PROGRAM REVIEW
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Version Submitted to BOR August 9, 2001
Table of Contents
Page Number
Executive Summary
4
I. Environmental Scan
5
II. Mission Statement
5
Department Description
5
III. Curriculum Review
6
IV. Departmental Organization
A. Undergraduate Programs
1. Service Courses
2. University Core Curriculum
3. Biological Sciences Upper Division Core Courses
4. Honors Program
5. Undergraduates in Faculty Labs
B. The Graduate Program
1. Sample of Recent Graduate Students and their Current Positions
2. Department Organization at the Graduate Level
3. Ecology and Organismal Biology Group
4. Integrative Biology Group
5. Molecular and Cellular Biology Group
6. Marine Biology Program.
7. NIH Minority Research Programs
8. Departmental Seminar Series
9. Glaser Professorship
10. The Tropical Biology Program
V. Resources and Support Services
A. New Space & Technical Support
B. Space in OE
C. OE Stockroom
D. Course/Lab Coordinators & Instructors
E. Benchmark Comparisons
F. OE Expansion & Renovations
i. The Animal Care Facility
ii. The Anatomy Lab
iii. The Aquarium Laboratory
iv. Emergency Power Outlets in OE
7
7
VI. Strengths and Weaknesses
33
VII. Program Vision
33
VIII. Opportunities and Challenges
34
IX. Unit Recommendations
10
27
27
28
28
29
30
30
34
2
A. Previous 5-Year Plan
1. Space and Facilities
2. Biscayne Bay Campus
3. Facility Support Staff and Graduate Assistantships
4. Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Programs
B.
Proposed 5-Year Plan
1. Infrastructure (UP Campus)
2. Infrastructure (Biscayne Bay Campus)
3. Faculty Positions
4. Department Chair
5. PIMS Program
6. The Tropical Biology Program
7. Programmatic Changes
X. Cost Estimate
36
41
APPENDIX - BOR Program Review Indicators
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Biological Sciences is one of the strongest and most dynamic departments in
the FIU community. Much of the Department’s initial strength has developed within the ecological
sciences, consistent with the University’s thematic focus on the environment. Thanks in part to a QIP
investment the Department has become a nationally recognized program of distinction in the area of Tropical
Biology. Another focus of the Department is biomedical science and molecular biology, particularly those
areas related to health, a University theme. Biology has obtained significant NIH funding and has made
several recent hires in this area; the occupancy of the Life Sciences building and plans for additional faculty
will position the Department for excellence in this area. A third area of focus will be Marine Biology,
capitalizing on the unique location of the Biscayne Bay Campus.
Much of the proposed plan focuses on faculty positions in essential areas. The preferred proposal
is an investment in increasing faculty competitiveness for biomedical grants and includes the need for
departmental leadership. The second proposal is the incorporation of a PIMS program. Either plan will
account for about half of the proposed budget. The remaining funds requested are for infrastructure
investments, including renovations in the OE building, re-establishment of the Tropical Biology Program,
and recruitment of instructors, lab coordinators, and other non-faculty personnel to make more efficient use
of existing resources and to achieve closer parity with benchmark institutions. The faculty believe that the
proposed investments will place the Department of Biological Sciences on par with the strongest sister
program (Florida State University) and propel it toward national recognition.
4
I. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
1. The Department of Biological Sciences covers a broad spectrum of basic and applied biological sciences
that address local, national, and international employment and training.
a. Biology students are taught in the fundamentals of Biological Science at the undergraduate level
and are prepared for careers in basic science, environmental sciences, and health-related
professions.
b. Non-science major undergraduates are taught the basics of biology in order for them to
appreciate many of the complex issues in the Biological Sciences, as they will affect their lives and
the future of the world.
c. Master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral students are trained to become professional scientists.
2. There will continue to be an increased demand for biological scientists at every level, and the current
training and teaching programs are the platform to provide well trained biologists.
3. Advances in the areas of a) genomics and bioinformatics, b) biomedicine and biotechnology, and c) the
fundamental processes of cell and tissue regulation will require Biology to be strongly positioned in these
areas through aggressive recruitment and interdisciplinary collaboration with other science and engineering
colleagues.
4. Increasing urbanization and climatic changes brought on by global warming will increase the pressures
on natural resources, sensitive ecosystems, and keystone species. The Department’s strengths in tropical
biology, ecological, and biomedical sciences will be vitally needed in the years ahead.
II. MISSION STATEMENT
The Department of Biological Sciences will teach and promote the broad spectrum of disciplines in
biology in order to prepare undergraduates for professional and graduate school and will aggressively
pursue research and graduate teaching to provide service to the community and to science.
Description of the Department of Biological Sciences
The Department of Biological Sciences has 34 tenured/tenure-track faculty, including two full
professor lines outside the Department (one as Associate Dean for Research and the other as the Director of
Southeast Environmental Research Center). In addition, Biology has 5 instructors and 1 visiting instructor.
The University Park faculty offers graduate programs in three areas: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB),
Ecology and Organismal Biology (EOB), and Integrative Biology (IB). Further, the Department conducts
separately funded programs in Tropical Biology, the Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC), and
the Minority Biomedical Research Support Programs (MBRS). In addition, there are liaison programs with
faculty and staff from Fairchild Tropical Garden, the Department of Environmental Studies, and the
5
International Forensic Research Institute (shared with the Department of Chemistry). The Department also
offers articulated degree programs in osteopathic medicine (B.S./O.D.) with Nova Southeastern University,
podiatry (B.S./D.P.M.) with Barry University, and dentistry (B.S./D.M.D.) with the University of Florida.
III. CURRICULUM REVIEW
In 1999-2000 the Department of Biological Sciences was the fourth largest unit in the College of
Arts and Sciences in undergraduate FTE’s and second in graduate FTE’s. Among science departments,
Biology is the largest and most research-productive unit in the College. By a number of measures, Biology
has the strongest growth in the University over the last 3 years (see Table 1).
Table 1: Summary Data, Department of Biological Sciences 1997-present
1997-98
Undergraduate majors*
Undergraduate FTE
Current
% change
1,195
1,401
17
525
602
15
Graduate students
86
95
10
Graduate FTE
57
65
14
Tenure-Track Faculty
32
34
6
Grant Dollars awarded
$2.9 M
$3.5 M
21**
80
14
Refereed articles published
70
Data from College of Arts & Sciences, FIU
* Combined number of intended and declared majors
** The total number of grants awarded over the last three years to faculty in the department was 106,
totaling more than $9.4 M. The annual figure of grant dollars awarded increased by approximately 8% from
1998 to 1999 and by more than 13% from 1999-2000.
6
IV. DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION
A. Undergraduate Degree Programs
The Department has degree programs leading to the Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences and a
Bachelor’s in Marine Biology will be implemented in the fall of 2001. The undergraduate curriculum includes
programs of study that prepare graduates for employment in education, industry, and government
(including city, county, state and federal levels). The baccalaureate degree also satisfies the requirements
for admission to colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatry and veterinary medicine, as well as to
graduate programs in any of the life sciences.
Of the 40 faculty lines (34 tenured/tenure-earning, 5 instructors and 1 visiting), five are currently
assigned to Biscayne Bay Campus. Dr. Chris Brown, who directs the development of the Marine Biology
Program, was joined by a second faculty member in the Marine Biology program. The marine biologists are
also joined by three other faculty including an additional tenured faculty line, an instructor, and a visiting
line. The 35 University Park faculty consist of 31 tenure or tenure-earning faculty and 4 instructors.
Included in these totals is a faculty member with a joint appointment with SERC in Algal Biology. In
addition, the Department is interviewing for two new tenure-earning positions in Endocrinology and
Molecular Genetics. These new faculty are anticipated to arrive in fall, 2002. Of the current University Park
appointments, five are 12-month positions (Downum, George, Jones, Pitzer and Makemson), and five are
split appointments with other units: Earth Sciences (L. Collins), SERC (Childers, Fourqurean, and Gaiser),
and Environmental Studies (Bennett).
The Biology teaching force is composed of faculty, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and
adjuncts. Together, these four groups taught 376 sections of lectures and labs in 2000-01. Faculty are
responsible for all 3- and 4-credit lecture courses while TAs and adjuncts teach 1-credit laboratories. The
Department currently has 1,401 undergraduate students, 816 of whom intend to seek admission and 585 of
whom have been admitted as majors.
The Department offers undergraduate preparation that is commensurate with the typical
requirements for graduate and professional schools. In addition to the lower division requirements of two
semesters each of General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics and
Calculus/Statistics, students must also complete the upper division requirements of Ecology, Genetics,
Biochemistry, Evolution, and required electives. The electives are chosen from each of four groups of
courses in the categories of Ecology, Organismal Diversity, Physiology/Biochemistry and
Structure/Development. The proposed BS degree in Marine Biology has the same structure as that in
Biological Sciences, but the required electives are all in marine biology.
A.1. Service Courses. The Department offers courses required for degrees in Dietetics and Nutrition,
Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Nursing, and the University Core Curriculum (Tables 2A and 2B).
7
Table 2A: Required Courses and Programs Requiring Them
Biology Course/labs
Program
APB 2170 Introduction Microbiology
Nursing; Dietetics and Nutrition
BSC 2023 Human Biology
Psychology; Social Work*
BCH 3033 Biochemistry
Dietetics and Nutrition*
BSC 1010 and 1011 General Biology I and II
Environmental Studies
Pre-Physical Therapy
Biology Education*
Statistics*
Nursing*
BSC 1010 only
Biomedical Engineering; Dietetics and
Nutrition
BSC 1011 only
Geology
PCB 2099 Foundations of Human Physiology
Nursing
PCB 3098 Intermediate Human Physiology
Dietetics and Nutrition*
PCB 3703/4 Human Physiology:
Health Education*
Zoo 3731 Human Anatomy Demonstration
Nursing; Occupational Therapy
Health Education*
Zoo 3734/5 Human Gross Anatomy
Physical Therapy
Zoo 4743 Neuroscience
Occupational Therapy
*Other courses may substitute for this requirement in these departments.
A.2. University Core Curriculum
One of the areas all core curriculum students must take is Biological Sciences. The Department offers eight
courses and accompanying labs that fulfill the Biological Science requirement for the University Core
Curriculum (Table 2B).
Table 2B. Biological Sciences Courses Fulfilling the University Core
APB 2170
Introduction to Microbiology
BOT 1010
Introduction to Botany
BSC 1010/1011
General Biology
BSC 2023
Human Biology
OCB 2003
Introduction to Marine Biology
PCB 2510
Introductory Genetics
PCB 2700
Foundations of Human Physiology
8
Analysis of Service and Core Courses
i. General Biology (BSC 1010/1011) Over the past two years, 5,925 students have enrolled in this twosemester course sequence. Several programs require these courses, which also satisfy the Biological
Sciences core requirement. In previous years, the Department experienced a relatively high proportion of D
and F grades in this course. However, this number has decreased significantly by the faculty’s changing
their pedagogical approach to include techniques such as cooperative learning and problem-based learning,
among other innovations. Since General Biology was designed for Biology Majors, the Department seeks to
decrease the number of non-majors in this course and decrease the Failure to Enroll at Registration (FEAR)
numbers. Increasing the offerings in other University core Biology courses is the best solution, and the
Department began this effort in Spring 2001 by opening extra sections in Introduction to Botany (currently
with >150 students). The Department is also examining the more efficient use of laboratory space and time
by incorporating field work or computer labs (see below Human Biology section). However, further efforts
in shifting students to appropriate courses will require additional space and personnel.
ii. Introduction to Microbiology (APB 2170) is required by Nursing and Dietetics and Nutrition (D&N). In
1999-2000, 28% of the 814 students enrolled in this course were Nursing or D&N majors. The rest were
taking this course to fulfill the Core requirement.
iii. Human Biology (BSC 2023) has been the Department’s most popular non-majors course: it has also
presented the greatest number of challenges. During AY 97/98, Human Biology generated the largest FEAR
records in the College due to sections filling early and rapidly. Space and staffing were the main factors that
limited the ability to meet enrollment demands. Over the past year and with financial support from IRM,
Academic Affairs, the College and the Department, this situation was effectively addressed. A computer lab
was created in OE 101 that enabled us to schedule simultaneous laboratory sections (one section meeting in
the Human Biology wet lab and the other in the computer lab). As a result, the number of laboratory
sections doubled. In addition, with the allocation of a line from the enhancement budget an instructor was
hired to focus entirely on Human Biology. With this change, the lower division FTE increased from 283 FTE
in 97/98 to 409 FTE in 98/99, an increase of 45%. During the past two years, more than 5,000 students
enrolled in this course. Human Biology is required by Psychology and is an option for Social Work; these
two majors account for 943 students or 19% of that total. The course still has high FEAR numbers, and the
Department, given University support, will offer other course options (Introduction to Botany, for example)
that are currently limited by teaching lab space and an adequate number of teaching assistants.
A.3. Biological Sciences Upper Division Core Courses
The following four courses are required by all Biology majors and are currently offered at least
twice (some three times) a year:
PCB 3043 Ecology
PCB 3063 Genetics
BCH 3033 Biochemistry
PCB 4674 Evolution
9
All four of these courses include significant writing assignments as part of the goal to use writing as a
teaching tool in Biology while boosting the writing skills of the students. However, the faculty would like
to have teaching assistants help grade these papers which would allow the enrollment in these to grow
with 80 and often more than 100 students per offering. The Department needs the flexibility to make such
assignments for some of the teaching assistants.
A.4. The Honors Program
Although the Department of Biological Sciences has had an Honors Program since its inception,
the courses in the program did not fulfill any requirements for the major and were essentially done in
addition to normal requirements. For that reason, only four students graduated with Honors in Biological
Sciences between 1975 and 1998. In 1998 the Honors Program was reorganized so that it fits into the major
and provides research opportunities to motivated undergraduates. The revamped program was first
offered in 1999-2000 and graduated 2 students and currently has 3 students. Once students become more
aware of the existence of this program and of the advantage of graduating with honors, more students will
enroll. The revised Honors Program in Biological Sciences provides excellent students with the
opportunity to conduct original research under a faculty sponsor. To graduate with Honors, the student
must carry out a research project, write up the project as an Honors Thesis, and present the results of the
research in a departmental seminar, scheduled as the last seminar of the spring semester in the
departmental research seminar series. In order to be admitted to the Honors Program, a student must have
taken at least 14 hours of Biological Sciences courses with a GPA of at least 3.5, 6 hours of these credits
must be at the 3000-level or above. The student must also have an overall GPA of 3.2 or higher. If a
student meets these requirements, s/he develops a research project and arranges to be sponsored by a
tenured or tenure-earning faculty.
A.5. Undergraduates in Faculty Labs
A recent survey shows that Biology faculty are active in engaging undergraduates in their research
programs. Seventeen faculty have sponsored a total of 120 students involved in research projects in their
laboratories from 1997-2000 and currently have 45 undergraduates in their labs. Some, but not all, of these
are supported by the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) programs. Professor Rene Herrera is
foremost among the faculty in engaging undergraduates in research with 16 current and 34 former
undergraduate students in his laboratory since 1997.
B. The Graduate Program
The Department offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biology and currently has 95 students in
these programs. The graduate program has benefited greatly from the MBRS and Tropical Biology
Programs described in more detail below. Cooperative agreements with Fairchild Tropical Garden,
Everglades National Park, and the USGS have also enriched the graduate program. Beginning in the early
10
1980’s as a M.S. program, the graduate program has benefited from the addition of the Ph.D. program in the
early 1990’s; now there is a near-even split between M.S. and Ph.D. students. Graduate student enrollment
growth has slowed since 1995, largely due to space constraints. The numb er of degrees conferred has
increased during the last few years (see Table 3). However, the Ph.D. program will expand as admissions
policies were enacted that facilitate admission of students without an M.S.degree. Contributing to this
increase is the expanded relationship with Fairchild Tropical Garden and growth of faculty in
Molecular/Cellular and Integrative Biology.
Table 3: Number of Biology M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees Awarded
Year
M.S.
Ph.D.
Total
1990-91
7
-
7
1991-92
12
-
12
1992-93
9
-
9
1993-94
12
2
14
1994-95
9
3
12
1995-96
6
6
12
1996-97
12
3
15
1997-98
14
2
16
1998-99
8
4
12
1999-00
14
4
18
2000-01
13
8
21
Source: Department of Biological Sciences
There is strong evidence that the competitiveness and quality of the graduate program has been
increasing in recent years. Between 1998 and 2000, the average GRE of accepted students was 1107, and the
average GPA was 3.39, with the highest scores at 1330 and a 4.0 GPA. There has also been an increase in
successfully recruiting high performing students and in the percentage of full-time students. In addition,
the graduate program recently admitted several students straight into the Ph.D. program (without an M.S.
degree) in order to increase the recruitment of highly competitive applicants. Another indication of the
increasing quality of students is that this year four of the new students received nationally competitive
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR fellowships that include stipends, tuition, and funds for
research.
Another indication of the quality of new graduate students has been their success in obtaining the
competitive Presidential Enhanced Graduate Assistantships. Biology applicant’s won two of the five
11
awarded University-wide in the program’s first year; both of those were renewed in the second year. A
Biology applicant received one of four awards in the program’s second year.
Other highlights include the following:
Biology graduate students have won best-paper awards at national meetings. For example, Emily
Cantonwine and Allen Phipps won Best Paper awards at the Phytochemical Society of North America in
1999 and 2000, respectively.
Jay Sah, a Ph.D. candidate in Biology, recently published a book and co-edited a 4-volume series on
conservation of wetlands and national parks in his native Nepal.
M.S. graduates have been successful in competitions for placement in highly competitive Ph.D. programs at
the University of Chicago, Yale University, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, University of Rhode
Island, and Indiana University.
M.S. graduates have accepted important positions locally, regionally, and nationally, including as Assistant
Director of the Florida Zoological Society, Environmental Scientists with the Audubon Society, and
technicians with local biotech companies and with the South Florida Water Management District,
Broward County and the USGS-Division of Biological Research. Ph.D. graduates have been successful
in obtaining competitive post-docs at the University of Florida and Texas A&M.
Ph.D. graduates have also been successful in obtaining competitive jobs in academia (e.g. University of
New Mexico), in research (e.g. USGS-BRD), and in research with biotech firms.
Although the College has done an admirable job at keeping the number of available teaching
assistantships from limiting the growth of the graduate program, the Department has been increasingly
forced to rely on adjuncts to cover the expanding undergraduate enrollment (Table 4). Because of the
faculty’s success in obtaining grants, each term a large number of graduate students opt for support by
research assistantships and are, therefore, unable to teach.
In the Spring 2000 there were 13 research assistants employed through the MBRS Program and
with Biology faculty grants through SERC. This number increased to 17 in Fall 2000 due to the increased
succes ses of faculty grants as well as funding through the first EPA STAR fellowship. In Spring 2001, the
number of RA’s increased again to 25 due to three additional EPA STAR grants and five final awards from
the Tropical Biology Program.
Table 4: Assignment of graduate student teaching assistants and adjuncts in Biology laboratories
12
Semester
Fall 97
Spring 98
Summer 98
Fall 98
Spring 99
Summer 99
Fall 99
Spring 2000
Summer
Fall 2000
Spring 2001
Number of
Number of Number of
Number of
Number of
Sections
sections taught
TAs
sections taught adjuncts sections taught taught by adjuncts
by TAs
by adjuncts
(%)
74
82
94
NA
101
36
105
95
42
99
98
34
36
36
NA
33
20
41
42
43
40
35
71
76
86
NA
90
30
88
88
41
79
79
2
3
3
NA
4
4
6
3
1
5
6
3
6
8
NA
11
6
17
7
1
20
19
4
7
9
11
17
16
7
2
20
19
Source: Dept. of Biological Sciences and Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences
The primary limiting factor of graduate enrollments at present appears to be space. When polled,
even the most productive faculty indicated a desire to have more students but lacked desk and lab bench
space for them to work. As a high-quality program, the Department will not take graduate students if the
Department cannot provide a place for them to conduct their research. Once the new Life Sciences Building
opens, the Department will be able to admit more students and anticipates that this investment will be
rewarded by a new surge in graduate-program growth to be complimented with a growth in faculty.
B.1. A Sample of Recent FIU Graduate Students and Their Current Positions
1. Omar Abdelrahman (M.S. 2000) Environmental Specialist, Florida Department of Transportation
2. Amanda Bern (M.S. 1998) tech/lab manager at UC Davis
3. Lisa Borgia (M.S. 1999) Executive Director, National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association
4. Cindy Brashear (M.S. 1998) biologist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
5. Emily Cantonwine (M.S. 1999) teaching in GA
6. Lauralyn Carter (M.S. 1999) teaching H.S. Biology in Broward
7. Anne Cox (Ph.D. 1998) presently working for the Nature Conservancy, soon to be the new Endangered
Species Biologist of the Lake Wales Ridge (Div. of Forestry)
8. Caroline Curtis (M.S. 1999) middle school science teacher
9. Jenny Cutler-Davis (M.S. 1998) lab tech at University of Rhode Island
10. Susan Dailey (Ph.D. 2001) postdoc w/Joe Boyer, FIU SERC
11. Rob Daoust (MS.. 1998) now pursuing Ph.D. at USC
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12. Braxton Davis (M.S. 1998) University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography pursuing a
Ph.D. in Marine Management
13. Steve Davis (Ph.D. 1999) postdoc in FIU Wetland Ecosystems Ecology lab
14. Eringhaus, Christiane (M.S. 1997) Ph.D. program at Yale University
15. Sherine El-Sawa (M.S. 1998) Ph.D. student in molecular biology, University of North Carolina
16. Flynn, Laura (M.S. 1998) biologist with a conservation NGO in New York
17. Pamela Geddes (M.S. 1999) Ph.D. candidate, University of Chicago
18. Hoffman, Bruce (M.S. 1997) Ph.D. program at University of Michigan
19. Adrian Jelenzsky (M.S. 1999) now middle school science teacher, Dade County
20. Elisabeth Koncza (M.S. 1998) Assistant Director, Florida Zoological Society
21. Suzanne Kennedy (M.S. 1998) Environmental Specialist, Brevard County Natural Resources
22. William Loftus (Ph.D. 2000) Research Scientist, USGS-BRD
23. Patricia Mumford (M.S. 1999) US Geological Survey, Washington, DC
24. Brian Nelson (M.S. 1998) Ph.D. student, Indiana University
25. Joe O'Brien (M.S. 1997) Ph.D. student with Steve Oberbauer
26. Nick Oehm (M.S. 1998) MDC high school teacher
27. Frank Parker (M.S. 2000) pursuing Ph.D. at VIMS
28. Xavier Pagan (M.S. 2000) Technician, FIU SERC
29. Rebecca Penwell (M.S. 1998) EdD program, University of Florida
30. Luz Romero (M.S. 1999) tech for the LTER program, FIU
31. Eileen Smith (M.S. 2000) Ph.D. student in Anthro/Soc at FIU
32. Maureen Sullivan (M.S. 1997) Biology instructor and lab coordinator, FIU Biscayne Bay campus
33. Ryan Taylor (M.S. 1999) Ph.D. candidate, SW Louisiana University
34. Christin Ugarte (M.S. 1997) Ph.D. program, FIU Dept. of Biology
35. Maureen Walter (M.S. 1998) Instructor, FIU Dept. of Biology
36. Jinghai Wen (Ph.D. 1998) Research scientist at Sunol Corp.
Postdoctoral Students
1. David Bogler FIU postdoc 1999-2000, (Ph.D. Texa s), now interviewing
2. Chris Buzzelli FIU Postdoc 1998-99 (Ph.D. Virginia Institute of Marine Science) now at University of North
Carolina Marine Lab
3. John Chick FIU Postdoc 1997-2000 (Ph.D. Univ. of Georgia) now Director, Great Rivers Research Station.
Illinois Natural History Survey
4. Adrienne Edwards FIU postdoc 1998-2001 (Ph.D. Georgia) now Research Scientist, Illinois Natural History
Survey
14
5. Victoria Nikolaevna Evdokimona FIU postdoc 2000-present (Ph.D. Institute of Medical Genetics, Russia)
6. Cheryl Franchina FIU postdoc 1998-2000 (Ph.D. Cornell) now biology faculty, SUNY Cortland
7. Chris Ivey FIU postdoc 1999-2000 (Ph.D. Georgia) now at Blandy Exptl. Farm, University of Virginia
8. Karen Kandl, FIU postdoc 1997-1999 (Ph.D. Georgia) now Assistant Professor, University of New Orleans
9. Chong-Tek Koh Fulbright Fellow (2000-present) University of Malaya
10. Carl Lewis FIU postdoc 2001-present (Ph.D. Cornell)
11. Xianjing Lu: FIU postdoc 1998-2000 (Ph.D. Miami) now at Univ. California-Davis
12. Michael Markham FIU postdoc 1999-2000 (Ph.D. New Mexico) now Assistant Professor FIU Psychology
and Research Associate in Biology FIU
13. Tom McElroy FIU postdoc 1999-present (Ph.D. Mississippi State)
14. Greg Noe FIU postdoc 1999-present (Ph.D. UC San Diego)
15. Brad Peterson FIU postdoc 1998-present (Ph.D. South Alabama) currently interviewing
16. Joe Pechmann FIU postdoc 1997-1999 (Ph.D. Georgia) now Assistant Professor, Univ. of New Orleans
17. Brian Rasnow FIU postdoc 1998-2000 (Ph.D. Caltech) now research Scientist, Amgen
18. Timothy Rawlings FIU postdoc 1996-2000 (Ph.D. Alberta) now post doc Natural History Museum,
London
19. Javier Rodrigues-Luis FIU postdoc 2001-present (Ph.D. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
20. Zhijun Song FIU postdoc 2000-present (MD-Ph.D. Copenhagen)
21. Maria Cristina Terreros FIU postdoc 2000-present (Ph.D. Universidad de la Plata, Argentina)
22. Andrew Turner FIU postdoc 1995-1997 (Ph.D. Michigan State) now Assistant Professor, Clarion
University, Clarion, PA.
23. Alan Willsie, FIU postdoc 1996-2000 (Ph.D. Marseille, France) now with Environment Canada
B.2. DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION AT THE GRADUATE LEVEL
There are many models for the development and organization of research and graduate work in the
biological sciences Most are unified departments that have engaged in varying degrees of division along
disciplinary lines. An example of those that are divided is that of the University of Florida, which has
separated into Departments of Zoology, Microbiology, Entomology, Botany, Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology. FIU’s approach is consistent with FSU, USF, and FAU in grouping all the disciplines of Biology
within a single multidisciplinary department. The faculty believe this organization has enormous benefits in
diversifying faculty interests as well as in forging cross-disciplinary research relationships.
Initial growth of the Department was designed to fill academic gaps so that more of the biological
sciences could be represented in the curriculum. However, now that goal has been accomplished, the faculty
has recognized the need to develop in thoughtful, more focused ways that emphasize evolving strengths
and address international trends in Biology. Natural research groups within the Department define current
strengths and focus on ways to maintain cohesiveness and growth. With this in mind, the Department of
15
Biological Sciences formed three disciplinary groups that reflect the traditional levels of biological
organization from macro to micro scales while promoting substantial overlap and collegial interaction:
Ecology and Organismal Biology (EOB): ecology, evolution, systematics, botany, zoology and marine
biology
Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB): genetics, evolution, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology and
virology
Integrative Biology (IB): physiology, neurobiology behavioral & developmental biology, evolution and
endocrinology.
Although most faculty have identified themselves as belonging primarily to one group,
membership in the groups is determined by the interests of the individual and is not restricted. In addition,
the common focus on evolutionary biology runs throughout the department as a unifying theme. Marine
Biology may become a fourth group since it will compose a degree program in the near future, but for now it
is part of EOB. In 1999, the Department voted to encourage these groups to determine the path of
development for their area of the department by recommending strategic hires. Each group makes its case to
the entire faculty that collectively decides priorities. Groups in greatest need of development might be
apportioned more lines than those that are larger, but the Department’s intention is to continue developing
existing strengths.
B.3. The Ecology and Organismal Biology Group
The EOB faculty have developed research strengths that focus on the structure and development
of ecosystems and populations and on the nature of their interactions with the environment. In addition,
EOB faculty have developed strengths in evolutionary biology at both the organismal and molecular levels,
integrating their interests with the other groups. Toward these ends, they have been one of the
beneficiaries of the Tropical Biology Program including a strong collaborative program with Fairchild
Tropical Garden.
Area Members
Brad Bennett--ethnobotany
Dan Childers--everglades ecosystem ecology
Laurel Collins--paleobiology and paleoecology
Tim Collins--molecular and organismic evolutionary biology
Maureen Donnelly--herpetology
Jim Fourqurean--biology of seagrasses
Evelyn Gaiser--Wetlands ecology, biology of periphyton communities
Walter Goldberg--coral biology, ultrastructure & histochemistry
Francisco Javier-Ortega--plant molecular systematics
16
Suzanne Koptur--plant population ecology, plant-animal interactions
David Kuhn--fungal genetics, evolution of plant disease resistance
Steve Oberbauer--comparative ecosystem physiology
Tom Philippi--community ecology, theoretical ecology
Jennifer Richards--plant morphology; aquatic botany; evolution of plant mating systems
Joel Trexler--population ecology, genetics and evolution
EOB Graduate Core Curriculum
In addition to the courses required by all entering graduate students, the EOB group is developing
a core for its students. For those with an interest in ecology, a 2-semester, 6-credit hour sequence in
Advanced Ecology was developed in 1997. These courses lay the groundwork for principles of analysis
pertaining to population, community, and ecosystem ecology and are fully enrolled. Students with an
interest in evolutionary biology will take a core graduate course in Advanced Evolutionary Biology that will
complement existing undergraduate strengths in this area. This training provides graduates with not only a
strong background in their area but also with the tools to deal with the biological effects of climate change,
particularly in tropical ecosystems and in the Arctic.
EOB Group Highlights and Strengths
Outstanding accomplishments have also been made by individual members of the EOB group in
research. Professor Steven Oberbauer has brought in more than $1M from the Department of Energy and
the National Science Foundation this year to fund his research comparing carbon cycling in tropical (Costa
Rica) and Arctic (Alaska) ecosystems.
Associate Professor Dan Childers is the lead PI on a prestigious Long Term Ecological Research
(LTER) project funded by NSF entitled “Regional controls of population and ecosystem dynamics in an
oligotrophic wetland-dominated coastal landscape.” This LTER is the first of its kind in the State of Florida
and will examine how long-term changes in organic matter input, fresh water flows, and water management
practices, among other factors, influence the ecological balance of the Everglades ecosystem. Four of the six
PI’s on this project are Department of Biological Sciences faculty. This grant brings in $4.2M through April
2005.
Associate Professor Jim Fourqurean investigates the roles of organisms in the cycling of
biologically important elements, and how spatial variability and community composition influence
processing of elements and vice versa. His currently funded projects fall in three main categories:
monitoring and assessment of marine ecosystems, biogeochemistry of metals and nutrients, and water
column -benthic interactions. In the last four years, he has been awarded over $2M in research grants from
agencies including USEPA, NSF, USGS and the National Park Service. He is also co-PI on the NSF-funded
LTER.
Associate Professor Joel Trexler is currently the Director of the Graduate Program. His laboratory
17
has a continuing history of financial support from a diversity of state and national sources totaling $1.7M
since 1997. He currently has funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Everglades National Park, and the South Florida Water
Management District.
B.4. The Integrative Biology Group
The Integrative Biology Group (IB) addresses research questions that bridge the micro and macro
themes of the other two groups, exploring how systems within organisms are regulated at physiological and
molecular levels and how they relate to the life history of the organism at evolutionary and ecosystem
levels. Faculty research areas include a)microbial, animal, plant, and regulatory physiology, b)
neurobiology and behavior, c) immunology, d) biophysics and biochemistry, e) phytochemistry and f)
endocrinology. Application of the basic science produced in these research programs is important to new
developments in medicine (particularly in immunology and neurobiology), agriculture, and conservation.
Area Members
Victor Apanius--immunology of host-parasite interactions
Charles Bigger--comparative immunology
Chris Brown--endocrinology and aquaculture
Kelsey Downum--biochemical ecology
Frank Jochem--phytoplankton community dynamics and physiology
David Lee--function and regulation of plant pigments
Philip Stoddard--evolution and neural mechanisms of animal communication
Laurie Richardson--ecology and physiology of coral pathogens, reef health, remote sensing of aquatic
ecosystems
Ophelia Weeks--neuromuscular reinnervation/regeneration, chemokine receptors and HIV proteins
IB Group Graduate Core Curriculum
In addition to the course work required for all graduate students, the IB group plans to offer a
graduate core course in biophysics, Organisms and Environment. For graduate students with a zoological
focus, the Department is planning a two-semester neurobiology sequence as well. As the IB group grows, it
will have sufficient graduate students to make these courses work as core courses.
IB Group Highlights and Strengths
Three research programs within the IB group are strongly supported. Associate Professor Philip
Stoddard's program is funded by NIH ($904,000 for 4 years) to study behavioral regulation of membrane
excitability, using electric fish as a model system. Professor Laurie Richardson’s funding from NASA, EPA,
and NOAA has supported her work on satellite identification and measurement of photosynthetic marine
systems and investigations on coral pathogens and coral reef health. Professor David Lee has received NSF
funding to explore the effect of light quality and quantity on the developmental ecology of Indian forest
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trees. These researchers have published multiple papers in Nature and Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences USA in the past three years.
In addition, Professors Apanius, Bigger, and Smith form the nucleus of the Comparative
Immunology group that meets weekly and hosts special events. There is a Comparative Immunology Club
that is active through the Student Government Association. A FIU Comparative Immunology Institute is in
the process of being created. This year its budget from the University is $40,000. Under the MBRS RISE
Program, the group received funding this year from NIGMS/NIH for a Comparative Immunology Initiative
($41,000 for each of 4 years). This funding provides for teaching equipment, outside speakers for an annual
symposium, and research funding for graduate students based on competitive proposals. The FIU Annual
Comparative Immunology Symposium, now in its third year, has been expanded to two days and receives
funds from corporate sponsors besides FIU and NIH. The FIU Comparative Immunology Certificate
Program, now in its third year, involves formal classes, seminars, and research work. The first two students
completed the program this year.
B.5. The Molecular and Cellular Biology Group
The MCB group is formed by faculty who use molecular genetics and molecular biology to study
cellular and organismal development and function in bacteria, animals and plants.
Area Members
Jim Allen --plant evolutionary and developmental molecular genetics
Lidia Kos --mammalian developmental molecular genetics
Kalai Mathee--molecular biology of bacterial pathogenesis
John Makemson--biochemistry of marine bioluminescent bacteria
Case Okubo--teaching molecular biology
Sylvia Smith --molecular immunology and cellular microbiology
Rene Herrera--human evolutionary genetics and RNA splicing.
MCB Group Highlights
The MCB group is the youngest and smallest of three groups. Four of the seven members (Allen,
Kos, Mathee and Smith) joined the faculty in the last three years, dramatically changing the composition of
the group. MCB faculty are active in a broad range of research subjects, with strengths in genetics and in
bacteriology. Assistant Professor Lidia Kos has attracted American Heart Association funding, and
Assistant Professor Kalai Mathee has won a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation grant and MBRS funding to study
biofilm formation by the skin and lung pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Professor Sylvia Smith studies the evolution of complement and its modulation of innate immunity
and has been funded at more than $500,000 over the last 4 years. Associate Professor Rene Herrera’s work
includes studies of genome variation with forensic applications and the evolution and function of RNA
splicing pathways. His research has had over 15 years of NIH funding.
The broad interests of the group, combined with the wide applicability of the techniques utilized by
19
MCB faculty to questions at the organismal, population and systematic levels, also engender substantial
collaboration with members of the EOB and IB groups. The MCB group is perhaps best positioned to
spearhead cross-disciplinary research and teaching programs with the other groups, such as in Professor
Sylvia Smith’s immunology collaborations with Professor Charles Bigger and Victor Apanius. New faculty
hires currently in the search or planning phase will further enhance collaboration and bridges with other
disciplines. These include positions in Gene Regulation and a shared line with the Department of Chemistry
in Forensic Biology. This group is the natural link to future growth in the biomedical sciences and
biotechnology and has great potential for future growth in external funding. The Department has earmarked
an appreciable portion of the new Life Sciences building for new faculty in this area who will address the
new developments in genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology of disease.
MCB Group Graduate Core Curriculum
The MCB area has recently established a core curriculum for MCB graduate students consisting of
a new two-semester sequence entitled Molecular and Cellular Biology I and II. These courses are intended
to provide incoming students with a basic understanding of new developments in protein biochemistry,
prokaryotic and eukaryotic molecular biology, and cellular and developmental biology. Further development
of the MCB graduate curriculum will be required to sufficiently broaden the scope of the MCB program,
which, in turn, will require increasing the number of faculty to teach those courses.
B.6. Marine Biology & Biscayne Bay Campus
Although it is not one of the three group divisions within the biological sciences, Marine Biology
is the only program within this department that will have its own baccalaureate degree. The program has
received strong support from the University culminating in a special allocation through the enhancement
budget of more than $400,000, primarily to support additional faculty lines. The program was originally
scheduled to begin in August 2001, but due to space constraints, consequent hiring deferrals, and program
approval, it will likely start a year later. The Department receives about two inquiries per day about marine
biology, mostly from out-of-state applicants. The estimate is to have eventually 200 majors. Professor Chris
Brown was hired as program director and has developed the undergraduate curriculum.
The Department has four parallel goals in hiring for Biscayne Bay Campus. The first focuses on
providing students with upper division courses in the biological sciences so that they will no longer need to
commute to University Park to complete the coursework for the Marine Biology BS. With the current
curriculum, the Department will provide upper division courses in Ecology, Genetics and Biochemistry. The
second goal is to provide upper division, marine-oriented courses for the Marine Biology program. A third
goal is to support graduate student and faculty research at Biscayne Bay Campus. The fourth goal is to
provide a non-science major course in Marine Biology that reflects the waterfront location of the campus.
B.7. Minority Biomedical Research Programs
The Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS) is the longest grant-funded program
20
in the Department. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical
Sciences [NIGMS]), from 1985 to 1995 the MBRS program received $2.4M. It has grown considerably over
the last three years, primarily due to the leadership role of Professor Charles Bigger. In 1997 the allocation to
the program increased to $908,000. In 2000-01, the MBRS (RISE and SCORE) Programs and the allied
MARC/U-STAR Program brought in more than $2M, with an additional $1,700,000 in proposals submitted
and pending. All three programs are in the first year of a competitive funding cycle with three more years to
follow for the RISE and SCORE and four for the MARC/U-STAR (see Table 5). More recently, Professor
Sylvia Smith won an NIH External Associates Research and Development Award (EARDA) and spent the
spring semester at NIH and was able to obtain an Office for Access to Biomedical Research and Training
grant (OABRT) that will fund additional biomedical research and training in the Department. These varied
programs are designed to fund faculty research, to promote the involvement of undergraduate and graduate
students in the research process, to develop improved pedagogical methodology for the biomedical
sciences, to broaden awareness of opportunities in biomedical research careers, and to increase training in
biomedical research. The goals of these NIH programs fit within the FIU theme of Health (see below) and
have contributed to the University’s environment theme. In addition to faculty research, these programs
support undergraduate and graduate students on research projects in Biology as well as other science
departments by providing salaries for student researchers. Depending upon their level, students involved
in original research are expected to present their work at professional meetings; MBRS also provides travel
support to all of its students to those meetings. In addition, MBRS brings prominent guest speakers to
campus to meet with students, sponsors an annual mini-symposium with a guest speaker and student
presentations, and acts as a clearing house for student opportunities. These include training programs,
career opportunities and internships at NIH. Several students have been chosen for NIH internships since
the inception of the program.
In 1999-2000 FIU was awarded $252,036 from the MBRS Program for telecommunication
infrastructure upgrades in the four main science buildings (OE, CP, ECS and CEAS). These funds provided
39 FIU net links to specific research laboratories, CISCO switching hardware, and building renovations to
allow Internet II capability to all parts of the four buildings.
Historically, the NIH MORE Programs (MBRS and MARC) have provided the longest and broadest
extramural research support to the FIU Biology Program. These programs have supported faculty research
programs for 10 Biology faculty in all three of the disciplinary groups. Individual faculty have been funded
for periods ranging from 3 to 12 years. The three current programs provide support to 11 faculty, four of
whom are in Biology, 6 Post-Docs (4 in Biology), 3 Technicians (3 in Biology), 24 graduate students (10 in
Biology), and 25 undergraduates (14 in Biology). There are currently 10 students in the MCB Group, 3 in the
EOB and 11 in the IB Group. It is fully anticipated that this level of support will continue in the future.
Table 5: Summary of National Institute of General Medical Sciences MORE Programs at FIU
21
Program
MBRS
SCORE
Status
Focus
PI/Director
$$/Duration
in first yr.
of 4 yrs
8 Faculty
Research
Projects
C. Bigger
$4,862,299/4 yrs
30
SCORE
Supl.
Pending
2 Faculty
Research
Projects
C. Bigger
$1,031,487/2 yrs
6
1st of 4 yrs
Students (UG
& G), Curricul.
Dev.
C. Bigger
$2,440,290/4yrs
64
MARC/
U-STAR
1st of 5 yrs.
Students (UG)
C. Bigger
$748,480/5 yrs
29
EARDA/
OABRT
1st of 3 yrs.
Faculty Research S. Smith
Development.
$205,000/3 yrs
RCMI
Resubmit.
Research
T. Breslin/
Core Facilities
Sylvia Smith
MBRS
RISE
#Pers*
3
approx.$6m (5yrs)
MIRT
Planned Student S. Smith $500,000 (3yrs)
International
Research Exp.
* The number of personnel involved, including faculty, technicians, post-docs. and students. There is
some overlap between programs.
** The FIU MBRS Program is now in its 16th continuous year.
MBRS -- Minority Biomedical Research Support Program
RCMI -- Research Center at Minority Institutions
SCORE -- MBRS Support of Continuous Research Excellence
RISE -- MBRS Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement
MARC/U-STAR-- Minority Access to Research Careers/Undergraduate Student Training in Academic
Research
B.8. Departmental Seminar Series
The Department seminar series is an important intellectual and social function, particularly in such
a diverse department. Attendance is required for all graduate students in Biology and in the Forensic
Science Program as well as undergraduates in the Honors program. Despite limited resources, faculty have
organized a successful seminar series over the years piecing together support from various sources. This
year, funds came from the College’s Graduate Colloquium matched with departmental funds. Support for
additional speakers came in the form of combining sponsorships from the following companies and FIU
institutes and programs:
Companies:
Fisher Scientific, Tango Technology and Microoptics of Florida
FIU Institutes/Programs:
Institute for Asian Studies
22
International Forensic Research Institute
Comparative Immunology (Two speakers: Fall and Spring)
Tropical Biology (Two speakers: Fall and Spring)
MBRS (Two speakers: Fall and Spring)
The Graduate Students Association (Two speakers: Fall and Spring)
The Women’s Center
The Women’s Studies Program
With assistance from the FIU Foundation, a Biological Sciences Distinguished Seminar Series was
created. The weekly seminars presented 14 speakers in diverse disciplines; while a few of the speakers were
local, many were not. The allocated funds are used to pay for travel and hotel. More funds are needed to
pay for honoraria. The Department is exploring ways to raise additional funds to support the series and
perhaps to include a modest honorarium in addition to covering speakers’ expenses.
Seminar Series Department of Biological Sciences, 2000-2001
Cosponsored by Institute for Asian Studies and the International Forensic Research Institute:
Chong-Lek KOH, Ph.D., University of Malaysia: Molecular Diagnosis of Genetic Disorders and Use of
DNA in Forensic Application in Malaysia
Daniel WOZNIAK, Ph.D., Wake Forest University, School of Medicine: Coordinate control of alginate
synthesis and motility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Zhijun SONG, M.D., Ph.D., Guangxi Medical University, People's Republic of China: Therapeutic effects of
ginseng on chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection in animal models
Donald E. CHAMPAGNE, Ph.D. University of Georgia: The Pharmacology of Phlebotomy: Molecular Tools
of the Blood-feeding Trade
Tropical Biology Distinguished Seminar Speaker:
Michael RYAN, Ph.D., University of Texas: Sexual Selection and Communication in Tungara Frogs
Tango Technology Distinguished Seminar Speaker:
Peter GREENBERG, Ph.D., University of Iowa: Quorum Sensing and Community Behavior in Gramnegative Bacteria
Ken MULLER, MD., University of Miami, Miami: Repair of Neuronal Connections: Lessons from Lesions in
Leeches
David KUHN, Ph.D., FIU Biology: Resistance Gene Homologues for Marker-Assisted Breeding of
Theobroma cacao
MBRS Distinguished Seminar Speaker:
Joram PIATIGORSKY, Ph.D., Chief, Molecular and Developmental Biology, NIH: Gene Sharing in Eyes of
Vertebrates and Invertebrates: Mysteries of Highly Expressed Proteins in Lens and Cornea
Zhongmin (John) LU, Ph.D., University of Miami: Sound Localization by Fish
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Distinguished women in Science Cosponsored by The Graduate Students association, The
Women’s Center and The Women’s Studies Program:
Martha M. HOWE, Ph..D., University of Tennessee: Transcription Activation in Prokaryotes
and Phage Mu
Fisher Scientific Distinguished Seminar Speaker:
Niels HØIBY, MD., Ph.D., University Hospital Copenhagen: Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung
infection in Cystic Fibrosis and architype biofilm infection
Larry S. ROBERTS, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences, FIU: Western Pacific Coral Reefs: the
Cradle of Biodiversity
Scott ZONA, Ph.D., Fairchild Tropical Garden: An Overview of the Evolution and Diversification of the
Palm subtribe Ptychospermatinae
Comparative Immunology Distinguished Seminar Speaker:
Garriet SMITH, Ph.D., University of South Carolina: Pathogens of Reef Organisms
B.9. Glaser Professorship (Lecture Series).
In 1989 the Biology Department was the recipient of a $100,000 endowment by Mr. Stanley Glaser. The
interest from this donation has been used each year since to fund the visit of a distinguished academician
who gives a series of lectures to faculty and students as well as one to the general public. The purpose of
this series is to provide a dynamic short course for faculty and students in an area of current interest. The
topic of the Glaser lectures is selected from a list of areas by the of Biological Sciences faculty. The
following ten distinguished speakers have been participants as a result of this program:
Glaser Professor
Topic
1990 Francisco Ayala
Distinguished Chair of Evolutionary Genetics,
University of California, Irvine
Genetics and evolution
1991 Richard Morita
Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon
Marine microbiology
1992 Tom Ledig
University of California, Berkeley population genetics
Biodiversity & forest
1993 Peter Sale
University of Windsor
Coral reef fish ecology
1994 David Hillis
Distinguished Chair, University of Texas
Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Molecular evolution
1995 Gene Block
Thomas Jefferson Professor of Biology
University of Virginia
Biological clocks
1996 John Thompson
Washington State University
Coevolution
1997 Bruce Levin
Population biology of
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Director, Graduate Program in Ecology,
Evolution and Population Biology,
Emory University
infectious disease
1998 Michael Donoghue
Harvard University
Applying phylogenies to
Ecological and evolutionary
questions
1999 David Tilman
University of Minnesota
Community ecology
2000 Brian K. Hall
Dalhousie University
Evolutionary
developmental biology
2001. Mark Lomolino
University of Arizona
Island biogeography
B.10. The Tropical Biology Program
The Tropical Biology Program was designed to be an interdisciplinary research/training umbrella
program benefiting tropical scientists from the Departments of Biology and Environmental Studies, the
Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC), and Fairchild Tropical Garden (FTG), through the FIUFTG Cooperative Agreement. Quality Improvement Funds were targeted to strengthen faculty research
and teaching expertise in tropical biology, to provide infrastructure and enhance faculty competitiveness
for external research funding, and to improve support and training opportunities for graduate and recent
Ph.D. students. Six objectives were outlined in the original QIP proposal: a) add one new faculty member
with laboratory based at FTG b) sponsor a "New Investigator Initiative" for recent Ph.D.s c) develop new
opportunities for MS/Ph.D. students d) bring outstanding tropical biologists to FIU for discussions,
seminars, workshops e) foster support of collaborative research programs with Everglades National Park,
Fairchild Tropical Garden (FTG), and the Organization for Tropical Studies, and f) enhance research
capabilities in biological/environmental sciences at FIU.
The program met or exceeded every major goal in the 31 months of its existence. With the
allocation, a superb plant molecular systematist (Professor Javier Francisco-Ortega) was hired; he already
has 13 papers published or in press with the FIU-FTG address. In addition, he has spearheaded the
formation of a tropical plant systematics program that already has three students enrolled, has enhanced
research at FTG, and is the principal investigator of a tropical biology grant recently funded by the National
Science Foundation. This $400,00 grant developed directly from Tropical Biology Program support and
involves 13 faculty from FTG, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, and SERC.
The program has supported four postdoctoral researchers who have taught or are teaching
courses, obtained $214,000 in extramural grant funds, authored or co-authored proposals for more than
$550,000, and submitted or have in preparation more than 40 papers. The program has also provided more
than $210,000 in competitive research and travel awards to graduate students affiliated with Biology,
25
Environmental Studies, FTG, and SERC. Four students attended highly comp etitive OTS tropical biology
courses in Costa Rica and Peru. Four outstanding tropical biologists were brought to campus to interact
with faculty and graduate students. By basing the new plant systematist and a postdoctoral researcher at
FTG, collaborative research has been enhanced. Faculty have played important roles in teaching and
governance of OTS and forged new alliances with Miami-based tropical organizations and the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The Department has developed a web site, brochures,
and advertisements promoting the TBP to outside individuals and institutions. Receiving this award
allowed the Department to look inward and document previously unfocused tropical strengths. All of these
milestones were made possible by the additional funds provided by the QIP award that inspired faculty to
go above their assignments to make the TBP work.
Tropical Biology Program Highlights
Received 134 research and training grants awarding $11.7M
Published more than 40 peer reviewed papers, 1 book ,and 4 book chapters
Supported graduate student research and travel to the level of $210,000 through a competitive grants
program
Hired Javier Francisco-Ortega as plant molecular systematist
Tripled research greenhouse space
Hired 4 postdoctoral fellows through a competitive grants program
Sent 4 students to highly competitive OTS courses
Developed Tropical Biology Program Web site and advertised nationally and internationally
Sponsored an Annual Biology Research Symposium (see below)
Published Tropical Biology Program brochure
Developed Plant Systematics Program and brochures
Initiated a Tropical Biology Program Contribution Series
Compiled Tropical Biology Theses and Dissertation Series
Compiled Tropical Biology Program Retrospective Contribution Series
Supported highest quality students to finish degrees
Provided fellowships with research support for outstanding graduate students
Supported 3 TBP program graduate students who received Presidential Awards
Directly supported completion of 11 M.S. and 1 Ph.D. degrees and recruited nationally competitive students
for admission to the graduate program
Forged new tropical alliances with Smithsonian Institution, National Tropical Botanical Garden,
Montgomery Botanical Center, Miami Museum of Science, and University of Miami
Obtained National Park Service collaborative support for 3 postdoctoral fellows
Obtained USDA collaborative support for graduate students
Supported two TBP investigators participating in Canopy Raft Expedition to Gabon, Africa
Housed the FTG virtual herbarium on FIU server
The Biology Research Symposium at the Kovens Center is sponsored annually by the Tropical
Biology Program. This gathering is a celebration of research conducted by undergraduates, graduate
students, and postdoctoral fellows in the Biological Sciences at FIU. The symposium allows these young
researchers to present projects, proposals, and results in a collegial and friendly atmosphere and allows the
entire department to benefit by becoming familiar with the work of others through oral presentations and
posters sessions. Prizes are awarded for the best M.S. and Ph.D. student talks and poster sessions. The
26
last Tropical Biology Symposium was held in February, 2001. In short, the Tropical Biology Program has
been an enormous influence in the Department’s growth and focus, both for the faculty and the students.
V. RESOURCES AND SUPPORT SERVICES
The Department of Biological Sciences is a collegial, research-active unit that has developed
strength in the environmental and ecological sciences and is developing strength in the areas of integrative
biology as well as in the cellular and molecular biosciences and marine biology. Over the next five years, the
Department intends to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the new Life Sciences and
Marine Biology buildings to focus on these areas of excellence with a) greater emphasis on infrastructure
support b) more efficient use of faculty time and effort and c) critical hires in research and instruction.
A. Space and Technical Support: Life Sciences Building
The Department has grown and expanded over the last few years and is now addressing
infrastructure needs. This year the Department addressed some of these needs by allocating a postdoctoral
position and a technician position to offset the administrative load placed on the Department Chair and the
Director of Graduate Studies. The technician position was upgraded to support the DNA Sequencing
facility. The postdoctoral position enabled the Director of Graduate studies to undertake the substantial
administrative load that position represents and maintain his well established research program. These are
good investments in the department. A third position (business manager) functions as a grants accounting
specialist.
Faculty research and teaching success and growth have made space the number one issue. The
new Life Sciences Building will provide a significant amount of new space expected to alleviate the research
lab and office space shortages. The new $35M Life Sciences building is being constructed in three phases.
Phase I is currently under construction. The top three floors will house 20 biology research labs (27,500 ft 2)
and will include 3 research support equipment rooms (3600 ft 2), a Tissue Culture Core Facility (1300 ft 2), a
DNA Sequencing Core Facility (1200 ft 2), 20 faculty offices (2600 ft 2), 12 graduate student carrel suites (3600
ft 2), 2 conference rooms (770 ft 2), and one clerical/copy room (350 ft 2). The research laboratories were
designed specifically to accommodate a wide diversity of biomedical research programs and will be used to
attract nationally competitive biomedical research faculty. Upon completion of Phase I, construction of
Phase II will begin in the first quarter of 2002. Phase II will house biology classrooms and teaching
laboratories with attendant stockroom facilities (17,400 ft 2) currently in the design and development stage. It
is anticipated that these teaching laboratories will have state-of-the-art equipment to enhance upper division
courses. However, this new space will require additional support personnel to support the new facility.
Phase III is anticipated to be a molecular biology building with strong biomedical research and training
functions.
Specifically, the following lines will be needed to enhance the infrastructure:
27
1. 2 secretarial lines
2. a Tissue Culture Technician for the core facility
3. 2 stockroom staff to handle lab preparations
4. 2 lab coordinators for Biochemistry and for Microbiology, each of which will have 10 or more
lab sections per term.
These components are part of an overall plan to eliminate the disparities between FIU and benchmark
institutions as will be described below.
B. Space in OE
The Department currently has critical space shortages. Some faculty with large programs are cramped into
standard 400 square-foot labs with their undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students. Other faculty
members with productive programs are crammed into even smaller spaces that were formally first floor
offices. As space becomes available in the new building, 11 faculty members who have space in OE will
move, freeing their respective laboratories. This space is badly needed by those faculty who will remain in
OE. The departmental space committee has devised a procedure for the orderly allocation of this space
based on traditional measures of faculty productivity.
C. OE Stockroom
The Department operates a stockroom a) to prepare teaching laboratories b) to coordinate
equipment, c) to process repairs, and to order animals, plants and microorganisms used for teaching. The
stockroom is open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on
Saturdays. Lab preparation often begins as early as 7:00 a.m. Many of the laboratories, especially those in
biochemistry, physiology, genetics and microbiology, require complex and specialized preparations that
presuppose a fairly high degree of experience and training. The stockroom is administered on a day-to-day
basis by three USPS positions, including a Senior Teaching Lab Specialist, a Laboratory Manager, and a
Laboratory Technician. All other stockroom personnel are either OPS or College Work-Study (CWS)
students. One USPS position was originally hired to tend to the animal room as 50% of her duties; she now
is able to supervise a few OPS individuals who perform the actual animal room duties. The OPS personnel
are students and require training and function well, but are not a reliable source of workers having a
turnover every 2-3 years. The CWS students run most of the routine stockroom operations. The
Department operates teaching laboratories in another building (CP) and will operate a second stockroom in
the new Life Sciences Building. The stockroom is now required to prepare and deliver laboratory materials
by cart. The current OE stockroom needs another full-time laboratory technician to assist with specialized
laboratory preparations. In addition, staff is needed to maintain an open stockroom during night and
weekend lab sessions.
D. Course/Laboratory Coordinators and Instructors
The teaching labs in lower division science core courses pose a logistic challenge for the Department.
28
Because of the one-on-one teaching relationship in the laboratory, the number of students per lab section
is inherently limited to about 25. Thus, one full GL 100 lecture section requires approximately 13 laboratory
sections. Laboratories are taught until 10 p.m. on weekdays and until late afternoons on Saturdays, and
due to space limitations the Department cannot accommodate additional lab sections. The teaching space
in the new Life Sciences building will alleviate this shortage of teaching labs. However, large laboratoryrequiring courses are enormously complex to coordinate and prepare. Each large lecture session requires 13
lab sections and at least 6 TA’s to teach the labs (TA’s teach two sections/week). The two Human
Biology lecture sections require 32 lab sections. Problems of coordination are obvious: someone has to be
responsible for ensuring that there is a standard curriculum, that the materials necessary are prepared, and
that grading policy by the TA’s is uniform.
Originally, a faculty member was responsible for this task, but with so many lab sections, the work
became a huge drain on faculty time. In recognition of that, the Department hired Mr. Tom Pitzer as General
Biology lab coordinator. Mr. Pitzer also teaches a course for all TA’s, which includes their duties and
methodologies in providing laboratory instruction. He has developed interactive websites to supplement
the lecture material given by faculty and, in doing so, has demonstrably improved student performance.
Mr. Pitzer provides faculty with a list of quiz questions to be chosen by them and produces the exams. He
provides extra credit activities that are part of the learning environment in Biology. He is an enormous
asset to the Department. University core and lower division Biology courses (listed above) are becoming
larger and more complex to coordinate. To keep up with expanded enrollments, the Department needs to
hire additional coordinators, particularly for courses with 10 or more laboratory sections. The decision
needs to be made whether the Department would be better served by allocating these positions as faculty
(i.e., instructors who teach and are course coordinators) or as USPS lines for the more limited function of
coordinating multiple laboratory sections. Instructor-level positions would also be able to teach large
enrollment, lower division courses. The benefit of reducing lower division teaching by current faculty will
be a greater emphasis on upper division and graduate teaching by tenure track/tenured faculty and greater
research productivity.
E. Benchmark comparisons
Comparisons with benchmark institutions show that while there is considerable variation in
technical support as a function of faculty size, the mean is 1 technical support person for every 3.5 faculty
members. At FIU the technical support ratio is not only the lowest among its peer institutions, but, as
shown in Table 6, it is 2.5 times lower than the mean of all for which data are available. Clearly, this is an
area that requires attention.
Table 6 Technical Support Personnel at Benchmark Institutions
UF
FSU
USF
ASU
UCI
29
UIC
WSU
Temple
FIU
Faculty
49
53
33
76
100
41
29
24
Tech. Sup.
11
35
7
NA
NA
11
5
14
-
-
Ratio*
4.5
1.5
4.7
3.7
5.8
40
7.5
1.7
5.3
* Number of faculty per technical support personnel.
Source: College of Arts and Sciences
Similarly, at other Benchmark Institutions there are personnel whose efforts are directed
toward advising, managing and general secretarial assistance (Table 7). The mean of such nonlaboratory support to faculty ratio among benchmark institutions is 3.6:1, or 1.5 times greater
than at FIU.
Table 7
Non-Laboratory-related positions* in Biology at Benchmark Institutions
-
UF
FSU
USF
ASU
UCI
UIC
WSU
Temple
FIU
Faculty
49
53
33
76
100
41
29
24
40
Non-lab
support
16
23
9
NA
NA
15
6
4
4
ratio
3:1
2.3:1
3.7:1
-
-
2.7:1
4.8:1
6:1
10:1
* Includes secretaries, administrative assistants, business managers, and other non-laboratory personnel.
Source: College of Arts and Sciences
Providing this infrastructure support will yield productivity dividends and enhance the overall strength of
this department.
F. Expansion and Renovations
i. The Animal Care Facility
Eight Biological Sciences faculty depend on vertebrate animal models for their primary research.
An additional 8 faculty from other units currently use vertebrate animals occasionally for research or
teaching. These faculty are required by federal law to comply with animal care guidelines promulgated by
the USDA and federal funding agencies (e.g., EPA, NSF, NIH). The OE building contains a 3,400 ft 2
Animal Care Facility that houses mice and rats. Fish are maintained at multiple indoor and outdoor
locations on both campuses. In the past three years, three issues in the operation of the Animal Care
Facility have been identified:
1. provision of uninterrupted cooling to the Animal Care Facility that currently has a separate
air handler, but not a chiller or lighting on the emergency backup circuit.
2. staffing the facility with certified personnel.
3. providing an emergency preparedness plan for research animals.
In 1999, the faculty formed an ad hoc committee to rectify these problems. The following solutions have
30
been subsequently implemented:
1.
an emergency generator has been installed with new switch gear capable of supporting an
independent chiller unit.
2.
two part-time AALAC certified animal care technicians have been hired. A part-time IACUC
administrator has been hired and is undergoing training.
3.
additional husbandry equipment has been purchased to alleviate overcrowding.
An outstanding problem that remains is the lack of functional cage-washing machinery.
Currently, all cages are washed by hand. While this procedure is permitted under animal care guidelines,
it is a short-term solution that limits departmental growth in animal research. With the increased amount
of experimental animal research expected in the new Life Sciences building, the cage washer machinery
should be purchased. Purchase of a cage-washer should be a high institutional priority. The cage
washer, a walk-in facility, costs $70,000. Retrofit plumbing and drainage for a high pressure system and
attendant building renovations, according to recent bids, will cost an additional $100,000.
The Department submitted two facility improvement grants to the National Center for Research
Resources (NIH) totaling $3.3 million. These applications were not funded but recommended for
resubmission. Re-submissions will depend on increased institutional commitment to supporting animal
research resources.
In addition, future competitive animal and cell biology grants will require the University to:
1. provide salary support (or release time) for the IACUC Chair.
2. implement a program of cost-recovery for animal resources.
3. hire a part-time lab-animal board certified veterinarian.
4. convert the part-time AALAC-certified animal care technicians to full-time positions,
particularly after proposed renovations (see below).
The Animal Care Facility is operating at full capacity by the existing Biology faculty despite the pressure
from faculty in Biomedical Engineering, Psychology, Nursing, and Dietetics and Nutrition which also
require laboratory animal resources. The University by attending to the increasing demand for animal
resources by Biology faculty and other units will incorporate the following elements into the University
Park Campus master plan:
1. improve the efficiency and capability of the Animal Care Facility
2. provide space and resources for non-traditional animal models, e.g., Everglades fish, birds
3. add a specific-pathogen free room for immuno-compromised and transgenic animals that have
become a model for immunological, pathogenicty and developmental biology research.
Improving the Animal Care Facility and increasing support for the Animal Research Program,
including IACUC functions, are critical for the continuing development of world-class biomedical research at
FIU. The national trend shows a population explosion in transgenic mice. The Human Genome Project will
accelerate that trend as the functions of newly sequenced genes are explored in transgenic animal models .
31
In the past three years, Biology faculty have begun research in developmental neurobiology using
transgenic mice generated at NIH and at the University of Miami School of Medicine. They have begun
research using animal models of chronic infectious disease and on stress and immunity that requires stressfree conditions. The occupants of the new Life Sciences building in 2002 will expand the breadth and scope
of biomedical research and will undoubtedly require specialized vertebrate animal models. Plans are in place
to expand the Animal Care Facility through renovations described below.
ii. Conversion of the Anatomy Laboratory
When Phase II of the new Life Sciences building is complete (est. summer, 2003), the OE anatomy
laboratory will be moved from its current OE location into Phase II. After it is moved to the new building,
the former anatomy lab will be expanded as part of the animal laboratory. Located just below the existing
animal lab, it will logistically facilitate the expansion. The design of this laboratory will be consistent with
NIH guidelines, including space for personnel and additional facilities. Two additional renovation projects
are also needed.
iii. Aquarium Laboratory Renovation
Two large aquarium rooms are currently used by faculty, one on the first floor that was recently
outfitted and one on the second floor that was part of the original design of the OE building. This latter
facility will require renovation of the plumbing and electrical systems. Both aquaria rooms work through the
ingenuity of the faculty and graduate students; however, they should be completely renovated.
iv. Additional Emergency Power Outlets
When the switches for the emergency generator system were being installed and the power was
out for 3 days in the OE building, it was discovered that outlets to the system were either asymmetrically
installed (some labs with and some without) or were installed but not connected to the system. Access to
emergency power is absolutely essential to many faculty in this Department, particularly those who maintain
frozen stocks of tissues, cells, specialized chemicals, and other biological materials that are destroyed at
room temperature or even at normal freezing temperatures. Many faculty maintain research supplies at 80oC,
and allowing them to thaw will curtail and even bring to a halt some research programs. Other essential
power is required for incubators, refrigerators, and other equipment typical of biology labs. The OE building
needs an engineering analysis to assess the current load and to provide a more rational plan for the
equitable distribution of additional emergency power outlets in the research wings.
VI. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
The strengths of the Department have been unambiguously outlined. They include
•
a well-developed sense of collegiality
•
a diverse faculty with diverse interests
32
•
a sense of identity as part of cohesive, disciplinary groups
•
a particularly strong ecology and organismic biology group
•
a well-established program with Fairchild Tropical Garden
•
a strong graduate program with nationally competitive students
•
substantial undergraduate and graduate enrollments
•
a positive sense of the future development of the Department
•
strong support by the administration
•
solid record of external grant support in ecology (Everglades/Florida Bay) and Biomedical
areas.
•
opportunity for research in unique or unusual areas, including the Everglades and tropical
marine ecosystems.
The Department’s weaknesses include the following:
•
inadequate infrastructure support, particularly as listed below in Section X, Unit
Recommendations
•
lack of faculty in key research groups
•
discontinuation of QIP funding for Tropical Biology
•
the condition of the OE Building and need of renovations to some of its key facilities.
VII. PROGRAM VISION
The Department of Biological Sciences is currently poised to continue its successes in the
ecological and biomedical sciences. As one of the five strategic themes guiding the University’s
development, environmental and health issues will continue to be focal points for this Department. There
does not appear to be any serious threats to continued funding successes and expansion of these programs
over the next decade. If anything, pressures of increased urbanization, global warming and other problems
will increase the demand and application of current faculty expertise in these areas. A Center of Excellence
in Tropical Biology will focus on many of these environmental issues and could , with the expanded
support, be the premier Center for Tropical Biology in the nation. In addition, there are enormous
opportunities for the only public research university in Dade County to capitalize on the expansion of the
biomedical and biotechnology industries both locally and nationally and to capture the expanding budgets
for basic and applied research through the National Institutes of Health and other health-related agencies.
Health is one of the five strategic themes of development for the University. In order for the
University to gain a national reputation in this area, it will have to conclude that the Department of
Biological Sciences is the appropriate place to focus its initiatives. The Department has demonstrated with
33
MBRS, SERC, and the Tropical Biology programs, to mention a few, that it is capable of achieving national
distinction and wisely using its resources. In planning to assume leadership of health issues, the
Department has developed two parallel models for increasing its presence in Integrative, Cellular and
Molecular Biosciences. One is the focused growth of current groups with oversight by a distinguished
department chair. The other is the establishment of a PIMS program or other processes leading to the
establishment of an FIU Medical School. Both initiatives will cost about $1 M.
VIII. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
The University’s investment in the Department of Biological Sciences represents a series of
opportunities to capitalize on two of its major developmental themes: Environment and Health. However, in
order to do this, attention needs to be focused in certain areas. The Department has requested increased
support in infrastructure (instructors, laboratory coordinators, and graders) that will increase faculty
productivity. Instructors as professional educators will teach large, but essential, courses for the nonscience majors. The current faculty and additional new hires are the keys to increasing access to extramural
funding. The additional infusion of faculty lines into the IB and MCB groups is a means of focusing on the
theme of biomedicine. A distinguished chairperson or an Eminent Scholar/Chair represents another key
element of departmental development. If the University opts for a PIMS Program, it would provide the
opportunity to hire another Eminent Scholar/Chair, as the PIMS Program Director.
IX. UNIT RECOMMENDATIONS
A. The Previous Five -Year Plan With Annotations
A.1. Space and Facilities
Space: The Department needs more space to accommodate new hires and growth in its
undergraduate and graduate programs. The rest of OE should be assigned to Biology, and planning for a
new building should occur within the next two years.
Comment: Space is still a large problem but the addition of the Life Sciences Building next year will help
solve it. Additional space has been obtained in the ECS building (two ecological research labs).
Facilities: Major facilities that need to be developed within the Department include
•
expansion of the greenhouse
•
a natural history museum in OE 321
•
construction of an aquarium and field room in OE 152A
•
acquisition of a boat large enough for teaching marine biology
•
establishment of a molecular biology instrumentation facility.
Comment: the aquarium and field room were installed, and the greenhouse space was increased. Small
34
vessels have been obtained and are operating at BBC, although a larger one is needed. The faculty have
applied for NIH funding for core facilities in molecular biology.
Facilities needed outside the department include
•
development of an electron microscope facility in OE 146
•
establishment of SERC and improved development of library collections.
Comment: Except the EM & Molecular Biology facilities, all have been accomplished.
A.2. Biscayne Bay Campus
•
establish a resident faculty
•
teach upper division courses in Genetics and Ecology
•
develop a marine biology program.
Comment: Marine Biology Director (Professor Chris Brown) and a faculty (Professor Frank Jochem) were
hired along with instructor (Professor Barbara Roller); construction of a Marine Biology building (ACIII) is
pending.
A.3. Faculty, Support Staff & Graduate Assistants
•
Hire 1-3 faculty per year to keep up with enrollment
•
Establish endowed chairs in Wetlands Biology and in Molecular Systematics.
•
Technical support positions for marine biology, molecular biology
and for the growth chamber facility.
•
Establish 2-3 new secretarial positions including one at NMC; reclassify one line as an office
manager.
•
Increase number of TA-ships and increase their pay.
Comment: Two of the three technical positions were hired, office manager reclassification took place, and
the number and pay of TA’s were increased. A new business manager has been hired. Space, which
slowed down faculty hiring, has been overcome in part by obtaining research labs at the Fairchild Garden
and in the ECS building. This has allowed the addition of 4 faculty.
A.4. Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Programs
•
Establish joint faculty lines with other units.
•
Increase programmatic collaboration with other units, particularly with SERC and Fairchild Tropical
Garden.
Comment: These have been accomplished with joint appointments with SERC, Earth Sciences, and FTG
have taken place. Formal collaborations are being established with the Department of Chemistry in the joint
Forensic Science program.
B. Proposed Five -Year Plan
B.1. Infrastructure Recommendations: UP Campus
35
From benchmark comparisons and discussion, the Department recommends the following support services:
•
Hire technical personnel in stockrooms and in core facilities
•
create instructor positions in lower division
•
contract course/lab coordinators
•
hire graders for upper division
•
secretaries
•
expand faculty in integrative biology and in molecular and cellular biology
•
create larger lecture halls
•
expand/renovate the OE animal care facility, anatomy lab, and aquarium rooms
•
provide more emergency outlets
•
ensure that space in OE is not allocated to other units.
B.2. Infrastructure Support for Marine Biology and Biscayne Bay Campus
The completion of the Marine Biology Building is essential for the establishment of the program
since there is no other space at BBC that has been identified that would function temporarily. The
Department asks that the Marine Biology building plans be expedited. Once the building is complete and
the program begins its expected growth in marine biology, the Department will also continue to offer nonmarine courses in ACII.
B.3. Faculty Positions
i. EOB Group
The EOB faculty’s highest priority for additional strength is a new hire in evolutionary biology,
particularly in an area that overlaps with other groups. Insect biology is one such area that could include
the evolution of chemical communication, defense mechanisms, behavior, co-evolution with plants, or other
areas yet to be defined more specifically. This additional position will develop a graduate-level core course
in evolutionary biology and enhance competitive research programs with federally funded training grants.
ii. IB Group
The IB group is by definition composed of research that focuses on integrating the activities of
organisms and, as such, overlaps the interests of the other two groups. The IB group will expand to build
core areas of strength that will develop existing alliances into strong research nuclei. These, in turn, will
support graduate training grants. An area of potential strength within IB that will be developed further is
how behavior regulates body function. Two faculty are currently working in this area (Stoddard-behavioral regulation of excitable membranes and Apanius--behavioral influence on immune function). The
Department attempted to hire an endocrinologist this year and offered the position to two highly qualified
individuals, but both turned down the offer. This search will be reinitiated in early Fall 2001. The
Department also plans to hire a neurobiologist with related interests to make four active labs within this area.
36
Another potential area of strength is comparative immunology, represented by Victor Apanius, Charles
Bigger, and Sylvia Smith. A future hire in neural regulation (e.g., of immune function) will further bridge
these areas. Positions that are compatible with the IB group vision are completely compatible with the
establishment of a PIMS program as described below.
iii. MCB Group
The Molecular and Cellular Biology group is a growing area of the Department, and its
development is crucial as the faculty begin to prepare to occupy the Life Sciences Building. The group is
working to improve existing strengths in molecular genetics and bacteriology by recruiting an individual
with expertise in gene regulation. Additional hires in both bacterial and eukaryotic molecular genetics will
be important, particularly if candidates have an interest in genome structure and evolution. Strengths in
bacterial science will benefit from the additional hires in the areas of bacterial symbiosis and in tropical
disease pathogens. The MCB group sees great potential in the latter position, which will be a means of
connecting molecular genetics, bacteriology, and tropical biology. Other key areas that will require
strengthening as the group positions itself to become even more competitive for National Institutes of
Health grants include virology, molecular biomedicine and immunology, and plant molecular and cellular
biology. The new Life Sciences Building is the first key to growth in this area of biology as well as in the
rest of the Department and will create much needed space for the MCB group and the others. The new
building will also require non-faculty staffing positions (as will be described below). There is a clear role for
MCB and IB faculty in the PIMS program (see below). If established, it would allow for a greater emphasis
on basic research in the molecular biosciences while fostering the basic elements of a medical education.
In planning for teaching needs, the Department cannot ignore the undergraduate courses that have
been affected by administrative assignments. Because two of the four faculty who teach biochemistry
currently have administrative posts (Downum, Makemson) and a third is on sabbatical (Kuhn), there is
currently critical deficiency in Biochemistry, a required core course for our undergraduates. The Department
will benefit from hiring another faculty member who is capable of filling this void while contributing to MCB
research needs such as those listed above. The PIMS program is another avenue of addressing this need.
iv. Marine Biology
The goals of the Marine Biology Program are to offer an undergraduate major in marine biology, to
develop a track of marine biology in the Department’s graduate program, and to conduct grant-supported
research in marine biology, utilizing the southern Florida coast. We can accomplish these goals by hiring
faculty in the flowing areas: marine ecology, marine genetics, marine biochemistry, and estuarine biology.
These four positions constitute the immediate hiring priorities. It will be advantageous if the new marine
faculty also fit into the existing three graduate groups at University Park. This expectation is not
problematical since all the faculty participate in the search and screen process of all hires in the Department.
In addition to the four listed above, one additional position in Marine Biology is requested to offset the
37
administrative duties of the program director.
The construction of AC III for the Marine Biology Program is an essential component of the
program’s development. This $12.75M, 57,000 square foot Marine Biology facility will include 4 new
classrooms, 5 teaching laboratories (2 sizes), a reading room, 10 research laboratories, 10 faculty offices,
administrative and storage spaces, and dedicated spaces for graduate students. This building will provide
sufficient space for all near term hires described above. In addition, the building will provide running
seawater essential for maintaining plants and animals in near-natural conditions. Space in the new building
may also be utilized for faculty who are important components of the marine program but have appointments
in other departments. Marine scientists such as those in marine chemistry, physics and geology will find
this building and fellow marine scientists a natural attraction for their work and their students. The
Department plans to offer a complete degree program at BBC, using resident faculty, making the program
self-sufficient. Once space becomes available with the completion of Academic III, both marine biology and
biology degree programs will be offered at BBC.
B.4. The Department Chair and Administrative Assistant
As is clear from the faculty developmental plan outlined above, most new positions have been
allocated to the integrative biology and molecular and cellular biology groups. These hires will be at the
assistant professor level. A key hire among those proposed should be a senior, highly respected and
broadly trained person who will guide the future development of the Department. Such an individual will
have demonstrated an appreciation for the whole of the biological sciences and should be attracted by
South Florida, the Department’s dynamic mix, the rapidity and quality of growth and by the opportunities
presented by the new Life Sciences Building. Ideally, the incumbent for this position would be an Eminent
Scholar, preferably with an endowed chair with a five-year appointment. Because of the heavy
administrative demands placed on the chair, a senior administrative assistant (M.S.-level) who will perform
the day-to-day tasks of running the Department needs to be also be hired. Therefore, the incumbent can
continue his/her research agenda while in office and thereafter. The assistant receives and responds to the
daily telephone calls and writes reports and coordinates with other staff (in consultation with the Chair). The
incumbent should be offered this position as part of a substantial startup package as would be fitting for a
highly respected scientist. This appointment should be among the first advertised for fall, 2002.
B.5. Program in Medical Sciences
The Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS) is another means by which the Department could
enhance the acquisition of extramural funding while strengthening the positions critical to the development
of the molecular and cellular biology as well as the integrative biology groups. At Florida State University,
the PIMS program consists of the first year of medical school, including all of the pre-clinical, basic medical
sciences for 30 students. Although there are variations among similar programs, courses that are taught in
PIMS at FSU are as follows:
38
Courses
Credit hours
Summer
BMS 5015 Basic Clinical Skills
2
BMS 5120 Embryology
3
BMS 5038 Clinical Experience
1
BMS 5190 Radiology
1
BMS 5109C Gross Anatomy & Lab
5
Fall
BMS 5016 Diagnosis and Ethics
3
BMS 5510 Mammalian Physiology 1
4
BMS 5110C Histology & Lab
4
BMS Neuroanatomy & Lab
4
BMS 5038 Clinical Skills 1
1
Spring
BCC 5151 Human Behavior
3
BMS 5500 Mammalian Physiology 2
4
BMS 5204 Biochemistry
3
BMS 5036 Pathophysiology
3
BMS 5034 Clinical Skills 2
1
Although courses in Biochemistry, Gross Anatomy, Neuroscience and Human Physiology are already in
place, the addition of medical school students will require expansion of current offerings. Addition of key
faculty members would enable the Department to develop substantially the MCB and IB programs, to
expand the programmatic offerings, and to become more competitive for NIH funding.
The following positions are key elements to the establishment of PIMS at FIU: 9 faculty lines
(including a 12-month Program Director position), 2 adjuncts, 2 instructors, 1 secretary, and 1 attendant.
Cost estimates are provided in the last section of this document.
B.6. Support for the Tropical Biology Program
Because of the success of the Tropical Biology Program, the Department supports maintaining the
Program’s funding and creating a Center of Excellence for Tropical Biology. This Center will solidify and
formalize existing programs with benefits to all levels of the Department and to the graduate program in
particular. FIU, including its links with Fairchild Tropical Garden, is already one of the top 2-3 programs in
tropical biology programs in the nation. The creation of a Center in Tropical Biology will enhance the
ability of the program faculty to compete for federal, state, and private funds and will provide leadership and
39
focus for large multidisciplinary proposals to national and international funding agencies. The program will
also complement existing programs such as the Latin American and Caribbean Center and International
Business Program as well as strengthen the leadership role in the Coalition for Excellence in Tropical
Biology (CETroB). The Center will also enhance the faculty’s ability to compete for the best graduate
students in Tropical Biology, both nationally and internationally.
At the heart of the program are 1) postdoctoral (new investigator) and graduate fellowships and 2)
a competitive grants and travel program for graduate students. The new investigator fellowship is a
competitive program to recruit Ph.D. investigators early in their careers to collaborate with departmental
faculty on aspects of Tropical Biology. The graduate fellowship program provides two kinds of fellowships:
1) Multi-year, full-time stipends and tuition waiver for outstanding Ph.D. students in Tropical Biology and
2) one-semester stipends and tuition waivers for tropical Ph.D. students in their last semester to facilitate
completion of their degrees. The Competitive Grants Program provides research and travel money to
students to conduct research on tropical and subtropical biology. One of these grants includes the Tropical
Field Expedition awards that provide funds for students to conduct research in the tropics. This competition
is probably unique for Tropical Biology Programs in the country and has been a major enhancement to the
graduate program. The TPB also supports the Biology Research Symposium, a formal meeting-style
symposium that allows all students in the Department to present their research results in a friendly setting.
The goal is to foster communication, understanding, and collaboration among all members of the
Department and is the forum for the Distinguis hed Tropical Biology lecture by an internationally renowned
tropical biologist. The TPB also supports FIU participation in the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS)
by supporting student tuition and travel expenses and FIU representatives travel to the annual board
meeting.
B.7. Programmatic Changes
The foregoing suggests a number of areas that are in need of expansion, renewal, and growth,
particularly in the biomedical sciences. The Department is poised to become stronger and more vibrant in
every sector.
X. A COST ESTIMATE: $3.9 M phased in over 5 years
The budget to implement the proposed investment in Biological Sciences over five years is
outlined below. The request is for 10 faculty lines, approximately 2 per year. Until current space limitations
were reached, this was the Department’s normal rate of hiring. Funding the Tropical Biology Program
should be restored. Infrastructure that will require both technical and non-technical personnel is necessary
to place the Department closer to benchmark institutions. Just over $1.9 M of the proposed budget
involves one-time costs; the remaining $2M is for personnel and will be recurring.
A. 11 Faculty lines: $1 M in salary and fringe
40
Chairperson
$191,250 ($150,000 + fringe)
(proposed salary in line with senior Full Professor/Eminent Scholar status)
Senior administrative assistant
$ 63,750 ($50,000 plus fringe)
TOTAL for Eminent Scholar Chair
$255,000
Ten 9-month lines =
$710,000 ($55,000 each plus fringe)
•
Evolutionary Biology
•
Neurobiology
•
Neural Regulation
•
Bacterial Symbiosis
•
Tropical Disease Pathology
•
Eukaryotic\Prokaryotic Molecular Genetics
•
Virology
•
Molecular Biomedicine and Immunology
•
Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology.
•
Marine Biologist (Biscayne Bay Campus)
Two instructors/course coordinators
$102,000 ($40,000 plus
fringe)
B. PIMS (in coordination with the plan above): $1.1M
Included in this calculation is the chair and administrative assistant listed above
PIMS Program Director $127,500 ($100,000 plus fringe)
(associate/full professor, 12-month position)
8 additional faculty lines calculated
$561,000
Other non-faculty positions
$188,500
•
Biochemistry (1)
•
Neurophysiology (1)
•
Neuroanatomist (1)
•
Cell Biology (2:histology/developmental)
•
Mammalian Physiology (2)
•
Behavioral biology (1)
•
Comparative Patholobiology (1)
Radiology adjunct and clinical skills adjuncts
$ 10,000 ($5k each)
Gross anatomy/embryology: (2 instructors)
$102,000 (@ $40,000 + fringe)
41
Secretary
$ 38,250 ($30,000 + fringe)
Diener (cadaver attendant) (1)
$ 38,250 ($30,000 + fringe)
C. Tropical Biology Program: $366,000/ year for five years= $1.8 M
The Tropical Biology Program has had an enormously positive influence on the Department. The
discontinuation of these funds will result in lost momentum, the ability to attract top-notch graduate
students, and, ultimately, a loss in graduate FTE’s. Funds to re-establish the Tropical Biology program are
not duplicated or addressed elsewhere in this budget request. The budget for establishing a Center of
Excellence includes a half-time director whose responsibilities will include acquisition of extramural funding
in addition to administration and an office manager. Other programmatic expenses are also listed:
Director (.5)
$ 50,000
Office Manager
$ 35,000
Investigator postdoctoral fellows
$100,000 ($33,333x 3)
Graduate program fellowships
$ 80,000 ($20,000 x 4)
Graduate research and travel program
$ 60,000
OTS participation (dues/courses/meetings)
$ 15,000
Distinguished speaker/symposium
$ 5,000
Advertising/promotion
$ 1,000
D. INFRASTRUCTURE: $1M
The request for infrastructure-staff funding is designed to bring the Department in line with peer
institutions. More importantly, these structural requests represent long standing needs, including essential
repairs and renovations, as well as increasing the ability to deal with the large number of students in Biology
and University core courses. These items are necessary for reaching equilibrium and are an essential
component of growth in OE, the Life Sciences building, and the Marine Biology Building.
D.1. OE Building Personnel
$121,000 (salary & fringe)
Graders for upper division (3 per semester as TA’s)
$45,000
AALAC animal care technician
$25,000
Stockroom (to prepare laboratory materials)
$25,000
D.2. Life Sciences Building Personnel
$185,000 (salary + fringe)
Secretarial (2)
$60,000 ($30,000 each)
Stock room (2)
$50,000 ($25,000 each)
Tissue culture technician
$35,000
D.3. Marine Biology Personnel (BBC)
$242,250 (salary & fringe)
Secretarial (1)
$30,000
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Stock room (2)
$50,000 ($25,000 each)
Instructor (Introduction to Marine Biology)
$40,000
Lab coordinator for above
$35,000
Seawater/technical position
$35,000
D.4. Renovations
$440,000
Animal Care Facility
$210,000
Aquarium room
$10,000
Emergency Power Outlets
$50,000
Cage washer facility
$170,000
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APPENDICES
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