Biology

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Anne Jacobs and Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Global Health Studies Caryl Waggett were invited to be Grand Judges for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh in May. This fair gathers top projects designed and conducted by 9th through 12th grade students from around the world who have earned the right to participate by winning a top prize at a local, regional, state or national competition. Nearly 1,700 young scientists participated from more than 75 countries. The judges assisted in the selection and awarding of more than $1.6 million in awards and scholarships to these students.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Biology Lisa Whitenack gave an invited symposium talk at the American Elasmobranch Society Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada. Her talk, “Integrative Chondrichthyan Paleobiology: The Present is the Key to the Past,” was about her research on modern and fossil shark teeth.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Lisa Whitenack would thumb through the wildlife guide from Readers’ Digest in fascination as a child visiting her grandmother’s house.

The guide is hers now, the pages on sharks especially well-loved and dog-eared.

“I was that kid that never outgrew dinosaurs,” said Whitenack, a shark paleobiologist and assistant professor of biology at Allegheny College. “I’ve always been into fossils and dinosaurs and rocks and nature, and I also read a lot about sharks.”

A childhood fascination grew into a career that has Whitenack studying the evolution of shark teeth over more than 300 million years.

Whitenack is visiting museums, trying to measure the shapes of fossilized shark teeth — teeth that look much different from the triangular-shaped teeth we associate with modern sharks. Some of the teeth she is studying have multiple cusps. Some have cusps that are round and cross-sectioned, not flat like those of big, modern sharks.

Read the full article from the Erie Times-News.

ERICA ERWIN can be reached at 870-1846 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNerwin. Read the Happier Ed education blog at blogs.goerie.com/education.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

After attending two AAC&U workshops on Faculty Leadership and Integrative Learning, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Eric Boynton, Professor of Biology, Neuroscience, and Global Health Studies Lee Coates, and Associate Professor of French Laura Reeck co-authored an article, “Opening the Doors for Faculty Collaboration: The Case of the Allegheny Gateway,” which appears in the current issue of AAC&U’s journal Peer Review.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Professor of Biology, Neuroscience, and Global Health Studies Lee Coates recently published a chapter titled “Developing Research Skills Across the Undergraduate Curriculum” with co-authors Simon Gray (The College of Wooster), Ann Fraser (Kalamazoo College), and Pam Pierce (The College of Wooster) in New Directions in Higher Education – Enhancing and Expanding Undergraduate Research: A Systems Approach (No. 169, Spring 2015, Wiley Periodicals). In addition, Professor Coates recently served as a Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) facilitator for a workshop held at Trinity Washington University on “Integrating Research into the Curriculum” and presented a talk on “Undergraduate Research across the Curriculum.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The following story from triblive.com features Allegheny student Alexandra Hess ’16.

Emergency medical technicians know that when they administer medication to try to help a patient, they run the risk of doing more harm than good.

But a new program called the File of Life being offered by Irwin’s emergency medical service aims to reduce the chances of making potentially dangerous mistakes by putting vital patient information in the hands emergency medical personnel.

Residents now can receive free wallet cards and refrigerator magnets on which they can write information such as their medical history or any medications they are taking.

EMT Alexandra Hess developed the program as a service to residents.

“I’m a pre-med student at Allegheny College, and we’re encouraged to get involved in community service,” said Hess, 21, of Murrysville, a junior studying biology. “So while I was home during Christmas break, I started thinking about a way to help the community that is related to the work I do as an EMT.”

Read more.

Tony LaRussa is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at tlarussa@tribweb.com.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Jordan Gaston ’16, collaborator Sally Roberts, and Assistant Professor of Biology Tricia Humphreys had a peer-reviewed article, “Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Non-Sexually Transmitted Strains of Haemophilus ducreyi,” published in the March 2015 issue of PLoS ONE.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Michael Petro ’15 and Robert Paul ’15 presented their Senior Projects with Assistant Professor of Biology Lisa Whitenack at the Midwest Regional meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics. Michael presented a poster on the biomechanics of long jump performance in collegiate men and women. Robert presented a talk on the swimming mechanics of darter fishes and won the award for Best Podium Presentation by an Undergraduate.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Rebecca Dawson ’00, Allegheny College assistant professor of biology and global health studies, has been named to NerdScholar’s list of “40 Under 40: Professors Who Inspire.”

According to NerdScholar, the professors were chosen based on “their ability to captivate and engage students in the classroom, their outstanding involvement on campus and in the community, and their overwhelming passion for their subject matter.” Nominations were collected through student, alumni and faculty recommendations following an open call to several hundred colleges and universities across the country.

“Receiving this award is such an honor,” says Dawson, a native of Allison Park, Pa. “It is so very special to me because my nomination came from my students. They are what make this job so great; to know the feeling is mutual is priceless.”

Senior Erica Bryson, one of Dawson’s students who nominated her for the award, says you can tell by Professor Dawson’s enthusiasm and energy in class that she loves the material she is teaching. “Professor Dawson is a practice-what-you-preach type of person as a result of her passion in epidemiology, and she encourages those around her to do the same,” Bryson says. “I know she puts 100 percent into everything she does, and I am honored to have her as a professor and mentor.”

Sophomore Matthew Zaborowski, another student who nominated her for the honor, agrees. “Being an Allegheny College alumna, Professor Dawson is very passionate about the liberal arts and the environment and atmosphere that each student displays while attending Allegheny. She is a true inspiration, a great role model and a wonderful professor who is caring, committed and passionate,” he says.

Professor Dawson received her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Allegheny, her master of public health degree in environmental health from Emory University and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her research interests have focused on topics related to environmental epidemiology, and she has made an impact on the local community through her work with the Community Health Needs Assessment in Meadville.

In August 2014, she collaborated with a professor at George Mason University to publish the first undergraduate textbook on epidemiology titled “Understanding Epidemiology: Concepts, Skills & Applications.”

To view Professor Dawson’s feature, go to www.nerdwallet.com/feature/40-Under-40-Professors-2015#Becky-Smullin-Dawson.

About NerdScholar
NerdWallet is a consumer finance website that helps people make better decisions when it comes to their money. NerdScholar is the higher education branch that offers advice and resources specifically for students.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Allegheny Hosts Hands-On Science Workshop for Area Fourth-Graders

The day began with the first student walking into a classroom saying: “Yes! I love science! I want to be a scientist!”

It’s safe to say that March 17 was a good day for that student and many of his classmates.

This student, along with fourth-graders from all five Crawford Central elementary schools, got the chance to gain hands-on experience with a variety of science topics during the Fourth Graders as Scientists event, held on Allegheny’s campus March 17, 19 and 20. This is the third year for the event, which is held in conjunction with the Crawford Central School District and Partners in Education.

Allegheny professors, staff and students, as well as volunteers from outside the College, presented various science workshops to the fourth-graders. Topics ranged from agriculture and seeds, astronomy, circuits and electricity, and the water cycle to forces and friction, the rock cycle, animal adaptations, recycling, aquatic invertebrates and ecosystems, and bird migration and habitats.

“The program allows students to be exposed to a wide variety of science-related lessons in a setting outside the classroom,” said Lisa Whitenack, assistant professor of biology. “The topics that we cover are also covered by the science Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSAs), so this event compliments the hard work that teachers are doing to prepare students for those exams.”

“The kids are loving this!” added Julie Sloat, a fourth-grade teacher at West End Elementary School. “They like being able to experiment with lots of hands-on activities.”

On the first day of the event, Kerstin Martin, Allegheny garden manager, presented a workshop about where foods come from. During her talk, students completed a food passport activity. “I think it’s important to get children thinking more about their food and its origin,” she said.

At the same time in another classroom, students learned about aquatic macroinvertebrates (“water critters”).

“They had the opportunity to study the creatures that live in the stream to determine if the stream is healthy or not,” said Wendy Kedzierski, director of Creek Connections, a partnership between the College and K-12 schools that focuses on hands-on watershed education. “They learned that this is what scientists really do and get paid for, and that this is a career they could have in the future if they keep going to school.”

“This is fun!” added Dylan Garza, a fourth-grader from West End Elementary, as he used tweezers to search for macroinvertebrates in a small pool of water with his classmates. “Today we learned about constellations, energy and power, food and now insects.”

Throughout the jam-packed week, volunteers said they enjoyed seeing the look on the students’ faces as they participated in each session.

“These hands-on activities really bring science alive for them,” Kedzierski said. “We want to keep that momentum going.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research