JULY 2018
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, published an essay “Freshwater turtles in the city, the country and everywhere in between” in Current Conservation in which he translates his recent scientific publication for the general public.
Also, a research project led by Bowne, which facilitates collaboration among undergraduates and faculty across the country to study turtles, has been featured in envirobites.org.
Ryan Rippeon ’20, engineering; Debra Wohl, professor of biology; and Brenda Read-Daily, associate professor of engineering, presented a poster, titled “Nitrate Removal Performance in a Sulfur-Limestone Amended Agricultural Drainage System,” on June 5 at the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
APRIL 2018
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, is the lead author on a manuscript accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Conservation Biology. The article “Effects of urbanization on the population structure of freshwater turtles across the United States” is the result of a collaborative research program named “TurtlePop” involving 40 faculty members and more than 1,000 undergraduate students at colleges across the central and eastern United States. Alexandra Doran ’15, environmental science, is a co-author on the paper. Bowne conceived and coordinated TurtlePop through the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN), an organization funded by the National Science Foundation to foster collaboration and integration of ecological research and teaching at primarily undergraduate institutions. Bowne is a founding member of EREN and its current vice president.
Bowne also gave the invited talk, “The Climate of Your Life: A personal approach to understanding climate change,” to residents of Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community, New Oxford, Pennsylvania, in April.
Anya Goldina, assistant professor of biology, and Danielle Barattini, occupational therapy graduate student, co-authored “Exploring Student Perceptions of a Station-based Teaching Approach in The Human Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory.” The article was published in the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society Educator Journal in April. The article discusses the use of different learning approaches in the anatomy and physiology lab at Elizabethtown College. Barattini has been a teaching assistant in the anatomy and physiology labs since 2015.
Mo Kalmbacher ’18, environmental science; Amelia Baker ’20, environmental science, and Anya Goldina, assistant professor in biology, participated in the annual conference of the Ecological Society of America, Mid-Atlantic Chapter at Rutgers University – Newark, New Jersey, in April. Kalmbacher presented a poster on her research with Goldina, titled “Behavioral responses of the invasive crayfish Orconectes rusticus to opposite-sex chemical signals.”
Biology research students and David Bowne participated in the annual conference of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America at Rutgers University-Newark in April. Jennah Krause ’18 presented “Influence of land cover and distance on predation of simulated turtle nests.” Alyssa Taylor ’18 presented “Impact of environmental factors on the potential nest temperature of the painted turtle.” Elizabeth DiBiase ’18 presented “Temporal changes in landscape heterogeneity as an influence on freshwater turtle habitat in Lancaster County, PA.”
DiBiase also gave a poster presentation titled “Testing the effects of light pollution on growth and intraspecific competition in common milkweed” stemming from her Research Experience for Undergraduates internship at the University of Virginia’s Blandy Experimental Farm.
MARCH 2018
Jane Cavender and Debra Wohl along with six senior biology students presented research at the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society Northeast District 2 Convention at Drew University in March. Yanellis Bonano presented a poster on “Fecal Matter Transplants: Determining the Best Preservation Method for Fecal Matter.” Suzie Al absi and Alexandra Charnigo presented a poster “Manipulating Sulfur in Agricultural Soils to Stimulate Sulfur-Based Autotrophic Denitrification and Other Changes in Microbial Community Composition.” Jenna Aumiller and Meghan Dolan received the third place award for their oral presentation “Correlation of SAM68 levels to SF2-mediated alternative splicing of RON in transformed human diploid fibroblasts cells.” Anushka Katikaneni presented, orally, on her research, “The effect of confluence on alternative splicing factor 2 (SF2) levels in SV40 transformed human diploid fibroblast cells.”
JANUARY 2018
David Bowne, associate professor in the Department of Biology, had a creative nonfiction essay, titled “The Improbability of Me (and You),” published in the December issue of Hippocampus magazine.
September 2017
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, and Kristi Arnold, Fine and Performing Arts, co-presented the poster “Turning algae into art: A collaboration between art and ecology students to address eutrophication in a campus lake” at the national conference of the Ecological Society of America in Portland, Oregon, this past August.
Bowne also was an invited participant in the panel “Evaluation, Tenure, and Promotion: Role of Mentoring Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities” at the Conference for Undergraduate Research Programs: Undergraduate Research Collaborations of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, in June.
July 2017
Jon Coren, associate professor of biology, published the journal article “Investigating the utility of the P1 Artificial Chromosome shuttle vector pJCPAC-Mam2 for gene therapy studies” in the International Biology Review, Vol. 1, Issue 1, May 2017. He also published the journal article “Retrofitting the BAC cloning vector pBeloBAC11 by the insertion of a mutant loxP site” in the journal BMC Research Notes.
November 2016
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, had an original short story, “Henry Ford Hated Glaciers,” featured on the Art House section of the podcast Citizens’ Climate Radio, episode 6.
October 2016
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, is co-author on “Collaborative Research Networks Provide Unique Opportunities for Faculty and Student Researchers,” published in the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Quarterly, Summer 2016, Volume 36, Number 4. Jodi L. Yorty, associate professor and department chair, appeared with students in a TurtlePop photo within the article.
Jane Cavender, professor of biology, had her paper “SV40 T-Antigen Amino Acid Changes that Disrupt the Cul-7 or Bub-1 Binding do not Globally Distort the T-Common Region” published in Intervirology 59(1).
Debra Wohl, professor of biology, and Megan Mendenhall ’16 travelled to Montreal, Canada, to present their research this August at the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME). “Sharing more than an apartment? The Human Forearm Skin Microbiome of Individuals Living in Campus Housing” examined whether or not we ‘share’ microorganisms that reside on our arms.
September 2016
Jodi L. Yorty, associate professor and department chair, presented research titled, “Anti-CD40 Prevents the Corticosterone-Induced Loss of Splenic Dendritic Cells in C57Bl/6 Mice,” at the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society annual meeting in Brighton, England, in June 2016.
April 2016
David Bowne, associate professor of biology, attended the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America April 8 through 10 at Kutztown University. Students accompanying him and presenting were Alyssa Taylor, Jennah Krause, Crystal Uminski and Ryan Conway. Also attending were Alexandra Charnigo, Marquise Henry and Amanda Herzog.
Diane Bridge, associate professor of biology, Brady Morgan and Sarah McCarron presented the poster, “Use of CRISPR/Cas9 to Alter PTEN Expression in Hydra vulgaris,” at 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.
Diane Bridge, associate professor of biology, and Ryan Schwark presented “TOR Complex and Neurogenesis in Hydra” at 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.
Jane Cavender, professor of biology, Andrew Fry and Nate Williams presented “Cannabinoid Receptor 2 Expression and Its Role in Tumorigenesis” at the TriBeta Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by Ursinus College on March 19.
Gates Failing’s presentation, “Microbial Resuspension in the Indoor Built Environment: The Role of Flooring Materials and Anthropogenic Traffic on Taxonomic Diversity,” was awarded first place—accompanied by a travel grant to the National Meeting—for oral presentation at the TriBeta Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by Ursinus College on March 19.
Anya Goldina, visiting assistant professor of biology, and Ellen Powers presented “Repeated Social Interactions Decrease Aggression but do Not Stabilize Social Hierarchy in the Crayfish Orconectes obscurus” at the TriBeta Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by Ursinus College on March 19.
Anya Goldina, visiting assistant professor of biology, and Miriam Balasundram presented “Comparison of Individual Recognition Between Native and Invasive Crayfish, Orconectes obscurus and Orconectes rusticus” at the 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.
Megan Mendenhall’s presentation, “Genomic Analysis of the Human Forearm Sin Microbiome of Individuals Living in Campus Housing” was awarded third place for oral presentation at the TriBeta Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by Ursinus College on March 19.
Tom Murray, professor of biology; Amber Chausee and Kaitlin McDonald presented “Macroinvertebrate Diversity and Sediment Composition in the Conewago Creek” at the 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.
Debra Wohl, associate professor of biology, and Megan Mendenhall, Phillip Belder and Gates Failing attended and presented research at the TriBeta Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by Ursinus College on March 19.
Jodi Yorty, associate professor of molecular biology and department chair, Morgann Reed and Keira McGrath presented “Determining the Effect of CD40 Stimulation and Corticosterone on Pro-Survival Protein Expression in Murine BMDCs” at the 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.
Jodi Yorty, associate professor of molecular biology and department chair, and Stephany Staniforth presented “The Effects of Vitamin D Treatment on Dendritic Cell Maturation and Signaling,” at the 92nd meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science at Delaware Valley University April 1 through 3, 2016.