Tag Archives: Department of Biological Sciences

Graduate students honored for research and teaching

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

President Dunn congratulates honored graduate students at the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar and Graduate Teaching Effectiveness awards ceremony.

A total of 52 graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences were honored by the university as winners of the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar and Graduate Teaching Effectiveness awards. Eleven students received further distinction as All-University Graduate Research and Creative Scholars, and were  honored as All-University recipients of the Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards.

Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards for 2011-12

All-University Scholars from the College of Arts and Sciences:

  • Michelle Barger, geosciences
  • Timothy Edwards, psychology
  • Isurika Fernando, chemistry
  • Dustin Hoffman, English
  • Taylor Paskin, biological sciences
  • Ryan Sibert, geosciences
  • Stephen Spates, communication
  • Anthony Squiers, political science
  • Lydia Walker, comparative religion

Department Scholars

  • Sara Bijani, history
  • Gerardo Bohorquez Gonzalez, Spanish
  • Caitlin Callahan, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Mary Sajini Devadas, chemistry
  • Katherine Ellison, history
  • Leticia Espinoza, Spanish
  • Nicole Fonger, mathematics
  • Tamrat Gashaw, economics
  • David Johnson, English
  • Lucas Kanclerz, geography
  • Ian Kerr, anthropology
  • Maxwell Kirchhoff, political science
  • Scott Marley, physics
  • Christina Sheerin, psychology
  • Benjamin Slager, biological sciences
  • Michelle A. Suarez, interdisciplinary health sciences
  • Cynthia Visscher, sociology

Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards

All-University Graduate Teachers

  • Matthew Arsenault, political science
  • Skylar Bre’z, history and gender and women’s studies
  • Colleen Cullinan, psychology
  • Kevin Douglass, chemistry
  • Krystal Howard, English
  • Kathryn Kestner, psychology
  • Kate Rowbotham, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Kristin Sovis, English

Department Graduate Teachers

  • Clara Adams, chemistry
  • David Barry, sociology
  • Emily Beard, communication
  • Erica D’Elia, anthropology
  • Holly DeVrou, Spanish
  • Racha El Kadiri, geosciences
  • Carolina Gonzalo Llera, Spanish
  • Alexandra Haase, biological sciences
  • Justin Hanig, economics
  • Kara Krebs, political science
  • Daniel Kueh, biological sciences
  • Bryan Phinezy, mathematics
  • Buddhi Rai, physics
  • Daniel Serfas, geography
  • Kelly Sparks, Mallinson Institute for Science Education
  • Kathryn Titus, geosciences
  • Scott Watson, comparative religion
  • Adam Wolfe, history

Posted in Learner Centered, Student Spotlight

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Biological sciences students gain support

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

The Department of Biological Sciences recently honored 19 students and faculty at its spring 2012 Honors and Awards ceremony. Among these award recipients were Elizabeth Warburton, who was awarded the Willis A. Reid Jr. Research Grant, and Rachel Denny, who received the Distinguished Pre-Professional in Biological Sciences award.

Elizabeth Warburton—Willis A. Reid Student Research Grant

Elizabeth Warburton is awarded the Willis A. Reid Jr. Student Research Grant.

Elizabeth Warburton, a Ph.D. candidate in biology, recently was awarded the Willis A. Reid Jr. Student Research Grant from the American Society of Parasitologists (ASP). This is the only graduate student grant ASP gives and this year Elizabeth had the highest-rated proposal in the nation.

“I am very pleased to receive this grant because senior members in my field feel my project is interesting and worthwhile,” said Warburton.

 

Her research focuses on why a minority of parasite hosts carry heavy parasitic infections while the majority of hosts have light infections or none at all. Or, in lay terms, “not all hosts have equal probability of transmitting the infection to another individual…the heavily infected hosts are much more likely to spread disease,” she said.

Warburton notes the importance of this research topic for society as a whole. “My research findings would benefit both conservation and public health by predicting which individuals in the population hold more responsibility for parasite transmission and disease maintenance in threatened wildlife and human populations,” she said.

In addition to receiving this grant, Warburton was awarded a Gwen Frostic Fellowship and a Grant In Aid from the American Society of Mammologists.

Rachel Denny—Distinguished Pre-Professional in Biological Sciences award

Rachel Denny, recipient of the Distinguished Pre-Professional in Biological Sciences award.

Rachel Denny, a biological sciences minor, also received a prestigious award: the Distinguished Pre-Professional in Biological Sciences award, an award based on faculty input to select the outstanding biology or biomedical sciences major in a pre-professional curriculum.

“For me this was a great honor,” said Denny. “I was truly surprised when I received the email saying I had won this award. I was very grateful for my teacher, Dr. David Karowe, for nominating me for this award. He has been one of the best professors I have ever had at Western.”

 

Denny is already using her biological science savvy to help spark her career and is “applying to medical school for the school year of 2013,” she said.

While not having any concrete research planned, Denny will work with Karowe on her Honors College Thesis. “My thesis is a comprehensive review on the literature of the effects of climate change on birds and mammals,” she said.

As a prospective graduate, Denny has experienced the opportunities and provides this advice for students hoping to follow in her footsteps.

“Have an open mind and be open to all possibilities, you never know what will spark your interest,” she said. “Do not be afraid to talk to your professors and get the help you need. The professors love to help students and are a great resource.”

WMU salutes Warburton and Denny and their contributions to the biological sciences research field.

Links:

Department of Biological Sciences

 

 

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MSA warrior partners with WMU for research

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Deb| 1 Comment

Frank Cervone (bottom left) and his family listen to Dr. Charles Ide talk about the WMU lab where he conducts research for MSA.

Editor’s note: This story is related to another story on Wetern’s research in MSA from the point of view of a research students and her work with another MSA patient. You may read the story here.
 

When Frank Cervone’s doctors told him they thought he had Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and wouldn’t live through Christmas 2011, he replied, “Well, then I better get busy telling people about it and affecting a change!” And that is exactly what he’s done.

Cervone posts on the blog hollywoodrepublican.net and recounted his diagnosis of the disease there…”You know you’re about to have a bad day when the doctor asks if you can wait a few minutes until they see their last patient because they need to talk to you.  Your mind is racing to every disease you’ve ever heard of and trying to remember the symptoms to see if they fit what you feel.  Then the door opens and the doctor walks in.

“There must be a class in medical school titled:  ‘How to Tell a Patient They are Going to Die.’

It goes like this.  Pull your stool up real close, lean forward, and speak in four word sentences.

“It’s Multiple System Atrophy.”

“I am so sorry.”

“Frank, you have MSA.”

“There is no treatment.”

Long pause….  “There is no cure.”

“I am so sorry.”

“Wait!!  Back up.  What did you say?  Multiple System Atrophy?  MSA?  What the hell is MSA?  Dying?  From something I’ve never even heard of?  Dying?  I’m 48 years old!  There must be a mistake.”

“I am so sorry.”

Cervone suffers from a primarily autonomic version of the disease, which causes the slow and paralyzing shutdown of the body’s major autonomic systems like breathing, organ functions, brain functions and more. He searched far and wide for partners in his quest to learn more about possible treatments and developments in active research, and chose WMU when a personal response from Professor Charles Ide of the Department of Biological Sciences at WMU explained his team’s newest findings. Ide is Gwen Frostic professor of biological sciences and director of the Great Lakes Environmental and Molecular Sciences Center.

Once Cervone heard of Ide’s work, he chose WMU as the recipient of funds raised by a 5-mile run in Dayton, Ohio to benefit MSA research.

“It all started with the smell of meatballs,” recounts Cervone on the impetus for the run. “We were campaigning door-to-door when I smelled a fabulous smell…(Cervone (R) was Councilman for the City of Fairborn, Ohio), and I had to find out where it was coming from. We headed straight for that house, I can tell you, and once there, we met a lady who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew a run organizer, who might be interested in helping organize a run for MSA.”

Enter Doug Brandt of the Dayton Barefoot Runners. Brandt heard of Cervone’s plight and volunteered to hold the race in March. Thus began the annual MSA Run/Walk. Cervone humbly explains, “Our gift of $3,350 from the run to the University was made possible by over 200 participants. It’s not a lot of money, but maybe it’s enough to fund a graduate student or a trip to a professional conference on MSA research.”

Cervone who worked at one time as a landscaper, discussed with Ide his exposure to pesticides as a potential cause of MSA.

Ide and his team have shown that changes at the molecular and cellular level in MSA brain cells are equivalent to those caused by exposure to certain pesticides. “We’ve been able to take cells from MSA or control tissues, remove the ‘messenger’ RNA (Ribonucleic acid) which turns into proteins, and show that RNAs and proteins that make energy and get rid of misfolded proteins are way down in MSA cells, like in pesticide treated cells.  Conversely, mRNAs and proteins that turn on an immune response are way up in MSA, including those that are sometimes involved in autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis,” said Ide.

While Cervone’s visit to WMU with Brandt, wife Susan, and daughter Angelina boosted everyone’s spirits—Cervone appeared hale and hearty to the casual viewer—Susan pointed out the toll daily activities and travel take on her husband’s life. “Today he looks and sounds and acts great,” she said. “Once we get home, it’s very likely he’ll be in a coma-like state for anywhere from a few days to a week. The disease takes that much out of him.”

Research on MSA is moving along steadily, and there are definitely high points with each new discovery…hopefully some of those discoveries will be made by WMU and will benefit Cervone and those sufferers of MSA who come after him.

Links:

More on Dr. Ide’s research
Department of Biological Sciences
Multiple System Atrophy awareness

 

 

Posted in Discovery Driven, Learner Centered

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Maarten Vonhof awarded $180,000 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Grant

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment

By Katy TerBerg

Dr. Maarten Vonhof, associate professor of biological sciences wants to know what’s causing “the worst wildlife health crisis in memory.” According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, it’s White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in North American bats, and Vonhof recently was awarded $180,000 to further his research on WNS.

WNS is a fungal disease which has killed millions of bats in eastern North America. Vonhof and his research team plan to test a new, biocompatible and inexpensive compound to aid in slowing the growth of the fungal infection. The compound, said Vonhof, is shown to “not have any harmful effects on the bats.”

Dr. Maarten VonHof associate professor of biological sciences.

So far, Arcadia National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the states of Alaska and Kentucky have confirmed the existence of WNS, and additional reports in Liberty Park, Ohio, and the states of Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and New Hampshire point to the need for a solution.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, White Nose Syndrome is “the worst wildlife health crisis in memory.”

Vonhof comes to the project with a long history of work focused on temperate and tropical bats and birds. He relates his findings on habitat use, dispersal, and social behavior to patterns of population differentiation at multiple spatial scales, ranging from local genetic variation to range-wide patterns of phylogeography.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is an organization dedicated to “conserving the nature of America,” and the conservation of wildlife animals, including bats, is included in their mission statement advocating conservation.
Links:
Dr. Vonhof’s profile.
WMU Department of Biological Sciences
U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s overview of White Nose Syndrome.

 

Posted in Discovery Driven, Faculty News

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Jeness Receives Mallinson Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Deb| Leave a comment
By Katy TerBerg

Dr. Mark Jenness received the George G. Mallinson Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Science Education.

The Science and Mathematics Program Improvement (SAMPI) at WMU is pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Jenness, emeritus researcher for SAMPI, has received the George G. Mallinson Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Science Education by the Michigan Science Teachers Association.

Jenness retired in 2010 after serving as the founding director of SAMPI, an outreach division of the Mallinson Institute dedicated to evaluation, research, and technical assistance for K-12 schools and other educational institutions.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from Nazareth College and master’s and doctoral degrees from WMU, Jenness garnered grants from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Kellogg Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, Michigan Department of Education, and several other agencies. Jenness’ award is based on his body of work in the fields of scientific and educational research. Jenness became a research associate in 1992 and then co-director and senior researcher of WMU’s SAMPI from 1993-98. In 1998, he became director and senior researcher of SAMPI.

George G. Mallinson was the founder of Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) and was a noteworthy participant and scholar in the field of science education and research. In the 1990s Mallinson and his wife established an award to bestow upon a person who has shown a high standard of commitment to advancing scientific education. According to Mary Anne Sydlik, adjunct assistant professor and senior researcher for the Mallinson Institute, the award Jeness will obtain is the most prestigious award that MSTA gives out.

Jenness remains an active researcher seeking to improve education efforts on both a local and global scale. He received the award March 9 in Lansing, Mich.

Links:

Michigan Science Teachers Association

Science and Mathematics Program Improvement

 

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