JGI’s Rubin Breaking
Clean-Energy Code
By James O'Brien

Rubin

Spending time with Eddy Rubin, director of the Joint Genome Institute, feels like how it might have been to hang out with a NASA engineer in 1965, or Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak in the late 1970s. Yes, there’s the science-geek element. Yes, he says things like, “When you break down a tree, it contains cellulose as well as hemicellulose.” Or, “Termites are terrific.” But if you hang around the Joint Genome Institute long enough, you realize that Rubin and his colleagues are the kind of creatively focused people who turn science fiction into hopeful reality. Eventually, they say things that cause your ears to perk up. Full story.

Biologist Developing New
Generation of Leaders

Rubin

A profile chronicling the career of Berkeley Lab life scientist Gerald Rubin appears in the most recent issue of The Scientist. The story outlines the progress of his research though the last 40 years, successfully launching the Drosophila genome project along the way. Now a vice president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rubin is directing the development of its $500 million Janelia Farm Research Campus, an environment he hopes will inspire younger scientists to tackle long-range, adventurous projects. Full story.

Remote Control Plane
Crashes Into Lab Tree
By Matt Krupnick

Not even the bucolic Berkeley hills are immune to security concerns in a post-Sept. 11 world, as the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine has discovered. Chris Anderson, a 45-year-old Berkeley resident and aerial-reconnaissance enthusiast, sparked a minor security scare Sunday when his remote-controlled plane — equipped with a camera — crashed into a tree at Berkeley Lab. Full story.

Additional Lab Authors
For Nobel-Winning Report

Last Friday's story in Today at Berkeley Lab about the Lab's contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, was written with information available at the time and has since stimulated readers to name other Lab scientists who were present and past contributors to the IPCC's reports. Those who have come to light so far include Surabi Menon of the Environmental Energy Technology Division, an author of the 2007 report on the physical basis of climate change; EETD's Phil Haves, who contributed to the 2007 report on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability; and Maithili Iyer, who was an author of the special technology transfer report in 2000.

Tutorial Aids Travelers
With Expense Reports

Travelers will receive full reimbursements more quickly if their expense reports are filled out completely and accurately. An online tutorial is now available to assist employees in completing their expense reports correctly. Those taking the 10-minute tutorial can choose from three learning paths: local, domestic or foreign. It is suggested that the tutorial be taken before travel and upon return to guide users through the steps needed to successfully complete an expense report. Click here to view the tutorial.

Laboratory Supplies
Now Available On eBuy

Employees will be able to buy laboratory, clean room and safety supplies, laboratory equipment, and chemicals through eBuy from Government Scientific Source (GSS), starting today. VWR and Sigma-Aldrich catalogs will also be available through the GSS site, along with GSS’ own catalog. The B2B method of buying from VWR and Sigma-Aldrich will cease after Oct. 31. After that, VWR and Sigma-Aldrich purchases should be made through eBuy. Prices in general will be the same or less than currently available. Employees are reminded to read instructions carefully on the GSS merchant page prior to making their purchases. Go here to access eBuy.

Orbach Notes Changes
In Physics Staffing

Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Ray Orbach announced that Robin Staffin, Associate Director of the Office of High Energy Physics (HEP), has been reassigned to senior science advisor to Director Orbach. Dennis Kovar is serving as the Acting Director of HEP, and Jehanne Simon-Gillo is Acting Director of the Office of Nuclear Physics in place of Kovar. Both will be responsible for budgets, personnel in the respective offices, and planning. “The particle physics community has a vision and ambitious goals, which require the development of a path forward that is adaptable and robust,” Orbach said in making the announcement.

Update on Facilities
Report Released

The Department of Energy recently released a comprehensive update of its landmark 2003 publication, Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook, that shows the agency’s progress in deploying the scientific facilities and instruments that the country needs to capture world scientific leadership, extend the frontiers of science and support the Department’s missions. Full story.