Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) recently beefed up his staff by hiring Rebecca Black as a legislative correspondent.

A Moore intern since September, the Lawrence, Kan., native has also interned in the Democratic National Committee press department.

The 24-year-old graduated from the University of Kansas in 2001 with a degree in political science.

Transmogrification. In the words of Calvin and Hobbes, the House Science Committee has recently been transmogrified. Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) has added several new faces and promoted a few others.

Peter Rooney has moved from staff director for the subcommittee on research to deputy staff director for the full committee.

Rooney, 47, was the founding executive director for the Forum on Technology and Innovation prior to joining the committee. He has also served as a program officer at the National Academy of Sciences.

Rooney, who was born in London, received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at San Diego in 1995. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1986 with a bachelor’s in physics.

Michael Bloomquist jumps on board as associate general counsel. Prior to the move, the Scarsdale, N.Y., native spent four years with the Washington law firm Patton Boggs LLP. He has

also worked for the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of the Interior honors program and interned for Boehlert.

Bloomquist, 34, received a bachelor’s in history from Hamilton College in 1991. He earned his law degree from Washington University in 1995 and a master’s in environmental law from George Washington University in 1997.

Kevin Carroll has been tapped as staff director of the subcommittee on energy. Carroll, 45, comes from the Office of Management and Budget.

The Manchester, Conn., native received a Master’s of Public Policy from Duke University in 1999. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in political economy of natural resources.

Jenny Barker, 27, joined the subcommittee on energy as a staff assistant. The Kansas City native has previously worked as Rep. Dennis Moore’s (D-Kan.) legislative correspondent, an adjunct professor of argumentation and debate in communications at New York University and a research analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston’s New York office.

Barker graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1998 with a degree in communication studies.

With the motto that two Carrolls are better than one, the committee also welcomed Amy Carroll, who is not related to Kevin, as a professional staff member on the subcommittee on environment, technology and standards. She will also serve as subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers’ (R-Mich.) designee.

The 29-year-old has previously worked for the subcommittee in her capacity as a Congressional Science Fellow with the American Society for Microbiology.

The New Castle, N.H., native received a Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from Cornell University in 2002. In 1996, she graduated from the University of Notre Dame with degrees in biochemistry and environmental science.

Olwen Huxley joins Amy Carroll as a professional staff member on the subcommittee. The Cambridge, England, native and Ironman triathlete comes from the House Northeast-Midwest Coalition. The 32-year-old has also worked for the Northeast Midwest Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Huxley majored in history and science at Harvard-Radcliffe College where she graduated in 1992. She received a master’s degree from Boston University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies in 1997.

Last, but certainly not least, Jimmy Hague has been promoted from a committee intern to a staff assistant on the subcommittee on research.

Since the start of his committee internship in October 2002, the Charleston, W.Va., native worked on both the space and aeronautics and energy subcommittees.

In 2000, the 25-year-old graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s in physics and a minor in mathematics. He received a master’s in astronomy from the University of Maryland at College Park in December 2002.