SEED GRANTS FOR PLANT RESEARCH
The MacArthur Foundation named agricultural ecologist David Lobell, PhD '05, (left) to its 2013 class of fellows, citing his work "addressing critical questions about how to meet a rapidly growing demand for food across a warming, changing planet." An associate professor of environmental Earth system science and associate director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford, Lobell is a leader in the emerging field of crop informatics. C. Kevin Boyce, a paleobotanist and associate professor of geological and environmental sciences at Stanford, also was among the 24 fellows selected by the foundation this year. Boyce studies both extinct and living plants, examining links between fossilized remains and extant ecosystems to understand patterns of change related to climate cycles. Each will receive a "no strings attached" $625,000 grant paid over five years.
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE...
Mechanical engineer Laura Shane, '08, MS '09, piloted a lightweight glider she helped design and build to a 1st place finish and world record in the 2013 Long Beach, Calif., regional Red Bull Flugtag. And she did it while wearing a chicken suit. The annual event, staged by the energy drink maker in various cities, involves launching human-powered flying contraptions from a 30-foot ramp over a body of water. Teams of five (a pilot and four "pushers") are judged on creativity, showmanship and distance flown. Shane's team, the Chicken Whisperers, swept the competition on all counts, setting a new distance record of 258 feet.
AEROBATIC ARTISTRY
Three pieces by artist and pilot Lise Lemeland, '89, are on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., as part of an exhibition entitled High Art showcasing works acquired by the museum during the past 10 years. Lemeland's exuberant artwork—including the oil and two mixed-media paintings purchased by NASM in 2010—is inspired by her experiences in competitive aerobatic flying. She has exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally and won several artist grants, including one from the Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2006. The current exhibition runs through December 1.
"Tweet me, like me, text me! Streaming to you from Silicon Valley, I'm Crystal Lee, Miss California."
—Lee, '13, MA '13, representing the Golden State in the 2014 Miss America pageant, where she placed second.
