January, 2012

Dr. James T. Hazzard (Senior Lecturer in CBC) has been appointed as the new Southwest Regional Director of the Undergraduate Affiliate Network (UAN) of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), a position he will hold for three years. The UAN is undergraduate advocacy group within ASBMB, supporting students in their research, career planning, and outreach activities. They also are strong proponents of undergraduates participating fully in the society, welcoming research posters and oral presentations at their annual meeting as well as generously making travel awards available for students to attend the annual conference. Finally, the UAN publishes an on-line journal, Enzymatic, in which students can publish articles on their research, academic, and outreach endeavors as well as providing a means by which they can network with other students across the nation.

Dr. Hazzard has been faculty adviser for the Undergraduate Biochemistry Club since 2001 and the adviser for the UAN Chapter since 2005. It is his responsibility to coordinate national UAN activities and programs with colleges and universities in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and southern California. In addition to the aforementioned travel awards, the UAN makes available to students a number of research scholarships, funding for outreach activities, and sponsorship of regional undergraduate research conferences. Since becoming Southwest Regional Director, Dr. Hazzard was instrumental in establishing a UAN chapter at Sonoran Science Academy in Tucson, which is the second high school to join the UAN in the nation.

The UA chapter of the UAN has been extremely active over the past three years, hosting what has become the annual Biochemistry, Engineering, and Chemistry Undergraduate Research Conference (BECUR) in 2010 and 2011, and is planning the third BECUR for February 25, 2012. The UA students have also organized a Visiting Scholars Program by which members go to area high school biology and chemistry classes to discuss their research at the UA as well as their general undergraduate experiences. Finally, chapter members are planning a multi-disciplinary science summer camp (BLAST-OFF) that will be held in June, 2012. In recognition of their commitment to outreach activities, the UA chapter has been recipients of the Outstanding Chapter for Outreach and Exemplary Education in 2010 and 2011.

One area in which Dr. Hazzard has seen a dramatic improvement is the dramatic increase in the number of UA students participating in the annual ASBMB meeting often using $400 Travel Awards provided by ASBMB. Active participation of undergraduates as young researchers is a very important aspect of their academic training, helping them to more thoroughly prepare for their future scientific or professional careers. Last year, five UA students presented research posters in both the Undergraduate Poster Competition and the general sessions of the 2011 meeting in Washington, D.C. This year a minimum of twelve UA Biochemistry students will and participate in the 2012 conference in San Diego.