Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 12:00 am
Jim Carrington is the first Oregon State prof to receive the honor in 12 years
By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter
Albert Einstein. Robert Oppenheimer. Thomas Edison. Orville Wright. And now, as of a 5:55 a.m. phone call, Jim Carrington has joined their ranks.
Carrington, a botany and plant pathology professor at Oregon State University, was notified Tuesday morning that he'd been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
He's the first OSU employee in 12 years to receive the honor, which is one of the highest that can be achieved by scientists. Seventy-two individuals were recognized for scientific excellence this year.
"It's very humbling. There are a lot of really outstanding scientists who are not elected in. You feel like there is an element of chance to the whole thing," Carrington said.
The 47-year-old is a pioneer in the study of "small RNA," which plants, animals and other organisms use to control growth, development and defense against diseases.
Previous recipients from OSU include zoology professor Jane Lubchenco in 1996, marine geology and geophysics professor G. Brent Dalrymple in 1993 and biochemistry and biophysics professor K.E. van Holde in 1989.
Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president, said the honor shows the world-class science being done at OSU.
"Jim's work on small-RNA has been instrumental in helping us understand how plant functions are controlled at the most fundamental genetic levels - and basic knowledge such as this is what has always set the stage for more advances in agriculture, medicine and other fields," he said in a news release.
Carrington credited his fellow scientists for most of the work that earned him the honor.
His lab at OSU - which includes about 12 graduate students and post-doctoral scientists, as well as 20 undergraduates - does studies that include taking RNA components out of plants to see what happens.
"Plants fail to reproduce. They make leaves that are dwarfed. Sometimes, the plants have a very limited ability to defend themselves against viruses," he said.
Carrington has been on the OSU staff since 2001, and he directs the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing. The center, which is separate from his lab, has about 100 scientists affiliated with it.
The National Academy of Sciences is a nonprofit honorific society established in 1863.
Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.