UAF post-doctoral fellow receives NEURON Award

Submitted by Sonja Bickford
Phone: (907) 474-6714
06/05/06

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fairbanks, Alaska--University of Alaska Fairbanks post-doctoral fellow Sherri Christian has been named the first recipient of the NEURON Travel Award.

The award, created by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Arctic Division, recognizes students for their pursuit of "new, exciting, unique research on neuroscience." Christian received the award during the June 2 closing ceremony of the sixth-annual National Conference of Specialized Neuroscience Research Programs at the Wedgewood Resort.

"Sherri is an exceptional scientist who has made a huge contribution to the laboratory’s work, both as a scientist and as a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students,"? said Christian’s advisor, Kelly Drew, an associate professor in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics and Institute of Arctic Biology.

Christian holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alberta and a doctorate from the University of British Columbia.

She received the award for a poster presentation covering her research on arctic ground squirrels’ cellular-level tolerance of events such as hibernation. UAF students placed first, third and fourth in the competition for this award, which consisted of a poster presentation and a platform presentation by the top five finalists.

The AAAS Arctic Division created the travel award to allow the recipient to attend the Society for Neuroscience conference in Atlanta in mid-October. Christian will also be recognized at events such as the annual minority reception, the mentor/fellow breakfast, the annual minority fellows poster session, and the mentoring program reception.

CONTACT: Mary Van Muelken, coordinator, at (907) 474-7029 or e-mail fyabnp@uaf.edu. Sonja Bickford, public relations officer, at (907) 474-6714 or s.bickford@uaf.edu.