic boost for the people of Florida.

Members of the news media are invited to attend the announcement at the future site of the new facility. The announcement will take place:

MONDAY, APRIL 18

11 A.M.

401 OKEECHOBEE BLVD.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.

The Digital Domain Media Group is a diverse holding company comprised of Digital Domain, Mothership, In-Three, Tradition Studios and the Digital Domain Institute. Digital Domain is a multi-Academy Award-winning digital production company, and has created groundbreaking visuals for some of the most successful movies and commercials, including Titanic, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and TRON: Legacy. The Digital Domain Media Group is focused on creating and producing entertainment and marketing content across all visual media platforms.

A Web page, www.film.fsu.edu/digital, has been established to provide members of the news media with fact sheet on the agreement, as well as contact information for FSU College of Motion Picture Arts Dean Frank Patterson and Digital Domain Media Group Chairman John Textor. Video footage and pre-recorded interviews will also be available for download from the Web page.

For more information prior to Monday’s announcement, call Browning Brooks of the FSU Office of News and Public Affairs at (850) 728-7601 or Barry Ray at (850) 284-5648.

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FSU NEWS ADVISORY: COLLEGE OF BUSINESS TO BESTOW HONORS FOR ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN FLORIDA

Members of the news media are invited to attend an event hosted by the Florida State University College of Business to announce the recipients of the second annual Sunshine State Ethics in Leadership Award. The award, which is the only one of its kind in Florida, honors two individuals each year — one in the private sector and one best known for service in the public sector — who have demonstrated a deep and unwavering commitment to the highest levels of integrity, ethical behavior and principled leadership.

The awards, co-founded by the FSU College of Business, Ron Sachs Communications and Florida Monthly magazine, are sponsored this year by the Foundation for The Associated Industries of Florida and will be announced at the Second Annual Sunshine State Ethics in Leadership Awards Ceremony:

THURSDAY, APRIL 14
3:30 P.M.
STARRY CONFERENCE ROOM (ROOM 214, ROVETTA BUILDING)
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

This year’s public-sector winner is Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, president emeritus of Florida State University; the private-sector winner is Steven L. Evans, an entrepreneur and IBM executive for 30 years before his retirement.

For more information, contact Lindsay Potvin, communications manager for the College of Business, at (850) 445-8900 or lpotvin@cob.fsu.edu .

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Alumnae to Share Female Perspectives on Criminal Justice System

Florida State University alumnae Electra Bustle and Melanie Hines will share lessons learned and perspectives gleaned from their distinguished legal and law enforcement careers during a panel discussion slated for 2-4 p.m. Friday, April 8, in the Claude Pepper Center’s Broad Auditorium, located at 636 W. Call St. on the FSU campus.

The free, public event, “Criminology in Context: The System from the Female Perspective,” is sponsored by the FSU College of Criminology and Criminal Justice (http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/). Associate Professor Nicole Piquero (http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/p/faculty-nicole-piquero.php) –– ranked as one of the nation’s top female criminologists –– will serve as moderator.

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Florida Governor Rick Scott Welcomes Bing Energy to Florida

Bing Energy to provide jobs, produce cutting-edge fuel cell technology in Tallahassee and partner with Florida State University

Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida Governor Rick Scott today announced that Bing Energy Inc. (BEI) of Chino, California has selected Florida as the new site of the company’s world headquarters. BEI, in collaboration with Florida State University’s (FSU) Dr. Jim P. Zheng, is planning to turn revolutionary nanotechnology pioneered at FSU into a better, faster, more economical and commercially viable fuel cell. The move is expected to create at least 244 jobs paying an average wage of $41,655 in Florida.

“I am proud to welcome Bing Energy and thank them for recognizing that Florida is the best state in the nation. As Governor I am continuing to make it the best place to do business. This is only the beginning,” said Gov. Scott.  “Just as Bing Energy was convinced to bring jobs here, I am talking to companies across the nation. I am letting them know that our reduction in the business tax burden, commitment to job creation, and Florida’s world-class workforce mean we are open for business.”

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Computer Scientist Receives Prestigious NSF Career Award

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida State University computer scientist has won a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation to find faster and more efficient ways to retrieve relevant information from large sets of data.

Feifei Li, an assistant professor of computer science, has won an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award of $498,138 spread over the next five years to pursue his research. The awards are designated for young scientists who are still in the early stages of their academic careers and are intended to help them build upon previous accomplishments in their areas of research.

“We are very excited that Professor Li has received this prestigious award,” said David Whalley, chair of the Department of Computer Science. “Three assistant professors in computer science have received NSF CAREER awards in the past five years, which reflects very highly on the quality of the junior faculty in our department.”

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Bing Energy, Inc. Announces Grant to Develop Clean Energy Solutions

~Grant helping to develop solutions for powering homes with clean energy~

Chino, Cal.- Bing Energy, Inc., a manufacturer of state-of-the-art components for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), working in a partnership with Florida State University (FSU), has been subcontracted by the University of Central Florida (UCF) to develop a low-cost and high-efficiency 500 W portable PEMFC system.

Once developed, products will be brought to market for portable and stationary power generation.  Applications will range from temporary emergency power backup for commercial and residential uses, particularly useful in hurricane-prone areas like Florida, to peak leveling and industrial power generation.

Bing Energy, Inc.’s two-year subcontract stems from a grant UCF recently received from the Department of Energy to assist in the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Technologies Program – Multi-year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan. Under the contract, Bing Energy, Inc. is responsible for developing high-performance 4cm x 4cm membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and a 500W stack prototype using the advantages of the buckypaper -based solution.

“Bing Energy is excited to partner with FSU and UCF for this important project,” said Richard Hennek, vice president for business development at Bing Energy, Inc. “The products we will develop will lead to a long-term power generation strategy that is less reliant on a few large power generation plants and the aging grid.  The benefit will be clean and affordable energy where and when it is needed.”

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New Technology and Partnership Creates Less Expensive, More Efficient Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Bing Energy, Inc. (BEI), a manufacturer of state-of-the-art components for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), has entered into a commercialization agreement with Florida State University that gives the company exclusive use of revolutionary nanotechnology that will create a new generation of hydrogen fuel cells that are less expensive, smaller, lighter and more durable.

The technology, developed by Dr. Jim P. Zheng, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering, will reduce the need for expensive platinum components in hydrogen fuel cells. Working with a material known as buckypaper – a form of carbon that is extraordinarily light and that easily conducts heat or electricity – Dr. Zheng has designed a thin material, or membrane, that will reduce the amount of platinum required in fuel cells.  Since the membrane is thinner and lighter than current components, the fuel cell can be smaller and yet still provide the same amount of power.

Dr. Zheng’s technology is based on Dr. Ben Wang’s pioneering research and development of buckypaper.  Dr. Wang is the assistant vice president for research at Florida State University.

“What Dr. Zheng has developed is truly the ‘better, faster, less expensive’ story applied to fuel cells,” said Richard Hennek, vice president for business development at Bing Energy, Inc. “He has cleverly utilized the latest in nanotechnology to provide a dramatically better solution for the PEM fuel cell. Performance improvements of 40-plus percent, durability improvements of 25 percent and all at a lower cost make for a compelling story. We at Bing Energy are truly excited to work with Dr. Zheng and Florida State University to bring this technology to the marketplace.”

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NEH Fellowship Awarded to Italian Literature Scholar Irene Zanini-Cordi

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In the world of academia, winning a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is widely recognized as one of the highest honors that exists for scholars in the humanities. This year, a researcher of Italian literature at The Florida State University is among those to lay claim to the prestigious award.

Irene Zanini-Cordi is an assistant professor in FSU’s Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Her current research focuses on women’s writing in 18^th- and 19^th- century Italy, especially in letters, diaries and early novels. The NEH fellowship, which includes funding in the amount of $50,400, will enable her to conduct research in her native Italy for her second book manuscript, titled “Fashioning Italian Women, Fashioning a Nation: Sociability and Women’s Identity (1780s-1860s).”

“When I heard that I was awarded an NEH, my parents were visiting from Italy and, along with my husband, we celebrated joyously, Italian-style, in our kitchen,” Zanini-Cordi said. “Very few scholars in Italian have won the NEH. Most of us give up hope as we watch our colleagues in other disciplines garner this award. But I persevered, and with the help and support of my colleagues in Modern Languages, my new family, 2010 was my lucky year. I am truly humbled by this honor.”

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Carnegie Classification Recognizes Florida State For Commitment To Service, Community Engagement

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University is receiving national recognition for its many efforts to engage the world around it through teaching, research, service and partnerships.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, an independent policy and research center that supports “needed transformations in American education,” has announced that it selected FSU for inclusion in its prestigious Community Engagement classification. The honor is bestowed upon academic institutions that demonstrate a mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices that support “dynamic and noteworthy community engagement” as well as exemplary programs to promote civic engagement.

“It felt fantastic” to have Florida State be recognized in this manner, said Laura Osteen, director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Civic Education. “It was a long journey and hard work to find all the wonderful ways that Florida State is engaging in ‘active learning.’ To me, this is not an award; it is a recognition of what we have done and what we need to continue to do.”

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‘Without Words’ Exhibit to Shed Light on Social Justice Issues

For the third consecutive year, The Florida State University will play host to “Without Words,” a unique, museum-style exhibit that focuses on increasing awareness of prevalent social justice issues. Five rooms filled with artifacts, images, multimedia works and other works of art will be available for viewing.

The purpose of the exhibit, which is free and open to the public, is to raise awareness of numerous issues surrounding five key topics: war and the American soldier, education, animal welfare, immigration and water. By engaging all the senses, the program aims to give visitors a chance to step into the shoes of others and gain new perspectives.

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Florida State University Expert Sources on the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Disaster

Jan. 28 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in which all eight astronauts on board, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, were killed when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. The disaster became a “where were you when?” moment for a generation, especially for schoolchildren — now adults — who were gathered in classrooms across the nation to watch live on television as McAuliffe made history. Florida State University experts are available to answer media questions and provide historical perspective on this national tragedy.

* Sally Karioth, professor of nursing and Certified Traumatologist, (850) 644-6845; sallykarioth@yahoo.com
Karioth, a nationally recognized grief, trauma and stress expert, can address the ways in which the nation grieved in the aftermath of the explosion and what we have learned about helping children cope in the wake of such tragedies:

“There is really no time limit on remembered traumatic responses. Those of us old enough can pinpoint where we were when JFK was assassinated, when we heard about Princess Diana, 9/11, Katrina and the Challenger disaster. The Challenger disaster is especially poignant as there were millions of school children watching. The adults who sat with these children and watched the disaster unfold on TV were horrified. They became responsible for explanations to the children at a level they could understand., when in fact the adults couldn’t understand it themselves. We as a nation have these collective griefs that we share. It is comforting to know that others saw what we saw, felt as we did and understand when we tell our own stories; they will understand because they, too, were there.”

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Statement From The Florida State University: One Student Killed in Shooting Off Campus

A female student at The Florida State University died early today and a male student was wounded in a shooting incident off campus.

At 1:16 a.m. on Jan. 9, the FSU Police Department and Tallahassee Police Department responded to 1944 Heritage Grove, a collection of properties housing fraternity students off Ocala Road, to investigate a report of an accidental shooting. Police immediately secured the area and determined there was no further threat to the campus community. They quickly identified the shooter and began an investigation.

According to FSU Police Chief David Perry, Evan Wilhelm, a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, was in his apartment allegedly showing friends new accessories on his rifle when it accidentally discharged, shooting a female student, Ashley Cowie, in the chest, then striking a male student, Keith Savino, in the wrist. Cowie died at the scene. Savino’s injury was not life-threatening.

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FSU Researchers Helping Electric-Wheelchair Users Move More Easily

Terrain-Sensing Technology Already Used in Robots, SUVs Being Adapted to Wheelchairs

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Thick gravel, mud, snow, steep ramps or hills . . . They might get a pedestrian a little dirty or out of breath, but to someone in an electric wheelchair, they could mean terrain that’s simply too difficult to cross alone.

To address this problem, researchers at the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering are working on technology that will enable electric-powered wheelchairs to detect hazardous terrain and automatically adjust their control settings to maneuver more safely.

Emmanuel Collins is the John H. Seely Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the college and director of Florida State’s Center for Intelligent Systems, Control and Robotics (CISCOR). He said that a device known as a laser line striper, originally developed for military use, has been adapted to classify terrain conditions so the wheelchair control system can self-adjust.

“I’m inspired by the idea of applying technology originally meant for the battlefield to improve the quality of everyday life for injured soldiers and others,” Collins said.
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Florida State Law Students Win Mock Trial Competition

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University College of Law Mock Trial Team has won first-place in the 2010 E. Earle Zehmer Mock Trial Competition. The event, which was hosted by the Florida Justice Association Young Lawyers Section, was held in Tampa Nov. 20-21. The team was presented with a $1,000 scholarship for winning the competition. … Continue Reading

Florida State University Trustees to Meet Nov. 29

The Florida State University Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, Nov. 29, at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center.

The trustees will consider several items, including approval of the final 2011-12 fixed capital outlay budget request, a revised university debt management policy, a student security support fee and local student fees, which include health, athletic, and activity and service fees. The trustees also will discuss a feasibility review of the proposed “College Town” project and possible next steps.

The general meeting will be preceded by committee meetings. The Student Affairs Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Room 215; the Academic Affairs Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in Room 201; and the Finance and Business Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in Room 214. The general meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held from:

1 – 4 P.M.

MONDAY, NOV. 29

ROOM 208

AUGUSTUS B. TURNBULL III FLORIDA STATE CONFERENCE CENTER

555 W. PENSACOLA ST.

TALLAHASSEE

The meeting will be webcast at http://campus.fsu.edu/bot. Reporters also may access the meeting by calling (850) 645-9020 or (800) 210-4771. Cell phones may not be used to place the call.

FSU Physicist to Lead Scientists at National Laboratory

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — More than 3,000 scientists from around the world conduct research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, better known as Fermilab, each year. Now those researchers have a new leader: Associate Professor Todd Adams of the Florida State University Department of Physics.

Adams, a member of the FSU faculty since 2001, has been elected chair of Fermilab’s Users Executive Committee (UEC) for a one-year term. Fermilab, located in Batavia, Ill., is the premier particle physics laboratory in the United States, and the UEC is the organizing body that represents its visiting and laboratory-based scientists, known collectively as “users.”

“Fermilab is the nation’s top particle physics laboratory, and it is a great honor to be elected chair of the Users Executive Committee,” Adams said. “It is an exciting time in particle physics, and I look forward to the challenges of the coming year.”
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