Toxicology Track

Weekly Newsletter of the MSU Center for Integrative Toxicology
Director: Dr. Norbert Kaminski / Editor: Lauren St.John

October 5, 2009, Vol. 32, Number 37

Seminars / Workshops / Fellowships / Job Postings

Seminars

Friday, October 30
*The Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation presents Israel Rubinstein, Professor of Medicine and Biopharmaceutical Sciences in the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to speak on “Actively targeted nanomedicine: From bench to bedside” on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. in 101 Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health.

*Fulfills seminar requirements for the Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences Graduate Programs. Seminars that fulfill this requirement are archived at http://www.cit.msu.edu/Graduate%20Program/Seminars.html.

Workshops

Developing Communication and Conflict Management Skills to Save Time and Enhance Productivity – Graduate School  FREE Workshop

Friday, October 9 2009, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (boxed lunch is provided), Room 6, Student Services Building

Learn effective negotiation and communication strategies to resolve conflicts and also to prevent them from occurring. Presented by: Dr. Julie Brockman, Program Coordinator, The Graduate School, Dr. Tony Nunez, Associate Dean, The Graduate School, Dr. Janet Lillie, Department of Communication, Mr. Parker Huston, Department of Psychology.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED 
To register send an email to: gradwrsp@msu.edu. Please include your name, department, e-mail address, name of the workshop, and date of the workshop. To allow for more interaction, the workshop is limited to 30 graduate students. Registration is on a first come, first served basis. Lunch and parking are provided.

Fellowships

Nominations Sought for Environmental Health Sciences - ‘Science Communication Fellows’

Environmental Health Sciences (EHS), publisher of EnvironmentalHealthNews.org and DailyClimate.org, seeks nominations for Science Communication Fellows. The 12-month appointments are open to postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty at research universities that have active research programs related to environmental health sciences.

Most of the public and many reporters are unaware of how profoundly the environmental health sciences have advanced in the past decade, and they often lack a basic understanding of the significance or context of new results. The Science Communication Fellows program addresses this gap, working with up to 10 researchers a year to develop and hone their communication and outreach skills early in their professional careers, while also publishing accessible summaries of important new research findings.

Nominations are being accepted now for the competitive, one-year fellowships that will further enhance the researchers’ communication skills and offer a strong peer network with the Science Communication Fellows from prior years. Fellowship training provides participants the tools with which to communicate environmental health research to the media, policy makers and the public.

Duties: With assistance from skilled communication experts and EHS staff, Science Communication Fellows appointed for the 2010 calendar year will:

• Identify every month two important new scientific findings within his or her area of expertise.
• Submit short written summaries that translate the findings for reporters and a broader public.
• Report on those findings via a monthly conference call.
• Occasionally, expand the summaries into longer, more detailed synopses.
• Contribute short reviews critiquing media coverage of environmental health findings.
• Attend a two-day national conference to meet one another and Environmental Health Sciences staff, network with professionals in related fields, attend media training and discuss research and policy issues in environmental health.

Compensation: $5,000 stipend and paid expenses for media training conference.

Nomination: Department chairs or deans will nominate successful candidates. Applications are due October 15, 2009, and must be submitted electronically to sciencefellows@environmentalhealthnews.org.

Applications:

1. A letter of recommendation from the applicant's department chair or dean;
2. A letter from the nominee describing qualifications and why he or she wishes to participate; and
3. The nominee’s CV with three sample publications in PDF format.

Selection and Notification: A selection committee will review nominations and select up to 10 fellows for the 2010 calendar year. Participants will be notified before December 15, 2009.

Job Postings

Research Investigator, Environmental Modeling Scientist (2984090827)       
                                                                           
For 75 years, DuPont Crop Protection has been serving production agriculture with products for the grain and specialty crop sectors as well as forestry and vegetation management, including global herbicide, fungicide and insecticide products and services.  Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, DuPont Crop Protection is part of the overall Agriculture & Nutrition business of the DuPont Company.  Our mission is to best satisfy the world's need for food and nutrition by transforming the ways renewable resources are grown, processed and distributed.            
                                                                            
The Environmental Safety Assessment Group is looking for a highly motivated scientist to work in our Newark, Delaware, research facility. The successful candidate will be leading the development and application of environmental fate models, mathematical tools and statistical approaches to support optimization, commercialization and stewardship of crop protection chemicals. The specific job duties will include the following.                                                                 

1. Proactively participate in the development of environmental risk assessment strategies for the registration of new crop protection chemicals.
2. Collaborate with environmental fate, eco-toxicology technical experts and the product registration teams to conduct the environmental risk assessments and establish safe and sustainable uses for DuPont agrochemicals.                                      
3. Serve as study/program monitor for environmental modeling studies conducted at contract research organizations to fulfill international regulatory requirements and support product modeling and risk assessment strategies.                                    
4. Participate in external industry committees and other professional societies to develop guidance and best practices in environmental modeling.                                                          
5. Interface with worldwide regulatory agencies on technical issues, develop and present responses to their questions and requests.      

                                                                           
 Qualifications                                                            

1. A Ph.D. degree (or equivalent experience) in engineering or science with experience in the areas of environmental fate, soil science, biology, chemistry and computer modeling.      
2. Demonstrated technical leadership skills with a desire to contribute towards team success and a willingness to promote the potential for growth among team members at all levels.     
3. Experience with environmental fate modeling is essential.
4. Experience with common programming languages (e.g. Visual Basic and Fortran), and GIS-based software programs is beneficial.                      
5. Demonstrated ability to prepare scientific publications and presentations on agrochemicals research.                           
6. Experience with global pesticide registration guidelines.           
7. Excellent oral and written communication skills.                   
8. Excellent project management skills.                                

                                                                           
For more information and to apply online, please visit: https://dupontimpl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=40661.

__________
                        
Principal Investigator, Global Regulatory Ecotoxicologist (3035090827)     
                                                                            
For 75 years, DuPont Crop Protection has been serving production agriculture with products for the grain and specialty crop sectors as well as forestry and vegetation management, including global herbicide, fungicide and insecticide products and services.  Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, DuPont Crop Protection is part of the overall Agriculture & Nutrition business of the DuPont Company.  Our mission is to best satisfy the world's need for food and nutrition by transforming the ways renewable resources are grown, processed and distributed.            

The Global Regulatory Eco toxicologist will be leading the development and application of ecological risk assessments to support optimization, commercialization and stewardship of crop protection chemicals. The specific job duties will include the following:                        

1.  Proactively participate in the development of ecological risk assessment strategies for the registration of new crop protection chemicals.
2.  Collaborate with environmental fate, modeling technical experts and the product registration teams to conduct the environmental risk assessments and establish safe and sustainable uses for DuPont  agrochemicals.  
3. Serve as study/program monitor for ecotoxicology studies conducted at contract research organizations to fulfill international regulatory requirements and support product risk assessment strategies. 
4. Participate in external industry committees and other professional societies to develop guidance and best practices in ecological risk assessments.  
5. Interface with worldwide regulatory agencies on technical issues, develop and present responses to their questions and requests.      

                                                                            
 Qualifications                                                            

1. A Ph.D. degree (or equivalent experience) in biological sciences with ecotoxicology experience (aquatic or terrestrial invertebrate or vertebrate species; aquatic or terrestrial plants, etc).
2. Demonstrated technical leadership skills with a desire to contribute towards team success and a willingness to promote the potential for growth among team members at all levels.
3.  Knowledge of common PC-based software is expected, including word processors, spreadsheets, databases, web browsers, and statistical/mathematical software.    
4. Demonstrated ability to prepare scientific publications and presentations on agrochemicals research.
5.  Experience with global pesticide registration guidelines.
6. Excellent oral and written communication skills.                   
7. Excellent project management skills.                                

                                                                           
For more information and to apply online, please visit: https://dupontimpl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=40662