Five UW-Madison faculty named AAAS fellows

Five University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty members are among the 449 scientists and engineers to be awarded fellowships from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which were announced this week (Nov. 23).

The AAAS grants the distinction to researchers advancing science and engineering in significant ways. New fellows will be recognized at the Fellows Forum, held during the 2007 AAAS annual meeting in San Francisco on Feb. 17.

UW–Madison faculty elected this year include:

– David A. Baum, professor of botany, for outstanding contributions in the investigation of plant evolution and in teaching and mentoring in phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary relationships between organisms, and evolutionary biology.

– Molly Jahn, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, for research in breeding new vegetable varieties for use around the world, and for gene discovery in crop plants with a focus on economically important plant traits.

– Judith Kimble, professor of biochemistry, for outstanding contributions to the understanding of the regulation of development at the molecular level in the nematode C. elegans, a common model organism used among scientists.

– Richard L. Lindroth, professor of entomology, for pioneering studies in the chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions, elucidating how genetics and resource availability modulate plant defense responses.

– Janet E. Mertz, professor of oncology, for the development of recombinant DNA methods and for the co-discovery of introns, messenger RNA transport elements and mechanisms by which viruses regulate their expression.

The AAAS is the largest scientific society in the world. Founded in 1848, the AAAS publishes the journal Science.