new semester

Happy First Full Week of the New Semester! I'm becoming increasingly excited about what this spring will hold for my students. In Evolution (BL 4800), we are embarking on a Service Learning project that ties grid-computing (using networks of PCs/Macs to search for disease cures and to predict global climate change) to serving the global community (see links to projects below). There is a website describing such grid-computing projects, and anyone with access to a computer or even a PS3 can sign up to help. We also just finished watching and discussing a great documentary entitled Flock of Dodos, which presents the Evolution/Intelligent Design "controversy." It's worth seeing if you haven't already.

In my Human Anatomy & Physiology course (BL 2930) we are now using i>clickers, which are interactive tools that allow students to "buzz in" with answers to quiz questions presented during class. The questions are then followed by discussions and any follow-up questions students might generate.

We are only a few days into the semester but it has already been a lot of fun for me, and hopefully for my students as well!

Classes

Happy 2008!!! As I prepare for spring courses I thought it might be of interest for me to indicate which classes I teach here at Rockhurst. During the fall semesters I am primarily preoccupied with Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy lab (this is an awesome course and involves extensive disseciton) but also teach an issues based non-majors class (Biology of the Contemporary Scene) and my Independent Study Research course; and, starting next fall, I will team teach our capstone course, Advanced Principles, with Dr. Mary Haskins. In spring I will be teaching Evolution, Human Anatomy & Physiology I, Cell Basis for Human A&P, and Biology Field Trip (team taught with Dr. Chad Scholes). And, of course, my research students and I will be continuing our rattlesnake project once the snakes emerge from their den in April/May.

GO CHIEFS!

One of the greatest things about living in Kansas City is having the opportunity to attend professional sporting events like Chiefs, Royals, and Wizards games. On Sunday Aric and I took the bus to the Chiefs/Chargers game; and, since I'm from SE Texas and not yet acclimated, I thought I might in fact freeze to death in the upper deck of Arrowhead Stadium. The wind was howling up there and I really had no communication at all with my fingers (making it impossible to eat my peanuts), but the view was absolutely spectacular. At half time Aric bought me a fleece Chiefs blanket at the Fan Stand, permitting me to survive the remainder of the game (which the Chiefs unfortunately lost). The experience was awesome and made me feel like a true Kansas Citian.

Last Week/Field Trip

I cannot believe that this is the last week of classes! I just gave one of my last Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy lab practicals and had to say good-bye to my students (at least until January). Finals are next week but labs end this Friday. We will also be meeting with the Freshmen in Science seminar for the last time this Thursday, during which time Dr. Scholes and I will be discussing the Biology Field Trip course that we team-teach in the spring. Last year we took our field trip students to Nicaragua for 11 days in late May (see pictures above). It was an invaluable experience, not only with respect to learning biology but also as an opportunity to immerse ourselves in another culture and to perform community service. Next spring we are planning to make a trip to the desert southwest to do a little desert field biology and see the country. Biology Field Trip is, in my opinion, one of the most beneficial courses we offer, as experiencing biology is the best way to learn it.

TV spot

Just a quick note...

If you'd like to know more about our rattlesnake study, it was on Fox 4 News at 9 the other night.

Today is our annual FISS (Freshmen in Science Seminar) pizza party. FIS is a course required of all freshmen science students and is designed to (to quote the Biology Department website) "increase students' success in the sciences. Some activities are designed to help students become familiar with the faculty and each other; others instruct the student in practical subjects such as course selection, studying science and time management." We also feed the students twice during the fall (once in the form of a spaghetti dinner and the second, the pizza party). Today, while having pizza, students will reflect on their major/career options after having attended presentations by local professionals in numerous fields over the past few weeks. FIS is a great way for students to learn about the university and to get to know their fellow freshmen as well as most of the science faculty. I believe it to be one of the many benefits of Rockhurst, as it better prepares students to survive their first year in college.

On a side note, so that I can include a picture of something cute and fuzzy, this week my research students and I are again trapping mammals at our study site in order to assess the prey diversity for our snakes. This morning we caught 14 rodents, one of which was a prairie vole (Microtus orchogaster). It was pretty exciting for us, since these guys don't occur where I'm from and my students had never seen one before.

Bees and Snakes

First, I would like to draw your attention to the bee story on the ScienceNow link below. I don't know if anyone else has been keeping up with this, but the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) among beehives is incredibly alarming. And I say this not only because this little-known disorder is decreasing biodiversity by systematically wiping out bees, but also because bees pollinate more than one-third of the food we eat. What that means is that if this continues, whether it be from pesticides, viruses, or poor nutrition, bees (and many of our crops) will be lost by the middle of this century. Though we don't always realize it, all organisms are interconnected and interdependent and the loss of one can have cascading effects on vast numbers of others; and humans are no exception.

That then brings me to our research project (the conservation of timber rattlesnakes). This is a species that is also on the decline, like so many others, due to human development and negligence. It is an important predator, a critical component of the ecosystem, and an indicator of the few wild places that are left in the country. This weekend, my research students and I attended the Kansas Herpetological Society meeting, where Sean described this project to a room full of herpetologists (i.e. those people who study amphibians and reptiles). Though these people understood the implications of this research, many people are unaware of the value and significance of these amazing animals.