. 

.

Another busy year and I have to admit I am amazed by all that my colleagues have accomplished. All taught a normal schedule of classes with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm and each of us was advisor for at least one senior comprehensive (Tom Fogle and Kara Eberly advised three each and served as co-advisors for another and Nancy Nekvasil, despite having her hands full with the CoSTEP program, found time to advise four). In addition, we supervised 12 students in Biology 310 (Laboratory Teaching Experience) and directed six independent study students and three internships.

I am pleased to report that two of our faculty, Dave Sever and Kara Eberly, have taken full advantage of classroom technology opportunities and have used it extensively in all of their courses. Available classroom technology was used to some extent by all of us, and I anticipate that the level of use will increase, especially once our primary classroom (SC 286) is fully upgraded.

Another two of our faculty, Tom Platt and Doris Watt, taught courses for the first time. In one sense, neither was really a new course. Tom’s Marine Biology course (see next article) was a revision of an earlier course that had been taught after graduation. The revised course, which included a week-long trip to Jamaica during spring break, required a lot of careful planning and reorganizing. It was, to say the least, a quite successful venture (and adventure). Doris’ course (Biology 250 - Environmental Science) had been taught in the past, but not by Doris. She invested a great deal of time designing laboratory exercises and preparing materials for what was, for her, a new course. By all accounts, this, too, was a very successful course.

As usual, biology faculty have been quite active in their scholarly work and in professional organizations. During the past year, biology faculty have authored or co-authored eight scientific papers, attended and participated in professional conferences, and held a variety of offices in professional organizations. As I noted above, I am amazed by all that my colleagues do as members of both the local and the broader community.

Perhaps the high-point of the year was our first annual "Senior Comprehensive Symposium." In the past, our seniors presented the results of their research in one of several venues, e.g., to the Bio 385 (Introduction to Research) class, to the students in one of our regularly scheduled classes, or at a noon session during the week. The problem with this was very few faculty and students were able to attend all, or even most, of the presentations. As we discussed this problem at a faculty meeting, Tom Fogle reminded us that Dave Sever had suggested a symposium format at our 1999 departmental retreat. The net result was that we formed an ad hoc committee (Tom Platt, Lisa Rania, Dave Sever) to investigate the feasibility of such a symposium and to plan it for a time (preferably a Saturday) when we all could attend. The Committee’s work resulted in our first symposium, held on 15 April 2000. The symposium program was formatted as a professional conference would be, with four paper sessions, two "coffee" breaks, and a lunch break (in the North Wedge Room of the Dining Hall). Students enrolled in Bio 385 were required to attend as part their course assignment and the sessions were open to the public. We all (faculty and students) thought the day was a resounding success. The seniors in particular enjoyed having the opportunity to listen to each of their classmates report on her research. This format provides the seniors with a final common experience and it will continue in the future.

The Marine Biology (Biology 209) field excursion to the Hofstra University Marine Laboratory (HUML) in Priory, Jamaica, was an unqualified success. We were able to meet the divergent needs of the faculty member in charge (me), of providing a comprehensive introduction to the ecology and biota of tropical marine ecosystems, and the students who wanted to come home with a tan! The weather and the students cooperated magnificently. We experienced no rain and the wind was sufficiently light so that we were able to visit all of the habitats on our itinerary.

Tom and Kathy Platt in Jamaica

We departed from Regina Hall at 3:30 A.M. on 13 March and arrived at HUML at approximately 4:00 P.M. We experienced no problems with transportation on any leg of our journey. After getting settled in our new accommodations, we ate dinner, then the class assembled for an introduction to the facility by the co-directors, Deb Bidwell and her husband Gorka Sancho. Deb has a master’s in marine aquaculture and Gorka has a Ph.D. in marine science with specialization in coral reef fish reproduction. They proved to be very popular with the students and excellent field guides.

On Tuesday morning, following breakfast, we did an introductory snorkel in the turtle grass beds in front of the lab. Some of the students had not snorkeled before and more had not snorkeled in the ocean. The turtle grass bed offers a protected area ideal for novices and experienced snorkelers alike. We spent approximately two hours exploring the area and collecting specimens to place in marine tanks and water tables for later examination. Following lunch, we visited a rocky shore habitat which is just a short walk from the lab. There we observed zonation pattens that are determined by various tide levels and collected a number of mollusks typical of the area. We returned to the lab and spent the remainder of the afternoon examining and identifying the day’s haul. That evening Gorka gave an hour and a half lecture on reef fish behavior and reproduction.

Wednesday, we began the morning with a 3-stop dive. We examined the structure of the fore-reef, snorkeled around an old wreck and finished with a trip to the back reef. At each site we observed the reef structure, and the organisms characteristic of each locale. We collected additional specimens from each site. That afternoon we walked approximately a mile to investigate a typical mangrove community. The mangrove excursion is a challenging experience. The prop roots of the red mangrove and the thick anoxic muck makes walking a challenge. While I can’t say there weren’t any complaints, the students worked hard and retrieved a number of interesting specimens that are unique to this ecosystem. After returning to the laboratory, cleaning up, and having dinner, Deb gave a 2-hour lecture on Jamaican culture. Following her presentation, our class spent time identifying the organisms collected during that day.

Thursday morning was devoted to snorkeling at a location called Drax Hall. Again we saw several new species of organisms. The highlight of the dive was an encounter with a school of approximately 15 reef squid that several students followed for at least half an hour. At this point, I felt a break was in order and we traveled to Dunn’s River Falls. This is a prime tourist attraction in the area; a 600 foot waterfall that people climb. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we followed the climb with a little beach time and shopping at the open-air market at the top of the falls. The evening was relegated as study time for the lab exam on Sunday morning.

Friday morning we left the lab for a daylong excursion with both cultural and biological objectives clearly in mind. We traveled first to Brownstown, a community of approximately 20,000, about 7 miles inland. We visited the farmer’s market in Brownstown. This is not a tourist town. The market is where locals bring their produce to sell to their neighbors. The students were divided into groups of three and given a few items to purchase. In order to successfully complete their assignment, the students had to talk to the vendors in order to find the stall that sold the items to purchase. Then they had to negotiate a price and find out what to do with what they bought. This experience allows the students to have contact with regular folks in a controlled environment outside the areas typically frequented by tourists. We then proceeded to the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, a research laboratory run by the University of the West Indies. We toured their facility and then snorkeled in a small marine preserve established by the lab. Although we were not permitted to collect specimens, we saw more squid, a spotted-eagle ray, several different species of sea cucumbers, and hundreds of upside-down jellyfish.

Friday evening we assembled in the lab and each group of students presented their purchases from Brownstown, and explained what they were and how they were used or prepared. Following the presentations, we headed out, flashlights in hand, to explore an area called "Tide Pool Island." Our objective was to catch a grass octopus, Octopus macropus. This is a small octopus that hunts the shallows at night in search of crabs and other crustaceans. After an hour of diligent searching, I began to fear that we would not be successful. Just as I was getting ready to pack it in, I heard a tremendous commotion. Christine Diana was holding her arm high overhead, with an octopus firmly attached. With an octopus, it is often hard to tell who has whom. We transferred the animal from Chris’s arm to a bucket so that everyone had a chance to observe it and then we released it and watched it glide silently into the darkness.

Saturday was a fun day. We went to Ocho Rios for some shopping and beach time. The students took full advantage of the shopping opportunities and spent the afternoon working on their tans. That evening the students studied for the next day’s lab practical.

We arranged for the students to attend mass at a local church on Sunday morning. I spent my time (6-11AM) setting up the lab practical. When the exam was completed (everyone did very well), we had to clean the lab, the tanks, and the water tables and return our animals to the locations where they had been collected. With everyone pitching in, the task was finished quickly. The students spent the rest of the afternoon - you guessed it - in the sun.

That evening we returned to Ocho Rios for dinner at Bibibip’s, a local restaurant that features Jamaican cuisine. The students prevailed on me to allow them to stay for an hour after dinner to listen to a local band and dance.

Monday we packed and prepared for our trip back to South Bend. We left HUML at 11A.M. and arrived at Saint Mary’s, utterly exhausted, at 2:45 Tuesday morning.

I cannot say enough about how proud I am of our students. They never gave me any cause for concern. They were on-time for every lecture, trip and meal. They worked hard and never (well, rarely; remember the mangroves) complained! The positive attitude they displayed throughout our excursion is a testament to their maturity, and a credit to Saint Mary’s.

Last year we announced the awarding of a Lilly Endowment, Inc. grant of nearly a million dollars to Saint Mary’s College for science outreach. Named the CoSTEP Project, this grant was designed to allow faculty from Saint Mary’s to forge partnerships with area K-12 teachers, students, and their parents for the purpose of enhancing science education and promoting academic success at several levels. Now that the granting period is half over, we thought it would be nice to give everyone an update on how things are going.

Tom Fogle directs students
in a Power Lab experience

The Eureka Science Academy, a program designed for 4th-6th graders to come to Saint Mary’s and participate in reading, writing, and exploring science, enrolled 53 students last year and anticipates 57 in attendance this year. The Teacher Science Institutes, one-week sessions for area teachers who wish to explore more hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based teaching, had a total of 43 teachers in the summer 1999 and 48 teachers have registered for the summer of 2000. The Science Power Labs, laboratory experiences for students in grades 7-12, have served a total of 156 students to date. We anticipate bringing another 80 students to campus in the fall of 2000 to perform laboratory investigations in our science labs. At least in terms of numbers, we believe we are making an impact in the Michiana community. We have had teachers and/or students attend from public and private schools throughout South Bend, Mishawaka, and surrounding towns. We have also served home schooled students in the Science Power Labs both from the local area and as far away as Merrillville, Indiana.

One of the wonderful things about this project is that faculty from several departments have become involved in the directing/facilitating of the various sessions within the programs. Faculty from the Department of Biology have joined with faculty from the Department of Chemistry/Physics and the Education Department to make this project

quite comprehensive. In addition, faculty from the Department of Psychology have gotten involved in the evaluation aspect of the project. While the basic goal of the CoSTEP Project is science outreach, the success of the work is being made possible by the talents of faculty from various disciplines.

Emily Moriarty (’00; second
from left) leads a Power Lab
group on an ecological foray

From the Department of Biology, Tom Fogle, Kara Eberly, Lisa Rania (‘94), and Nancy Nekvasil have taught in the Science Power Labs. Doris Watt has been a facilitator in the Teacher Science Institutes. Students from our department have also been heavily involved in serving as Teaching Assistants in the Science Power Labs. In fact we could not have done as many labs and served as many pre-college students without their help. The biology majors who have participated in the project are Kerry Pugliese (‘98) (participating in the preliminary work prior to funding), Anne Baughman (‘99), Jo Wagner (‘99), Emily Daschbach (‘00), Autumn Grady (‘00), Penelope Kistka (‘00), Robin Moerman (‘00), Emily Moriarty (’00), Nicole Staab (‘00), Allyson Treloar (‘00), Christine Diana (’01), Erika Burket (‘02), Jessica Coulter (’02), Adrian Kirby (‘02), Elizabeth Miller (‘02), and Kathryn Robinson (‘03).

This update would not be complete without recognizing our CoSTEP secretary, Beverly Lorenz, and the cooperation of the Department of Biology as a whole while the work of the project is ongoing. Beverly keeps the programs running with her wonderful efficiency and her ready smile. And while everyone in the department has not been involved directly in the grant project, having extra programs running in the labs, classrooms, and hallways affects everyone! It is gratifying to have support from our co-workers.

Kara Eberly attended a Microbiology Discovery workshop 4-8 August, 1999 , at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse with Jan Ivkovich. The American Society for Microbiology sponsors the MDW workshops as part of their educational outreach. The purpose is to have pairs consisting of a microbiology professor and a precollege science teacher, who can present workshops for precollege teachers. The goals are to introduce microbiology at the precollege level as an inexpensive way to teach biological concepts and use inquiry learning. Kara also attended the annual meeting of the Indiana Branch of the American Society for Microbiology, March 24-25, 2000, in Indianapolis. As President-Elect, she was responsible for organizing the mechanics of the meeting and was installed as President for a two year term.

Tom Fogle taught "The British View of Nature" (Biology 237) as part of the 1999 SMC London Program. On March 13-14, 2000, he served as the external reviewer for the Biology Department at Middle Tennessee State University.

As director of the CoSTEP project (see previous article), Nancy Nekvasil oversaw three Science Teacher Institutes and the Eureka Science Academy during the summer of 1999. She prepared a poster presentation titled "College Science Outreach to Home-Schooled Secondary Students" for the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society meeting in May, 1999, in Baltimore, Maryland. She attended a seminar meeting at the K-12 Science Curriculum Dissemination Center, March 14-16, 2000, at Brown School, South Bend and also attended a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference at Indiana University at South Bend, April 14, 2000. Through a new program, sponsored by the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Notre Dame, Nancy will be mentoring a Notre Dame graduate student. Michele Tito, in her 3rd year of her doctoral studies in biology, will be visiting classes and participating in various departmental activities as a means of learning about the life of a small college faculty member.

Tom Platt visited the Belize Marine Tropical Research Center, in June 1999, as a possible site for the Marine Biology course. He also attended the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists, 6-10 July, 1999 in Monterey, California, at which he presented a paper, AFirst report of a species of Neopolystoma (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) from the conjunctival sac of two species of turtles in Costa Rica.@

Dave Sever attended the joint meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, American Elasmobranch Society, Herpetologists= League, and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles at Penn State University, 24-30 June. He chaired a AReptile Reproduction/Development@ paper session, during which he presented "Ultrastructure of the Reproductive System of the Black Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea). I. Evidence for Oviducal Sperm Storage." He was Chair of the Committee that judged the ASIH Soye Awards in Physiology and Physiological Ecology. Dave co-authored (with W. D. Hamlet, and C. Hysell) a poster, "Gestational plasticity of the uterus in placental sharks" presented to the European Placental Group, Schladming, Austria, 25-29 September 1999 and presented an invited seminar, "Comparative biology of sperm storage in female salamanders," to the Ecology Division at Purdue University on 6 October 1999. He attended a meeting of the Dean's Advisory Council, 31 March-1 April, at the College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University and on April 6-7 he visited the British Museum of Natural History, London, where he worked on an amphibian collection and gave an informal talk at tea on the 7th.

Doris Watt attended a NOVA Conference, a workshop for education, science, mathematics, engineering and technology university faculty involved in the content education of future K-12 teachers, 19-21 May 1999 at Western Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green, KY, with Don Balka and Mary Connolly from SMC. Along with Associate Dean Pat White, they wrote a $30,000 grant proposal to NOVA to develop a science strand here at Saint Mary's and to teach a capstone interdisciplinary course, Discovery Science, which would to be taught during the summer session. She attended the Wilson Ornithological Society meeting 9-13 June at Colby College, Waterville, Maine. As the society=s treasurer, she presented the annual treasurer=s report and attended the council and business meetings. Doris taught one of the Science Teachers Institutes, 28 June -2 July, as part of the CoSTEP program here at Saint Mary=s. She also attended the annual American Ornithologists= Union meeting 10-15 August at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
___________

CAROL De ANGELO KRUCHKO (‘67) is President of the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), a not-for-profit research organization whose mission includes collecting and disseminating statistical information on brain tumors. After losing a son to a brain tumor in 1988, she became involved with the American Brain Tumor Association and founded CBTRUS. Research is conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

CATHLEEN CRONIN MULLEN (‘75) is a pediatric ophthalmologist at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL.

ROSEMARIE MORGANTE PLADNA (‘76) is a Clinical Research Scientist II in Neurology and Psychiatry Clinical Development at GlaxoWellcome in Research Triangle Park, NC. Her therapeutic area of expertise is analgesia in which she has worked on projects for neuropathic pain and is currently a study team leader for an analgesic proof of concept study. Rosemarie is a registered nurse who previously worked as a staff nurse in the surgical intensive care unit and post anesthesia care unit at Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical Center, respectively. Her other positions include a pre-admission certification analyst for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and an occupational health nurse. The latter experience led her to GlaxoWellcome in 1995 where she became supervisor for the Research and Development Clinic for migraine and influenza studies. Since 1996, Rosemarie has been involved in Anesthesia/Analgesia Clinical Research.

ROSALEEN MUENCH OSTRICK (‘78) currently works in the Retina Division at the Jules Stein Institute at UCLA as a Clinical Research Coordinator. She helps coordinate a National Eye Institute clinical trial designed to determine whether submacular surgery is better than observation for treatment of certain types of age-related macular degeneration. Prior to this position, Rosaleen was a medical technologist in microbiology at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, IL and at UCLA. She also worked at Specialty Laboratories as a Supervisor of Infectious Diseases/Enzyme Immunoassays and then as Client Services Manager. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management from Antioch University-Southern California Marina del Rey Branch.

MARY FAHEY YOUNGS (‘81) is a medical technologist in the Transfusion Service and Stem Cell Lab at the South Bend Medical Foundation in South Bend, IN.

LEYDA GARCIA FRIEDMAN (‘81) lives in Little Silver, NJ and has put her career as a sales representative on hold until her children are older. In the meantime, she is pursuing a possible career in finance at a local college.

DONNA TRAUSCHT HEINRICH (‘82) has taken "early retirement" from her practice in optometry to be a stay-at-home mom. She is currently updating her professional education to allow for the use of therapeutic drugs as a part of her license. Donna has also assumed the responsibility of Director of Women’s Ministries at Christian Mission Church and lives in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

MARY CATHERINE (CAT) GEORGAS FLATH (‘84) is finishing her sixth year of teaching at Ashland Community College in Ashland, KY. She teaches anatomy and physiology to students majoring in Nursing, Physical Therapy and Respiratory Care. She also teaches the animal portion of Principles of Biology II to Biology, Chemistry, Pre-Med. and other majors. Her husband, Al, who is a paraplegic following a jet-ski accident in July, 1997, excels as a national manager of Onyx Industrial.

TAMME SAFFA (‘84) received a second Bachelor degree in dietetics and has practiced as a licensed dietitian in pediatrics and medical/surgical areas. She is currently working for a Master’s Degree as a physician assistant through the University of Oklahoma. She is living in Tulsa, OK and is doing her clinical rotations.

MOLLY CROSS O’BRYAN (‘89) received a Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy from Northwestern University in 1992. She worked as a physical therapist and supervised a physical therapy unit for 6 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom in Brookfield, IL.

MELANIE TAGHON HOULE (‘90) graduated from Ohio State University on December 10, 1999 with a Ph.D. in physiology. After a three month maternity leave, she will return to Ohio State to take on a part-time post-doctoral assignment.

GINA CHRISTINE CLEMENTZ (‘91) received her Medical Degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1999. She will intern in internal medicine at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University and in dermatology at Cook County Hospital.

LAURA CURTIN (‘92) is a third year chiropractic student at Life Chiropractic University in Athens, GA.

GRETCHEN BATH (‘93) is working for her Ph.D. Degree in marine fisheries ecology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Her dissertation is entitled "Using otoliths as environmental recorders: a temporal and spatial analysis of juvenile Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus)"" In May 1999, she was awarded a student appointment at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, NC. After graduating from Saint Mary’s, Gretchen spent several summers working at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Science and the Duke University Marine Laboratory as a field and laboratory technician working on research projects dealing with oysters, scallops and finfish predation in estuaries and coastal ocean waters. Before earning her Master’s Degree 1996 in coastal environmental management from Duke University, she broadened her background as a biochemical/molecular bio-tech at Duke University Medical Center where she did protein purification research on synthetic HIV proteins.

ANGELA GALLO-PENN (‘93) is a molecular biologist doing gene therapy research at Human Genome Sciences, Inc. in Rockville, MD.

TRICIA PENNY (‘93) completed a primary care residency program at the VA Boston Medical Center in June, 1999 and is now practicing optometry in Savannah, GA.

ERIN RAGAN SEBAL (‘93) obtained her Master of Science Degree in Biology in 1996. She is currently employed as a respiratory specialty sales representative with Merck & Co. in Pittsburgh, PA.

MARGARET (PEG) ZAINEA BAKER (‘93) teaches high school chemistry in Coopersville, MI.

JACQUELINE A. DEMKO (‘94) graduated from the University of Missouri Dental School in 1998 and is in an orthodontic residency at St. Louis University. Now completing her second year there, she is doing research for her thesis and hopes to earn her Master’s Degree by December, 2000. She then plans to join her father’s orthodontic practice in Chesterfield, MO.

JENNIFER IEZZI (‘94) graduated from Chatham College’s (Pittsburgh, PA) Master of Physician Assistant Program in September, 1999.

TARA BELDEN (‘95) graduated from the University of Michigan with a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree. She has accepted a position at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC as a Pharmacy Practice Resident.

ELIZABETH BROGHAMMER (‘95) graduated in 1999 from the University of Iowa Medical School in Iowa City. For the past year, she has been a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Iowa where she was investigating immunotherapies for prostate cancer. In June, 2000, she moved to Buffalo, NY to begin a five year urology residency program at State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo.

COLLEEN ANDREWS (‘96) has been accepted as a medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, IL.

JILL COOPER (’96) has been accepted into the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and plans to enroll in Fall, 2000.

CHRISTINE ORSINELLI (‘96) received her Master’s Degree in physical therapy from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA in August, 1999.

JILL WOENKER BUHR (‘96) is a department supervisor for Fort Wayne Neurological Center in Fort Wayne, IN. She heads three staff members in the daily operations of this four-physician office.

RENAE WOZNIAK FRIGO (‘96) completed her M.S. Ed degree from Northern Illinois University. Currently she is working as a naturalist/interpreter for the St. Charles Park District in St. Charles, IL. She is responsible for public programming, school programs, summer nature camps and ecological restoration.

NICOLE HANNON (‘97) is a third year medical student in clinical rotations at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN. She spent her first two years of medical studies in Bloomington, IN where she had the opportunity to teach an undergraduate gross anatomy lab section for nursing, physical therapy and occupational therapy students.

PAULA KIVINEN GILL (‘97) is a registered nurse in the Intermediate Care Center at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, IN. She fills in from time to time as the floor charge nurse.

KARA MASUCCI (‘97) is working in pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Center and plans to start graduate school soon.

LYNN NIEZGODSKI (‘98) is in the Accelerated Nursing Program at St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO and will graduate with a BSN in May, 2000.

BETH NORDBY (‘98) is working on her Ph.D. degree at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She is conducting research in pulmonary physiology and is studying cytokine production in neonatal and preterm lambs with induced lung injuries.

SARAH MULLEN (‘98) is in the Master’s of Teaching Program at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She will finish her courses in the summer of 2000 and will be student-teaching in the fall in 7th and 8th grade science classes in St. Paul.

KELLY PAPROCKI (‘98) is a student at Grand Valley State University in Michigan where she is working for a teaching endorsement to teach biology/chemistry at the secondary level.

MARY ANN SCHWOYER (’98) is completing her M.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology at ESF in Syracuse, NY. She has been researching behavioral adaptations beaver use to overcome tannins in red maple and witch-hazel bark before ingestion.

ELLEN BOUDETTE (‘99) is working in the Safety and Health Department at a pharmaceutical company in New York.

KELLY BROGDON (‘99) is an occupational therapy student at Tufts University in Boston.

KRISTEN CIOFANI (‘99) is in the graduate program in education at John Carroll University.

CHARISE DESMARTEAU (‘99) works at Osborn Laboratories in Olathe, KS as a member of the urology lab.

LYNETTE MALECKI (‘99) is attending graduate school at the University of Florida and is working towards a Master’s Degree in environmental engineering. She received a graduate assistantship in the University of Florida Center for the Wetlands and her current research focuses on mitigation banking.

MEGHAN NASH (‘99) is an administrative assistant for the Hunkeler Eye Center in KS.

NICOLE STAAB ('00) will begin teaching 7th grade in Clarkson, Michigan in August, 2000.

Brizzi, R., Delfino, G., Rebelo, R., and D.M. Sever. 1999. Absence of dorsal glands in the cloaca of male Chioglossa lusitanica and the possible correlation with courtship mode. J. Herpetology 33:220-228.

Fogle, T. 2000. The dissolution of protein coding genes in molecular biology. Pp. 3-25 in P. Beurton, R. Falk, and H-J. Rheinberger (eds.), The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology. Cambridge University Press.

Jue Sue, L. and T.R. Platt. 1999. Description and life-cycle of Thrinascotrema brisbanica n.g., n.sp. (Digenea: Plagiorchiida), a parasite of the freshwater turtle Emydura latisternum from Australia, and the erection of the family Thrinascotrematidae. Systematic Parasitology 43:217-227.

Jue Sue, L. and T.R. Platt. 1999. Description and life-cycle of three new species of Dingularis n.g. (Digenea: Plagiorchiida) parasites of Australian freshwater turtles. Systematic Parasitology 43:175-207.

Lai-Ming Ching, Howard A Young, Kara Eberly and Cheng-Rong Yu. 1999. Induction of STAT and NF6B Activation by the Antitumor Agents 5,6-Demethylxanthenone-4 acetic Acid and Flavone Acetic Acid in a Murine Macrophage Cell Line. Biochemical Pharmacology 58: 1173-1181.

Sever, D.M., and T.J. Ryan. 1999. Ultrastructure of the reproductive system of the black swamp snake (Seminatrix pygae). I. Evidence for oviducal sperm storage. J. Morphology 241:1-18.

Sever, D.M. 1999. Eurycea bislineata, Eurycea cirrigera, and Eurycea wilderae in: Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles.

Tomlinson, P.T., R.J. Jensen and J.F. Hancock. 2000. Do whole tree silvic characters indicate hybridization in red oak (Quercus section Lobatae)? American Midland Naturalist 143: 154-168.

Each year the Department of Biology recognizes students who have made outstanding contributions to the Department or who have performed exceptionally well in certain areas. Awardees for 2000 are

In addition, three graduating seniors were selected as recipients of a Sigma Xi Prize for Undergraduate Research:

The prize consists of a certificate of Associate Membership in Sigma Xi and a one-year subscription to The American Scientist.

Dick Jensen has been elected to a three-year term as a member of the Council of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, beginning 1 September 2000.

One of the things that is most enjoyable about preparing this Newsletter is learning what our alumnae have been doing. Please keep us updated on events and changes in your life. Use the form below to provide material for a future Newsletter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Name ____________________________________________________________
(first) (maiden) (married)

Saint Mary's College Class of ___________________________________

News for a future SMC Biology Newsletter:________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Include a recent photo, if you wish.

Please return to:
Dr. Anne A. Susalla
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556