Database puts ants' world at researchers' fingertips

More than 11,000 ant species reside in Norm Johnson's insect lab.

The insects aren't relegated to stick pins and Styrofoam. Instead, each species occupies a minute bit of a space in a database called Antbase, an effort to catalog all known species of ants. The project is spearheaded by Johnson, the director of Ohio State's insect collection and a professor of entomology.

Antbase, www.antbase.org, houses all sorts of information on ants and other insects in the order Hymenoptera, which also includes bees and wasps. Scientists all over the world can visit individual species whenever they like.

The insect clearinghouse has the potential to solve much strife and frustration for entomologists eager to quickly find all available information on a particular variety of ant.

Tetraconus mocsaryi, a parasitic wasp, is one of more than 11,000 insects described in the online insect database www.antbase.org. Antbase describes insects in the order Hymenoptera, which includes ants, bees and wasps. Courtesy of Norm Johnson

"Say an entomologist in Costa Rica finds an ant he's never seen before," said Johnson, who is an expert on parasitic wasps. "He can hike back to his research station and search the Web site for info on that particular species."

As Antbase grows, entomologists will be able to curb the time they spend describing already-identified species. Until now, such scientists could either scour libraries far and wide for information on a particular insect, or describe it themselves and risk repeating information already out there.

Johnson and his colleagues scoured the entomology literature, adding everything they could find about individual species to the database. Getting information on a particular ant is easy, as long as the user knows the insect's name.

"A name is an insect's Social Security Number -- it's the only way we can get at the information in the collection here as well as the literature out there," Johnson said. Most insects in the database are listed under their respective scientific names, although a few common names, such as fire ant, are also included.

Although Johnson said he and his Antbase colleagues are finally caught up with adding to the database all the published literature that they could find on known ant species, their work certainly hasn't stopped. Researchers estimate that Hymenoptera contains as many as 115,000 species.

"That's roughly 10 percent of all known life on Earth -- including plants, animals, fungi and microbes," said Johnson, who collaborated with scientists from the American Museum of Natural History in developing Antbase. The project won't necessarily stop with Hymenoptera, either. "We can expand it as far as we dare," he said.

The scientists began gathering information for Antbase about four years ago, when they decided that entomologists needed a better way to share knowledge.

"We wanted to get the information out of the storage cabinets and into the hands of the people that could use it," Johnson said. Every specimen in the database, which went online in 2000, has at least some information on where and when it was collected, and by whom.

The database isn't only for professional entomologists; anyone can access the information. But it is a tool that insect experts can use to work more efficiently.

"Every generation of researcher typically gathers a small collection of the important entomology papers," Johnson said. "These collections take years to build. When the researcher dies, that information usually gets lost.

"It's time for entomologists to stop reinventing the wheel, and help the field progress by building on what's already been done."

Say the entomologist in Costa Rica does find an ant he's never seen. It could be a newly discovered species. Or he may find it described on Antbase, only to discover that it's an invasive species -- a signal that something may be awry in that particular ecosystem.

"Ants are bioindicators," Johnson said. "Their presence or absence may say a great deal about the health of an ecosystem."

$1.9 million grant to enhance mathematics education

Thanks to a $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), more Ohio State students than ever before will have opportunities for hands-on mathematics research experience. Innovative programs will help students discover how math can provide the foundation for an exciting and ever-growing number of careers -- from science to finance to national security.

The five-year grant -- which could later be raised to a total of nearly $3.9 million -- is part of an NSF program called Grants for Vertical Integration of Research and Education in the Mathematical Sciences (VIGRE).

"VIGRE will enhance connections among graduate students, undergraduates and faculty, and enable more students to do research so they can get an early start on their careers," said Peter March, chair of the Department of Mathematics. "In general, we want to expose all students to the wide range of career opportunities that are available to them if they choose mathematics."

Math Chair Peter March

For instance, mathematics students often go on to work in industry or government laboratories. March also cited the National Security Agency (NSA), which is the single largest employer of mathematicians in the United States. NSA careers include cryptography, the science of writing and breaking codes -- one math-based career that is critical to government intelligence. Insurance agencies, banks and Wall Street investment firms all need employees who are skilled in high-level mathematical techniques, too.

"Peter March and his colleagues in mathematics wrote a creative and forward-looking proposal which won extraordinarily high marks from the National Science Foundation," said Robert Gold, dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. "The department's program will greatly benefit our students and put Ohio State on the national map for education in higher mathematics."

Key Ohio State faculty who will help implement the VIGRE program include March; professor and vice chair Daniel Shapiro; and professors Vitaly Bergelson, Henri Moscovici, Bjšrn Sandstede and Warren Sinnott.

Components of Ohio State's VIGRE program will include:

• Invitation to research: A yearlong survey course, team-taught by more than 15 members of the senior faculty, will introduce all beginning mathematics graduate students to current active research areas.

• Working group rotations: Graduate and undergraduate students will have hands-on involvement in research and learning, by spending time in faculty research groups.

• Professional development seminars: Topics will include teaching, computer literacy and communicating mathematics to a general audience, among others.

• Enhanced advising and mentoring: Each new doctoral student will be assigned a mentor who will help that student choose a dissertation adviser and guide his or her progress for the first few years of graduate study.

• Pipeline programs: Research experiences specifically designed for undergraduates, including the presentation of research projects at the National Undergraduate Research Conference.

• Teacher component to Ross program: The Ross Summer Mathematics Program, an Ohio State outreach program for gifted high school students from across the country, lets students and local teachers spend the summer attending University seminars on mathematics. The existing program will now expand the number of participating high school teachers from five to 15.

Activities based on the initial $1.9 million may expand later; NSF will provide up to an additional $1.9 million, pending a favorable third-year review of the program.

NSF created VIGRE in 1998 to "increase the number of well-prepared U.S. citizens, nationals and permanent residents who pursue careers in the mathematical sciences." Since then, many of the top research universities have received a VIGRE grant, including the universities of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Harvard and Princeton universities.

Photos courtesy of the Department of Physics An artist's rendering shows the new Physics Research Building to be completed by the end of 2004.

New research building to accelerate Physics Department's upward spiral

A growth spurt experienced by the Department of Physics will be remedied soon by construction of a new Physics Research Building designed to provide the technology and facilities to support leading-edge research.

Once completed, the $50 million research facility will house administrative offices and conference space, as well as 210 high-tech laboratory modules -- adding more than 30 percent more lab space. The 234,000-square-foot, four-story building will be built on the empty lot northwest of Smith Laboratory, the current home of the department.

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held May 17, but actual construction will begin in late July, with completion expected in two years.

"We're very excited about the new facility," said William F. Saam, department chair and professor of physics. "It will help make state-of-the-art experiments more efficient, make recruiting of new talent much easier, and will certainly contribute to the increased visibility of the department, which is one of the goals of the Academic Plan."

In fact, Saam said the promise of the new building helped lure Chris Hammel, Ohio Eminent Scholar in Experimental Physics, to join the Ohio State physics faculty in June. Hammel had the opportunity to help design the laboratories that he will be using in the new building.

The department also has increased its level of research and funding, aggressively filled junior and senior faculty positions, and established a new group in string theory and begun a buildup in the expanding area of biophysics.

The growth within the physics department can be attributed in part to its designation as a Selective Investment department by the University, which provides permanent funds focused on recruiting both new faculty in cutting-edge areas and talented students to work with them, Saam said. It recognizes the accomplishments and potential of a physics program ranked 22nd nationally by the National Research Council.

Students also have played a key role, with physics students earning about half of the Goldwater scholarships awarded annually to OSU students to study science and engineering, as well as a substantial portion of the National Science Foundation fellowships.

The new building will help maintain the momentum.

"It is an absolute key to our future. Physics is an experimentally based discipline, and without the modern facilities, we cannot compete," Saam said.

An artist's rendering of the interior of the new Physics Research Building to be completed by the end of 2004.

The design features an office wing and a laboratory wing, connected by a four-story open atrium featuring lights, windows, bridges connecting the two wings, and lots of spaces throughout to meet for conversation.

"We worked hard to have a design that encourages people to interact with one another and share their teaching and research expertise," said Evan R. Sugarbaker, vice chair and professor of physics, who has worked closely with the project designers.

A centerpiece of the atrium floor is the Robert Smith Seminar Room, made possible through a gift from Robert and Winifred Smith, Sugarbaker said. Robert Smith is an alumnus of the department and the son of former chair and dean of the graduate school Alpheus Smith, for whom Smith Laboratory is named. The wood-paneled seminar room will have the latest in conference technology and seating for 45 with tables, or for 80 with auditorium seating.

"The room has double doors that open up onto the atrium. What we envision is that we'll have events -- such as a department colloquium -- that will expand out onto the atrium for associated receptions," Sugarbaker said.

Located on the top floor is a 950-square-foot departmental meeting room that provides flexible conference seating for more than 50 people. Vaulted ceilings and wood-paneled walls create a warm atmosphere, while floor-to-ceiling windows provide inviting views.

When the new building is complete, classrooms and a machine shop will remain in Smith Laboratory, but will occupy only 30 percent of the available space, Saam said. "This will be a spectacular building and we think it makes an architectural statement, too," he said. "It's distinctive, yet it fits into the architectural scheme of central campus."

To view an interactive virtual tour around the building, and to watch the progress throughout construction, visit the Web at www.physics.ohio-state.edu/newbuilding.