People, places and presentations

Alan Russell, director of Disability Support Services, received a certificate in recognition of meritorious service as commissioner on the Houston Commission on Disabilities from 2009 to 2011. He also advised some Rice students about their Alternative Spring Break project, which involved interacting with young people with disabilities.

The Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum awarded partial tuition scholarships to a dozen Rice engineering students for the 2012-2013 academic year. This year’s recipients are Alona Bozhchenko, Daniel Campbell, Christopher Chan, Calvin Charles, Steven Chee, Lu Chen, Ran Chen, Christina Hughes, Xuening Li, Andrew Lo, Christoph Meyer and Erin O’Malley.

Juli Carrillo, a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, was one of three women scientists and engineers in the nation to receive an Educational Award from the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). Carrillo will use the award to present the results of her dissertation research at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting in Portland, Ore. The AWIS Educational Awards help early career women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by supporting professional development expenses.

Two Rice University professors contributed to a discussion of the “Science of Science Communication” during the Arthur M. Sackler colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences this week. Vicki Colvin, Rice’s vice provost for research and the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was on a panel addressing “Science in our Daily Life.” She discussed nanotechnology and took part in a lively discussion with PBS Newshour science correspondent Miles O’Brien. Neal Lane, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and a senior fellow in science and technology policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, discussed “Science and Politics” with other two other former science advisers to the president and John Holdren, adviser to President Obama. Lane served as adviser to President Bill Clinton and was director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1998 to 2000. Video of both talks is available at http://events.tvworldwide.com/Events/NAS120521.aspx.