Welcome!
The Department of Biological Sciences would
like to welcome two new faculty members, Dr. Elana Ehrlich and Dr. Peko
Tsuji, a new lecturer Ms. Mickey Dehn, and one new staff member, Ms.
Cindy Evans.
Dr. Ehrlich received her Doctor of Philosophy in molecular microbiology
and immunology from Johns Hopkins University
and her Bachelors of Science in biology from the University of
Massachusetts. Her research interests are focused on the
modulation of cellular pathways by viruses. Before joining the faculty
at Towson University, Dr. Ehrlich was an Adjunct
Professor at Stevenson University where she taught microbiology.
Dr. Tsuji received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in
biomedicine/molecular biology from the University of South
Carolina. She also holds Master‘s degrees in marine biology, public
health, and biology from the University of South
Carolina, Johns Hopkins University, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
University, respectively. Before joining the faculty
at Towson University, Dr. Tsuji was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cancer
Prevention Fellowship Program at the
NIH/National Cancer Institute. Dr. Tsuji‘s research interests include
cancer prevention using dietary components such as
the micronutrient selenium and plant polyphenols.
Ms. Dehn obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in biological sciences
from the University of Delaware and her Master‘s in
biology from Towson. Ms. Dehn‘s research focused on the physiology of
wood-eating catfish and she is teaching Anatomy
and Physiology here at Towson.
Ms. Evans is our new Administrative Assistant and began work in August.
Previously, Ms. Evans was employed by Perry
Hall Christian School.
Student Research
Two students from Megan May‘s labs made
presentations at a national meeting this summer:
A.V. Arjoon, M. May. The Use of Mycoplasmas as a Tool for the
Characterization of Novel Antimicrobials..
American Society for Microbiology 111th General Meeting May 2011, New
Orleans, LA.
N. Chaban, J.A. Jones, M. May. A Retrospective Analysis to Determine the
Global Disease and Economic
Burden of Sexually Acquired Mycoplasmosis.. American Society for
Microbiology 111th General Meeting May
2011, New Orleans, LA.
Teal Richards-Dimitire (Rich Seigel, major professor) presented a paper
at the Ecological Society meetings in Austin,
Texas entitled .Spatial ecology of Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys
geographica) in an altered river system..
Scott Farnsworth (Rich Seigel, major professor) presented a paper at the
Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile
Conservation meetings in Annapolis, Maryland entitled .On-Site and
Off-Site Translocations of Eastern Box Turtles: Lack
of Difference May Point to Ranavirus.
Grants and
Donations
Barry Margulies received word that his NIH
R15 grant proposal has been recommended for funding at the rate of
$300,000 over three years.
Rich Seigel received a grant for $87,080 for 2011-2013 from Exelon
Corporation for his project .Nesting and Basking
Ecology of Northern Map Turtles in the Susquehanna River: Impacts of
Human Disturbance and Effectiveness of
Mitigation Measures.
Publications
M. May, D.R. Brown. Diversity of Expressed
vlhA Adhesin Sequences and Intermediate Hemagglutination Phenotypes in
Mycoplasma synoviae. J Bacteriol. 2011; 193(9): 2116-21.
D.R. Brown, W.G. Farmerie, M. May, G.A. Benders, A.S. Durkin, K.
Hlavinka, J. Hostetler, J. Jackson, J. Johnson, R.H.
Miller, V. Paralanov, D. Radune, B. Szczypinski, J.I. Glass. Genome
Sequences of Mycoplasma alligatoris A21JP2T and
Mycoplasma crocodyli MP145T. J Bacteriol. 2011; 193(11): 2892-3.
M. May, D.R. Brown. Retrospective Survey for Sialidase Activity in
Mycoplasma pneumoniae Isolates from Cases of
Community-Acquired Pneumonia.. BMC Research Notes 2011, 4: 195.
Ford, N. B. and R. A. Seigel. 2011. Offspring Size Variation in Snakes.
Pp. 573-586 In: R. Aldridge and D. M. Sever
(eds), Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Snakes. CRC Press, Florida.
Presentations
Joel Snodgrass made an invited presentation
at the American Fisheries Society meetings in Seattle title, .Potential
Population Level Consequences of Network Structure for Headwater Fishes.
Susan E. Gresens, Elisabeth Stur and Torbjørn Ekrem. 2011. .Where to
draw the line? Phenotypic variation within the
Cricotopus sylvestris species group, across a nearctic-palaearctic
gradient.. Presented at the 18th International
Symposium on Chironomidae, Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, Trondheim, Norway, July 5.
Journal and Reviewing Activities
Joel Snodgrass reviewed manuscripts for
Environmental Pollution, Herpetologica, Science of the Total
Environment, and
Oecologia this past summer.
Sarah Haines wrote two book reviews on
children's science books for the National Science Teachers Association.
Sarah Haines reviewed a manuscript for the Journal of College Science
Teaching.
Community Outreach
Barry Margulies hosted a local math teacher
as part of the BEST project, an elementary science teacher as part of
the
FDRC project, and an undergraduate student as part of the Bridges
program.
Sarah Haines and Cindy Ghent conducted a workshop for early childhood
education students at Catoctin High School in
Frederick County. Students were trained in the use of the American
Forest Foundation's curriculum .Environmental
Experiences for Early Childhood..
Sarah Haines conducted an 8-day summer institute along with the
Baltimore Ecosystem Study for middle and high school
science teachers in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Topics covered
included carbon, water, biodiversity, and
environmental literacy.
Sarah Haines served as a volunteer naturalist at Assateague State Park
for two weeks in August. Dr. Haines presented
many opportunities for visitors to learn more about the wildlife living
on the island.
Other Activities
Barry Margulies and graduate student Ashley
Nelson attended the Annual Herpesvirus symposium at Pennsylvania State
University in June.
