BioNews 2004

BioNews 2004

Bull Shoals NSF Grant 2/04 Dr. Janice Greene, Director of the Bull Shoals Field Station, and Dr. Emmett Redd received a grant from the National Science Foundation for renovations on the existing house at the Station. Graduate students and visiting classes will be able to stay in the house while conducting activities at the field station. The house will eventually have living space and basic laboratory facilities. For more information see the field station web site .

Alumni News 12/03 Rachel Ruhlen (BS, 1996) recently received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Missouri - Columbia. Her dissertation was titled “Diets, estrogen environment of the fetus, and development of reproductive tract and other systems”. Her doctoral studies were funded by MU’s Molecular Biology Predoctoral Fellowship and an NIH Training Grant. She currently is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the UIC-NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplement Research in Women’s Health.

Shem Unger receives thesis award

12/03 Shem Unger, a recent Biology graduate (MS, 2003), received Missouri State’s outstanding master’s thesis award. His thesis topic was a comparison of the reproductive biology of hellbendersShem Unger (large aquatic salamanders) from declining and stable populations. The research was funded in part by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Shem presented his research at an international herpetology conference and Brazil in July. His advisor was Dr. Alicia Mathis.

Mammalogist Meetings at BSFS

11/03 Missouri State hosted the 2003 annual meeting of the Central Plains Society of Mammalogists at Bull Shoals Field Station. Other universities represented included Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, Fort Hays State University, Midwestern State University, Arkansas State University, Emporia State University, and Truman State University.

Making Mussels

10/03 Missouri State biologists are strengthening populations of several endangered species in rivers in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. Read recent articles about their work in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Missouri Conservationist.

Hoback Receives Award 8/03 Former Biology grad student Wyatt Hoback (M.S. 1995) was the first recipient of the Pratt-Heins Scholarship and Research Award at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Tom Tye, trustee of the Pratt-Heins Foundation, stated that Hoback "has made tremendous contributions to UNK and distinguished himself with an incredible volume and caliber of scholarly works." Hoback received his M.S. from Missouri State and Ph.D. from the U. Nebraska, Lincoln. More details in the UNK news announcement.

Durham receives major grant

6/03 Dr. Paul Durham was awarded an RO1 research grant from the National Institutes of Health, totaling $837,000 over 4 years. The award is in support of research on the cellular biology of temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ). TMJ affects 11-12 million people and causes pain and deterioration in the jaw point near the ear. Paul uses cultured neurons to investigate the mechanisms of inflammation. He came to the Biology Department 2 years ago from the University of Iowa and teaches Cell Biology (Bio 320).

Amanda's summer research

5/03 Biology senior Amanda Wilson will work on an NSF-funded research project at Arizona State University this summer. Amanda will study nitrogen retention in streams, using N-15 isotopic addition experiments and comparing streams in urban, agricultural, and native desert environments.

Nicole's summer research

5/03 Biology sophomore Nicole Rohr will be a researcher at the Darling Marine Center in Maine this summer . Nicole will study the ultrastructural features of oogenesis in the marine hydroid Tubularia. She will also participate in an NSF-funded project to produce an interactive CD-ROM of living marine invertebrates showing feeding, locomotory, and reproductive behavior.

Russ Rhodes Retires

4-03 Dr. Russell Rhodes has retired as Professor of Biology after 26 years of service to Missouri State and the Springfield Community. Russ served as Department Head of Biology, Interim Dean for the College of Health and Human Services, Director of the Center for Scientific Research and Education, and as member of the City Utilities board and the Springfield City Council.

National Award for Angela Spence

4-03 Angela Spence has been elected to receive the 2003 Outstanding Advising Award for Faculty Academic Advising from the National Academic Advising Association. The award will be presented at the NACADA conference in Dallas, TX in October. Congratulations, Angela!

Award Winner

4-03 Dr. Janice Greene received the 2002 Environmental Educator of the Year award from the Missouri Forestkeepers Network. The MFN is a volunteer group working to protect, sustain and enhance Missouri’s forest resources through monitoring, advocacy, and education.
Janice was also recently named "Earth Hero" by the Dickerson Park Zoo, in recognition of her environmental advocacy.

Cover story

2/28 A research paper by Kristen Pattinson, coauthored with Drs. John Havel and Russell Rhodes, is featured on the the cover of the current issue of the journal Freshwater Biology. The paper is titled “Invasibility of a reservoir to exotic Daphnia lumholtzi: experimental assessment of diet selection and life history responses to Cyanobacteria”. Kristen is a former undergraduate and graduate student in Biology at Missouri State, and is now employed with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Besides her interest in water quality issues, Kristen is an avid SCUBA diver and a 3rd-degree black belt in karate.

A winning poster presentation at MNRC

2/03 Matt's Keener's poster presentation, titled "The effect of bridge crossings on fish assemblages in a Southwest Missouri stream" was selected as the winning poster in the 2003 Conservation Biology Student Poster competition at the Missouri Natural Resources Conference. Matt's poster described the results of his Master's thesis study, carried out with Dr. Dan Beckman.

Nursery/Landscape Champions

2/03 Missouri State undergraduates Brandi Parsley (Biology), Robbie Rader, and Lindsay Haymes (Agriculture) won national honors at the National FFA Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event, held in Louisville Kentucky in November. All three students placed in the top 12 nationally, and the team finished second, missing first place by only 5 points out of 2200 possible!