ANNUAL REPORT: June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009
(i.e., Summer 2008, AY 2008-2009)
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY
SUNY-ESF
NAME: Roy A. Norton
I. INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
1. Regular Course Offerings
Course No.
Title
Credit
Hrs.
No.
Students
No. of Lab.
Sections
SUMMER:
FALL:
SPRING: EFB 355 Invertebrate Zoology
4
41
2
2. Non-Scheduled Course Offerings (e.g., 496, 899, 999)
Course No.
Title
EFB 495 Experience in College Teaching
Credit
Hrs.
No.
Students
3
1
3. Continuing Education and Extension (short courses, workshops, etc.)
Soil Acarology – I taught a one week workshop for international professionals and graduate students at the
Acarology Summer Program of the Ohio State University. (18 students; June 30-July 5, 2008)
4. Guest Lecture Activities
Course No.
EFB 132
EFB 215
Title
Orientation Seminar: EFB
Interpreting Science Through Art
No. of Lectures
2
1
II. STUDENT ADVISING
A. Number of undergraduates for whom you are the student’s official advisor __26___ and
unofficial advisor __many, but kept no records_(perhaps 15?)__
B. Graduate Students: (Name, degree sought, starting date, month & year; if a degree was completed, please give
date and full citation for the thesis or dissertation).
MAJOR PROFESSOR
CO-MAJOR PROFESSOR
MEMBER, STEERING COMMITTEE (other than those listed above)
Jacob Wickham
Monica Hughes
PhD
PhD
CHAIRMAN OR READER ON THESIS EXAMS, ETC.
Osman Ahmed MS (FEG) – Defense chairman
III. RESEARCH COMPLETED OR UNDERWAY
A. Departmental Research (unsupported, boot-legged; title - % time spent)
1. Evolution and ecology of asexuality in oribatid mites, based on DNA sequences (with German colleagues M.
Maraun, S. Scheu and students (several projects funded through Technical University of Darmstadt and
University of Goettingen). 5%
2. Megachthoniidae, a new genus and family of primitive mite from northern New Zealand – 2%
3. 18S rRNA gene as a molecular clock for the study of oribatid mite evolution (with I. Schaeffer, K. Domes, M.
Maraun, S. Scheu (funded through Technical University of Darmstadt) – 2%
4. Taxonomic distribution of alkaloid toxins in oribatid mites (with R. Saporito and M. Garrafo, NIH) – 2%
5. A new species of Scapheremaeus (Acari: Oribatida) from ephemeral rock-pools of granite monoliths in
Georgia (with D.A. Crossley, Athens, and E. Franklin, Manaus, Brazil) – 2%
6. Functional anatomy of oribatid mites as revealed by synchrotron X-ray microtomography (with M. Heethoff
and students, Tübingen University, Germany) – 6%
7. Evolutionary convergence in defensive mechanisms of oribatid mites (with M. Maraun, S. Scheu; funded
through al University of Goettingen, Germany) – 4%
8. Paraquanothrus, a new genus of relictual oribatid mites from ephemeral rock-pools in Utah and Georgia
(with E. Franklin, Manaus, Brazil) – 2%
9. Incidence and evolution of intracellular bacterial parasites (Wolbachia, Cardinium) in oribatid mites (with A.
Weeks, Univ. of Victoria, Melbourne) – 2%
B. 1. Grant-supported Research (source, subject, amount - total award and current year, award period starting
and ending dates; list graduate research assistants supported by each grant)
2007-2008: (No cost extension) NYS-BRI. Monograph of Hydrozetes (Acari: Oribatida) and computerized key to
aquatic oribatid mites of New York. $25,110 – summer and Fall support for Cheryl Whritenour.
2. Research Proposals pending (as in B.1., above)
Phylogeny of the Acari and its position within the
Chelicerata using an unbiased gene selection strategy
NSF (ATOL)
$ 585,374 (2010-2015)
C. Other extramural funds
1. $3,800 granted from the CNPq and the National Research Institute of Amazonia, in Manaus,
Brazil, to support travel to Manaus for presentation of seminars, mentoring graduate students, and research
(see Foreign Travel, below)
2. $500 from the Entomological Society of America to partially support travel costs associated
with invited plenary talk at annual meeting in Reno (see below)
3. Approximately $2,500 from the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland, to support
travel costs associated with attending meeting and giving invited plenary presentation (see below).
IV. PUBLICATIONS (Full bibliographic citation, i.e., do not use "with Jones," or "Jones, et al."; please list only
publications published, in press, or actually submitted during this reporting period --- do not list manuscripts
in preparation).
A. Refereed Publications
Published
Minor, M. A. and Norton, R. A. 2008. Effects of weed-control herbicides on communities of soil mites (Oribatida and
Gamasina) in short-rotation willow plantings in central New York. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38:10611070.
Franklin, E., Norton, R.A. and Crossley, D.A., Jr. 2008. Zygoribatula colemani sp. nov (Acari, Oribatida, Oribatulidae)
from Granite Outcrops in Georgia, USA, with a highly variable translamella. Zootaxa 1847:34-48.
Root, H.T., Kawahara, A.Y. and Norton, R.A. 2008. Anachipteria sacculifera n. sp. (Acari: Oribatida: Achipteriidae) from
arboreal lichens in New York State. Acarologia 47: 173-181.
Schmelzle, S., Norton, R.A., and Heethoff, M. 2008. The ptychoid defensive mechanism in Euphthiracaroidea (Acari:
Oribatida): a comparison of exoskeletal elements. Soil Organisms 80 (2), 227-241.
Heethoff, M. and Norton, R.A. 2009. Role of musculature during defecation in a particle-feeding arachnid, Archegozetes
longisetosus (Acari, Oribatida), examined by synchrotron X-ray tomography, 3D reconstruction and in vivo
observations. Journal of Morphology 270:1-13. (cover article for January 2009 issue)
Heethoff, M., Helfen, L and Norton, R.A. 2009. Description of Neoliodes domincus n. sp. (Acari: Oribatida) from
Dominican amber, aided by synchrotron X-ray microtomography. Journal of Paleontology 83: 153-159. (cover article
for January 2009 issue)
Weigmann, G. and Norton, R.A. Validity and interpretation of Murcia Koch, Trichoribates Berlese
and their type species (Acari: Oribatida: Ceratozetidae). Zootaxa 2107: 65-68.
In Press
Heethoff, M., Norton, R. A., Scheu, S., Maraun, M. Parthenogenesis in oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida). In: van Dijk, P.,
Martens, K., Schoen, I. (eds.) Lost Sex - The Evolutionary Biology of Parthenogenesis. Springer Press. (Refereed book
chapter, accepted Dec 2008).
Seniczak, S., Norton, R.A. and Seniczak, A. Morphology of Hydrozetes confervae (Schrank, 1781) and H. parisiensis
Grandjean, 1948 (Acari: Oribatida: Hydrozetidae), and keys to European species of Hydrozetes Berlese, 1902. Annales
Zoologici (accepted Jan 09)
Maraun, M., Erdmann, G. Schulzl, G. Norton, R., Scheu, S. and Domes, K. Multiple convergent evolution of arboreal life
in oribatid mites indicates the primacy of ecology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological
Sciences (Accepted May 19)
Schmelzle, S., Helfen, L., Norton, R.A., and Heethoff, M. The ptychoid defensive mechanism in Euphthiracaroidea (Acari:
Oribatida): A comparison of muscular elements with functional considerations. Arthropod Structure & Development
(Accepted May 2009)
Submitted
Seniczak, S., Norton, R.A. and Seniczak, A. Morphology of Eniochthonius minutissimus (Berlese, 1904) and Hypochthonius
rufulus C. L. Koch, 1835 (Acari: Oribatida: Hypochthonioidea). Submitted to Zoologisches Anzeiger (April 8, 2009).
Illig, J., Norton, R.A., Scheu, S. and Maraun, M. Density and community structure of soil and bark living
microarthropods along an altitudinal gradient in a tropical montane rainforest. Submitted to Biotropica April 6, 2009)
Heethoff, M. and Norton, R.A. Functional morphology turns over a new leaf: the use of synchrotron X-ray
microtomography (SR-μCT) for three-dimensional biomechanical modeling of chelicerate mouthparts and calculation
of theoretical bite forces. Submitted to Proc. Roy. Soc. London (B) April 28, 2009
B. Non-refereed Publications
Published:
Norton, R. A. and Behan-Pelletier, V. M. 2009. Oribatida. Chapter 15 (pp. 430-564) in: A Manual of Acarology (G.W.
Krantz and D.E. Walter, eds). Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock.
In Press:
Norton, R.A.2008 (2009). Systematic relationships of Lohmanniidae (Acari: Oribatida). Proceeding of the International
Congress of Acarology, Amsterdam 2006. (Accepted Aug 28 2008)
C. Papers Presented at Science Meetings (give title, date, occasion, and location)
This alkaloid’s for you: systematic, evolutionary and ecological aspects of opisthonotal gland chemistry in oribatid
mites. 16 Nov 2008. Entomological Society of America annual meeting (Reno, NV). Invited principal speaker at
symposium on Advances in Soil Acarology.
Ecology and evolution of animal parthenogenesis: still more questions than answers. 21 May 2009. Invited
plenary talk at conference entitled “Contemporary issues in Biology and Biotechnology”, Adam Mickiewicz
University, Poznan, Poland.
D. Public Service Presentations (lectures, seminars, etc. to and for the public; give group or occasion, date(s), and
attendance)
E. Invited Seminars at Academic or Research Institutions (DON: consider adding this category somewhere)
June, 2008. Two seminars at the National Research Institute of Amazonia (INPA), in Manaus, Brazil,
a. “The evolution and consequences of morphological, behavioral and chemical predator-defense
systems in oribatid mites”
b) “Evolutionary plasticity of reproductive mode in a group of soil animals: oribatid mites”
V. PUBLIC SERVICE
A. Funded Service (include consulting activities)
1. Government Agencies (Federal, State, Local):
2. Industrial and Commercial Groups, etc.
B. Unfunded Service to Governmental Agencies, Public Interest Groups, etc.
1. 24-hr consulting specialist on venomous arthropods for Syracuse Poison Information Center.
2. Extension: regular fielding of calls and inquiries from general public and businesses regarding mites,
spiders, ticks, and other pest arthropods.
3. Collaborating specialist, USDA Insect Identification Service: mite identifications and dispensing of
biological information.
4. Collaborating specialist, USDA-APHIS: identification of mite specimens taken during routine
quarantine inspections of plants.
5. Complementary mite identifications and/or extended consultations relating to the following
ecological/evolutionary/taxonomic studies of mites: (researcher, institution, project)
a. V. Behan-Pelletier – Agriculture Canada: Oribatid mites in the family Ceratozetidae of North
America.
b. S. Seniczak - Univ. of Techn. & Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland: European species of the semiaquatic oribatid mite family Malaconothridae.
c. S. Seniczak and A. Seniczak - Univ. of Techn. & Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland: European
species of the semi-aquatic oribatid mite superfamily Protoplophoroidea.
d. S. Seniczak and A. Seniczak - Univ. of Techn. & Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland: European
species of the semi-aquatic oribatid mite family Limnozetidae.
e. J. Mourek – Dept of Zoology, Charles University (Prague): Feeding biology of oribatid mites
f. M. Colloff – CSIRO Department of Entomology, Canberra, Australia: Species-groups and
biogeography of the oribatid mite family Crotoniidae in South and Central America.
g. M. Lepping – University of Maryland: Predation by carabid beetles on oribatid mites.
h. K. Young – Univ. of Washington: Oribatid mites in gut contents of NWn US salamanders.
i. S. Daino – Syracuse University: Identification of local ticks.
j. L. Miko – European Commission, DG Environment, Brussels, Belgium: Revision of oribatid
mite family Oppiidae.
k. O. Koukol – Charles University, Prague: Feeding preferences in oribatid mites.
l. J. Philips – Babson College, Boston: Mites associated with trogid beetles.
m. D. E. Walter – Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton: Almanac of oribatid mites of Alberta
n. M. Murvanidze – Georgian Academy of Science, Tbilisi: Effects of urbanization on soil
organisms.
o. S. Ermilov – Nizhniy Novgorod Medical Academy, Russia: Identity of immature oribatid mites
p. M. Presthus – University of Bergen, Norway: Subfossil oribatid mites of Greenland.
o. C. Groehn – Glinde, Germany: Oribatid mites from Baltic amber
VI. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A. Professional Honors and Awards (for teaching, research, outreach, etc.)
[Not sure where to put these:]
-Lifetime honorary member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences (elected May 2000)
-Research Associate (adjunct position) in the Department of Zoology of the
Field Museum (Chicago).
B. 1. Activities in Professional Organizations (offices held, service as chairman, member, participant or
consultant)
2. Professional Society Membership
Acarological Society of America (charter and life member)
Entomological Society of Mexico
European Association of Acarologists
Systematic and Applied Acarology Society (China)
3. Other Professional Activities
a. Editorial activity
Journal (s)
International Journal of Acarology
Folia Entomologica Mexicana
Folia Entomologica Hungarica
Experimental & Applied Acarology
Responsibility
Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Acarologia (Paris)
Acta Zoologica Hungarica
Systematic & Applied Acarology (China)
Acarina (Moscow)
Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Editorial Board
Advisory Board
Other (books, symposia, etc.)
b. Reviewer
Journal(s)
No. of manuscripts (27)
Acarina (Moscow)
Annales Zoologici (Warsaw)
Canadian Entomologist
Cretaceous Research
Entomological News
Experimental & Applied Acarology
International Journal of Acarology
Pedobiologia
Soil Organisms
Systematic & Applied Acarology
Zookeys
Zoologisches Anzeiger
Zoological Studies
Zootaxa
Agency
4
3
1
1
1
2
5
1
1
1
2
1
1
4
No. of proposals
Other
Review of book proposal for Springer Publ.
(The Mites: Biology and Relationship to Man)
c. Participation (workshops, symposia, etc.)
Name of workshop, etc.
Date
Place
C. Further Education/Re-training Undertaken, Leaves, Workshops, etc.
D. Foreign Travel (Where, When, Purpose)
BRAZIL. May 21-June 4, 2008 (spanned reporting period, so not reported last year) I was at the National
Research Institute of Amazonia, in Manaus, where I conducted field work on oribatid mites in flooded forests
of the Rio Negro and a tropical forest reserve. In addition, I continued collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth
Franklin on two joint research projects and mentored three of her graduate students working in areas of soil
arthropod biology. I presented two informal workshops (5 & 8 students and faculty) relating to mite
identification (in lab) and collecting techniques (in field). I gave two research seminars: a) “The evolution and
consequences of morphological, behavioral and chemical predator-defense systems in oribatid mites” was
presented to the faculty and students of the Entomology Department ; b) “Evolutionary plasticity of
reproductive mode in a group of soil animals: oribatid mites” was an Institute-wide seminar. A successful
proposal to CNPq (Brazilian analog of NSF), resulted in the equivalent of $3,800 USD to cover my travel,
accommodations and research costs for this period.
POLAND. May 18-25 I was at Adam-Mickiewicz University in Poznan. While components are hundreds of
years old, the university celebrated the 90th anniversary of its current configuration with two functions in which
I was asked to participate. The first was the awarding of an honorary doctorate to a German scientist working
in my discipline, and several of his colleagues were invited to the traditional and elaborate ceremony. Second, I
was asked to present a plenary talk at a conference organized to celebrate the anniversary (see above). This
university has the highest concentration of acarologists (faculty and graduate students) in the world, and over
several days I conferred with many of them on issues ranging from broad questions in our discipline to
problems associated with specific research questions.
VII. ADMINISTRATIVE AND SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES (include committee participation)
A. Department-level
EFB Undergraduate Curriculum Director
ENB Curriculum Coordinator
EFB Curriculum, Course and Assessment Committee (member)
Responsible for maintenance of departmental Invertebrate Collection
Member, mentoring committees for:
Christopher Whipps
Gregory McGee
Teaching Evaluator for Lawrence Smart (effort made over two semesters and report written, but never used)
B. College-level
Member, Search Committee for Dean of Instruction and Graduate Studies (travel prevented participation in
final stages)
Member, ESF Retention Committee
Member, ESF Committee on Instruction
Member, CoI Subcommittee on Academic Standards
C. University-wide, including Research Foundation
VIII. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THIS
REPORTING PERIOD, ESPECIALLY THOSE MOST NOTEWORTHY AND RELATIVE TO THE
COLLEGE’S AND DEPARTMENT’S MISSION. One paragraph on each of the following would be most helpful:
this past year, what have you done for our students, department/college, and self professionally? NOTE: The
information in this section (along with the supporting specific information elsewhere in this report) should be your
strongest case for being considered for a discretionary raise, which I’ll continue to award based on your contributions to
the department and college this reporting period.
Activities relevant to students: I taught 41 undergraduates in Invertebrate Zoology, a time-demanding course that
continues to be highly regarded by students. I also served students directly as ENB Curriculum Coordinator (CC) and
EFB Curriculum Director (CD), dealing with myriad academic and personal matters. Beyond guiding my own 26
advisees, and serving as planned or ad-hoc stand-in when advisors are not available, I dealt daily with referrals from
other faculty members (or am contacted directly by students) on the more difficult of issues. While they were not from
ESF, the 22 international graduate students and professionals at a workshop on Soil Acarology (which I taught last
summer at the Ohio State University) highly praised the experience.
Activities/accomplishments relevant to dept/college: These, in large part, also relate to CC and CD positions and to
affiliated activities and committees (Course, Curriculum and Assessment, Committee on Instruction, Subcommittee on
Academic Standards, ad-hoc Judicial Review committees). Significant time was spent interacting, on behalf of the
department, with the Admissions and Registrar offices on diverse issues, and I was involved in most on-campus
recruitment activities. Much effort went into developing plans for academic assessment, in response to the mandate
from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education for developing a student learning-outcome approach. I was
directly involved (at various levels) in formulating assessment plans for 6 of the 7 undergraduate programs in EFB, and
had primary responsibility for the final organization and presentation of all 7, for inclusion in the college’s interim
report. Associated with these plans were many curricular and course changes that needed passage prior to submission
of the report: through my capacity as CD, member of CCAC and member of CoI, I was heavily involved with each
proposal.
Activities/accomplishments relevant to self: This has been a productive year for research, with 7 refereed papers
published, 4 others accepted during the reporting period, and 3 more submitted. Collectively, these are on diverse
subjects (perturbation impacts on soil fauna, molecular biology, functional anatomy, genetics, evolutionary biology,
phylogeny, paleontology and systematics) and involve 16 coauthors from 10 institutions in the US, Poland, Germany,
New Zealand and Brazil. Two published papers were selected as cover articles for the flagship journal in their
respective field (Journal of Paleontology and Journal of Morphology). Perhaps most important was a non-referred
work: an entirely new, 134 page chapter in the 3rd-edition of A Manual of Acarology, which has been the authoritative
work on the world’s mite fauna for nearly 40 years. I serve on 8 editorial or advisory boards of scientific journals, and
during the reporting period refereed 27 papers submitted to 14 journals, mostly international in scope. I also provided
expert advice to 16 researchers on diverse projects associated with universities and agencies in the US, Canada, and 8
foreign countries. Travel highlights included two weeks in the vicinity of Manaus, Brazil, where I presented seminars
(above), conducted and planned joint research with Dr. Elizabeth Franklin, and advised faculty and graduate students
on specific research problems by conducting two informal workshops. During one week at Adam Mickiewicz
University in Poland I was an invited guest for various ceremonies associated with a major university anniversary, and
presented a plenary lecture at the associated conference on Contemporary Issues in Biology and Biotechnology. In
November I was the keynote speaker at an Acarology symposium associated with the annual meeting of the
Entomological Society of America (see above).
IX. A. FUTURE PLANS, AMBITIONS, AND POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR YOUR OWN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE PROGRAM IN
ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREST BIOLOGY (brief summary)
I will continue my focus on service, both to our institution (as the EFB Curriculum Director and the various connected
appointments and duties) and to my profession (editorial boards and referee-service for journals). My greatest challenge
in ‘09-10 will be to encourage and oversee the successful implementation of the 7 learning-outcome assessment plans
that were developed last year. Professionally, I anticipate continued involvement with two research groups in
Germany, one of which (Göttingen) is focused on the application of molecular methods to solving problems in
evolutionary biology and ecology, and the other (Tübingen) on using the rapidly emerging technique of synchrotronbased X-ray microtomography to more efficiently describe and model the functional anatomy of small arthropods. In
mid-June, I will travel to Göttingen to present an invited seminar and to serve as external examiner at the thesis defense
of a doctoral student with whose projects I have been much involved. Overall, the various ongoing research projects
outlined in Part III (above) will be my research focus, but if a large NSF proposal is funded my priorities will shift to
that.
B. PROJECTED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT YEAR
1. Summer 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
b. Proposed research activity
Projects outlined in III, above. Research-related (in part) travel to Germany in June
c. University, professional society, and public service
Four weeks (dispersed) will be devoted to recruitment activities, modification of Curriculum Plan Sheets, degree
certifications, revision of student handbook, and organization of orientation and advisor assignments for incoming
students, among other activities.
2. Fall Semester 2009
a. Course(s) to be offered
no regular offering
b. Proposed research activity
Focus will be on items in III, above. Should NSF proposal be funded, major adjustments will be made.
c. University, Professional society, and public service
At the discretion of the EFB chairman, I anticipate that activities in items VI and VII (above) will be continued
3. Spring Semester 2010
a. Course(s) to be offered
EFB 355, Invertebrate Zoology
b. Proposed research activity
Focus will be on items in III, above. Should NSF proposal be funded, major adjustments will be made.
c. University, professional society, and public service
At the discretion of the EFB chairman, I anticipate that activities in items VI and VII (above) will be continued