Darwin's Birthday Celebration!!!

Yesterday, the Biology Department threw a huge bash to celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. In preparation, students from Evolution, Genetics, Invertebrate Zoology, General Biology II and two sections of our non-majors Biology course created informative posters, amazing works of art, a beautiful banner and even dishes made from Mrs. Charles Darwin's cookbook! (The above students are posing next to their fantastic projects.) We had t-shirts made using artwork contributed by J.Q. Sirls, an incredibly creative non-majors student from last semester. The Biology faculty also brought Dodo Dogs, Vestigial Veggies, Cambrian Explosion Candy, Cretaceous Cookies, Finch Fritos, Coprolite Cheese Puffs, Galapagos Grapes and Primordial Punch in honor of Darwin and evolution. We had visitors from across campus who came to admire our students' work. We are so proud of them and of how successful this day turned out to be!

Reptile becomes a dad at 111 years old!

This BBC news story focuses on my favorite reptile, the endangered tuatara. Their reproductive cycle, which is hinted at just in the title of this piece, at least partly explains why they are endangered - some of them aren't reproductive until they're centenarians! There are also other aspects of their biology (reproductive and otherwise), as well as habitat destruction by humans, that have collectively resulted in the threatened status of this group. This status is an absolute shame because they are some of the most primitive and intriguing (and, in my opinion, beautiful) animals in the world.

This week

This week is full of moving events and milestones. Not only did we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., yesterday, but today we swore in a new American President! And on a more local note, we start classes here at Rockhurst tomorrow, which is also pretty exciting. Though not nearly as historically important, earlier this week we were thrilled to set up an aquarium in the biology office suite (Science Center 220) that now houses our bichir. Bichirs (pictured) are primitive fish of the genus Polypterus, which, for obvious reasons, means "many fins." They are from the Congo of Africa and are very unique and endearing fish. He is incredibly active (he's been known to jump out of his previous aquarium - but he was okay because he has a LUNG in addition to his gills!) and can "walk" on the rocks in the bottom of his aquarium using his strong pectoral fins, and even swim backward. He is really cool, and I hope lots of people come by to see him now that he's on display!

Happy 2009!

It's the new year and I am starting to get excited about the coming semester. I will be teaching Evolution, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Cell Basis for A&P, Advanced Principles of Biology, and Biology Field Trip. I LOVE each of these courses, and am especially looking forward to our return trip to Nicaragua in May with the Field Trip class. In Evolution, we'll once again be conducting our service learning projects (please see the links below for last year's), which I am eager to begin. This year we will also be creating art and informational displays for our Darwin Day celebration (Darwin's 200th birthday on February 12th). I will post more info on that when the time draws nearer.

Until the start of the semester, I'll be working on finalizing and submitting a manuscript about the timber rattlesnake project. I'll keep everyone apprised!

So happy new year, and I look forward to seeing everyone on the 21st!

New Species Discovered

A student sent me a link to an article discussing the recent species discoveries made in the Mekong. One of them is the Laotian rock rat pictured here, which I blogged about when it was first discovered. Again, it's nice (but unfortunately rare) to hear some positive news concerning biodiversity.

KC Wildlands Award

The week before Thanksgiving break, the Biology Department received the KC Wildlands Environmental Excellence Award (that's Chad Scholes and I gratefully receiving the award)! KC Wildlands is an affiliate of Bridging the Gap, a valuable local organization that seeks to promote environmental sustainability. KC Wildlands helps achieve that goal by working to restore and maintain the remnant native ecosystems in the KC area. In fact, this weekend KC Wildlands will be hosting a Cedar Tree Event at Shawnee Mission Park where you can cut down your own Cedar Christmas tree and take it home for a small donation. It's a lot of fun to volunteer at this event, and/or to come pick out and chop down your own tree.

KHS

This past weekend, one of my phenomenal research students, Rebecca Benjamin, and I attended the Kansas Herp Society Meeting in Wichita, KS. These meetings are a great forum for talking and learning about the latest amphibian & reptile research, as well as a place to meet others who share our interests. I presented our rattlesnake research and had the opportunity to listen to some really interesting and informative talks about herps. We also got to experience a little of the Wichita nightlife at the KHS Social in Old Town, which was a lot of fun. Probably the best thing about these meetings, though, is that my students get to become part of and contribute to the scientific community.