Professors earn science fellowship
Two USU professors have been appointed as fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Patricia Lambert of the department of sociology, social work and anthropology and Lance Seefeldt of the department of chemistry and biochemistry will be formally recognized for their achievements at the annual AAAS Meeting to be held Feb. 14-18, 2013 in Boston.
The AAAS is the world’s largest general science society with more than 120,000 members. The society represents the interest of science in general. They also put out the journal “Science,” Lambert said.
Lambert said the AAAS holds a large conference each year to bring together professionals and experts in all different disciplines of science to interact and work with each other. As part of the conference, a recognition ceremony is held for the new fellows.
Lambert said fellows can be nominated by other members of the AAAS in one of several ways.
“You can be nominated by three people who are already fellows, the committee for your particular area can nominate you or the head of the society can also make a nomination,” she said.
According to AAAS, fellows are chosen to be recognized for “meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications.”
Seefelt said his research deals with studying how bacteria convert nitrogen gas present in the air to ammonia. He said he believes his team’s leadership in understanding the process on a molecular level was an important factor in his selection as a fellow.
“It is one of the key processes for life on Earth,” he said.
Seefeldt said his many years of service with the National Science Foundation were also a likely factor in the AAAS choosing him.
Lambert’s research is at the opposite end of the science spectrum. She refers to herself as a bioarcheologist.
“I study human skeletal remains from archaeological sites,” she said. “I kind of span biology on one hand and archeology on the other.”
Lambert said she specifically studies the history of violence and warfare by looking for evidence of violent injury in the skeletons she examines.
“It is important to expand our understanding of violence to encompass the past,” she said.
Aside from her research at USU, Lambert said she feels her service in the area of ethics and repatriation law was also key component in her selection as a fellow.
“I participated in, and eventually chaired, the repatriation committee in the American Association of Physical Anthropologists,” she said.
Lambert said the committee deals with the rights of Native American peoples to lay claims on human skeletal remains in the United States that could possibly be Native American or Native Hawaiian in origin.
“You can come at it from a science perspective, a cultural perspective, a religious perspective, or even with a perspective on the matter of disenfranchisement,” she said. “It was a very interesting and challenging activity.”
Seefeldt said receiving recognition for his efforts is great honor for him. He also believes it says great things about the university.
“Utah State now has three fellows,” he said. “It is an important recognition for the university.”
Lambert said she is also honored to be recognized as an AAAS fellow.
“I am really a major advocate for science,” she said. “It’s something about myself that I really value so this has pleased me more than just about anything.”
Lambert said receiving recognition as a fellow made her feel like she did something right.
“I have tried really hard to do good research, and I have tried really hard to do the kind of service I feel is valuable,” she said. “It’s nice to be formally acknowledged out of the blue.”
– ashlyn.tucker@aggiemail.usu.edu