Student Research
Martin, Timothy L., Beattie, Katelyn, F., and
Shields, Vonnie D.C. “Alkaloids as feeding deterrents for gypsy moth
larvae,
Lymantria dispar (L.): a neurophysiological analysis of gustatory neuron
sensitivity.” 49th Annual Phytochemical Society of
North America Meeting and Symposia: Biologically Active Phytochemicals.
Towson University, Towson, MD, August 8-12. p. 47.
Shields, Vonnie D.C., Martin, Timothy L., Beattie, Katelyn, F., Arnold,
Nicole, S. and Smith, Kristen, P. “The effects of
alkaloids on the feeding behavior and neurophysiology of insects.” 49th
Annual Phytochemical Society of North America
Meeting and Symposia: Biologically Active Phytochemicals. Towson
University, Towson, MD, August 8-12, pp. 14-15.
Dr. Barry Margulies and his students presented the following papers at
the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Society
for Virology. Vancouver, BC:
McGusty, S.O., Semenkow, S.L., and B.J. Margulies. “MED-4750 v. MED-4050
Silicone Polymers for the
Controlled Release Delivery of Acyclovir for the Long Term Suppression
of Herpes Simplex Virus Infection.”
Semenkow, S.L., Maggs, D., and B.J. Margulies. “A Veterinary Use for
Subcutaneous Silicone Implants for Long-
Term Treatment of FHV-1 with Penciclovir.”
Sonzone, C.M., and B.J. Margulies. “An Easily Implemented Quantitative
Assay for Acyclovir via Phage Display.”
Grants
John Lapolla and Roland Roberts were
awarded $273,214 by the National Science Foundation for the proposal
“Improvements to the Botanical and Entomological Collections at the
Towson University Biodiversity Center.”
Congratulations to John and Roland for their success!
Joy Watts (P.I.), Jay Nelson, and Dr. Harold Schreier (Center of Marine
Biotechnology) received a $312,000 National
Science Foundation award, to investigate the microbial community
associated with wood degradation in Panaque
nigrolineatus. This award allows the examination of cellulose
degradation and potential nitrogen fixation pathways active
within the microbial communities located within the gastrointestinal
tract of the fish. Congratulations to Joy and Jay for
their long-awaited success!
Publications
Bulmer, Mark S., I. Bachelet, R.
Raman, R.B. Rosengaus and R. Sasisekharan. (2009) “Targeting an
antimicrobial
effector function in insect immunity as a pest control strategy.” Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 12652-12657.
Congratulations to Mark for an especially prestigious publication!
Sarah Haines had five book reviews published on the National Science
Teachers Association website “NSTA
Recommends.” The following titles appear on the site: “Green Planet: How
Plants Keep the Earth Alive,” “Teaching
Green: The High School Years,” “Bears: A Year in the Life,” “Changing
Materials: Changing Shape,” and “Changing
Materials: Cooling.”
Mullin, S. J. and R. A. Seigel (eds). 2009. “Snakes: Ecology and
Conservation.” Comstock Publishing Company, Ithaca,
NY. 365 pp.
Seigel, R. A. and S. J. Mullin. 2009. “Snake conservation, present and
future.” In S. J. Mullin and R. A. Seigel (eds.), “Snakes:
Ecology and Conservation,” pp. 281-290. Comstock Publishing, Ithaca.
Presentations
Harald Beck coauthored a talk entitled: “Range wide
decline in the conservation status of white-lipped peccary and
lowland tapir: Implications for ecosystem functions in Latin America.”
Presented at the 23rd Society for Conservation
Biology and the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences
held in Beijing, China, July 11-16.
Harald Beck co-organized two symposia entitled: “Old World pigs and New
World peccaries – conservation statues,
management and health” and “Living in a defaunated World: The role of
large mammals in key ecological processes.”
Held at the 10th International Mammalogical Congress, August 9-14,
Mendoza, Argentina.
Brian Fath gave an invited presentation titled “Exploring Ecological
Complexity for the occasion of Robert Ulanowicz’
retirement.” Chesapeake Biological Lab, Solomons, Maryland. April 16.
Brian Fath gave an invited presentation titled “Interfaces of Integrated
Modelling: Improving Socio-Economic-
Environmental Models to protect ecosystem services at the International
Conference on Modelling Ecosystem Services.”
Lecce, Italy, May 26-29.
Susan Gresens attended the XVIIth International
Symposium on Chironomidae at Nankai University, Tianjin, China,
where she gave a presentation entitled “Response of Chironomidae to
multiple gradients of urban impact.”
Sarah Haines presented an invited seminar at the Cary Institute for
Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York. The title of
the seminar was “Incorporating Service Learning & Civic Engagement into
College Science Courses: How & Why.”
Barry Margulies – “Teaching Bachelor’s- and Master’s-Level Virology via
Hybrid In-Person/Online Delivery.” 28th Annual
Meeting of the American Society for Virology. Vancouver, BC.
Vonnie Shields was an invited symposium speaker at the 49th Annual
Phytochemical Society of North America Meeting
and Symposia: Biologically Active Phytochemicals, held at Towson
University, Towson, MD, August 8-12.
Journal and Reviewing Activities
Harald Beck reviewed one manuscript for Biotropica
and one for the Journal of Tropical Ecology.
Sarah Haines reviewed a manuscript for the Journal of College Science
Teaching.
Sarah Haines reviewed a manuscript for the journal, The Science Teacher.
Vonnie Shields acted as an external consultant for the “Learning Outcome
Assessment Project” for CCBC, Catonsville, MD.
Vonnie Shields reviewed a manuscript for the journal, Annals of the
Entomological Society of America.
Workshops and Workshop Presentations
Sarah Haines conducted a workshop on forest ecology
and forest issues for high school AP biology teachers at Goucher
College.
Other Activities
Sarah Haines attended a curriculum writing workshop
at the Delaware Estuarine Reserve. The participants contributed to
revisions to the Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey “Green Eggs & Sand”
middle and high school curriculum, which
covers horseshoe crab and shorebird biology.
Brian Fath was a visiting research scholar at the International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria
from June 1 – August 21, 2009. During that time, he supervised the
research of two Ph.D. students: Vasilis Dakos from
Wageningen University (Netherlands) on a project titled: “Early warning
signals for transitions in the dynamics of
ecological networks” and Min Hong from the Chinese Academy of Sciences
on a project titled: “Measurement of spatial
land use dynamics based on compact city theory.”
Brian Fath was featured in the March 2009 issue of Elsevier’s newsletter
Research Trends regarding use of bibliometrics
in managing journal activities: http://www.info.scopus.com/researchtrends/archive/RT10/exp_op_10.html.
