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October 3, 2016

EAR Welcomes...

Dena Smith, new EAR program director in Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology

Credit: D. Smith

 

Dena Smith joined NSF in late June as a Program Director in the Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program.  Her research program has focused on understanding the evolutionary and ecological underpinnings of current insect biodiversity. Specifically, she uses the fossil record to study the macroevolution of beetles, insect response to climate change, co-evolutionary relationships between insects and plants and the nature of the fossil record itself. Prior to her arrival at NSF, she served as the Executive Director of the STEPPE (Sedimentary Geology, Time, Environment, Paleontology, Paleoclimatology and Energy) Coordinating Office, as the Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the CU Museum of Natural History and as an Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, in Boulder. She received her Ph.D. in Geosciences with a minor in Entomology from the University of Arizona and her B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

EAR Farewell...

Hailiang Dong, Former EAR Program Officer in Geobiology and Lower Temperature Geochemistry Program

Credit: H. Dong

 

Hailiang Dong has returned to Miami University after two years of service to the National Science Foundation as a Program Officer in the Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program. In addition to the regular duty with the program, Hailiang was a GEO representative of the Sustainable Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials (SusChEM) program. In the first month after his departure from NSF’s life, Hailiang co-organized 3 meetings: Geobiology and Biogeochemistry; Microbial conversion of organic matter (coal and petroleum) to methane; and an ICDP-sponsored workshop on a multi-well deep underground laboratory in the Songliao Basin of NE China. Hailiang is pleased to report that a review paper will be published in Nature Reviews Microbiology. Recently, he also picked up some more editorial and professional service activities. At the moment, he is looking forward to an exciting semester in the fall when he is scheduled to teach Geomicrobiology and Chemistry of Earth Systems at Miami University.

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