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December, 2013
MSCI Monthly Newsletter
In This Issue
Creation Care Week
Conservation Biology
ACS
Pereira-Derderian Lab
Senior Theses
Graduation
Update Your Information
Faculty Profile
Mrs. Jessica Faucett
Jessica Faucett is an Assistant
Professor of Mathematics. She
received her B.S. from Wayland
Baptist University and M.S. from
New Mexico State University
both in mathematics. She is
currently working towards a
Ph.D. from Texas Tech
University. Read more...
Calendar
From the "Herb-arium"
Dr. Herb Grover, Dean
School of Mathematics and Sciences
Greetings!
It been a very pleasant and productive fall
semester here in Plainview - we had some
welcome rains over the summer, summer
temperatures were moderate, with a bit of a
cool ending to the fall semester. As you can
see in the articles posted in this newsletter,
this is the time of the year when several of us
take our students into the field. Dr. Kasner, Dr.
Walsh, and I go to great efforts to instill in our students in general ecology,
conservation biology, and various geology courses a healthy respect for
God's creation by experiencing and studying it in place! The mountains of
New Mexico present the most rewarding locale for our fall classes, along
with various trips within Texas and a foray or two to Oklahoma as time
allows.
It is surprising, amazing, and rewarding to see our students respond to
these experiences with a sense of awe for our Creator that in turn heightens
their appreciation and understanding of what we are teaching in the
classroom. That said, it is also amazing to note that every year we have
students in our classes who have never even taken a hike (its true!), let
alone viewed their surrounding from a mountaintop; heard elk bugling in
the forests; been struck by the brilliant lavender and yellow colors of fall
flowers; seen birds of prey and migrating flocks in transit to their wintering
grounds; taken in the brilliant starry skies away from the light pollution of
cities and towns; or slept out under His heavenly lights.
At the same time Dr. Kasner, Dr. Walsh, and I were exploring in the field,
our colleagues in the lab were making great strides with students at
regional, national, and international scientific meetings. Imagine taking
students who have never flown before to the Neuroscience meetings in San
Diego - attended by 30,000 scientists - and presenting their first posters!
Dr. Derderian did that with two students conducting research with her. How
about having your students present their work with an innovative image
processing methodology to the southwest regional meetings of the
American Chemical Society and having investigators at a major research
institution ask to have our students and faculty help them with their
research! That's what happened for Dr. Moore and Dr. Gray and their
December 14
Graduation
December 25
January 5-7
SW AAPG Short Course
January 15
Classes Resume
March 7
Coronado Math and Science Day
March 13-18
Geology SC GSA Meeting
March 28-29
Big Weekend
students!
In conversations among our faculty we often think back to our
undergraduate experiences. None of us - none - had the opportunities to
see God's creation in the variety and depth that we afford our students. A
couple of our students, one a geology major and the other a biology major,
recently tallied up their time in the field to more than 12 weeks total over a
two year period, covering the full expanse of the US from South Dakota to
New Mexico! And none of us had the opportunities that Wayland affords our
undergraduates to engage in research producing outcomes that have a real
influence on our disciplines! Indeed, seeing God's works firsthand and
studying how His works function are two of the distinctives of our program
that we consider of central importance to the mission of our university.
So, as we embark on our various travels and address key questions in
science, we ask for your continued prayers for safe travel and productive
sessions in the lab and the field. As always, we appreciate your kind words
and gestures of support for what we do through Wayland. I hope that this
newsletter finds you all well and that you and your families enjoy a
wondrous Christmas Season and Happy New Year full of joy and good
health.
God Bless! - HDG
March 3-5
MAA Meeting
March 7-8
Texas Academy of Science
Meeting
April 25
Spring Research Day
Support our programs
If anything in this newsletter
sparks your interest and you
would like to provide your
financial support to our
students, either by funding
specific areas of research or by
providing scholarship moneys,
there are easy ways for you to
give.
Contact our
Development Team:
Phone: 806-291-3430
Fax: 806-291-1984
E-mail: hope@wbu.edu
Mail: 1900 W 7th Street #621
Plainview, TX 79072
You can also give online:
https://give.wbu.edu
If you would like your funds to
be directed toward research or
scholarships in our School,
please designate your gift. Our
Development Team will make
Creation Care Week
November 11-15, 2013
Creation Care week has become an
annual tradition for Wayland to
help promote environmental
awareness. The week was started
off with Dr. Grover's morning
devotional where he announced
this year's theme as "I'm gonna let
it shine". The theme came to Dr.
Grover after reading Ben Lowe's
book Green Revolution. Ben Lowe
was our gracious special guest for
the week. Ben serves as the Director of Young Adult Ministries with the
Evangelical Environmental Network and travels extensively across North
America and around the world to educate decision makers and others
about the linkage between creation care and caring for "the least of
these.". Dr. Grover was struck by the passion Ben exhibits for his work by letting his "light shine" he brightens the path so that we can all step
forward with each of our "little lights!".
Various events took place throughout the week including;
•
The Wayland Community Garden- under the dedicated
sure our students receive your
support.
Quick Links
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About Us
Photo Galleries
News & Events
Travel Opportunites
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leadership of Mark Hilliard, Dr. Peter Bowen and his wife
Lynette, along with many other volunteers, the community
garden project in three years has "grown" from a small patch of
raw earth to a developing network of raised beds producing
hundreds of pounds of fresh, tasty, and healthful produce that
has been donated to local food banks and social service
agencies.
A meet and greet ice cream social for students and faculty that
also spoke on Environmental Stewardship Programs.
Chapel- Mr. Lowe spoke on the issues of climate change and
creation care
A brief Q&A with Mr. Lowe for students and faculty
Ministerial Talk from Ben Lowe speaking about creation care and
christian ministries
Electronics Recycling Collection Day- The WBU Information
Technologies department, along with business students involved
in the Enactus program collected household electronic items to
recycle. Items were separated into containers behind the
university library, then taken to the recycling center.
To learn more about Ben Lowe and about Creation Care Week click
here.
Contact Us
Conservation Biology
The School of Math & Sciences
Wayland Baptist University
1900 W. 7th St.
Plainview, TX 79072
(806)291-1115
mathscience@wbu.edu
http://www.wbu.edu/mathsci
This past semester Conservation Biology and Ecology have both been
involved in various field work and research. Students have been given
opportunities to experience new aspects of their community while
learning how to apply various field techniques.
•
The Conservation Biology and Ecology students conducted field
studies this semester on seed banks found in playa soils, effects
of Harvester Ants on plant communities and Texas Horned
Lizard site use. This work included multiple days in the field
collecting data for analysis and learning techniques in field
biology.
•
The Conservation Biology students worked with Ogallala
Commons, a non-profit conservation and community
development foundation, to lead a Playa Festival for more than
60 students in 4th and 5th grade Lockney Elementary. The
festival included our conservation students showing the
elementary students examples of invertebrates such as fairy
shrimp and dragonflies in the classroom, teaching them about
their life cycles and dependence on playa lakes, and then
showed them some of these amazing organisms at a real playa.
It was a resounding success for all involved!
•
Nati Sandoval and Dr. Andrew Kasner will begin work in
December tracking the movements and habitat use patterns of
Great-tailed Grackles roosting in Plainview during the winter
months. This research will help better understand why grackle
roosts form at specific locations and how they use the landscape
throughout the winter months. This study may be useful in
helping to manage urban populations of this species in the
future.
American Chemical Society
Nov. 17-19, 2013
Left: Jessica Kenneson, Tim McCutcheon, Sarah Kelly, Dr.
Robert Moore Trevor Burrow and Dr. Gary Gray
Dr. Robert Moore, students (Tim McCutcheon, Sarah Kelly, Trevor Burrow
and Jessica Kenneson) and Dr. Gray attended the Southwest Regional
Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Waco, TX, November 1719. Trevor presented a poster from his Welch research (Purification and
Characterization of 4T1Cell Cytotoxins from Ginger (Zingerber
officianale)). Jessica presented an invited talk in the Recent Advances in
Bioanalytical Chemistry session on her Welch research developing a
photo imaging system. Jessica's presentation was a special honor in that
she was invited to talk in the "regular" forum with faculty and
investigators from other institutions, rather than with the other
undergraduates. Jessica's talk was titled "Development of a
documentation system utilizing a high-end DSLR camera". As a result of
her presentation, a graduate student from Dr. Dimitri Pappas' lab at
Texas Tech University is planning to visit in January to use the
documentation system in her research. Trevor and Jessica both did
exceptional work and represented WBU extraordinarily well!
Pereira-Derderian Lab
Left: Melissa Perez, Dr. Derderian, Ashley Rivera
On November 9, 2013, Dr. Derderian, along with science majors Melissa
Perez and Ashley Rivera, attended the 43rd Annual Meeting of the
Society of Neuroscience in San Diego, CA. Both students have been
performing undergraduate research under Dr. Derderian for the past
year. Their research, following from Dr. Derderian's thesis work,
generated new and insightful data in the field of long-term changes in
salt intake enhancement. Melissa has been working on assessing the
effect of social interaction on salt addiction while Ashley has been
examining the effect of oral-pharyngeal and digestive afferences at the
onset of salt addiction.
Their compiled data generated original abstracts which were submitted
and accepted by the SFN peer-reviewed committee. Melissa presented a
poster session on Sunday, November 10th and Ashley on Tuesday,
November 12th. Dr. Derderian has attended more than 30 scientific
meetings and SFN is by far the most enriching conferences she has
experienced. The opportunity Wayland is providing to these students
thrills both them and Dr. Derderian. The Pereira-Derderian Lab feels this
experience was a blessing and benefited from it by gathering innovative
knowledge that is applicable towards student growth and future research
endeavors.
Senior Theses
Hunter Green
On November 22nd Hunter Green, graduating in December with a B.S. in
Geology, successfully defended his undergraduate research thesis titled
"A taxonomic and taphonomic description of a large ungulate fossil from
the Chadron Formation of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, South
Dakota". His research began in the summer of 2012 with the collection of
a large jaw, including its discovery, excavation and field preparation for
transport. Back in the new WBU paleontology lab, Hunter worked months
to clean and stabilize the jaw, reconstructing some portions that had
weathered and broken. After extensive study of the dental and jaw
morphologies, Hunter concluded that the fossil was from a now extinct
rhinoceros, a relatively rare find from that time period.
Rhinoceros jawbone
Jacob Kemmer
Jacob Kemmer defended his undergraduate thesis on Friday Dec.
6th. His thesis is entitled "Herpetofaunal Diversity and Abundance
Among Different Aged Burns in a Shinnery Oak Stand". This research is
part of an effort to survey the diversity of vertebrates at the Nature
Conservancy's Yoakum Dunes Preserve and inform conservation and
management of the preserve. His work includes a new county record for
the Texas Horned Lizard, a state threatened species and a better
understanding of the effects of fire and habitat conditions on prairie
reptiles.
Texas Horned Lizard
Graduation
December 14, 2013
The School of Mathematics and Sciences are pleased to announce this
December's graduates; Hunter Green, Jacob Kemmer and Kyli Smith. All
three students have been been a big part of the school and we are very
proud of them! Just like all of our alumni, they represent the best of who
we are and what we are here for. We like to keep in touch with our
alumni so we have asked our graduates what their plans are for the
recent future.
Hunter Green has plans to continue his education and attend graduate
school in the Fall of 2014. He will be applying to schools both in Texas
and in Oklahoma. Through this process he will also be obtaining his
teachers certificate through the Texas Education Agency in region 18,
Midland, TX. Hunter was very successful in his undergraduate research
and will continue to work and present his research at the Geological
Society of America South-Central Meeting and at the Texas Academy of
Science in the spring of 2014.
Jacob Kemmer will also be applying for graduate school with his main
focus being on conservation/field biology and reptiles. Jacob spent time
in various field work projects familiarizing himself with field biology and
has had numerous hands-on experiences with analyzing reptiles during
his research. With the help of these field exercises, Jacob was able to
discover his passion in field biology/conservation biology. In the mean
time Jacob will be substitute teaching in the Plainview area.
Kyli will be joining her husband in Vernon after graduation. Once settled
in to her new home she plans to work and get "more experience under
her belt" before she starts applying for a physical therapy school in
Texas.
Help us keep your information updated. We strive to keep
in touch with all of our alumni. If your information has
changed or needs to be added please click here.
us on
Scholarship Applications Now
Online!
All of our scholarship application materials are
available online! If you are a declared math or science
major, you may be eligible to receive scholarships that
are awarded through our school. The application for
incoming freshman students planning on attending next Fall is always
open. The application is also open for current science and math students
for scholarships of 2013-2014 school year.
To apply click here, or visit http://www.wbu.edu/mathsci click
Scholarships in the menu and select the appropriate application.
About Wayland Baptist University
Dreaming big for more than a century.
Wayland began in 1908 as the dream of pioneers who respected the lifealtering value of education. Now the oldest university in continuous
existence on the High Plains of Texas, Wayland Baptist reaffirms that
commitment every day through a distinctive combination of offerings.
Mission
Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically
challenging, learning focused, and distinctively Christian environment for
professional success and service to God and humankind.
Location
Main campus in Plainview, a community of 25,000 on the high plains of
West Texas between Lubbock and Amarillo.
Enrollment
More than 1,500 students on the main campus in Plainview, TX, plus
5,800 students on campuses in Amarillo, Lubbock, San Antonio, and
Wichita Falls, Texas; Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska: Sierra Vista and
Phoenix, Arizona; Aiea, Hawaii; Albuquerque and Clovis, New Mexico;
Altus, Oklahoma; and Kenya, Africa.
Our School
The School of Mathematics and Sciences emphasizes a rigorous, ethical
approach to the study of mathematics and science. We believe that
success in these disciplines requires a broad base of content knowledge
and the development of the critical thinking skills necessary for the
ongoing acquisition, processing and communication of current subject
matter. The activities of the School, both academic and professional,
intentionally reflect the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His centrality to all of
creation.
Prepared by Dr. William Hahn, Associate Dean and
Megan McPherson, Technical Assistant
School of Mathematics and Science, Wayland Baptist University
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