Move to New Home Occupies July and August for Department http://www.hope.edu/academic/biology/newsletter/newsletternovemb...
Fall 2003
Volume 3 (2)
Move to New Home Occupies July and August for Department
In mid-July the Department began moving into the new Science Center, which had been under construction for the past 18 months. The facility contains 84,000 square feet spread over 3 floors. Its design is intended to foster interdisciplinary teaching and research in that departmental areas do not occur. Rather, faculty using common instrumentation, are clustered near one another. The third floor will focus on molecular investigations and house molecular biologists (Drs. Evans and McDonough), biochemists (Drs. Chase and Hledin) and organic chemists. The second floor will focus on the environment and house organismal biologists (Drs. Barney and Swarthout), ecologists (Drs. Bultman,
Murray and Winnett-Murray), as well as geologists and environmental scientists. The first floor will focus on the study of humans and will house the Nursing and Psychology Departments.
The move began in mid-July and required considerable planning and preparation. By January of 2003, faculty and staff had begun the process of packing materials not needed for that semester.
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After a busy summer research program by students and faculty, the move began, utilizing many of the student researchers who elected to remain on campus and help with packing and moving items. The routine included weekly briefing sessions in which move leaders reviewed the schedule for that week and offered encouragement to the army of helping hands. After 1200 boxes were packed and unpacked using 200 rolls of packing tape and 1.5 miles of bubble wrap, the move was completed.
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All faculty and staff offices and research labs are currently found in the new Science Center. The renovation of the old Peale is expected to be complete in 2004, at which time faculty and staff will move to their permanent locations. All-in all, the move went very well, thanks to many people, particularly
Lori Hertel, Todd Gugino, and the student workers. We are all delighted to occupy a state-of-the-art building that will serve Hope well for many years to come.
Research Celebration Includes Science Center
Open House and Address
The annual Undergraduate Research Celebration at Hope College took on added meaning this year as an opportunity to celebrate the college’s new science center as well.
The event took place on Friday, Oct. 17, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and was scheduled in conjunction with the college’s
Homecoming Weekend. It included student poster presentations concerning joint student-faculty research projects as well as an open house for the new science center, which opened in August. There was also a related lecture on Friday at 3 p.m., and an additional opportunity for self-guided tours of the new building on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. to noon.
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The public was invited to all of the activities.
The research celebration, first presented in 2001, is designed to spotlight the quality and importance of student-faculty collaborative research at Hope, according to Dr. James Gentile, who is dean for the natural sciences at the college. And even though the newly opened science center is hosting the event, he noted that the celebration highlights the way in which research-based learning takes place college-wide.
“Undergraduate research is the purest form of teaching and the purest form of student learning that any institution has to offer,” he said. “It happens throughout the college. The celebration will have students from the social sciences, students from the humanities and the arts as well as students from the sciences—natural sciences and physical sciences—presenting posters side-by-side.”
At the same time, he appreciates the opportunity that the event presents for sharing the new building with others on campus.
“It’s also going to re-emphasize the social space of the building,” he said. “This building is meant to be used by the entire campus. And I think that’s one of the significant points to this, that it will foster that kind of campus-wide community use.”
The activities began on Friday, Oct. 17, at 3 p.m. with a seminar sponsored jointly by the departments of biology, chemistry and physics. Dr. Marsha Lester, who is the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, presented “Significant Radical Reactions in the Lower
Atmosphere: A New View” in room 102 of neighboring VanderWerf Hall. Lester was on campus for two days, during which her itinerary also included guest lectures in two classes. Partial funding for her visit was been provided by the
Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society.
More than 100 students presented the results of research during the 4-6 p.m. celebration. The mix of departments represented all four of the college’s academic divisions: arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural and physical sciences.
Gentile noted that Hope is consistently recognized as a leader nationally for its emphasis on such collaborative research.
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The 2003 edition of the “America’s Best Colleges” guide published by “U.S. News & World Report” ranked Hope fourth in the nation out of all colleges and universities in its then-new “Academic Programs: Undergraduate research/Creative projects” category. The guide doesn’t rank the schools this year, but Hope is again on the list. Among other indicators,
Hope regularly holds more summer research grants through the National Science Foundation’s “Research Experiences for
Undergraduates” program than any other liberal arts college in the country. In 1998, Hope was one of only 10 liberal arts institutions nationally recognized for innovation and excellence in science instruction by the NSF with an “Award for the
Integration of Research and Education” (AIRE).
The new building represents the first of two phases in the college’s effort to enhance its science facilities. During the current 2003-04 school year, the college is also renovating the 30-year-old Peale Science Center, which is attached to the new facility. The total project cost is $36 million.
The science center effort is part of the college’s “Legacies: A Vision of Hope” fundraising campaign. In addition to the science center project, the campaign’s major components are: constructing the DeVos Fieldhouse; increasing the endowment; and general campus improvements, including the construction of the Martha Miller Center for communication, modern and classical languages, international education and multicultural life.
What's Happening with Faculty
Dr. Kathy Winnett-Murray attended the FIRST II Faculty Development and Assessment of Learning Tools workshop at Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, MI on July 11-12, 2003. She was a participant and contributor in the program.
Dr. Donald Cronkite visited three colleges in South Carolina and gave a lecture at each: Furman University
Greenville, South Carolina, Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, and Presbyterian College in Clinton
South Carolina. At all three he spoke on "Finding the Middle in the Creation-Evolution Controversy”. In addition, at Furman he met with the Biology faculty to discuss, "The Biology Curriculum at Hope College: A
Never-Ending Story" and he made a presentation for a class of middle school teachers working on their masters degrees entitled, "Ask Your Way Through Science Class - Inquiry-Based Learning."
Brooks/Cole publishing has asked Dr. Cronkite to write a fourth edition of his guide to solving genetics problems, so that is a major part of his days at the moment.
Dr. Cronkite gave a "Pre-Critical Issues Presentation" on "The Very Least You Have to Know About Science and Society."
In June he was one of two instructors for a short course on evolution at the Hope Academy of Senior
Professionals (HASP), and he also gave a talk on genetically engineered foods this fall for a HASP series on issues of foreign policy, and a talk on Parkinson's Disease to the Holland Rotary Club.
Dr. Tom Bultman participated in the business meetings of the Council for Undergraduate Research, which were held at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. The meetings occur annually for the group of councilors that come from around the nation to discuss issues surrounding undergraduate research and its promotion. Also in
June, he attended the PEW midstates consortium conference on "Bio2010: Computational Solutions to
Biological Problems." The workshop was targeted for faculty in teaching biological sciences, chemistry,
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mathematics, or computer science and included discussion on how best to infuse the science curriculum with interdisciplinary components. He also attended Botany 2003 in Mobile, Alabama in July to participate in a forum on education. He participated in a panel discussion on running an NSF-REU site award in biology.
August, Dr. Bultman traveled to Savannah, Georgia for the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of
America where he presented a poster on work he has completed with undergraduates and which will soon be appearing in the journal, Ecology .
Dr. Christopher Barney went to the PKAL (Project Kaleidoscope) meeting at Oberlin College in September where the Hope team (Drs. Chase, Seymour, Barney, Andersen, and Mader) made the presentation “Motivating and Preparing Students for Careers as Ph.D. Professionals: The Hope College Story”. He also went to the
REU Site Directors’ meeting with Dr. Bultman in Washington, D.C.
Grant Writing Activity
Proposals Submitted
Leah Chase submitted "Eliminating Boundaries: Integration of Teaching and Research Through
Interdisciplinary Studies," to the Career Program at NSF. The Career grants are for faculty who have recently received their Ph.D.'s and provide funding for 5 years.
Virginia McDonough submitted "Fatty Acid Uptake, Traffic and Metabolism in Yeast," to the AREA program at NIH. The proposed work would build upon her research in the area of cellular response to exogenous fatty acids, including their uptake and utilization.
Kim Risley submitted "Analysis of Herpes Simplex Virus Cleavage and Packaging Protein
Interactions," to the New Investigator Matching Grants Program at the National Foundation for
Infectious Diseases.
Maria Burnatowska-Hledin submitted, "VACM-1, a cul 5 Gene Regulates Cell Growth &
Angiogensis," to the American Heart Association to continue her work on the endothelium specific protein VACM-1.
Tom Bultman (co-PI) and Janet Andersen (PI) (Mathematics) submitted, "Using Biology Research
Papers to Integrate Mathematics and Biology in Interdisciplinary and Disciplinary Courses," to the
CCLI Program at the NSF. The project would help disseminate Andersen and Greg Murray's successful Mathematical Biology course to other campuses.
Debbie Swarthout submitted, "The Use of Plant-Fungal Interactions as a Model System in
Understanding Complex Biological Processes," to the Towsely Junior Sabbatical Program at Hope
College.
Proposals Funded
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Tom Bultman, Debbie Swarthout, Janet Andersen (Mathematics) and Kenneth Brown
(Chemistry) received funding for their proposal, "A Multidisciplinary Test of Mutualistic Benefits
Fungal Endophytes Provide Their Host Plants." The grant was awarded through the Collaborative
Research at Undergraduate Institutions Program at the NSF for $885,773 over four years.
Tom Bultman, Debbie Swarthout and Greg Murray received funding for their proposal,
"Acquisition of Controlled Environmental Chambers for Enhanced Research in the Plant Biology
Program at Hope College." The grant was funded through the Major Research Instrumentation
Program at the NSF for $154,058 over two years.
Department Service Activity Assignments (2003/2004)
Library Liaison
Dr. Brady
Chemistry Department Liaison/Jobs
Dr. Burnatowska- Hledin
Dr. Chase (Sabbatical)
Seminar Coordinator - Fall
Dr. Risley
Dr. Swarthout
First/Second Year Advisors
Dr. Barney
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Dr. Cronkite
Major Advisors
Dr. Barney FYS
Dr. Bultman
Dr. Burnatowska-Hledin
Dr. Chase (Sabbatical)
Dr. Cronkite FYS
Dr. Evans (Sabbatical)
Dr. McDonough
Dr. Murray
Dr. Winnett-Murray FYS
Dr. Swarthout
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Move to New Home Occupies July and August for Department
BUD Coordinator
Dr. Swarthout
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Coordinator
Dr. Murray
Safety Coordinator
***
Radiation Safety Officer
Dr. Evans
Dr. Chase
Chairperson
Dr. Bultman
Tenure/Promotion Notebook Organizer
Dr. Bultman
Animal Care and Use Committee
Ms. Hertel
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Museum Coordinator
Ms. Hertel
Field Equipment Coordinator
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Field Station Committee
Dr. Murray
Dr. Eckerle
Dr. Evans (Sabbatical)
Equipment Maintenance Coordinator
Ms. Hertel
Greenhouse Supervisor
Dr. Swarthout
GRE Coach/Graduate School Preparation
Dr. Risley
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Admission Liason/Prospective Student Meeter/Visitation Day Presenter
Dr. Bultman
Web Page Updater
Dr. Cronkite
Admissions Material Updater/Connections
Dr. Bultman
CCLI Grant Writer
Dr. Swarthout
Department Assessment Coordinators
Dr. Murray
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Summer Research Program Directors
Dr. Bultman
Dr. Evans
Pew Undergraduate Symposium Trip Organizers/Attendees
Drs. Bultman/Brown
Microbiology Committee
Chair - Dr. Bultman
Dr. McDonough
Dr. Murray
Organismal Biologist Search Committee
Chair - Dr. Barney
Dr. Chase ? (Sabbatical)
Dr. Cronkite
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Seminar Coordinators - Spring
Dr. Eckerle
Tri-Beta Advisor
Dr. Eckerle
Equipment Inventory Coordinator
Vacant
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DeKruif Award Committee
Dr. Cronkite
Dr. Winnett-Murray
Publicity Writer
Dr. Bultman
Arbiter of AP Credit Appeals
Dr. Cronkite
Hughes Task Force Representative
Dr. Barney
The Biology Department is looking forward to the summer of 2004 and the REU program. The
REU website is up and running and the biology department office has already received applications from undergraduates interested in an opportunity to do hands-on research this summer with Hope College Biologists.
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Use the URL below for a description of the summer research program and a link to the on-line application : http://www.hope.edu/academic/biology/
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BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT SEMINARS – FALL 2003
August 29
Meet the Biology Department Faculty and Tri Beta Officers
September 5
Dr. Karel Rogers
Grand Valley State Univ.
Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region
September 12
Dr. Aiza Alfonso
Univ. of Illinois-Chicago
Studies on the Sorting and Tafficking of Proteins Involved in Synaptic Transmission
September 19
Dr. Larry Pinto
Northwestern University
Discovering Genes that Control Behavior in Mammals
September 26
*Dr. Stephen A. Krawetz
Wayne State University
Bioinformatic Discoveries in the post-Genome Sequencing Era
*Joint Seminar/Biology & Chemistry
October 4
Dr. Martin Tenniswood
University of Notre Dame
The Biology of Breast Cancer Progression
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Oct. 6
Sigma-Xi Speaker
Dr. Emoke Szathmary
University of Manitoba
Genetic Evidence on the Origins of the Aboriginal Peoples of North America
Oct. 24
Dr. Timothy L. Stemmler
Wayne State University
Structural Insights into the Cellular Function of Frataxin
Oct. 31
Laurie Beth Nederveld ‘02
Research Assistant
Annis Water Resources Institute
Bridge Over Troubled Water – How Watershed Management is Improving the Grand River & its
Tributaries
And
Greg Town ‘02
Food Microbiologist
S & J Laboratories, Inc.
Dude, That’s Nasty!
Nov. 7
College of Veterinary Medicine
Michigan State University
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in Animals: BSE, Scrapie, and Chronic Wasting Disease
Nov. 14
Dr. Jeffrey Conner
Michigan State University
Integration and Constraint in Floral Evolution
Nov. 21
Dr. Jeanne Burton
Michigan State University
Bovine Immunophysiology and Immunogenetics
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Recent Faculty Publications
Barney, C.C., D.M. Kurylo and J.L. Grobe. 2003. Thermal Dehydration-Induced Thirst in
Lithium-Treated Rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 75: 341-347.
Verbrugge, L.M., J.J. Rainey, R.L. Reimink, and H.D. Blankespoor. 2003. Swimmer's Itch: Incidence and Risk Factors. American Journal of Public Health
Xu, P., L Fuli, M.A. Cuiquing, J. Zhong, Y. Qu, and H.D. Blankespoor. 2002. Microbial sulfurization of fuel oil. 47: 365-369.
Zhao, X.-F., L.-M. Li, J.-X. Wang, J.-B. Wang, S.-L. Wang, H.D. Blankespoor. Efficacy of RH-2485, a new non-steroidal ecdysone agonist, against the cotton boll worm; Helicoverpa armigera
(Lepidoptera: noctuidae) in the laboratory and field.
Bultman, T.L. and G.D. Bell. 2003. Interaction between fungal endophytes and environmental stressors influences plant resistance to insects. Oikos 103: 182-190.
Bultman, T.L. and A. Leuchtmann. 2003. A test of host specialization by insect vectors as a mechanism for reproductive isolation among entomophilous fungal species. Oikos 103: 681-687.
Bultman, T.L., M.R McNeill and S.L. Goldson. 2003. Isolate-dependent impacts of fungal endophytes in a multitrophic interaction. Oikos 102: 491-496.
Department Undergoes External Review
Hope College encourages academic departments to regularly conduct external reviews. Since the
Department's last review was conducted in 1995 and many faculty have been hired since that time, the department decided to invite the services of outside consultants. Prior to the reviewers' visit, the department conducted an extensive self study, in which data on faculty, staff, the curriculum, research, and budgets were collected. On April 15-17, 2003, the Department was visited by consultants Dr.
Mary Allen (Wellesley College), Dr. David VanWylen (St. Olaf College) and Dr. John K. Haynes
(Morehouse College). The team spent time visiting with departmental faculty, students, staff, and college administrators. The purpose of the review was to provide an external perspective on how well the department is accomplishing its mission. Reviewers were very impressed with the department. Our faculty and their interaction with students in the classroom and research laboratory, was perceived as a clear strength. The outreach program to pre-schoolers and elementary school students also received praise. The review team also was impressed with the department's collegiality. In addition, the consultants offered suggestions on areas where the department can focus its attention in the short term, like its 4-course core curriculum, upcoming faculty hires, and attracting students into the biology major.
The department is currently formulating an action plan that takes into account its own self-study, the report by the external reviewers, and its own discussion in a half day retreat held earlier this semester.
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Trends in Biology Enrollment
There has been a national decline in the number of graduating high school students with interests in the sciences. This trend began in about 1998 and its effects are now beginning to show up in national data on bachelor recipients. For example, total bachelor recipients in the US in the biological sciences increased in each year during the 1990's , but actually decreased 3.4% from 1999 to 2000
(http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/ nsf02329/ ables/tab4.xls). The Biology Department at Hope was not immune to these national trends and experienced a pronounced drop in students with interests in biology
(Figure 1).
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Factors other than the national trend likely fueled our drop in majors. In the last two years the
Department has bolstered its efforts to recruit and attract students. These efforts are paying dividends; our admissions numbers for the last two years show a rebound in students enrolled in our first semester course, Biology 150. We are hopeful for an even larger class next fall.
ALUMNI ACTIVITIES
Heather Wesp (’99) accepted a full-time position at Montcalm Community College, 13 miles north of
Greenville, MI. that began in August. She is teaching two sections of general biology and one section of human anatomy and physiology for the Fall semester.
Jason Roberts (’99) says, “ I’ve just finished the bat job out here in Oregon. Pretty neat stuff. I think our summer total was something in the range of 700 bats processed. There’s something like 8 or 9 species out here, ranging from really big Horary (the coolest), Big Brown, and Pallid bats on down to truly diminutive California myotis.
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I managed to get through without too many skin-piercing bites, although I learned my lesson one night when another tech and I caught 16 Big Browns. Our boss describes them as being like little
Rottweilers, and he’s not too far off. The radio telemetry is pretty interesting stuff, too.
We had two study areas out here, each about 100 square kilometers. You definitely learn to get things narrowed down as much as possible while you’re still in the truck before you set out walking. No one got too seriously lost during the summer, although a couple of techs did spend about 2 hours wandering a stream canyon one night. I was smart enough to not be with them.  We found a couple of big roost trees with over 400 bats in them, which is quite a sight when they all emerge in the evening. It was also pretty neat to see bats captured 8 or 10 kilometers away from each other winding up roosting in the same tree!”
Jonathan Atwell (’03) says, “Yes, Jackson Hole Valley has been a great place to spend the summer, and overall I’ve had a great time. It’s been nice having my brother and Mandy here, and the people I work with are all very nice.
As you all know, recreational opportunities abound and the ecosystems and wildlife are fantastico . I’ve been trying to make the most of both without tiring myself out too much. I got a week off in early July for working three weekends in June, and my parents and grandfather were here recently to visit for a week, which was nice.
The first half of the summer I worked primarily on the nest predation study using artificial nests. The overall setup of the study is very cool. They have established plots in 54 patches of riparian forest along the Snake River ranging from developed areas just west of the town of Jackson north into GTNP. The plots were chosen randomly from 3 strata: low, medium, and high density of development ( which was characterized by the number of houses, and percentage of road cover, human noise, etc.).They found that the abundance of many species (especially neotropical migrants) decreased as development increased while magpies, ravens, orioles ( all known nest predators) increased with development. So, increases in nest predation with increasing development was hypothesized to be a possible cause for the above trends…hence the artificial nest study.
This meant that I dealt with LOTS of artificial next for 4 weeks (not exciting work), but the results were interesting. We found the expected trend: higher rates of predation in more highly developed areas.
I also spent a lot of time using infrared motion-sensing cameras to detect nest predators which was mildly successful considering that the things were designed for large game species…and we did get lots of pictures of magpies. I liked the study setup (human development gradient, multiple scales, etc) and the framing questions (wild land vs. developed populations).
When Jonathan wrote this he was hiking and biking in Utah while studying for the GRE and investigating graduate school opportunities for next year.
Tim Dykstra accepted a lead wildlife biology/sub basin planning job for the Shoshone/Paiute tribe, which is a two hour drive south of Boise, Idaho. He is based out of Boise since most of his work is dealing with the state and federal agencies in Boise.
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Teresa Friedrich (’96) recently sent work that she successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on
September 12 and is now a Ph.D. (University of Michigan Biological Sciences). She ahs also just accepted a postdoc position studying plague ecology based out of Cal State –Fullerton: she will be moving to California in December.
Eric Westhus , (’98) an alum who has been doing environmental consulting work in Missouri for a few years, has just accepted a position as Research Database Manager for the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
ALUM RECEIVES AWARD
Donald E. Kroodsma ’68, Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, was awarded the Elliott Coues Award from The American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) at its annual meeting in
Urbana, IL.
Throughout his career, Don’s research has utilized bird song as a model system for studying the function, evolution, ontogeny, and control of behavior patterns. He was honored by Hope’s Biology department in
1968 with the Frank N. Patterson prize as the outstanding senior biology major. Following graduation from Hope, Don pursued graduate work at Oregon State University and post-doctoral research at
Rockefeller University, before beginning his position at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
The Elliott Coues Award represents one of the highest honors that can be given to professional ornithologists by the AOU and recognized Don for providing meritorious contributions that have had an important influence on the study of birds in the Western Hemisphere.
Founded in 1883, the AOU is the oldest and largest organization in the New World devoted to the scientific study of birds. The AOU primarily is a professional organization, but its membership of about
4,000 includes many amateur birders; all members are dedicated to the advancement of ornithological science.
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