Three University of Colorado at Boulder faculty members have been elected fellows of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science for 2006.
The AAAS fellows are Professor Kristi Anseth of the chemical and biological engineering department, Professor Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Deborah Jin, a fellow of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and adjoint professor in CU-Boulder's physics department. They were among 449 members elected by their peers for efforts to advance science or foster applications deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.
Anseth, a professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the first engineer to be named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, was cited for her innovative materials science research, including the creation of new biomaterials for medical applications. She is leading a team of faculty members and students that is developing degradable scaffolds, or frameworks, to stimulate the growth of new human tissues to replace those lost by injuries and disease.
Baker, LASP's director and an internationally known space weather expert, was cited for outstanding research and leadership in solar-terrestrial physics, including the dynamics of Earth's radiation belts and their effects on technologies. A principal investigator on several near-Earth space missions and a co-investigator on NASA's MESSENGER mission en route to Mercury, Baker recently chaired a National Research Council committee on space radiation hazards and the future of manned space exploration.
Jin, who was awarded a MacArthur "genius grant" three years ago for her research achievements, was cited by AAAS for advances in the study of quantum gases and the properties of a Fermi degenerate gas. In 2003, Jin and her colleagues coaxed atoms into the first "fermionic condensate," a new form of matter that may help physicists unlock mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity.
The three new campus AAAS fellows join 41 active or emeritus faculty members from CU-Boulder previously elected as fellows of the science association.
Founded in 1848, AAAS works to advance science for human well-being through its projects, programs and publications in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific cooperation. AAAS includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the journal, Science.
The new fellows will be honored at the 2007 AAAS annual meeting to be held in February in San Francisco.