Australia!

I am between trips right now and HAD to post this group photo of our Biology Field Trip class in the Blue Mountains of southeast Australia. We are standing (well, Dr. Scholes is lying) before a vast eucalyptus forest, and it is the volatility of the oils in the leaves of these trees that give the mountains their blue appearance. The mountains are just outside Sydney, where we spent four days before heading to Cairns and then Fiji. More pictures to come of these latter two exotic destinations!

First Fridays

On Friday night, Dr. Chris Wills (center), her boyfriend, Mike, Dr. Tina Baceski (not pictured) and I went to First Fridays in the Crossroads Arts District of downtown KC. This is a celebration of local art during which the Crossroads galleries and studios stay open late on the first Friday of each month. We took our AJCU Honors Conference guests there on the First Friday of April to share this uniquely-KC event with them and they were quite impressed with and enamored of Kansas City culture. This past Friday also marked the first Food Truck Friday, and this picture was taken by a Kansas City Star Community Faces photographer next to the "3 Girls Cupcakes" food truck. It was a fun night and I would encourage anyone in town on June 3rd to head out to the Crossroads!

Upcoming week

Well, I just finished giving my first final of the semester (Evolution), and on Monday my Anatomy & Physiology students will take their last A&P I exam. Tomorrow, many of our faculty and staff (myself included) will be at the Kansas City Pre-Registration event, where we meet with our incoming freshmen students from the area and get them set up with everything they'll need for the fall semester. Last week we had a similar event in St. Louis, and I really appreciate having the opportunity to meet and talk with our freshmen before they even begin their tenure as college students.
After all the grading is finished next week, it will be time for graduation, followed almost immediately by our Biology Field Trip. This year, Dr. Chad Scholes and I and 12 students are off to Australia and Fiji! So we are all gearing up for our trip and trying to prepare ourselves for some biology abroad. We cannot wait, and I'm sure you'll be hearing much more about it upon our return!

Finally, a few pics from the AJCU Honors Conference

As promised, I am finally posting some pictures from the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Honors Conference we hosted at Rockhurst during the first weekend of April. The top picture shows our Advising in Honors Panel (L to R: Dr. Bill Sturgill (RU), Rob Hamilton (RU), and Dr. David Sorensen (St. Joseph's University)), and the bottom pic is of the group at lunch in the Massman Gallery (front table: Jazz Giacchetti (Santa Clara University), Dr. Bill Sturgill (RU) and Madiha Aslam (RU)).

Since Belize

A lot has happened since returning from Belize! This past weekend my colleagues and I hosted the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Honors Conference at Rockhurst. I am still recovering and have yet to upload the pictures, so more about that later. But a few weeks ago I was invited to help kindergarten-age Girl Scouts earn a badge centered around animal appreciation, so Monty (my ball python, pictured) and I were thrilled to spend the morning with them. We also had a successful Honors Program Student Induction the following day, where first-year Honors students were officially welcomed into the program over brunch with their families and Honors faculty. Dr. Jason Arthur gave an intriguing and thought-provoking keynote speech, and the Honors Student Association President, Ms. Kaela Severa, emceed the event.
And on top of everything, our Festival of Student Achievement is this week, so our entire campus community will have the chance to see firsthand the products of student research and creative efforts at poster sessions (all week on the first floor of the Science Center), and performances and an art opening at the Greenlease Gallery Friday evening.
Also, it's Royals season!!! I had the pleasure of watching some of the home opener and hope to go to several games this year. It's an exciting time!

Had to add a few more Belize pic's

The first is of the entire work crew in Dolores; and the second is of Israel and Milton, two of our favorite kiddos.

Belize service trip

Over spring break last week, Dr. Pete Bicak and I accompanied a group of 10 outstanding RU students to southern Belize for a service trip. While there, we met some kind and fascinating people, including villagers in the Mayan communities of Dolores and Laguna, as well as our wonderful and welcoming hosts in Punta Gorda and Belize City. Our work chiefly involved helping the villagers finish building the Catholic church in Dolores, construction of which began in January of 2010. We also served as volunteers and even substitute teachers in the village's school, where we became very close to many of the Mayan children. We also had the good fortune of meeting Vicente, who took us on a guided jungle walk and a tour of Laguna, where we got to meet Kevin (above - so cute!) and share a meal with him and his family. We even got the chance to visit and learn about the Lubaantun Mayan ruins (pictured). The twelve of us worked incredibly well together and it was such a pleasure to spend a week with these amazing people. The work was difficult, but leaving Belize and leaving one another was even harder. It's been a challenge to reintegrate since we've been back, and I find myself really missing our group and the people we met.