Biology

Susan Washko ’16, Jared Balik ’16, and Professor of Environmental Science and Biology Scott Wissinger co-authored a paper, “Predicting ecosystem-level effects of species shifts in elevation associated with climate change in alpine ponds,” presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. The collaborative research was supported by a Harold State Fellowship award to Susan and a Beckman Scholars program award to Jared from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN), part of the Society for Neuroscience, awarded Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Lee Coates the Career Achievement Award in October. Two Allegheny College alumnae, incoming FUN president Amy Jo Stavnezer ’94 and outgoing FUN president Lisa Gabel ’96, presented the award to Professor Coates.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Alexandra Hess ’16, Caroline McAllister ’16, Joe DeMarchi ’16, Makenzie Zidek ’16, Julie Marone ’16, and Assistant Professor of Biology Matthew Venesky recently had a manuscript published in the peer-reviewed journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. The article is titled “Salamanders increase their feeding activity when infected with the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.” This publication was the result of a Fall 2014 independent study (Bio 590).

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Biology Matthew Venesky recently co-authored a paper titled “Taking tadpole biology into the 21st century: a consensus paper from the first tadpoles international workshop,” which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Herpetologia Brasileira. The manuscript was written during a 2014 trip to Brazil, where Professor Venesky was an invited symposium speaker at an international workshop on tadpole biology.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

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