Wednesday, September 17, 2014

3 Steps for Eliminating Your Bad Habits

Derail, replace, incorporate: habits are based in cues. Here's how to change them for the better. (Based on research by USC Provost Professor of Psychology and Business & Vice Dean for Social Sciences, Wendy Wood)

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Manahan Named Honorary Fellow

For his contributions to science and his pioneering work in the Antarctic, Donal Manahan becomes an Honorary Fellow of the Welsh university where he earned his doctorate.
















USC Dornsife's Donal Manahan (left), who served as chief scientist for many research expeditions to the Antarctic, has been awarded an honorary fellowship by Bangor University in Wales. Here, he stands with Bangor University Vice Chancellor John Hughes during the ceremony. Photo courtesy of Bangor University.

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World's Most Influential Scientists

Ranking among the top one percent most cited for their subject field and year of publication, four USC Dornsife researchers earn the mark of exceptional impact.
















USC Dornsife Dean Steve Kay, Hashem Pesaran, Kenneth Nealson and Ray Stevens are among those deemed by Thomson Reuters to have the most scientifically influential minds in the world.

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Jim Dines | Whale Mating: In the Hips

A new study turns a long-accepted evolutionary assumption on its head, finding that whale pelvic bones play a key role in mating.

















Matthew Dean of biological sciences, (left), and Jim Dines searched through more than 10,000 boxes of unsorted cetacean bones in search of pelvic bones. Photo by Gus Ruelas.

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Tropical forests in the Anthropocene - Special Seminar

Please consider attending the following special seminar. It should be an overview from a leading forest ecologist that would appeal to anyone with a general interest in historical and contemporary environmental change (from megafaunal extinctions to climate change).

Tropical forests in the Anthropocene
Dr. Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science, Oxford
Website
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 at 4pm
ZHS (Zumberge Hall) 159

Abstract: The Anthropocene is characterized as an epoch when human influence has begun to fundamentally alter many aspects of the Earth system, and many of the planet¹s biomes. Here I review and synthesize our understanding of Anthropocene change in tropical forests, in the context of the long-term environmental history of humanity in the tropics from the Pleistocene to the present. I explore possible reactions and responses to change in the tropics. Key facets of Anthropocene change in tropical include deforestation, timber and wood extraction, the loss of fauna that maintain critical ecological connections, the spread of fire, landscape fragmentation and the spread of second-growth forests, invasion and pathogen spread, and increasing CO2 and climate change. The patterns of change are spatially heterogeneous, often have strong interactions among them, can have both large-scale and remote effects and play out through ecological cascades over long time scales. As a consequence, most tropical forests are on a trajectory to becoming altered ecosystems, and many are becoming novel ecosystems. I explore strategies for shaping the transition of tropical forests through the early Anthropocene, as well as highlight opportunities and challenges for the tropical forest science and conservation community.

Visualizing and Ablating Endogenous Synaptic Proteins In Vivo - A ZNI Seminar Series Event

Please join us for Fall semester’s very first ZNI Seminar Series event with Don Arnold PhD.

Title: “Visualizing and Ablating Endogenous Synaptic Proteins In Vivo”
Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Time: 12 PM to 1 PM
Location: Herklotz Seminar Room (ZNI 112)


Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Upcoming Fulbright U.S. Student Program Information Sessions


Undergraduate, graduate students are welcome to attend. Must have U.S. citizenship to apply for Fulbright.  



Fulbright U.S. Student Program Information Sessions

Thursday, July 17, 2014
12-1pm, VKC 109

Monday, July 28, 2014
4-5pm, VKC 109

During these sessions staff from the Office of Academic & International Fellowships will cover Fulbright U.S. Student Grant Programs including Research/Study, ETA, Fulbright-Clinton and Nat-Geo.  You must be a U.S. citizen to apply. No RSVP needed.  **The 7/28 event will also be a Google Hangout. If you cannot attend in person, go to: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/101158914904419536644/events/c5br30mae78l9pnvlbpgurojs7o​​

USC Deadline: September 15, 2014
Instructions can be found on our website: http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif//fellowships
Office of Academic & International Fellowships * aifstaff@usc.edu * 213-740-9116