The Vespa - Randolph-Macon College

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RANDOLPH#MACON BIOLOGY $ NOVEMBER , %""& method of learning,” said Coppola. “Within minutes of arriving in the first class students are doing experiments and collecting real data.” Many of the experiments are open#ended since the course is divided into four three#week modules that allow time for in depth study of key biological principals. From studying the genetic basis of alcohol resistance in fruit flies to the e(ect of toxins on fish embryo development, students design their own experiments and present their results as scientific papers or in other formats that are actually used by practicing scientists. “We knew this change in intro biology was going to be radical, however, it puts us at the forefront of science teaching reforms nationally, “ said Coppola. “Our faculty put their heart and soul into this new course. This is an incredibly gifted and committed group of educators. Unlike professors at big universities our focus is on teaching first.” And how have the students responded to this pedagogical experiment? Anonymous comments from the course evaluations for Integrative Biology are promising: “The course was filled with material that could be applied to our lives and to society in general. This made learning easier and much more interesting!” And, “It was a great course. I can’t wait to take the next semester.” And, “The class was the best science class I’ve ever had because it was more about understanding than memorizing.” Vespa is latin for wasp. The RMC mascot is a ye!ow jacket which is actua!y a member of the wasp family. SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS The summer undergraduate research fellowship )SURF* program had a bright group of biology participants again this year. The program, which began in '++&, supports student research in all disciplines. Students are under the supervision of RMC faculty and receive a generous stipend and funds to support their research. Many biology students continue to pursue their SURF projects in a senior thesis and go on to present their results at scientific meetings. Thomas Rhone )above le)* studied the e(ects of the cancer protein Bcr # Abl in a group of cells in the fruit fly embryo. Using genetic techniques, Thomas expressed Bcr # Abl only in this set of cells and then examined how Bcr # Abl expression in these cells a(ects development and the movement of cells. Margarita Tobar )abov* middle* examined two slightly di(erent versions of the Bcr # Abl protein and compared how these a(ected cell movements during development in the fruit fly. Salem Sha!er )above right* cloned and isolated the SP#'" gene from guinea pig sperm. This gene has not been described in guinea pigs. Welcome Dr. Grace Lim#Fong. Grace was born and raised in Singapore. She came to the USA to attend University of California, Berkeley where she studied molecular environmental biology. She then attended graduate school at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California where she completed her doctorate in marine microbiology. As a graduate student, she discovered a new source of anti-cancer compounds from a marine bacterium. She was also a recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship. Dr Lim- Fong was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego prior to her arrival at R-MC, studying how bacteria move DNA around in their cells. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, camping and performing “culinary experiments” (Grace’s phrase for cooking) in her kitchen. $ PAGE %
RANDOLPH#MACON BIOLOGY $ NOVEMBER , %""& WHAT’S HAPPENING? • The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded a generous $40,000 grant to Dr. Chas Gowan to further the goals of watershed management. An ambitious watershed study has been undertaken by Allison Dungan as a senior research project with Dr. Gowan as advisor. The final products will include a retrofit of eight LID (Low Impact Development) practices on the RMC campus, four community outreach events called “Mechumps Days” targeted at local government, business, and private citizens in the watershed, and a student research report describing the efficacy of the LID for improving storm water quality. • Dr. Barry Knisley and his collaborators have just published a field and natural history guide which addresses all 107 known tiger beetle species found in North America above the Mexican border with stunning illustrations. The text includes full distribution maps and biological accounts that emphasize points for identification, behaviors, and habitats. It is a valuable reference for amateur naturalists and professionals alike! • During his sabbatical leave Dr. Wallace Martin is working on a National Science Foundation funded project in collaboration with Duke University that is investigating the phylogenetic relationships among an ecologically important group of fungi (mushrooms and their kin). • Sarah Gaskill, a senior biology major at RMC, had her work presented at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting held in Washington, DC, in November. Her research, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to her supervisor Dr. Coppola, seeks to understand the role of experience in the development of the olfactory system. This work is a continuation of a SURF project that she undertook last summer. BIOLOGY STUDENTS HEAD FOR JAMAICA MON! Professors Falls and Lim-Fong will be taking a group of 14 students to Jamaica as the field component of marine biology, one of several field travel courses available in the Biology Department. The field component of the course will take place at the Hofstra University Marine Laboratory in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, West Indies, for ten days over Spring Break. The course will emphasize identification of marine organisms and the ecology of coral reefs, rocky beaches, tide pools, mangrove swamps, and sea grass beds. It will include introductory classes and orientation in Ashland before Spring Break and concluding classes after Spring Break. High points of the field work include snorkeling in a bat cave, participating in an octopus hunt at night, sighting and chasing nurse sharks, encountering sea wasps and the Portuguese Man-of-War, and numerous snorkeling excursions to coral reefs. EDITOR, RYAN WOODCOCK, %""& GRADUATE OF RMC BIOLOGY As a part of his senior research project Ryan collaborated with researcher Michael G. Kippenhan, molecular biologist Alfried Vogler and his advisors Dr. Barry Knisley, and Dr. Jim Foster on a manuscript recently submitted for publication. Next year he will attend graduate school where he plans to study molecular phylogenetics. Contacts: Editor, rwoodcoc@rmc.edu; Biology Dept., dcoppola@rmc.edu; Dept Webpage, www.rmc.edu/directory/academics/biology $ PAGE ,
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