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January 13, 2011
Emory professors named 2010 AAAS fellows
Three Emory University professors representing anthropology, chemistry/biology and psychology have been selected as 2010 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor AAAS members bestow upon their peers. AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.
• Lawrence Barsalou, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology, who was cited “for distinguished contributions to the field of cognitive psychology, particularly for theories of situated cognition and perceptual symbols.”
Barsalou’s research addresses the nature of human conceptual processing and its roles in perception, memory, language and thought.
The current theme of his research is that the conceptual system is grounded in the brain’s modal systems for perception, action and internal states. Topics of current interest include the roles of conceptual processing in emotion, self, stress, abstract thought and contemplative practices.His research also addresses the role of mental simulation in conceptual processing, the situated and embodied nature of knowledge, the dynamic online construction of conceptual representations, the development of conceptual systems to support goal achievement, and the structure of knowledge.
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• Michelle Lampl, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology, was cited “for distinguished contributions to research in human growth, particularly for her pioneering discoveries of saltatory growth in infants and adolescents.
” As a biological anthropologist, Lampl's research focuses on human growth and development. Building on her landmark research establishing the saltatory nature of growth (such as growth spurts), she investigates the mechanisms of growth and influencing factors, both genetic and environmental. Current research is focused on the nutritional, immunological and hormonal networks that interact with behavior to influence the growth process. Lampl presently collaborates with scientists internationally on projects related to fetal and infant growth. She also is associate director of the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute.
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• David G. Lynn, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology, and chair of chemistry at Emory, was cited for “for distinguished contributions to the field of chemical biology, particularly in plant chemical biology, dynamic molecular self-assembly, chemical evolution and chemical education.
Lynn is an internationally recognized researcher in biomolecular chemistry, molecular evolution and chemical biology, the evolution of biological order and the origins of life. In 2002, Lynn was named one of 20 inaugural Howard Hughes Medical Institute professors, receiving $1 million to translate his passion for science to the undergraduate classroom. The result has been a popular series of freshman seminars called "Origins of ORDER (On Recent Discoveries by Emory Researchers).” He also has pioneered several creative science/arts collaborations at Emory to bring a better understanding of science to the public through art.
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