1. Message from the Chair
I hope that everyone had a great Halloween weekend. "The Boy Wonder" enjoyed trick-or-treating with my daughters. Unfortunately, they got all the goodies but I just got stares as I paraded around in my superhero tights.
I’m excited that starting with this issue we will sending the newsletter out to a wider audience. Many biology and natural science alum’s have joined our mailing . Welcome aboard. And, I encourage everyone to submit items for future issues. Have a great week and I hope that everyone gets the classes for spring that you want.
2. Student News:
Tim Haeg (SJU ‘ 94) - writes that he and his family is well and we learn that he has "a dark side as a botanist…Death to box elders…Make room for the Quercus. Heck, I don't even mind the occasional Elaeagnus angustifolia now and then. But box elders and I just don't mix. Target practice for the old Stihl chain saw." He concludes with some wise advice: "Tell your biology majors that if they don't pay attention in Genetics class, they could end up raising chickens for a living."
Faculty News:
Dr. Larry Davis - attended the Geological Society of America meetings and participated in Paleontological Society's short course - "The Evolution-Creation Controversy: Perspectives on Science, Religion and Geological Education". He also attended the Geology and Public Policy Forum on "Creationism vs. Evolution in the Classroom: Should Geoscientists Make a Stand", served as a judge for student poster sessions, and was a co-author of a presentation entitled "Introducing Geology Students to Quantitative Approaches in Several Problem Contexts: Examples of What Works".
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Dr. Michael Reagan – attended a recent meeting in LaCrosse, WI, on how to institutionalize undergraduate research.
4.Curriculum News
Spring Registration - It’s registration time! Spring 2000 courses are now available for viewing on WEBSTER - click on the Class Schedule Icon and select Spring 2000. Be sure to set up an appointment with your advisor early to obtain your PIN number. Spring registration runs November 2 through November 19.
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Plant Kingdom Changes Name: If you’ve studied the Spring 2000 course catalog you may have been surprised to notice that we no longer offer "Plant Kingdom" (BIOL 306). In it’s place is "Plant Diversity" (BIOL 306). This is the same great class, offered by the same great prof (Dr. Lamberts). The only thing that has changed is the name. The department decided that the new name better reflects the nature of the course content – an evolutionary survey of organisms traditionally considered plants. For more information contact Dr. Lamberts or Dr. Saupe.
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Schedule Changes: There have been several changes in the Spring 2000 course schedule. We apologize for any inconvenience these changes may cause. Hopefully, the changes will make it easier for most students to fit them in their schedule. The changes are:
Curriculum Revision: The department is considering revising the curriculum required for the Biology major. Many models for educating a biology majors have been proposed during our discussions. For example, one model features a one semester "intro" course followed by 7 upper division courses. At the other extreme, we have a four-course "intro" sequence followed by 4 upper division courses. Whether we change our curriculum or keep it the same, our discussions have been very positive and have reaffirmed our department’s commitment to providing an excellent education for all of our students. We welcome your comments and suggestions about the biology major requirements. Please forward them to any member of the department.
5. Biology Club News:
6. Calendar of Events:
Nov 2 "Careers Working with the Environment"-TRC@CSB-7:00 PM
Nov 3-5 International Conference on Ethnomedicine and Drug Discovery
Nov 4 NSF Applications are due
Nov 9 Meet Some Pro’s – Alumnae Hall, Haehn, 6:30 – 8:30 pm; chat with alums about their positions, req’s for careers, etc.
Nov 9 Summer Research Poster Session; SC 373
Nov 11 "Microbial Magic: The Production of New Drugs by Combinatorial Biology"; Dr. David Sherman, University of Minnesota; Department of Microbiology
Nov 11 Dr. Sherman will meet with interested students from 3:00 - 3:45 p.m., in the Science Museum, NSC, to discuss graduation school, research, etc.
Nov 17 "Seed Dispersal" – Ron Weinhold, 8:00 p.m., St. John’s Arboretum
Nov 24 Entries in the Bean Counter and Seed Identification Contest Due. Submit them in the box in the Herbarium (SC 329).
Nov 29 Winners of the Bean Counter and Seed Identification Contest will be announced.
Dec 2 "The South African Study Abroad Program 1999: What Really Went On?" Dr. Stephen G. Saupe; College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University; Biology Department; NSC 140; 4:00 PM
Dec 11 Biology Subject Test - GRE
Mar 10 Lil’ Sibs Weekend
Mar 31 CSB Senior Parent Weekend
Feb 15 Deadline for Claire Booth Luce Scholarship Applications
April 1 SJU Mother-Son Dance
April 8 Biology Subject Test – GRE
April 29 Pinestock
7.Internships/Scholarships/Jobs
Claire Booth Luce Scholarship - Here’s some very exciting news for female, second-year students in the natural sciences: CSB has received a major grant to fund up to four, free-ride (covers tuition, room and board), scholarships for the junior and senior years. These scholarships are for specifically destined for women who are not planning a career in medicine. The application deadline will be February 15, 2000. More details will soon be available.
Careers Working with the Environment - this panel of folks is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 2, 7-8 p.m. in the Teresa Reception Center, CSB. Great way for folks to learn about related careers and to ask questions.
Meet Some Pros – Mary Harlander-Locke, CSB Career Office reports that they will have approximately 20 alums available to talk with students related to majors and careers. TWO of these alums are biology/natural science folks and they will be available on Tuesday, Nov. 9 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Alumnae Hall, Haehn Campus Center. Students can come and talk with these alums (as well as any of the others) during this time period. Alums will be sitting at tables and students can move around on their own. Last year, the biology alum we invited was excited to come, but disappointed when NO ONE came to talk with her. This is a good time to learn more a choosing a major, getting related experience, doing research, etc.
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Scholarship Information
Contact Ms. Johanna Davis, CSB
Description: Located on the island of Maui, this park stretches from sea level to 10,023 feet and preserves a volcanic landscape, subalpine shrubland, an area of intact Hawaiian rainforest and rocky coastline. Volunteer will assist the park’s endangered species management project and work primarily in the Summit District, a subalpine area on the upper slopes of the volcano. Duties include: monitoring trraplines for predators of endangered species, monitoring endangered bird species for nesting activity and production of young, computer data entry, other duties.
Qualifications: Valid driver’s license, excellent hiking
ability, experience in field data collection. Preferred qualifications are: college degree
in wildlife, biology, zoology, knowledge of Hawaiian natural history, experience with
IBM-compatible computers and data processing. Additional Information: Housing is a private
room with shared kitchen, bath and living area. Contact Information: Geoff Carter,
Director of Recruiting; SCA, Inc.; P.O. Box 550; Charlestown, NH 03603; (603) 543-1700;
www.sca-inc.org
Internships in Ecological Forestry Research - Tall Timbers Research Station. There are at least five openings for summer research internships and one immediate opening for a spring research internship in ecological forestry at Tall Timbers Research Station north of Tallahassee, Florida. The holders of these positions will report to the Ecological Forestry Research Scientist. Interns will be responsible for data collection in longleaf, slash and loblolly/shortleaf pine stands throughout the southeastern coastal plain, with particular attention paid to the Apalachicola National Forest and the Red Hills Physiographic Province of South Georgia/North Florida. Similar measurements may be taken in bottomland hardwood and cypress ecosystems in southern Georgia and northern and central Florida. Other research sites may be added as opportunities arise.
Minimum qualifications for research interns include substantial progress toward a Bachelor’s or higher degree in forest science, ecology or a related field. More advanced degrees and/or more extensive experience may result in greater responsibility, including the opportunity to co-author publications in refereed journals. However, the position primarily involves substantial field work, measuring literally hundreds and hundreds of trees, and data entry. Expertise in the use of spreadsheets and statistical analysis software is required. Extensive travel, sometimes on short notice, may be required. On-site residence on certain research sites may also be required, sometimes under primitive conditions. What is important to the hiring equation is the demonstrated ability to measure and understand stand development processes of arboreal woody species. Of particular importance is the ability to work alone or in groups with minimal supervision.
PAY: The internship pays $175 per week with free housing at the Station. In order to drive Tall Timbers vehicles, interns must be approved by the Station’s insurance company. The internship length is generally 10-12 weeks, but this can be negotiated. The start and end dates are also flexible, but we anticipate one to two openings beginning early this spring and the remainder working during the summer (May 15 through August 15). We do not provide health insurance for interns. Interns who do not have US residency status must provide their own health insurance.
TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH STATION - Tall Timbers Research, Inc. is a privately-endowed and publicly supported non-profit ecological research station founded in 1958. Research programs at Tall Timbers focus on integrated investigations of vertebrate habitat and population ecology, plant ecology and ecological forestry in the context of a fire-maintained landscape. Our goal is to understand how management actions such as the application of prescribed fire or harvest of timber can be used to mimic ecosystem processes that have shaped longleaf pine forests through the millennia. The Station population staff varies in size between 30 and 44, with the higher number occurring during the summer.
APPLICATION and INFORMATION - For more information,
please contact Dr. W. Keith Moser, Tall Timbers Research Station, Route 1, Box 678,
Tallahassee, FL 32312-9712. Tel: (850) 893-4153 ext. 247; Fax: (850) 668-7781; email:
4ester@compuserve.com; web page: http://www.talltimbers.org/forestry.html
Job applicants: please submit a letter outlining research interests, a resume, a copy of
your latest transcript and at least three professional or academic references that I may
contact, as soon as possible.
The Council on Undergraduate Research Summer Research Fellowship: CUR s sponsoring the 2000 Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship in Science, Mathematics and Engineering. This is a prestigious award that will allow a student to do research with a faculty mentor here at CSB/SJU. The fellowship provides at least a $3,000 student stipend for the summer and additional funding for travel may be available. This fellowship is aimed primarily at students interested in pursuing research, not health professional school, after college. The information and application for this program can be found at http://www.cur.org/pdf/sf.pdf
The application will require parts to be filled out by both the student and the faculty mentor, so if you are interested in applying, talk to a faculty member with whom you may want to do research next summer. The application is due January 20, 2000. Last year Deb Wentz received this fellowship to do research with Dr. Graham in the Chemistry department. Let’s have a Biology winner this year!
8. Seminars/Lectures/Symposia:
There are some great seminars coming in the next few months (see Calendar of Events). Mark your calendars now.
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Summer Research Seminar – Several students spent their time on campus last summer conducting research on campus under the tutelage of a biology prof. We tentatively plan to have a group poster session on Tuesday, November 9, D1, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. in SC373. During this session you can learn about the projects they completed and about our summer research program. There will be refreshments and munchies available.
9. Miscellaneous
Bean Counter Contest – The CSB/SJU Herbarium is sponsoring a contest to guess the number of seeds in the gumball container. The container is in the display case in entryway of the Science Center. If you guess the correct number you will win a brand new introductory biology textbook. All entries must be submitted by November 24th. Submit your entry to Dr. Saupe via snail mail, email (ssaupe@csbsju.edu) or slide a scrap of paper under my office door (SC 329). The winner will be contacted by November 29.
Identify the Seed Contest – If you correctly identify the species of seeds in the gumball container in the display case (common name, scientific name, family) you will also win a brand-new introductory biology text. Entries must be submitted to Dr. Saupe by November 24th. The winner will be contacted by November 29.
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Welcome Alum’s – This issue of the newsletter
is the first that is being sent to interested biology and natural science alum’s.
Welcome aboard.
GRE TEST DATES- GRE SUBJECT tests (i.e., Biology) are given on Nov. 6, Dec. 11, and April 8. The GRE General Test is now given on a computer basis only and by appointment at a local test center. The GRE Subjects are still given on a paper-pencil basis. More for information contact the Career Resource Office on either campus.
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Adapting to environment called key - Biodiversity may be less important than how individual animals, plants or microbes respond to environmental change, according to a recent study. "It's not the number of species per se. It's how they respond to the environment that's important," said Anthony Ives, a zoology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. For the full story check out the following web site: http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/10/102099/biodiver_6612.asp.
10. Web Sites Worth a Visit: (have you visited any cool sites lately? Let us know so we can post them here!)
Are You Interested in Pre-Med?
Check the web site for information: http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~premed/
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Biology Department Web Site
Don’t forget to visit the department’s web site at: http://www.csbsju.edu/biology/.
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Biology Newsletter On-Line
The Biology Newsletter is now on-line. Check out the web site below. Please be patient because it’s currently "under construction" and doesn’t look too pretty. Anyway, ultimately all of the issues will be available here. Web site: http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe/Newsletters/biology_department_newsletters.htm.
11. Joke of the week: (we welcome your jokes and other contributions!!)
HOW TO BATHE A CAT (thanks to Dr. B. Lamberts, a cat-lover,
for this knee slapper)
Sincerely,
The DOG
12. Frequently Asked Questions:
For more information, contact:
Dr. Stephen G. Saupe
Chair & Professor
Biology Department
College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
Collegeville, MN 56321
(320) 363-2782; (320) 363-3202 (fax); ssaupe@csbsju.edu)
Student Editor:
Ms. A. Wawra
Biology Major
College of St. Benedict
St. Joseph, MN 56374