Cornell launches startup based on professor Ray Wu's research
Cornell will lead a startup dedicated to extending the research and inventions of the late Ray Wu, a former professor of molecular biology and genetics who is widely recognized as one of the fathers of genetic engineering. Wu sought to alleviate world hunger and created a rice actin promoter that enables higher yielding insect- and drought-resistant rice, an important food staple in many developing countries. Cornell's Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC) will oversee the Ithaca-based enterprise and is currently securing capital, partners, and a management team for the company. CCTEC is responsible for the management of Cornell's intellectual property and supports the university's land-grant mission by leveraging its innovations to promote economic development and benefit the public. Susan Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, announced the plans Oct. 3 at the Ray J. Wu Memorial Symposium.
Woody plants web tool helps match trees and shrubs to planting site
Cornell horticulturalist Nina Bassuk has developed an online search tool—the Woody Plants Database—to help home gardeners and landscape professionals choose the tree or shrub most likely to thrive in their area. Users input up to five characteristics about their location, such as its sunlight exposure and the soil acidity, and the database searches nearly 400 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines to determine the best match. It also includes detailed profile pages for each of the database's plant species. Bassuk, director of Cornell's Urban Horticulture Institute, hopes the site will help people make informed decisions about what to plant.
Shoals Marine Lab researchers help Connecticut aquarium release two harbor seal pups into the wild
Scientists from Cornell's Shoals Marine Lab in Portsmouth, N.H., joined with staff from the Mystic Aquarium in late September to set free two harbor seal pups at Duck Island off the Maine coast. Both pups were first released Aug. 6, but struggled to survive after remaining too close to humans. The re-stranding was the seals' second—and most likely final—chance at being released into the wild. Researchers chose Duck Island for its remoteness and its large existing harbor seal population. The laboratory's John B. Heiser research vessel was used to transport the seals.
Department of Education project gives teachers closer look at fossils
Ten teachers from across New York state participated in the Cornell Department of Education's "Fossil Finders Professional Development Week" hosted at Ithaca's Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) in August. Visiting teachers dug for fossils at several outcrop sites and learned to identify and measure them. The NSF-funded Fossil Finders project combines the disciplines of paleontology, biology, and geology to develop inquiry-based materials that will help middle-school teachers and their students understand evolutionary theory and the nature of science. The project is directed by Barbara Crawford, associate professor of education, and Robert Ross and Warren Allmon of the PRI. For more details about the project, visit http://fossilfinders.org/.
CaRDI renewed as state's Economic Development Administration Center
Cornell's Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) recently received a three-year grant to renew its role as the state of New York's Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center. As an EDA center, CaRDI provides technical assistance to public and private-sector organizations as a way to enhance local economic development, an important component of Cornell's land-grant mission. In coming years, the center will focus on promoting regional entrepreneurship and economic development, with a special emphasis on public officials. It also plans to partner with Pipeline for Progress, a coalition of public and private in groups in 13 counties of New York's Southern Tier, to create a program of applied research, outreach, and training.
CaRDI staff also recently helped the Office of the State Comptroller launch the Local Government Training Clearinghouse, an online resource for local government officials to track training around the state. It's intended to provide officials with a convenient, central location to access important training information. View it at http://wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/LGTraining/search.cfm.
Finally, the center, along with Cornell Cooperative Extension partners in northern New York, recently completed a comprehensive survey and report that details the role of local foods in the economic and community development of the state's Adirondack-North Country region. The analysis, the North Country Regional Food Initiative, includes interviews with 24 farm and food business operators in the region and charts the growing importance of local foods to the vitality of the region and state. The full report, along with other information about local agriculture, is available at http://www.nnyagdev.org/ncrf-home.htm.
Incoming freshmen learn environmental career skills from DNR faculty and staff
Faculty and staff in the Department of Natural Resources hosted a three-day immersion course, the Environmental Career Skills Program, at Cornell's Arnot Teaching and Research Forest in August for incoming freshmen. Students from a variety of majors bunked in cabins and received a primer in the methods and principles of conservation ecology, forestry, and stream ecology. They also practiced techniques for studying amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals and learned skills related to mapping and orienteering, wildlife and plant identification, and field sampling.
Cornell archaeologist leads dig of major Roman garden
Archaeologist Kathryn Gleason, an associate professor of landscape architecture, this summer participated in an excavating team that discovered a major new Roman garden buried in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The garden lies within the so-called Great Peristyle of the Villa Arianna at Stabiae, Italy, a villa first examined in the 18th century and regarded for its wall paintings. Gleason, a pioneer in archaeology methods for exploring Roman era gardens, presented her preliminary findings on Sept. 24 at a meeting of the International Association for Classical Archaeology in Rome. She intends to return to the site next summer with Cornell students to continue her studies of the garden's design.
Fredonia Vineyard lab produces final harvest as new lab takes shape
On Oct. 31, Joan Blohm, a worker at Cornell's Fredonia Vineyard Laboratory, harvests the final grape cluster at the site on the same day that crews installed the first piece of steel at the future Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory. Cornell began research and extension programs at the 30-acre vineyard in 1961. It will be sold to make way for a state-of-the-art grape laboratory scheduled to open early next year on 53 acres in Portland, N.Y.