Happy New Year to All! And a Quick Look Back at 2014

The MBL brimmed with news and activity in 2014, its always busy pace quickened by joint events and new programs with its affiliate, the University of Chicago. Below are just a few of many scientific, educational, and institutional highlights from an exciting year of discovery and transition. As we look forward to 2015, it’s important to note that, at the MBL, the most significant events often occur under the radar of “news.” A student focuses the microscope and sees something new, the import of which is not yet known. A “let’s just try this” experiment brings baffling results, which in retrospect turn out to be the turning point in a successful investigation. These moments of scientific discovery may not make headlines (yet), but they are the essence and the future of the MBL.

A dividing cell imaged by 2014 Nobel Laureate Eric Betzig. The cell is in anaphase; image shows histones and 3D tracks of growing microtubule ends color-coded by velocity.

December

Huntington Willard Named President and Director of Marine Biological Laboratory

November

MBL Announces First Recipients of MBL-UChicago/Argonne Collaboration Awards

October

Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Microscopist and MBL Visiting Scientist and Faculty Member Eric Betzig

Tarantula Toxin is Used to Report on Electrical Activity in Live Cells

September

Undergraduate Semester in Environmental Sciences Program Enters 18^th Year

August

Three Ph.D. Students Graduate from the Brown-MBL Partnership and Graduate Program in 2014: Justine J. Allen; Xi Yang; and Akash Srivastava.

July

Summer at the MBL is a whirlwind of activity. Here is a sampling of dispatches from MBL summer courses, programs and labs.

Becoming Fearless: The Neural Systems & Behavior Experience

PEP Broadens the Woods Hole Net

An MBL Success Story: Providing Career Guidance to Young Scientists

University of Chicago Graduate Research Awardees Discover the MBL

University of Chicago Undergraduates Spend Summer at MBL Through Metcalf Program

Bell Foundation Donation Supports New UChicago Professorship in Tissue Engineering with Appointment in MBL’s Bell Center

June

New Analysis Reveals Previously “Hidden Diversity” of Mouth Bacteria

MBL Scientists Participate in International Ocean Sampling Day

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series Kicks Off with Paleontologist and Author Neil Shubin

A New Look at Old Forests: Study Revises Theory on Growth and Carbon Storage in Mature Trees

May

MBL’s Jerry Melillo at The White House to Release Third National Climate Assessment

MBL Director Joan Ruderman Announces Decision Not to Seek Re-Appointment

Second Scientific Retreat Moves MBL, University of Chicago Toward “A New Era in Discovery”

April

University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer Becomes Chairman of MBL Board of Trustees

March

UChicago and MBL Announce First Recipients of Lillie Awards for Collaborative Research

Sensing Gravity with Acid: Scientists Discover a Role for Protons in Neurotransmission

Negative Impacts of Advanced Maternal Age on Offspring are Preventable, MBL Study Finds

February

First MBL-UChicago Retreat Explores New Ideas for Joint Research and Programs

Quest for Jellyfish Robot Leads to Discovery of Common Bending Rules for Wings, Fins, and other Natural Propulsors

January

Harvard-MBL Bioengineering Collaboration Uncovers New Reflective Mechanism in Cuttlefish Skin

Different Sponge Species Have Highly Specific and Stable Microbiomes, MBL Scientists Report