Spring 2008: Chain Catsharks, Naturalist-in-Residence, Spotted Salamanders arrive Monarch Butterflies threatened by illegal logging in Mexico (again)
Dr. Morrissey has moved juvenile sharks and egg cases to Sweet Briar.  The adult sharks will arrive this summer.  Read more about the sharks.	Naturalist-in-Residence Michael Hayslett will work with Biology faculty and students on a variety of field projects, including salamander surveys, maintenance of research areas, and outreach events for the public in the college's natural areas.   The spotted salamanders trekked back to their breeding grounds right on schedule, on 4 March.	Professor Brower and colleagues have released evidence of extensive illegal logging in the monarch butterfly's winter home.  The 6 March press release on NASA's website has been picked up by The New York Times and Public Radio International.  More images are published on Journey North's website.

News of current students
Seven senior biology majors have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.  Front row: Lisa Ruffle, Rebecca Penny, Lisa Bethune, Anne Lojek.  Back row: Amanda Wisz, Laurel Sanders, Amanda Beller.
	Click here for more photographs
Lisa Ruffle has been admitted to optometry school.		Sara Rothamel is studying salamanders this spring, and will spend the summer working on the federally threatened piping plover at Chincoteague NWR.
This year four Biology students have been awarded grants from the college's Student Research and Creative Endeavors Program:  Amanda Beller and Lisa Ruffle conducted research on Thalictrum with Professor Steven, Amanda Wisz conducted research with Professor Davies, and Sara Rothamel received a grant for her salamander research with Professor Fink.  J. Waitt and Lara Slough have received Honors Summer Research Fellowships to conduct shark research with Professor Morrissey. Amanda Beller and Professor Steven have submitted partial sequences of the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene to GenBank, from Thalictrum macrostylum and T. pubescens.  These are our first submissions based on work using our LI-COR DNA analyzer. Rebecca Penny and Professor Steven have submitted a manuscript entitled "Sexual dimorphism in pollen grain size in cryptically dioecious Thalictrum macrostylum" to a botanical journal. Amanda Wisz and Lisa Bethune have been admitted to graduate programs, in cell biology and epidemiology. Laurel Sanders has been admitted to medical school.

Recent faculty and alumnae publications

Brower, L.P., L.S. Fink and P. Walford. 2006. Fueling the fall migration of the monarch butterfly.  Integrative and Comparative Biology 46 (6): 1123-1142.

Fink, L.S. and R.I. Vane-Wright. 2007.  Lincoln Brower's European tour.  Antenna 31 (4): 203-207.

Harris, PR, Wright, S, Serrano, C, Riera, F, Duarte, I, Torres, Javiera, Pena, A, Rollan, A, Viviani, P, Guiraldes, E, Schmitz, JM (SBC '03) , Lorenz RG, Novak, L, Smythies, LE, Smith, PD.2008. Helicobacter pylori gastritis in children is associated with a regulatory T Cell response. Gastroenterology 134: 491 - 499.

Morrissey, J.F. and J.L. Sumich. 2008. Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life, 9th Edition.  Jones and Bartlett Publishers.  ISBN-13: 9780763753696

Morson, J. and J.F. Morrissey. 2007. Variation in the morphology of the electric organ in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea, and its possible role in courtship.  Environmental Biology of Fishes 80 (2-3): 267-275.

Rodgers, L.S. (SBC '03), S. Lalani, R.B. Runyan, and T.D. Camenisch. 2007. Differential growth and multicellular villi direct proepicardial translocation to the developing mouse heart.  Developmental Dynamics 237 (1): 145-152.

Robeva, R.S., J. R. Kirkwood, R.L. Davies, L. Farhy, B.P. Kovatchev, M. Straume and M.L. Johnson. 2007. An Invitation to Biomathematics.  Academic Press. ISBN 978-0120887712.

Schmitz, J.M. (SBC '03), V.J. McCracken, R.A. Dimmitt and R.G. Lorenz. 2007. Expression of CXCL15 (Lungkine) in murine gastrointestinal, urogenital, and endocrine organs.  Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 55 (5): 515-524.

Slayback, D.A., L.P. Brower, M.I. Ramirez, and L.S. Fink. 2007. Establishing the presence and absence of overwintering colonies of the monarch butterfly in Mexico by the use of small aircraft.  American Entomologist 53 (1): 28-40.

Slayback, D.A. and L.P. Brower. 2007. Further aerial surveys confirm the extreme localization of overwintering monarch butterfly colonies in Mexico.  American Entomologist 53 (3): 146-149.

Steven, J.C., L.F. Delph, and E.D. Brodie III. 2007. Sexual dimorphism in the quantitative-genetic architecture of floral, leaf, and allocation traits in Silene latifolia.  Evolution 61 (1): 42-57.

The biology alumnae page reports on graduates' new jobs, graduate programs, and careers. New information was added in March 2008.

About the Biology Department

     We share a commitment to our students and the college, a fascination with the natural world, and enthusiasm for teaching and research.

•  We provide a comprehensive biology curriculum for students interested in research, education, conservation and the health professions.  A strong program is never static, and we have recently added courses in Marine Biology, Biomathematics, Insect Biology and Conservation Biology.  In addition to a Biology major, we offer a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major jointly with the Department of Chemistry.
•  Field biology is an important component of our curriculum.  We take advantage of our 3200 acre campus in Field Natural History, Plant Kingdom, Ecology, and Animal Behavior.
• Faculty research is supported through an institutional faculty grants program.  In addition, we have been successful in obtaining grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Jeffress Memorial Trust, LI-COR, the Virginia Academy of Sciences, and the Virginia Commonwealth Health Research Board. 
• Our state-of-the-art equipment has been obtained through NSF-ILI, CCLI and research grants, Jeffress Research Grants, and an endowment from the Kresge Foundation.
•  We encourage and support student research.  Biology majors gain research experience in lab courses before completing an optional semester of independent research. Research students participate in a colloquium and present their research at a departmental symposium. We continually increase our expectations for student research, and our students continually rise to the challenge.
•  We enjoy collaboration with one another, as well as with faculty in other departments.  Members of the Biology Department currently have joint research projects with a member of the Chemistry Department and with an Environmental Science colleague at a nearby institution; have written a biomathematics textbook with members of the Mathematics Department and colleagues at the University of Virginia School of Medicine; and have taught interdisciplinary courses with colleagues in Studio Art, Creative Writing, Math and Chemistry.