Undergraduate
research in the Temple lab is highlighted in a cover story in the
Spring 2007 issue of Madison.
"Biology department head Louise Temple allowed Madison
to
follow several of her undergraduate researchers throughout the fall
semester as they conducted their research into the poultry pathogen, Bordetella
avium. These three - Brooke, Seth and Alexis - welcomed a Madison
writer and photographer fully into their lives outside of the lab -
their other academic obligations, service projects, paid jobs,
intramural sports, social lives, etc."
Dr. Carole C. Baldwin ('81)
received the 2006 Ronald E. Carrier
Disinguished Alumni Achievement Award. The Carrier
award
recognizes a JMU alumnus who has excelled in his or her profession for
a minimum of five years and has attained recognition from peers or
other professionals as an outstanding member of their field.
Dr.
Marta Bechtel became the first new faculty
member hired to be part of the new Biotechnology Program at JMU, housed
in the Biology Department but run in cooperation with the Departments
of Chemistry, and Integrated Science and Technology. Marta
received her B.S. in Microbiology from California State University at
Long Beach, and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of
Southern California Keck School of Medicine. She was then a
visiting professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont
California. Marta does research on the molecular biology and
mechanical properties of cartilage tissue. She hopes her studies
will contribute to the treatment of osteoarthritis, a disease involving
the progressive degeneration of cartilage tissue. Marta is
presently teaching Cell and Molecular Biology.
Dr. Tim
Bloss,
a geneticist, studies a microscopic
worm Caenorhabditis elegans,
which is one of the best model systems for studying animal
development. More specifically, Tim is interested in the
mechanisms of apoptosis, or cell death, in development and disease.
Apoptosis is a normal process that eliminates unnecessary or badly
damaged cells before they can adversely affect the health of the
organism. Tim received his B.A. in Biology at Carleton College in
Northfield, Minnesota, and his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin at
Madison. Before coming to JMU Tim was a post-doctoral fellow at
the University of California - Santa Barbara. He is presently
teaching Genetics and Development.
Dr. Justin
Brown,
a physiologist, joined the
department in May in order to teach summer classes in the Physicians
Assistant Program. Justin received his B.S. in Biology from
Eastern Mennonite University, his Ph.D. in Physiology from Eastern
Carolina University and was most recently a post-doctoral fellow at
Dartmouth Medical School. His primary research interest is on the
physiology of stress responses in the neonatal brain as it may be
related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a leading cause of post
neonatal infant mortality in the US. Justin uses a rat model for
his studies.
Dr.
Heather
Griscom is a plant ecologist with
considerable experience in the tropics. She received her B.A. in
Biology from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and her M.S
and Ph.D. in Forestry from Yale University in cooperation with the New
York Botanical Garden. Heather was then a visiting professor at
Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia, before coming to
JMU. She has studied seed dispersal in French Guiana, and is
presently working on dry forest rehabilitation in Panama. She
teaches Ecology and Evolution.
JMU
President Linwood Rose (left) with Louise
Temple (Biology Department Head ) and Daniel Wubah (Special Assistant
to the President) after Dr. Rose's
meeting with the Department on September 13, 2006. Dr. Rose
described the
administration's planning process and fielded questions about Biology's
role in shaping the
University's vision.
Grace
Wyngaard's research on speciation in freshwater copepods,
published in the journal Evolution,
is highlighted in a National
Science Foundation announcement and in the Madison
Scholar.
Reid
Harris's research on the interactions among bacteria that live on
the skin of amphibians and fungi that are pathogens on amphibians
is highlighted in the Madison Scholar.
Two
faculty members recently received grants from the Jeffress Memorial
Trust to fund their research. Grace Wyngaard received $10,000
to continue her work on chromatin diminution in copepods and Carol
Hurney (pictured) received $15,000 for her study entitled, “Cloning
&
Expression of MyoD and Myf5 in the Four-Toed Salamander: Insights into
Segmentation & Tail Development.”
Mike Renfroe mentored
Neela Thangada, 14, of Keystone Junior High School
in San Antonio, TX, on her science fair project: "Effects of Various
Nutrient Concentrations on the Cloning of the Eye
of Solanum tuberosum at
Multiple Stages". Neela then went on to win the grand prize in
the 2005 Discovery Channel
Young Scientist
Challenge (DCYSC) national competition.
David
Jaynes' research on chronic wound healing was featured the Madison Scholar.
We
welcome Katrina Gobetz to the department
as a new Assistant Professor. Katrina received her BA in Geology
from
Colgate University in upstate New York, then received a M.S. in Geology
at
Indiana University where she studied “Skeletal and taphonomic analysis
of the flat-headed peccary (Platygonus
compressus) from a Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) sinkhole in
northwestern Ohio.” She then went further
west to the University of Kansas for her doctoral work in in in Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology. Her dissertation was “Life Underground
in the North American
Miocene: Interpretive Analysis of Mammalian Burrows.” In 2004
Katrina received the Eugene Dehner Award, First Place in Ph.D. Oral
Category, at the Kansas Academy of Science.
Most
recently Katrina was Adjunct Curator at the New Mexico Museum of
Natural History in Albuquerque, NM, as well as a staff member at the
New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation. Here at JMU
Katrina will begin teaching Human Anatomy (BIO
290) and plans to set up her research lab to continue her
investigations on the functional morphology of burrowing
vertebrates, especially mammals, and the diet of extinct
herbivores.
Welcome to JMU and the 'Burg Katrina! (posted 8/8/05)
Sharon
Babcock
(Associate Professor) received the 2005 Distinguished Teacher Award for
the College of Science and Mathematics. Congratulations
Sharon! Sharon was also the guest speaker at the Twentieth Annual
Honors Program Banquet on September 7, 2005. (posted 11/10/05)
Carol Hurney
(Assistant Professor) received the general Education Distinguished
Teacher Award. Congratulations Carol! (posted 7/28/05)
A special dinner honoring retired JMU Biology
faculty members was held on May 24th, 2005 at Simple Pleasures
restaurant in Harrisonburg. Retired faculty members in attendance
included Emily (Baxter) Branscome, Jack Davis, Elwood Fisher, Bob
Graves, Jim Grimm, Bill Mengebier, Bev Silver, and Gil Trelawny.
Anne Nielsen also was an honored guest, as her late husband Pete worked
for many years in the Department.
For more details and a
larger picture click here.
Updated 1/16//06
