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JOIN US FOR SCIENCE UNIVERSITY 2012

February 21, 2012

Join us April 13-14, 2012 for an MSU experience unlike any other – Science University 2012.

Science University is an exciting insider’s look at MSU’s most innovative science research and education.  At Science University, you’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Interact with some of the best and brightest faculty and students at MSU;
  • See and hear some amazing behind-the-scenes stories;
  • Catch up on the latest research; and
  • Tour the facilities.

Science University is open to all MSU alumni, friends, and guests.

Click here for more details and registration information.

Registration deadline is March 11, 2012.

Questions? Please contact Elizabeth via email or (517) 884-0290.

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February News for CNS Alumni

February 9, 2012

Click here for the February News for CNS alumni.

Each month, CNS sends out an e-newsletter to all alumni for whom we have a valid email address.  Didn’t receive this month’s news in your inbox?  Click here to submit your contact information.

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February 2012 – February 2012 Monthly Contest

February 8, 2012

Each month, the College of Natural Science Alumni Association hosts a contest featuring an alumnus or faculty member, proving that Spartans Will – every day, Spartans around the world rise to practically every challenge imaginable. From time to time, we’ll be featuring other types of contests.  This month, a math puzzler.

 

MATH PUZZLER

Write the digits from 1 to 9 in a line. Use just three of the following arithmetic operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - so the total equals 2012 exactly. The operations should be performed in order from left to right. Can you do it?

Example: If you put a plus sign after the 2, a times sign after the 4, and plus signs after the 6 and 8, the line shows 12 + 34 x 56 + 78 + 9 = 2003.

Enter by sending your answer along with your name, major and graduation year, and email address to Elizabeth Wheeler via email.

All entries must be received by February 29, 2012.

HOW TO PLAY

  • Use the clues provided to guess and send your answer (please include your name, major and graduation year) to Elizabeth Wheeler via email.
  • From the correct answers received,  we will randomly draw the name of one (1) person who will win an MSU/CNS prize package.
  • The MSU/CNS prize package will consist of one (1) CNS polo shirt; one (1) CNS Alumni window cling (for alumni only; student winners will receive a randomly selected item of equal value); and one (1) CNS Alumni pen or key chain (for alumni only; student winners will receive a randomly selected item of equal value).
  • The winner will be notified via email by Elizabeth Wheeler.
  • One entry per person. College of Natural Science Advancement staff are not eligible.

January 2012 CONTEST ANSWER

NAME THIS CNS ALUMNUS

1. Received their B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University.
2. Her love of animals began as a child growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her research focused on the beginnings of rodents, rabbits, and hares and while working in the Arctic in the 1970s and ’80s, discovered the first fossils of Tertiary land animals that documented a northerly migration route between North America and Europe.
3. Was the first American woman to receive the A.S. Romer-G.G. Simpson medal, considered the highest honor bestowed by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

ANSWER: Mary Dawson

For more information about Mary Dawson, please click here.

 

SHARE YOUR SAGA

Michigan State University is collecting the stories of the Spartans – alumni, students, faculty, and staff who are contributing to the common good in ways both big and small. View more sagas and share yours today.

 

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Alumnus Profile – Meet a CNSAA Board Member

February 8, 2012

The CNS Alumni Association (CNSAA) Board of Directors is comprised of 12 volunteers. They provide leadership on behalf of CNS’ 40,000-plus alumni worldwide so we thought you’d like to get to know them better.

Each month, we’ll be profiling a board member and during that month, they’ll reflect on their MSU experience, talk about their job, offer career advice, etc. in brief weekly posts to our social media sites. Stay tuned. . .

Rita McCaskill, Mathematics ’89
Senior Consultant for Towers Watson in metro Detroit, MI

What does your job entail?:

I am a senior consultant for Towers Watson in the Health and Group Benefits practice.  As a senior consultant, I give employers advice on the strategy, design, administration and financing of their programs to reward employees.  I help employers with the balance of attracting and retaining a qualified workforce while meeting business objectives to manage costs and improve health and productivity.

Why she’s proud to be a Spartan:

MSU is a world class institution focused on undergraduate and graduate education and research. It continues to amaze me to see how MSU is the same and yet, it is always changing.  I am proud to be a Spartan not only because MSU’s presence it felt in the world, but more importantly, in Michigan.  MSU is and will continue to be an important part of the economic development and the growth in Michigan.  I am excited about some of the opportunities in life sciences and other areas.  Great things are happening.

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Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Alumnus Receives HHMI’s International Early Career Scientist Award

February 6, 2012

Rodrigo Gutierrez, Ph.D. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology ’03, recently received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Early Career Award.

The 28 recipients represent a wide range of disciplines, from neuroscience to virology to plant science. All the awardees trained in the United States as a graduate student or a postdoctoral fellow and have published important research. “These are the people who, 10 years from now, we expect will be the scientific leaders in their countries,” HHMI President Robert Tjian says.

Gutierrez is a faculty member at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he is currently studying “how plants detect and respond to nitrogen from the perspective of the whole organism.”  Click here for more information about Gurierrez and his research.

The 28 IECS awardees will each receive $650,000: $100,000 a year for five years plus $150,000 the first year for major equipment purchases and other investments (an additional supplement will go to their university or research institution). This represents a total commitment by HHMI of more than $20 million. The funding will start in February 2012.

The IECS program is the latest incarnation of HHMI’s international grants to individual researchers. Since 1991, HHMI has spent more than $145 million to fund international scientists working in specific geographic areas—including Canada, Latin America, and Eastern Europe—or in a specific field of research, such as parasitology and infectious disease.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute plays a powerful role in advancing scientific research and education. Its scientists, located across the country and around the world, have made important discoveries that advance both human health and our fundamental understanding of biology. The Institute also aims to transform science education into a creative, interdisciplinary endeavor that reflects the excitement of real research. HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  Click here for more information about HHMI.

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Geology Alumni Field Trip 2012

January 11, 2012

Information and registration materials were mailed January 10, 2012.

Information and Registration for the Geology Field Trip

Contact Elizabeth Wheeler via email or (517) 884-0290 for more information or details.

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CNS Networking Event in Kalamazoo

January 10, 2012

New York, Washington, San Francisco. . .

Did you know that the Kalamazoo-area has the 9th largest population of CNS alums in the nation?

Join us to meet fellow CNS alumni who live and work in the area including

CNS Alumni Association Board of Directors members:

Jeremy Spinney, Chemistry/Immunoassay Sales Specialist at Siemens

&

Doug Siegel, Partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

5:30pm – 8:00pm
The Beacon Club
5830 Portage Road
Portage, MI

$7 which includes one drink ticket and complimentary appetizers

Cash bar available

***Attendees will be entered to win a CNS Alumni polo shirt and have their registration comp’ed.***

REGISTER NOW

Please register by Thursday, January 26, 2012

Questions? Please contact Elizabeth Wheeler via email or (517) 884-0290.

***No refunds will be issued after Monday, January 30, 2012***

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January News for CNS Alumni

January 9, 2012

Click here for the January News for CNS alumni.

Each month, CNS sends out an e-newsletter to all alumni for whom we have a valid email address.  Didn’t receive this month’s news in your inbox?  Click here to submit your contact information.

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Name this CNS Alumnus – January 2012 Monthly Contest

January 9, 2012

Each month, the College of Natural Science Alumni Association hosts a contest featuring an alumnus or faculty member, proving that Spartans Will – every day, Spartans around the world rise to practically every challenge imaginable.

 

NAME THIS CNS ALUMNUS

1. Received their B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University.
2. Her love of animals began as a child growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her research focused on the beginnings of rodents, rabbits, and hares and while working in the Arctic in the 1970s and ’80s, discovered the first fossils of Tertiary land animals that documented a northerly migration route between North America and Europe.
3. Was the first American woman to receive the A.S. Romer-G.G. Simpson medal, considered the highest honor bestowed by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Enter by sending your answer along with your name, major and graduation year, and email address to Elizabeth Wheeler via email.

All entries must be received by January 31, 2012.

HOW TO PLAY

  • Use the clues provided to guess and send your answer (please include your name, major and graduation year) to Elizabeth Wheeler via email.
  • From the correct answers received, we will randomly draw the name of one (1) person who will win an MSU/CNS prize package.
  • The MSU/CNS prize package will consist of one (1) CNS polo shirt; one (1) CNS Alumni window cling (for alumni only; student winners will receive a randomly selected item of equal value); and one (1) CNS Alumni pen or key chain (for alumni only; student winners will receive a randomly selected item of equal value).
  • The winner will be notified via email by Elizabeth Wheeler.
  • One entry per person. College of Natural Science Advancement staff are not eligible.

NOVEMBER 2011 CONTEST ANSWER

Each month, the College of Natural Science Alumni Association hosts a contest featuring an alumnus or faculty member, proving that Spartans Will – every day, Spartans around the world rise to practically every challenge imaginable. From time to time, we’ll be featuring other types of contests.  In November, we featured a math puzzler.

You have $100 and must spend it all purchasing exactly one hundred animals at the pet store. Dogs cost $15, cats cost $1, and mice are 25 cents each.  The only other criterion is that you have to purchase at least one of each animal.

How many of each animal do you have to purchase to equal one hundred animals purchased at exactly $100?

ANSWER: 3 dogs, 41 cats and 56 mice.

Congratulations to Malorie Machart, Genomics & Molecular Genetics ’11, the winner of our November contest!


SHARE YOUR SAGA

Michigan State University is collecting the stories of the Spartans – alumni, students, faculty, and staff who are contributing to the common good in ways both big and small. View more sagas and share yours today.

 

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Alumnus Profile – Meet a CNSAA Board Member

January 9, 2012

The CNS Alumni Association (CNSAA) Board of Directors is comprised of 12 volunteers. They provide leadership on behalf of CNS’ 40,000-plus alumni worldwide so we thought you’d like to get to know them better.

Each month, we’ll be profiling a board member and during that month, they’ll reflect on their MSU experience, talk about their job, offer career advice, etc. in brief weekly posts to our social media sites. Stay tuned. . .

Steve Wagner, Mathematics ’73
Data Modeling Director for CNA Insurance Company in Chicago, IL

What does your job entail?:

I am responsible for modeling, quantifying, and managing CNA’s catastrophe exposures for the perils of hurricane, earthquake, and terrorism worldwide.

Why he’s proud to be a Spartan:

I am proud to be a Spartan because of all the contributions that the College of Natural Science makes towards: making the world a better place to live; and providing us with a better understanding of how things work both at a micro and macro level.

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