Wednesday Lecture
On Bioremediation

Hazen

This summer's fourth lecture, to be held Wednesday at noon in the Building 50 auditorium, will feature Terry Hazen of the Earth Sciences Division, who is a leading authority on bioremediation. He'll discuss when it’s best to resort to engineered bioremediation of contaminated sites, and when it’s best to rely on natural attenuation. Recent advances have greatly broadened the potential applications for bioremediation in cleaning up many types of contamination. At the same time, however, scientists’ knowledge of biogeochemical processes has advanced to such an extent that they can better gauge how quickly contaminants can be degraded without human intervention. Go here for a complete schedule of this summer's lectures.

Catalysis Symposium
On Campus This Week

Somorjai

More than 350 researchers from 40 countries will meet at UC Berkeley’s Stanley Hall tomorrow through Friday for the 13th International Symposium on the Relations Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis. Chaired by Berkeley Lab materials scientist Gabor Somorjai, keynote speakers include Lab researchers Paul Alivisatos, Carolyn Bertozzi, and Peidong Yang (Materials Sciences), as well as Alex Bell and Don Tilley (Chemical Sciences). Plenary and keynote talks will be broadcast for free to 106 Stanley Hall each morning. Online registration is closed, but can be done in person at Stanley Hall tomorrow. More information is available here.

Safety Spot winners

Champions of Safety:
‘Spot’ Winners Honored

For their efforts to make Berkeley Lab a safe work environment, 13 employees recently received Safety Spot Recognition awards from Director Steve Chu. The award program was implemented by the Environment, Health and Safety Division. The winners are Karin Levy (Lab Directorate), Wendy Corr (EH&S), Cynthia Jones (Engineering), René Perrier (Genomics), Sally Lafferty (IT), Richard Kadel (Physics), Helen Budworth (Life Sciences), and Michael Elizalde, Matthew Rice, Kevin Trigales, Chuck Horton, Kevin Haugh and Tracy Knight (Facilities). To submit an award nomination for this fiscal year, send a description of the employee’s safety efforts to your division’s safety coordinator, the online safety suggestion box, or Edith Perry. Go here to see a photo of some of the winners and read descriptions of their efforts.

ALS’s Falcone Helps Neighbor Get ‘Smart’

Falcone

In his quest to become “smarter,” Contra Costa Times columnist Mike Zampa sought the help of his Lafayette neighbor and friend Roger Falcone, director of Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source. “There are geniuses working in Roger's enormous laboratory. They have got pencil sharpeners that are smarter than I am,” says Zampa of his visit to the Lab. “If I had wanted to feel bad about myself I could have stayed home and looked at pictures of George Clooney's kitchen in Vanity Fair.” Full story.

Miscanthus Bests Switchgrass, Says Study
By Dallas Kachan

Miscanthus

Researchers at the University of Illinois have presented research from a two-year study that shows the grass Miscanthus — experimented with widely in Europe since the 1980s as a potential feedstock for biofuel — is twice as productive as North America's switchgrass. The university is partnering with UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab in the Energy Biosciences Institute. As part of the EBI, some 340 acres of farmland at the Urbana campus are to be devoted to the study and production of feedstock for biofuel production. Full story.

Lab Chemical Scientist
Gets Herschbach Award

Miller

Berkeley Lab chemical scientist William Miller has received the inaugural Dudley R. Herschbach Award for Excellence in Research in the field of the dynamics of molecular collisions. The award will be given to two recipients every year, a theoretician and an experimentalist. Miller’s research deals with all aspects of chemical dynamics, including the theory of chemical reaction and reaction rates, photodissociation, and femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. Go here for more information on the award.

Gas Leak Repairs Will
Close ‘Z’ Lot This Week

A natural gas leak discovered in one of the underground main pipes that feed various Lab facilities will be repaired this week. Parking Lot Z, above the cafeteria near where the gas leak was found, will continue to be closed at least until Friday, when repairs are expected to be completed. There will be no interruption of natural gas service during repairs, nor will there be any health or safety danger to employees at the Lab. For more information, contact Mike Dong of Facilities.