Biology Department Newsletter

Volume 8    Number 2    September 10, 2004

Letter from the Editor

Welcome back to another exciting semester.  We hope that you enjoy this issue of the newsletter.  We will try to publish the newsletter more regularly this year.  If you have any contributions, please submit them to S Saupe or W Lamberts. 

Student News 

Beth Welle (Natural Science-Geology) presented the results of her research work at the Science Museum of MN (St. Paul) at the Geological Society of America meeting in Boise, ID.  The title of Beth's presentation was "The Poison Creek Dinosaur Fauna from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Johnson County, Wyoming." 

Beth Welle and Aaron Hirsch (Natural Science-Geology) co-authored a paper which was published in the American Journal of Undergraduate Research in June, 2004.  The title of their paper was "Origin of Calcareous Sediments in the Holocene Pigeon Creek Tidal Lagoon and Tidal Delta, San Salvador Island, Bahamas."

Aaron Hirsch (Natural Science - Geology) authored a paper which will be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Undergraduate Research.  The title of Aaron's paper is "Analysis of the Merden Lake Esker, Stearns County, Minnesota: A New Interpretation."  Aaron graduated from St. John's in May, 2004, and has been accepted into the Geology graduate program at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.  Aaron's graduate research will focus on the seismic interpretation of of Cenozoic basins in central Nevada.

Nikki Hemmesch (CSB '01; Natural Science - Geology) recently graduated with her Master's degree in Paleontology from Boise State University and is presently the Assistant Curator of Paleontology at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland, CO.  Nikki's graduate research was on the North American occurrences of the Lower Permain ammonoid Uraloceras. Results of Nikki's graduate research are being published by the Journal of Paleontology. 

Erin Saupe (CSB '08), Beth Welle (CSB '07), Kelly Fox (CSB '07), Nikki Hemmesch (CSB '01), Aaron Hirsch (SJU '04), and Gina Lux (CSB '04) will participate in the first CSB/SJU Geology Reunion field trip during the Geological Society of America annual meeting in November, 2004.  The field trip will be led by Drs. Larry Davis (CSB/SJU) and Ted Dyman (USGS) and will be examining the middle to late Cretaceous sedimentary formations exposed near Pueblo Reservoir, Pueblo, Colorado.  The field trip is the result of several years of field research conducted by Dyman, Davis and others in the USGS, the results of which are being published as a U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin.

Matt Parris, an alum of SJU and current asst. professor of biology at the University of Memphis, will be the speaker for the Sept. 24 seminar (4 pm).

 

Faculty News

Dr. S Thomas recently had a paper published in the journal Behavioral Processes (Thomas, S. A. & Wolff, J. O. 2004. Pair bonding and “the widow effect” in female prairie voles. Behavioral Processes, 67, 47-54. )  Congratulations to Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Shawn A. Thomas received a National Science Foundation Grant to fund research at CSB/SJU entitled "Geographical variation in the mating system of prairie voles."  This award will help fund a cooperative project with the University of Memphis and the University of Florida to examine geographical variation in mating systems. Specifically, Dr. Thomas will conduct field and laboratory studies with prairie voles from the northern part of their range in Minnesota to complement current studies on voles from Illinois and Tennessee on mate choice, mate fidelity, and pair bonding in the purportedly monogamous prairie vole.

Dr's Larry Davis, Gordon Brown, Bill Lamberts and Robert Eves (Southern Utah University) attended a geology conference at the Gerace Research Center on San Salvador Island, Bahamas in May, 2004 and presented a paper on their interdisciplinary work with undergraduate research on San Salvador.  In November, 2004, Larry, Gordon, Bill and Robert will be presenting two additional papers at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO.  The titles of the papers are (1) Encouraging Scientific Literacy Through Extended Natural History Field Trips that Focus on Integrated Science and (2) Cooperative Geological and Biological Field Study of Pigeon Creek Lagoon, San Salvador Island, Bahamas.

Dr. Michael Reagan is on sabbatical leave during the Fall '04 semester.  He is doing research in DNA repair on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  This summer he began constructing mutant yeast strains in order to determine whether they have DNA repair defects.  This fall he hopes to finish these mutant strains and begin testing for DNA repair defects.

Dr. Stephen Saupe was cited as one of about 400 co-authors of a paper entitled "The morphology of Steve" that was published in the Annals of Improbable Research, July-August, pp 24-28 (2004).  This article, which is available online, is a follow-up to "Project Steve," which is an initiative of the National Center for Science Education to support the teaching of evolution in public schools.  Dr. Saupe reports that he is proud to be helping to alleviate the "mid-American Steve deficit."

 

Curriculum News

Advisors for Pre-Professional Programs

 

Calendar of Events

 

Biology Club News

Biology Club Officers:

 

Scholarships/Graduate Study

Dental School Presentation
A Presentation by Ms. Gale Shea and Dr. Sayeed Attar on the University of Minnesota Dental School on Thursday, September 16th at 5:30 in Peter Engel Science Center Room 325 at SJU.  Pizza and soda provided.

Preparing for Dental School
An informational meeting at the University of Minnesota Dental School on Thursday, September 23rd at 5:30 in 5-125 Moos Tower on the Minneapolis Campus.  Register to attend this event at www.hccevents.umn.edu.

Links for Scholarships/Grants/Fellowships for Graduate Study

• CSB/SJU Career Services Links

• External Scholarship Program Office

Jobs/Volunteer

Careers in Botany.
     Interested in botany, check out this site from the Botanical Society of America.

Assorted Opportunities (contact them if interested)

E-Link
    E-link is an on-line career tool available to CSB/SJU students and alums.  It is a service of the Career Resource Office and can help you find a job, info on a major, access the career calendar of events and lots of other cool stuff.  For more information, email the Career Resource Office.

Web Sites:

• CSB/SJU Career Resources Office

• CSB/SJU Financial Aid

• CSB/SJU Student Employment

• SELT

• Science Jobs

• CSB/SJU Career Resource Office - Technical & Science-related Jobs

• MN - DNR Volunteer Activities

Internships/Research

Summer Research in the CSB/SJU Biology Department
Peter Engel and the New Science Center were busy places this summer.  More than two dozen faculty and students were involved in a variety of cool research projects.  Some of these projects are summarized below:

• Metabolic adaptations in Mus musculus (mice).  Christopher Bell, Donald Harris, and Misty Retzlaff worked with Dr's Stephanie Toering, Elizabeth Wurdak and David Mitchell on this study in which outbred male mice were placed on a high-fat, high-protein, low carbohydrate diet that mimics the ever popular Atkins diet.  During the summer (and fall) mice will be sacrificed and levels of enzyme activity, tissue composition, and tissue structure analyzed.  The goal of this project is to correlate the biochemical, physiological, and histological changes that occur in these animals with the change in diet.  Future work will include mice of different ages, gender, and genetic history as well as modifications in diet or periods of analysis.
   

• Biochemical analysis of the cactus Opuntia fragilis. Laura Wilant worked on this project with Dr. D Mitchell to study possible changes in plant growth rate, resources and growing conditions could cause changes in protein expression in this species.  Laura identified several places in Stearns County where the cactus grows and studied the cellular contents isolated by two-dimensional protein chromatography. 
   

• Beth Welle (Natural Science-Geology) worked at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  The results of her work will be presented in a paper at the annual Geological Society of Meeting in Denver, CO in early November and her presentation is titled Interpreting Field Date a Decade Later: Anm Undergraduate's Unexpected Lesson.
   

• Brian Hoffman and Mark Zenzen work this summer with Dr. S Saupe on a project to monitor airborne pollen and mold.  As a part of this work, they made daily counts and reported them in our Center for Pollen Studies web site.  One goal was to correlate seasonal changes and environmental conditions with airborne allergens. 
   

• Mark Zenzen and Ben Rith-Najarian began a project to assess the impact of earthworms on the St. John's Arboretum.  Earthworms are not native to our area and are associated with marked reductions in wildflower populations.  Mark and Ben, with assistance from Brian Hoffman established three transects and analyzed the vegetation and soils along these transects.  During the fall, they will determine the worm load in these areas in an attempt to determine the impact of the worms.  
   

• Kelly Fox (Natural Science-Geology) participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) through the Geology Department at Gustaphus Aldolphus.  Six weeks of Kelly's REU was spent conducting field work in Utah.  Kelly will present the results of her research at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO in early November and her presentation is titled The Early Cretaceous Buckhorn Paleovalley: Implications for Sevier Foreland Basin Development.
   

• Brian Hoffman studied the change in pigment composition of smooth sumac during the growing season.  This project is the initial work to determine exactly why deciduous trees turn color in the fall.  WIth the assistance of Mark Zenzen, Brian collected leaves at weekly intervals, measured the concentrations of chlorophylls, anthocyanins and carotenoids.  Brian also used an image analyzing program to determine the color of the leaves.
   

• Erin Saupe (Natural Science-Geology) worked this summer in the Geology lab organizing and cataloging the paleontology collection.  In addition, Erin worked with Dr. Ted Dyman of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, CO on a research project assessing U.S. petroleum resources in the Gulf Coast region.  Erin will be presenting the results of her research at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO in early November.  The title of Erin's presentation:  Relative Uncertainty of U.S. Geological Survey Petroleum Assessments in Gulf Coast Region: 1995-2004.

New environmental research fellowship opportunities announced
EPA announced that approximately 100 new fellowships will be awarded for research in environmental fields of study through the agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. The STAR program provides educational support for full-time master's and doctoral level students who plan to pursue environmental careers focusing on developing future leaders in environmental science, education, assessment and restoration efforts. More than 1,300 applicants compete each year for approximately 100 fellowships through a rigorous merit review process. A 2002 National Academy of Science (NAS) report gave the STAR program an outstanding rating compared to other federal research grant programs. The NAS report also concluded that STAR research results have improved the scientific foundation for decision making at EPA since the program's inception in 1995.  

The deadline for preliminary applications is Nov. 23, 2004. Awards from this selection process should be made by July 21, 2005 for the fall 2005 term. Projects undertaken by previous fellows have included genetic approaches to biodiversity, environmental toxicology and research on watersheds, and the impact of human behavior on the environment. Fellowships of up to $37,000 per year will be awarded, with master's degree candidates eligible for up to two years of support and doctoral candidates for a total of three years. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or be lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Information on STAR fellowships is available at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/fellow.

Links to Summer Research

• University of Minnesota Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Internship Links

• CSB/SJU Internship Office Home Page
       -New Internship Opportunities page 
       -Environmental Internships
       -Science Research
       -Women's Issues

Links for Undergraduate Research

• CSB/SJU Career Resources Office

Seminars/Symposia/Field Trips

Biology Department Seminars
Dr. Chuck Rodell has organized a fantastic set of biology seminars for the fall semester.  All of the seminars will be held in PENGL 373 at 4:00 pm.  Everyone is invited to attend.  The seminars are:

Plant Walks
The St. John’s Community Garden Society, OSB Health At Work, and St. John's Arboretum are sponsoring a series of plant identification walks during the fall.  These walks (see list below) will be led by Dr. SG Saupe (CSB/SJU Biology Dept) and will depart from the Abbey Bell Banner at 12:00 noon (sharp).  For more information, contact Dr. Saupe or Don Neu.

Woodland Wildflowers - Central Minnesota Audubon Society
Dr. Saupe will give a presentation entitled "Natural History of Woodland Wildflowers" at the September meeting of the Central Minnesota Audubon Society.  This is the same presentation that Dr. Saupe presented to the Biology department earlier this month.  Anyone is invited to attend Audubon meetings.  The group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of the month in the Unitarian Fellowship Building in St. Cloud (south of Walmart, click here for directions and more info).  If you need a ride to this, or other Audubon program, contact Dr. S Saupe.  Other CMAS presentations include: 

Wild Bird Walks
Saint John’s Arboretum is pleased to offer guided walking tours to identify birds.  And you get the bonus of enjoying all the beauty of the Arboretum while you do it!  Bob Rodgers, local birding enthusiast, has volunteered to lead tours on the Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings listed below.  These tours are  free and open to the public.  Whether you are a novice or an expert birder, you will enjoy the walk looking for common and unusual species.  Pre-registration is not required.  Just show up when you can make it.  The tours may take different routes each time depending on the birds.  All tours will start at the Kiosk on the entrance road.  Wear walking clothes and bring binoculars if you have them.  Also bring insect repellant and water as you see fit.  Please note that there are no restrooms on the trail.  Bob will be there rain or shine. 
     Saturday, Sept. 11    8:00 am. to 10:00 am.  Meet at the Kiosk.
     Thursday, Sept. 16    6:00 pm. to 8:00 pm.  Meet at the Kiosk.

Chemistry Seminar
Dr. Gary Kordosky (SJU ’64) from the Cognis Company will present a seminar entitled “CSI Lomas Bayas Chemistry and a ‘Bit of Luck’ Save the Day” on Thursday, September 23, 2004 (Day 3) in Ardolf Science Center, Room 142 at 4:30 p.m.  Interested students may meet with Dr. Kordosky at 4:00 p.m. in ASC 142

Nutrition Career Session
Amy Johnson and Tony Nicoli, two alums, will present a session on nutrition careers on Nov 9 in the late afternoon.  Tuned for more information.  Amy is a Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Minneapolis and has a master’ in Public Administration (undergrad Biology).  Tony is a SJU Biology alum, working as a Consumer Safety Officer dealing with import issues.

 

Miscellaneous 

St. John's Weather
If you've looked at the roof of PENGL this semester you may note a small, but significant new addition - a weather station.  This summer Mark Zenzen, Brian Hoffman, and Dr. S Saupe set up the Davis station on the roof to begin collecting data to use in their pollen research.  The plan is to make these data available instantaneously on the web.  Be on the lookout for a "Weather Page."

St. John's Forests are "Certified"
Tom Kroll, Director of the St. John's Arboretum, is featured in the Forest Stewardship Council Newsletter about the "certified" wood being grown at Saint John's.   Wisconsin just finished certifying all of its public lands and the state of Minnesota will be done with its state lands by Dec 2005.  This certification is something we started when Fr. Paul was here, so we were ahead of the curve.  The newsletter also published a story when St. John's was first certified 2 years ago.  You can read the recent article about St. John's certification online.

Arboretum Staff Changes
There were several changes in the St. John's Arboretum staff this summer.  John Geissler, the Assistant Director, was married in June and soon moved to North Dakota where his wife Christina is attending graduate school.  In August, Ms. Sarah Gainey was hired to replace John.  Please extend to Sarah a warm Benedictine welcome and send your warm regards to John as he embarks on a new journey in life.

 

News from the Melancon Greenhouse

The greenhouse recently hosted a plant sale.  If you missed the sale or would just like to enjoy some greenery, everyone is welcome to visit the CSB/SJU Biology Department Greenhouse.  It is located in the SE corner of PENGL and is open daily from about 9 - 4.

 

News from the CSB/SJU Bailey Herbarium - by Stephen Saupe

The Bailey Herbarium has a new logo!  Click here to learn about the history of the logo.  Late last spring we made t-shirts with the logo and they were a popular item.  We are planning to place another order for shirts and depending on the number of orders, the cost will likely be $8.00.  In the photo below, Christina and John Geissler (former assistant director of the St. John's Arboretum) are proudly wearing their Bailey Herbarium t-shirts.  If you would also like a herbarium logo t-shirt, please contact Dr. Saupe (x2782).  

Web Sites Worth A Visit

(Have you visited any cool sites lately?  Send us your suggestions.)

Visual Cognition Web Site
Do you think you would know if a gorilla walked into a crowded room, beat his/her chest and then walked out?  You won't be so sure after viewing some of the nifty movies about "inattentional blindness" at this site from the Visual Cognition Lab at the University of Illinois.

 

Puzzler of the Week

(Do you know any good puzzlers?  Please send us your ideas.)

What is this?

(click on thumbnails for larger view)

To enter the competition, simply send your answer (anyone can participate - except Dr Jensen :-) to Dr. S. Saupe via e-mail or snail mail (c/o Biology Department, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN 56321), campus mail, or simply slide the entry under my office door, SC335). The winner will be selected randomly from among the correct entries.  The winner will receive an official CSB/SJU bailey Herbarium Magnet. Entries are due Sept 30.

 

Joke of the Week

(Have you heard any good jokes?  Please share them with us.)

This story is about three retired ladies, a bottle of Jack Daniels and a baseball game.  Let's see how good a detective you are in solving the riddle:

Three elderly ladies went to their first Cubs game, something that was an occasion of great excitement for them. To add to the excitement they smuggled in a bottle of booze to the game and immediately started to enhance the soft drinks they bought.  It was a good game as there was a lot of action on the field and a lot of action in the stands.  All too soon, long before the game was over, the bottle was nearly empty......Now you have enough information to tell what inning it is and how many runners are on base..............

     click here for the answer

 

Frequently Asked Questions

     none submitted

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For more information, contact:

Dr. Stephen G. Saupe
Professor & Herbarium Curator
Biology Department
College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
Collegeville, MN 56321
(320) 363-2782; (320) 363-3202 (fax); ssaupe@csbsju.edu