T H E BI OL O GU E News2014-2015 A NOTE FROM THE NEW CHAIR... Dear alumni and friends, I am happy to announce that after a short hiatus the Biologue is back! A lot has happened since we published the last issue of the Biologue and I hope that you will enjoy catching up on the news of the department in the pages of this issue. Thanks to Dr. Floria Uy for volunteering to edit this important newsletter that allows us to annually share our activities and achievements with you. As I complete the first year of my tenure as the Chair of Biology, it is a good time to reflect back on the events of the past year, as well as on all of the exciting changes that have taken place in the department over the past few years. I was recruited to the University of Miami by the previous Chair Dr. Kathryn Tosney, and I arrived at UM in fall 2007. When Kathryn came aboard in the previous year, she initiated programs to expand the research directions of the department into cellular and molecular areas of modern biology research. As part of this initiative, Kathryn recruited a number of faculty working on more lab-based areas of research such as development and neuroscience. Many of these faculty were highlighted in the last issue of the Biologue. I now have the privilege of building on Kathryn?s significant achievements and continuing to work towards the collective goal of building a truly collaborative and integrative Department of Biology. In addition to the hires in cellular and molecular areas indicated above, we have also recently recruited two established faculty who combine fieldwork in the tropics with modern molecular tools to investigate age-old questions in ecology and evolution. These two faculty lines were made possible by generous endowments established by our alumni, and the faculty that we hired have allowed the department to maintain 1
its renown in tropical biology research. In 2011 we welcomed Dr. Al Uy as the inaugural Aresty Chair in Tropical Ecology. This chair was established by a generous endowment from Pat and Jeff Aresty who were both undergraduates at UM in the mid 1970?s. Al is an evolutionary biologist who uses a variety of experimental tools to understand how biological diversity arises in the tropics. His work in the Solomon Islands was recently featured in a beautiful documentary entitled ?Islands of Creation? that is being aired on the Smithsonian Channel. More details about this documentary follow in the pages of this newsletter. Al, along with Dr. Floria Uy, teach a unique summer field course for UM undergraduates in the Solomon Islands. In spring 2014 Dr. Kevin McCracken joined the department as the inaugural James A. Kushlan Chair in Waterbird Biology and Conservation. Kevin is an evolutionary biologist who combines fieldwork with molecular tools to study the genetics of adaptation, primarily using tropical waterbirds found in the high altitude regions of the Andes. This chair was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Jim Kushlan, who has had a distinguished academic career studying the biology of waterbirds, and has a strong commitment Biology News 2015 / www.as.miami.edu/ biology/