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If you have traveled past the Argonne Guest House recently, you might have noticed water that wasn't there before. You're not imagining things -- the small wetland south of Watertower Road has been expanded.
The project is an attempt to compensate Mother Nature for the loss of wetlands from the construction of the Advanced Photon Source (APS). Expansion of this wetland is a major step towards restoring the area to meet this goal.
"This wetland will provide a habitat for native prairie plants and animals to grow again," said Mark Kamiya (EQO), manager of the restoration project. "This expanded wetland will mitigate the loss of a wetland next to the APS ring. The expanded wetland has the potential to double in size, which may allow wetland credits for future projects."
To accomplish this, Kamiya's team spent a week in late winter digging up the network of drain tiles that lay under the property. These tiles, which have long been used by Illinois farmers to remove unwanted groundwater, kept the site's topsoil dry for years. With their removal, water is again collecting in the area.
"A week after we finished, it rained heavily, and there was a pond 25 feet wide on the site," Kamiya said. "The spring rains should further expand the 3.2 acres the wetland previously occupied. Eventually, we'd like it to cover as much as 10 acres."
It is estimated that it will take 12 to 18 months for the water levels to stabilize, after which a determination will be made to see if a dam is needed to expand the wetland further. But in the meantime, Kamiya believes local wildlife should begin making inroads.
"With our management to increase native species, remove weedy species, and the gradual increase in water will allow the transition to a higher quality wetland," he said. "This expanded wetland will create a food source and habitat for many more plant and animal species. We have already heard the frogs singing this spring, which is a hopeful sign."
The project will bring Argonne in compliance with Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulations, which require that at least one acre of wetland be created for each that is destroyed.
For more information about the project, contact Kamiya at ext. 2-2704.
-- Chad Boutin
Another in a series of "mini-symposia" focusing on laboratory-directed research and development ( LDRD) projects will be held Tuesday, May 14, from 2-4 p.m. in Building 362, Conference Room F108.
The project's principal investigators will summarize their research and results, and give audience members a chance to ask questions.
All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend.
Five new members have been named to the University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory: British Petroleum scientist Bernard J. Bulkin; California Institute of Technology Vice President Steven E. Koonin; University of Chicago Professor Keith Moffat; University of Chicago Provost Richard P. Saller and Alabama Public Service Commission President Charles J. Sullivan, III.
The board provides guidance, oversight, direction and advice to laboratory management. Its
members are drawn from University of Chicago trustees, officials and faculty, representatives from
other universities and industry leaders.
Bulkin is chief scientist for British Petroleum International, London. His previous
positions include a professorship at City University of New York and Polytechnic Institute, as well
as directorships of several companies. Among his many honors, Bulkin is a fellow of the Royal
Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Petroleum and the Royal Society of the Arts. He has also
received an honorary professorship from the University of York. Koonin is vice president and provost, and professor of
theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. He is a consultant for the Institute
for Defense Analysis, the MITRE Corporation, and Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge national
laboratories. Among his many honors, he is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Moffat is Louis Block professor of
Biology and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago as well as director of the Consortium
for Advanced Radiation Sources. He has also held a professorship at Cornell, where he directed
MacCHESS, the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Technology Resource at the Cornell High
Energy Synchrotron Source. He received a Guggenheim fellowship and is a trustee of the Institute
for Complex Adaptive Matter. Richard
P. Saller, provost of the University of Chicago, is the university's second-ranking officer,
responsible for academic appointments, programs and budgetary priorities. Saller is also Edward L.
Ryerson distinguished service professor. A distinguished scholar of Roman history with special
interests in social, economic and cultural history, Saller has a notable record of publication. His
books include "Personal Patronage Under the Early Roman Empire," "Patriarchy, Property and Death in
the Roman Family Patriarchy," and "The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture," a work that has
been translated into five languages.
Sullivan was first elected president of the Alabama Public Service Commission in 1983. He is also
president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. His honors include
memberships in the Alabama State Bar, the Advisory Council of Nuclear Power Operations and the
Argonne-West Review Committee.
Nobel Laureate J. Robert Schrieffer will speak on "Strange Quantum Numbers in Condensed Matter Physics" at an Advanced Photon Source Colloquium Wednesday, May 1. The talk will begin at 3 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 402 Conference Center.
Schrieffer shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in physics for the microscopic theory of superconductivity. His book "The Theory of Superconductivity," published in 1964, is widely considered one of the classic texts in the field.
More information on this talk, and upcoming talks in the APS Colloquium Series, is online. See "On the Web," page 2.
The Argonne-University of Chicago shuttle bus schedule has been updated.
The free shuttle bus makes round trips every work day between Argonne and the University of Chicago. For more information or to make comments or suggestions, contact Diana Jergovic at jergovic@uchicago.edu or (773) 702-4261 or Karen Hellman at khellman@anl.gov or ext. 2-7808.
Employees should check the shuttle service Web page periodically since the schedule may change.
A new online seminar, "The Scientific Article: From Galileo's New Science to the Human Genome," is a user-friendly history lesson prepared by Joseph E. Harmon (ET) and others.
Originally an exhibition held in the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago's Library, " the online course offers a more permanent and accessible venue for more people," said Harmon, a senior technical editor.
He is also co-author of a recently published academic book, "Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th Century to the Present" (Oxford University Press), with Alan Gross and Michael Reidy.
The course traces the history of journals from the 17th-century Philosophical Transactions to modern-day online versions of Nature. It examines the ways scientists have used the printed medium to communicate their findings.
With zoom-in online features, seminar users discover both the scientific significance of the manuscripts and the beauty of the illustrations.
Of the 150 items in the University of Chicago exhibition, Harmon's favorite is "Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium," a folio of insects and plants from Surinam, South America, written by Maria Sibylla Merian in 1705. In the online course, viewers can see several of the illustrations from this folio.
According to Harmon, 17th-century scientific articles primarily convey qualitative observations about the natural world written in a style understandable by a general audience, with little in the way of methodology or theory. Today's highly specialized scientific journals reflect the rigorous methodology applied to quantitative experimentation and observation in support of theory.
"The scientific journal has been key to the rapid advance of modern science," said Harmon.
-- Quynh Tran
Dongqi Li (MSD) will speak on "The Status of Women in Physics -- What, Why, and How to Change" at the First Friday Forum meeting Friday, May 3, at noon in Argonne-East's Building 200, Conference Room J183.
The First Friday Forum is an informal gathering of Argonne women usually held on the first Friday of the month. The group explores career and gender issues related to women. Meetings are open to all Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy employees.
(Note: the American Physical Society report on the Status of Women in Physics at Argonne is online.)
Two areas of the Argonne-East site are slated for prescribed burns in the next two weeks, with a third under consideration.
In prescribed burns, plants are set on fire in a controlled fashion, simulating the natural processes that eliminate non-native species and are necessary for many native plants to thrive.
Burns are planned for wetland and savanna areas southeast of the Advanced Photon Source and the prairie near East Gate. A site-wide announcement will be made on the day of the burns, advising employees to avoid these areas.
Representatives of Fidelity Investments, TIAA/CREF and Prudential will visit Argonne-East during April to answer questions about retirement plans and retirement plan assets.
To schedule an appointment, call the number listed below.
Appointments are for one-half hour each. Fidelity: Tuesday, May 7 and 21. Call (800) 642-7131. TIAA-CREF: Wednesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 23. Call (800)
842-2005.
Prudential: Wednesday, May
1 and 15 (1/2-day sessions). Call (847) 619-3519.
A Social Security Representative will be at Human Resources in Argonne-East's Building 201 from
8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, May 15. The representative will be able to:
Enroll employees in Social Security.
Take applications for new Social Security
cards, including original cards for newborns, corrected cards due to marriage and
replacements. Help employees with
earnings posting problems. Answer
general questions about Social Security.
To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.
Staff and non-staff retirement plan interest rates for the second quarter of 2002 are:
| Vendor | Rate | Contributions From | Earned Through |
| TIAA Traditional | 7.00% | 4/1/02 - 6/30/02 | 2/28/03 |
| TIAA Supplemental | 6.50% | 4/1/02 - 6/30/02 | 2/28/03 |
| Prudential Fixed Interest* | 6.16% | 7/1/01 - 6/30/02 | 6/30/02 |
| Prudential Guaranteed | 5.00% | 4/1/02 - 6/30/02 | 12/31/03 |
| Lincoln National (Old Account)** | 3.50% | N/A | 6/30/02 |
| Lincoln National (No Load)** | 5.00% | N/A | 6/30/02 |
* Only available to non-staff participants
** No longer excepting contributions
An Argonne team took third place in the 12th Annual Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee, held April 20 in Downers Grove.
Team members were James F. Miller (CMT), Liz Stefanski (OTD) and Patricia Weikersheimer (IPD).
The bee is sponsored by Literacy Volunteers of DuPage, the spelling bee works just like the grade-school version, except the contestants are teams of adults. Words from the playoff rounds included "stygian," "psychedelic," "Saskatchewan," "paduasoy" and "terpsichorean."
Human Resources has scheduled the following classes in May at Argonne-East: "High Risk Property Management" (HR246) is
designed for employees who acquire, manage or dispose of property at Argonne. Property managers
need to be aware of items considered "high risk" and whom to contact if they have concerns. Friday,
May 3, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in Building 212, Room A157.
"Workplace Conduct for Supervisors"
(HR257) is a mandatory two-hour training session on discrimination law for all employees who have
supervisory authority, including group leaders. Matt Schiff, litigator, author and speaker, will
speak on discrimination law. Darryl Howe, manager of employee relations and the Diversity Program
Office, will review Argonne policies and procedures. Thursday, May 9, in the Building 402
Conference Center Auditorium at 9 a.m. for last names beginning with the letters A through M and
1:30 p.m. for last names beginning with N through Z.
"Russian Language" (HR164) course offers
both beginning and intermediate coverage of reading, writing and speaking the Russian language. The
class is held in Building 208, Room A262 (Conference Room B) Tuesdays and Thursdays. The
intermediate class starts at 10 a.m., and the beginning class strats at 11 a.m. New students can
join any time.
To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 or see the HR Web site.
The Midwest chapter of the Cryogenic Society of America will host an evening tour of the AGA gas plant in Hammond, Indiana, Thursday, May 16.
AGA is Argonne's supplier of compressed gasses and liquid nitrogen. A tour of the new, fully automated facility begins at 7:30 p.m., following dinner at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $5 for members, $7 for non-members (dinner not included), and the tour is open to all interested employees.
For more information, see the society's Web site or contact Midwest Chapter chairman Jim Specht (PHY) at ext. 2-3610.