IU professor elected to Academy

The Biology Department has a long, golden legacy starting with James Watson of the Watson and Crick DNA double helix model and continuing with Loren Rieseberg. On April 30, IU Distinguished Professor of Biology Loren Rieseberg was elected a fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).\nRieseberg wants to know, through his research, what role cross-species mating has played in the evolution of plants and animals. \n"The work we do with sunflowers involves studying the hybridization of new species and by bringing previously isolated species together," he said.\nAccording to a press release by the AAAS, election to the Academy is always one of the highest honors in the United States. \n"The American Academy is unique among academics for its breadth and scope," the Academy's Executive Officer, Leslie C. Berlowitz said in a press release. "Throughout its history, the Academy has gathered individuals with diverse perspectives to participate in studies and projects focusing on advancing intellectual thought and constructive action. We know that this year's members will continue the Academy's tradition of cherishing knowledge in service to society."\nRieseberg said the biologists and scientists today live in a wonderful age. \n"The study of biology is driven by curiosity, what we want to know and greater and deeper truths. The 21st century is a wonderful age for biologists with wonderful things like the sequence of the human genome being unraveled," he said.\nThough some consider unraveling, hybridization and other scientific procedures more of tinkering with the natural and scientists playing God, Rieseberg does not think it is true. He said these were mischaracterizations because even the earliest farmers were manipulating animals and plants and scientists now were manipulating a little more with precision. \n"Biology has brought a greater sensitivity to the world," Reiseberg said.\nIn the past, more people died of microbial diseases, he said. Today people are faced with other illnesses such as obesity and heart attacks. \n"Then, we had diseases that killed you when you were young; today we have diseases that kill you when you are old."\nLike a sunflower that charts the path of the sun, Rieseberg's career charts the path of success. According to an IUB press release, Rieseberg has been the recipient of several awards and honors, including a $500,000 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship and the first-ever Stebbins Medal from Vienna, Austria-based International Association for Plant Taxonomy, which he will receive later this month. \nReiseberg was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science last year. He is the sixth IU biology faculty member to be elected in the past few years, Biology Chair Elizabeth Raff said in the press release.\nRieseberg said science and research was a satisfying field. "If you want to have a satisfying career, then science is the best."\n-- Contact staff writer Hina Alam at halam@indiana.edu.