March 20, 1997 Contact: Robert Irion (408) 459-2495; irion@ua.ucsc.edu

UC SANTA CRUZ OCEANOGRAPHER EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Biological oceanographer Bess Ward, a professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has received one of the top awards in her field: the 1997 G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.

Ward, age 42, is both the youngest recipient and the first woman to receive the prestigious honor, which the society has bestowed annually since 1982. The award recognizes outstanding midcareer scientists who exemplify the standards of scholarship and creativity set by the late G. Evelyn Hutchinson, a pioneering ecologist at Yale University. A remarkable number of his students have gone on to become international leaders in aquatic ecology.

Ward's citation, in part, describes her "pioneering applications of molecular methods to key conversions of nitrogen and methane." In essence, Ward studies how quickly bacteria convert these substances from one form to another. Bacteria can oxidize methane into carbon dioxide, for instance, and can transform ammonium into nitrate. Such reactions are ubiquitous and vital to life cycles and biogeochemical cycles in agricultural fields, lakes, the ocean, and elsewhere.

Ward has helped to introduce the most modern techniques from molecular biology to her field. For example, she uses immunological methods to probe nitrifying bacteria in the ocean. As an important and fundamentally limiting nutrient in the ocean, nitrogen controls the rate at which small plants grow--and hence the rate at which ocean life removes carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere.

Ward's research group also studies the effects of similar bacteria in nearby ecosystems, such as Elkhorn Slough and San Francisco Bay. The organisms are potentially useful as "bioremediators" to help clean petroleum, herbicides, and other toxic materials from the water and marshes.

Ward received her B.S. in zoology from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington. She joined UCSC's faculty in 1989 and now chairs the Ocean Sciences Department.

Editor's note: You may reach Ward at (408) 459-3171. For a photo, call the Public Information Office at (408) 459-2495.

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