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BIOLOGY GENOME 1
GENOME ISSU
E 5 • FALL 2016
BIOLOGY GENOME 2
Welcome to the 2016‐17 academic year ‐‐ I hope
you had a relaxing and memorable summer,
and that your Fall term is off to a great start!
The Biology department had a busy summer,
with some important changes and new peo‐
ple to welcome. As you may already know,
Jason Podrabsky, our chair of several
years, has taken up the posi on of Asso‐
ciate Vice President of Research for PSU.
Way to go Jason, and don’t forget to write! I will serve as interim
chair in Jason’s absence (which he claims will last for 1 year). I’m
happy to do so, and look forward to working with all of our stu‐
dents, faculty, staff and alumni for the coming year.
The department welcomes a new faculty member to the fold ‐‐
Dr. Anne Thompson is a research assistant professor whose
research program focuses on marine microbes, specifically
photosynthe c cyanobacteria from the ge‐
nus Prochlorococcus. I also want to men on Dr. Annie Lind‐
gren’s recent change of tle to research assistant profes‐
sor. Many of you already know Annie from her marine
biology courses, and her research and management
work in the Center for Life in Extreme Environments.
Annie will con nue in these roles, while also develop‐
ing new informal STEM public outreach ini a ves for
the department. We have also recently begun a
search for a new biology tenure‐track faculty mem‐
ber, who will be part of a College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences ‘cluster hire’ (see h ps://
www.pdx.edu/clas/faculty‐job‐openings for de‐
tails). We are seeking a biologist who will focus
on cellular extremes, to complement our ex‐
is ng research exper se in the area of life in
extreme environments. This new hire will
also increase our teaching capacity in the
area of cell and molecular biology. Last
but not least, we welcome our 10 new
graduate students, evenly divided be‐
tween the PhD and Masters track. I
am looking forward to the year
ahead, and wish everyone a s mu‐
la ng and produc ve fall term!
From the Chair
BIOLOGY GENOME 3
D r. Natalie Wil‐son started her academic ca‐
reer at Portland State University a er re r‐ing as a professional dancer for the Oregon Ballet Theater. For as long as she could re‐member she wanted to be a doctor so a er re ring from dance she enrolled full me in the PSU Biology pro‐gram. Dr. Wilson grad‐uated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology. Her outstand‐ing achievements while a ending PSU included recogni on on the CLAS Dean’s and President’s lists as well as being named as the Outstanding Chemistry Student of the year.
When asked what Dr. Wilson found most rewarding about Portland State she explained that the PSU Biology pro‐gram gave her a strong founda on in science while providing her prac cal real world learning experiences. Dr. Wilson par cipated in several Portland State organized volunteer opportuni es in‐
cluding a student‐coordinated trip to provide medical care for rural communi es in Honduras. During her senior year at PSU, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Jason Podrabsky’s lab studying hypoxia tolerance in killifish embryos that was published this sum‐mer in the Journal of
Integra ve and Compara ve Biology.
When asked “why medicine?” Dr. Wilson said there were so many reasons. Her mother is a
prac cing pediatri‐cian and from an early age Dr. Wil‐son witnessed the reward gained
from working with and helping pa ents. Dr. Wilson explained she has always had an in‐nate curiosity about peo‐ple,
the human body, and how it works; “medicine chose me, and I couldn’t imagine any other pursuit.” With the a strong foun‐da on in science from her undergraduate educa on from Portland State, and the col‐labora ve connec ons between the PSU undergraduate programs and OHSU’s medi‐cal programs, Dr. Wilson applied and was accepted into medical school at Oregon Health and Sciences University where she was awarded her M.D. in 2015. Dr. Wilson is currently in the second year of her three year residency at University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. She hasn’t decided which subspe‐cialty fellowship to pursue but is most inter‐ested in Pediatric Cri cal Care, Pediatric En‐docrinology, or Pediatric Nephrology. She states, “while the educa on and training in medicine is a long journey, I feel very fortu‐nate that I’m able to do what I love.”
PSU Biology Graduate finishes Medical school at OHSU - In Residency
FROM DANCE TO DOCTOR
ALUMNI NIGHT 2016
“medicine chose me, and I couldn’t imagine any other pursuit.”
What: Biology Alumni Lecture, Poster Session and Celebra on. Keynote speaker: Dr. Paul Paquet
When: Friday, October 21, 2016 ‐ Seminar from 4:30‐6:00 p.m., Poster Session and Celebra on from 6:00‐8:30 p.m.
Where: Seminar ‐ Science Building 1 (SB1), room 107, 1025 SW Mill St., Poster Session and Celebra on ‐ Science, Research and Teaching Center (SRTC), 2nd floor lobby, 1719 SW 10th Ave.
Cost: Free and open to the public
Contact: Ken Stedman, [email protected],
503‐725‐3253
Raincoast Senior Scien st, Paul C.
Paquet, is best known for his ecological
and behavioral research on large carni‐
vores, especially regarding wolves and
bears. He is an interna onally recognized
authority on mammalian carnivores; in‐
cluding their ecology, behaviour, manage‐
ment, and welfare. He is currently an Ad‐
junct Professor at the University of Victoria
and holds academic appointments at nu‐
merous Canadian and U.S. universi es.
Paul conducts ecological and behavioral
research on large mammalian predators in
North America and Europe including
wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, cougars,
lynx, and killer whales. His research focuses on the interface between ecologi‐
cal theory and conserva on. He has spent more than 40 years covering subjects
ranging from the worldwide decline of large carnivores to the philosophical
rela onship of animal welfare and conserva on, publishing more than 200
scholarly ar cles and several books addressing issues of ecology, conserva on,
and environmental ethics.
BIOLOGY GENOME 4
T he few years around the turn of the century were, on the whole, pre y good. I spent millennium New Year in Bhutan, and managed to under‐
take a small collec on of mammals there. Not too many specimens: fourteen. But those represented nine different species, and five new records for the country. And it was just an effort undertaken during a Christmas family holiday. I was, at the me, in a temporary posi on at the University of Wisconsin, then returned to a longer term post‐doctoral posi on at the University of New Mexico that I had previously le , be‐fore eventually taking a posi on at the Cen‐ters of Disease Control and Preven on. However, while in New Mexico, I did re‐spond to an interes ng job adver sement: Portland State University was adver sing for a Field Biologist posi on.
Field Biologist. No… make that FIELD BIOLO‐GIST?! Are you kidding!? By then, I had had years of experience in the field, star ng as an undergraduate, then running off to Mexi‐co’s Yucatán Peninsula for two months dur‐ing the summer between my senior year and the start of my master’s degree. Anoth‐er s nt in Mexico and Bolivia the first sum‐mer of my master’s, another three months in Bolivia between my master’s and start of doctoral degree, more trips to Mexico and South America during my doctoral program. Then, an actual real job—albeit short term—at the Cincinna Museum of Natural
History, where I had the good fortune to be the leader of a crew undertaking a vertebrate survey of the Philippines. Three the people on that trip now have museum posi ons: at the Univer‐sity of Kansas, at the Denver Museum of Natural History, and at Portland State Uni‐versity. And then more trips: to Indonesia, to Africa, to Europe, to Central America…
Field Biolo‐gist… yum. I applied alt‐hough I had already tak‐en a posi on at the CDC: this was too good to pass up. But I had one more field trip al‐ready planned, in the Central Highlands of Sulawesi, homeland of the Toraja people, to try to find and catch some rare endemic rodents in order to fig‐ure out what the rela onships and biogeog‐raphy of the basal radia on of Old World rodents may have looked like. It was while I was there that, during a brief resupply trip to town, I found a cryp c email in my inbox, from Stan Hillman, then chair of the depart‐ment. Something along the lines of, “Hey, are you s ll interested in the field biology
posi on? We’d like to talk about it with you…”
Field Biologist. You bet I was s ll interested. And so in August of 2001, I rolled into Port‐land from Atlanta and began a posi on as a Field Biologist at Portland State, along with Michael Murphy, who also had been hired for that posi on, both of us trying to fill in the posi on vacated by Richard Forbes’ re‐rement, and working along with the in‐
comparable Debbie Duffield.
Half of the posi on was Curator of Mammals of PSU’s Muse‐um of Verte‐brate Biolo‐gy. When I arrived, the mammal collec on stood at around 2500 specimens. Largely as a
result of the research of my students, and to some extent my own, that collec on has now grown to over 5000 specimens (not coun ng the large collec on of marine mammals accumulated by Dr. Duffield dur‐ing the same period). For example, Dr. Lau‐rie Dizney, now a faculty member at Univer‐sity of Portland, carried out three years’ worth of field research locally that led to the recogni on of a strong posi ve link between
BIOLOGY GENOME 5
biodiversity, ecosystem health, and human health. Much of that work was specimens based. Similarly, Dr. Zac Harlow, who re‐cently received a Ph.D. from UCLA, worked out the strange gene cs of deer mice in Southern Oregon. More recently, Ph.D. stu‐dent James Dunn spent a year in the Bolivi‐an highlands examining pa erns of specia‐on and distribu on among the small mam‐
mal fauna there, and new Ph.D. student Malorri Hughes plans to also exam‐ine highland faunas in the Páramos (high eleva on al‐pine grasslands) of Costa Rica.
The underlying themes, or frame‐work, of all the re‐search described above is taxonomy, evolu on, and bio‐geography. We don’t try to find new species: that’s easy! Anyone can do that. What we do is look for incon‐gruous pa erns of distribu on and a empt to explain them. Many mes, those incongruous pa erns are due to in‐correct iden fica ons, and when we care‐fully look at the per nent specimens, we find that years of research have been based on superficial examina on of these speci‐
mens, leading to those incorrect taxonomic iden fica ons. We can and do rec fy those errors. Other mes, the incongruous pa erns are based on geographic peculiari‐es: was that animal caught somewhere in
the periphery of it’s known range, hence perhaps suspicious? Was the animal per‐haps an unusually high or low representa‐
ve of the natural eleva onal range for the species? Was it in one isolat‐ed valley system, instead of a system of interconnected valleys? All these situa ons can cause breaks in gene flow, thereby gene cally isola ng individuals from their nearby rela ves, and even‐tually leading to the forma on of new species. And then we move on to the puzzles: how did this happen? What are the poten al causes for this break? Is it climate change? Is it river
forma ons? Is it earthquakes causing land‐slides or other orogenic phenomena? Is it the same or a different species?
My own research into incongruous pa erns
of distribu on currently is centered on South American co ontails. The tradi onal wisdom there is that there is a single species distributed from the US – Mexico border south to Argen na, and from the Atlan c to the Pacific, ranging in eleva on from 0 to 5000 meters. That’s quite a spread! We calculated that such a distribu on would encompass some 1.09 107 Km2, an abso‐lutely enormous geographic range, and eco‐logically as unrealis c as unjus fiable (deserts to tropical rainforests, coastal man‐grove swamps to high eleva on alpine grasslands… really?). Using morphological and molecular data, that geographic range was restricted to about 600 Km2 by figuring out the taxonomic boundaries of some of the actual species that we found cons tuted the South American co ontail. Where there was one, we divided it into four, and are describing new species of co ontails from Brazil, Suriname, and Costa Rica.
BIOLOGY GENOME 6
L ike many scien sts before me, I first had that Aha! moment in the class‐room. It was there that I truly began
to appreciate the scien fic method and made the connec on between the known and the unknown. Since that me, I have become fascinated with con nuing in the path of sci‐en fic discovery and teach‐ing.
As a first genera on scien‐st, I recall the emo ons of
my early research explora‐on. I was, like so many
others, sincerely impres‐sionable by my mentors and their guidance to con‐nect me with the scien fic world. My professors re‐sponded posi vely to my eagerness to learn and provided me with research experience. I truly value the mentor‐ student rela onship and the impact it has on the pursuit of a young scien st.
My fascina on for embryology began the mo‐ment I first observed heart contrac ons in an embryo at my biology laboratory bench. I changed majors to Zoology and began reach‐ing for anything I could to learn about the subject as well as the career paths I could follow. I remember the feelings of doubt and fear when I realized my studies could con n‐ue well beyond an undergraduate degree. My family brought me reassurance and convinced me to follow my interests. I accepted that scien fic research was where my passion would lie and began my Master’s degree where I returned to what first appealed to me in science, the physiological development of the heart. Always planning ahead, I soon ex‐plored op ons of a doctorate program that would con nue my explora on of develop‐mental physiology. My doctorate so far has been undoubtedly influen al and has posi‐vely shaped my goals for scien fic research
and outreach.
My family and I are both proud of the work I am doing and the happiness it brings me. As I write the next chapter of my life, I plan to use
the exper se I gain in biology and return that scien fic knowledge to the community and inspire budding scien sts like I once was.
My current research explores the epigene c regula on of alterna ve developmental tra‐jectories in embryos of an annual killifish,
Austrofundulus limnaeus. An‐nual killifish embryos are ca‐pable of entering a pro‐grammed state metabolic dormancy termed diapause. Diapause is an adap ve phe‐notype that allows embryos to survive the unpredictable dry and rainy seasons in their temporary pond habitat of Venezuela. During the dry season, their ponds desiccate and popula ons persist as diapausing embryos encased
in the pond sediment. When water returns, development can con nue. Most interes ng‐ly, entry into diapause is one of two trajecto‐ries during the embryonic development of annual killifish. While a large propor on of embryos enter diapause as their normal mode of develop‐ment, others are capable of “escaping” and instead develop con nuously un l the pre‐hatching stage. Inhabi ng an unpre‐dictable environment, survival of the individu‐al as well as the popula on in a given pond is dependent on which phenotype an individual expresses. Recent studies suggest possible maternal provisioning during oogenesis or another form of epigene c programming are cri cal for regula on of developmental phe‐notype.
The expression of maternally packaged gene products such as messenger RNAs (mRNAs) ‐ rather than embryonic genes from the newly fused genome ‐ is known in many vertebrate species to direct the cellular func on in an early embryo. The regula on of gene expres‐sion is an especially important mechanism and depends largely on mRNA stability. More
recently, the importance of small noncoding RNAs (microRNAs) has been implicated in the regula on of mRNAs during embryonic development. Using high‐throughput RNA‐sequencing, I have generat‐ed gene expression profiles of mRNAs and microRNAs during embryonic development in A. limnaeus. My research so far demonstrates that maternally packaged mRNAs coordinate the cellular events that determine develop‐mental trajectory in embryos of A. limnaeus. In addi on, we have found the expression of specific environmentally‐responsive mi‐croRNAs during development can override maternal provisioning.
This hypothesis is novel and if supported would be the first example of epigene c regu‐la on of alterna ve phenotype in this species. This comprehensive dataset requires experi‐mental support to exhibit the effect these genes have on phenotype in vivo. I am pres‐ently execu ng these experiments now and plan to complete them by the end of this aca‐demic year. I aim to spend my final year pre‐paring my disserta on and publishing manu‐scripts. I will strive to document my findings so to best demonstrate my hard efforts throughout my project and enhance the im‐pact of my research.
As I approach the comple on of my doctorate degree, I am constantly surveying what op‐portuni es lay ahead of me. I aim to con nue
my path in academia where I can teach and conduct re‐search. In addi on to that, I hope to com‐
pliment my scien fic efforts with a commit‐ment to outreach and communica on. I have already gained a great deal of experience dur‐ing my me at Portland State. I have taught a variety of labs ranging from first year intro‐ductory biology courses as well as third and fourth year upper division classes. I have wri en lectures and designed curriculum with every class I have been a part of. Research in the field of molecular biology can be trialing in and of itself; even more difficult can be the ability to convey ideas and teach students. It is this par cularly difficult task that I truly enjoy and take pride in performing. Ul mate‐ly, I want to share that Aha! moment with the rest of my community and inspire curiosity in those around me.
“Ul mately, I want to share that Aha! moment with the rest of my community and inspire curiosity in those around me.”
AMIE LYNN T. ROMNEY, PhD CANDIDATE PODRABSKY LAB
BIOLOGY GENOME 7
Bartos Smith, S. , J. E. Mckay, M. T. Murphy, and D. A. Duffield. In press. Spa al pa erns of extra‐pair paternity for spo ed towhees (Pipilo maculatus) in urban parks. Journal of Avian Biology
Bryant, J., Wielebnowski, N., Gierhahn D., Bellem, A., Daniels, J., and T. Nieman. (2016). “Using Non‐invasive Fecal Hormone Monitor‐ing to Detect Reproduc ve Pa erns, Seasonal‐ity, and Pregnancy in Red River Hogs (Potamochoerus porcus).” Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, JZAR 4(1): 1‐8.
Casanova‐Katny, M. A. Torres‐Mellado, G. A., Eppley, S. M. 2016. Reproduc ve output of mosses under experimental warming on Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, mari me Ant‐arc ca. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural (online 13 September 2016)
Cruzan, M.B., B.G. Weinstein, M.R. Grasty, B.F. Kohrn, E.C. Hendrickson, T.M. Arredondo, P.G. Thompson. 2016. Small unmanned aerial vehi‐cles (micro‐UAVs, drones) in plant ecology. Ap‐plica ons in Plant Sciences (in press).
DeCaluwe, H.B., Wielebnowski, N., Howard, J.G., Pelican, K. M., and M.A. O nger (In Press). “Characteriza on of Mul ple Path‐ways Modula ng Aggression in the Male Cloud‐ed Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa).” Zoo Biology.
F. Sargunaraj , B. P. Kotler, J. R. St. Juliana, N. Wielebnowski, I. S. Khokhlova , K. E. Wynne‐Edwards , L. Koren. (In Press). “Stress as an adapta on: Does experimental cor sol sup‐plementa on affect preda on risk assessment in foraging gerbils?” Evolu onary Ecology Re‐search EER.
Gerhart JG, Moses AS, Raghavan R. 2016. A Francisella‐like endosymbiont in the Gulf Coast ck evolved from a mammalian pathogen. Sci
Rep.
G.S. Diemer and K.M. Stedman. Modeling Mi‐crovirus Capsid Protein Evolu on U lizing Meta‐genomic Sequence Data. (2016) Journal of Mo‐lecular Evolu on, 83(1), 38‐49 published online, 6 July, 2016. DOI 10.1007/s00239‐016‐9751‐y
Greco, Brian J., et al. "Elephant Management in North American Zoos: Environmental En‐richment, Feeding, Exercise, and Training." PLoS One 11.7 (2016): e0152490. Print.
Hand, S. C., Denlinger, D. L., Podrabsky, J. E., & Roy, R. "Mechanisms of animal diapause: recent developments from nematodes, crusta‐ceans, insects, and fish." American Journal of Physiology‐Regulatory, Integra ve and Com‐para ve Physiology310.11 (2016): R1193‐R1211.
Hayes, Marc P., Kyle S. Tidwell, David. J. Shepherdson, and Paul R. Yarnold. "Ontogene c change in flight ini a on dis‐tance for a crypsis‐dependant aqua c frog." Behavioral Ecology. (in review).
Holdgate, Ma hew R., et al. "Walking Behav‐ior of Zoo Elephants: Associa ons between Gps‐Measured Daily Walking Distances and Environmental Factors, Social Factors, and Welfare Indicators." PLoS One 11.7 (2016): e0150331. Print.
Holdgate, Ma hew R., et al. "Recumbence Behavior in Zoo Elephants: Determina on of Pa erns and Frequency of Recumbent Rest and Associated Environmental and Social Fac‐tors." PLoS One 11.7 (2016): e0153301. Print.
Jessica Hebert, Terry Morgan. Male Fetal Sex and Genotype Affect Metrial Triangle Angio‐genic and An angiogenic Factor Expression (2016). Placenta 45:92.
J Faber‐Hammond, KH Brown, “Anchored pseudo‐de novo assembly of human genomes iden fies extensive sequence varia on from unmapped sequence reads“, Human gene cs 135 (7), 727‐740
Kreth J, Giacaman RA, Raghavan R, Merri J. 2016. The Road Less Traveled – Defining mo‐lecular commensalism with Streptococcus sanguinis. Mol Oral Microbiol. doi: 10.1111/omi.12170.
Lindgren, Annie R., Bradley A. Buck‐ley, Sarah M. Eppley, Anna‐Louise Reysen‐bach, Kenneth M. Stedman, and Josiah T. Wagner. "Life on the Edge‐‐the Biology of Or‐ganisms Inhabi ng Extreme Environments: An Introduc on to the Symposium." Integra ve and Compara ve Biology (2016): 1‐7. Web.
Mayu Morita, Jessica Hebert, Terry Morgan. Developmental Programming of Sex Differ‐ences in Nephrogenesis Involves Proximal Tubule Oxida ve Stress in Murine Fetal Growth Restric on Model (2016). Placenta 45:103.
Podrabsky, Jason E., and Natalie E. Wilson. "Hypoxia and Anoxia Tolerance in the Annual Killifish Austrofundulus limnaeus." Integra ve and Compara ve Biology (2016): icw092.
Roeder, D. V., M. S. Husak, and M. T. Mur‐phy In press. “Frequency of extra‐pair paterni‐ty in Scissor‐tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus forfi‐catus) and other suboscines: are oscines and suboscines different?” Wilson Journal of Orni‐thology
Ross, Joseph A., Howe, Dana K., Coleman‐Hulbert, Anna, Denver, Dee R., Estes, Su‐zanne. “Paternal mitochondrial transmission in intra‐species Caenorhabdi s briggsae hy‐brids”, Molecular Biology and Evolu on.
Wagner, Josiah Tad, Florisela Herrejon Chavez, and Jason E. Podrabsky. "Mitochondrial DNA sequence and lack of response to anoxia in the annual killifish Aus‐trofundulus limnaeus." Fron ers in Physiolo‐gy 7 (2016): 379.
Warrier I, Walter MC, Frangoulidis D, Raghavan R, Hicks LD, Minnick MF. 2016. The intervening sequence of Coxiella burne i: characteriza on and evolu on. Front Cell In‐fect Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2016.00083.
BIOLOGY GENOME 8
Keith Garlid has moved to Los Angeles to take up a posi on as Consultant to the NIH HeartBD2K Center of Excellence, directed by Prof Peipei Ping. BD2K stands for Big Data to Knowledge. He will also work with Prof Ping and her PhD student, Anders Garlid (M.A., PSU) on the research he started at Portland State: The signal‐osome mechanism of signaling in the heart.
Lindsay Holden, PhD candidate in Dr. Kim Brown's lab, returned from a 10‐week s nt as a Science, Mathema cs, and Research for Transforma on intern with the Health Effects Research Program in the US Army Public Health Center's Toxicology Di‐rectorate at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. She was awarded a Student Travel Award from the American College of Toxicology (ACT) and will pre‐sent her work on cyp1a varia on within zebrafish at the ACT conference in Bal more, MD this Novem‐ber. Lindsay also had an abstract accepted for the American Society of Human Gene cs where she will present her work on novel genomic content in do‐mes c dog breeds in Vancouver, BC this October.
Biology Professor Ken Stedman and Ph.D. graduate Jim Laidler were awarded $225,000 from the NIH to transfer technology from the Stedman lab to StoneStable, Inc., a spin‐off company. They will use the funds to show that silica‐coa ng stabilizes influ‐enza vaccine.
Members of the Cruzan Lab a ended the Evolu on 2016 mee ng in Aus n, TX in mid June, and pre‐sented their work: M.S student Brendan Kohrn gave a poster en tled "CallHap: A Pipeline for Popula on‐Level Chloroplast DNA Analysis", Dr. Mitch Cruzan gave a talk en tled: "Plas d landscape genomics ‐ using whole‐genome chloroplast sequencing to es mate seed dispersal".
PSU Biology had great representa on at the 2016 Botanical Society of America Conference this year in Savannah Georgia. Graduate students from the Ballhorn Lab, Cruzan Lab, and Eppley Lab all a ended! Master’s student Monica Grasty talk (which create a lot of twi er buzz) was tled: "The effect of landscape features on fine‐scale seed dis‐persal in upland prairie plants”. PhD student ...
… Bre Younginger gave a talk tled “Temporal turnover of endophy c fungi in the temperate fern host Polys chum munitum.”M.S. Student Tina Schroyer presented a poster tled "How do inva‐sive plants move? The case of Brachypodium sylva ‐cum", and PhD student Ma hew Chmielewski gave a talk tled “Bryophytes on the Wing: First Evidence of Widespread Bryophyte Spore Vectoring on Bird Surfaces”
Dr. Luis Ruedas lead a field expedi on course into the the jungles of Borneo to introduce students to a broader understanding on issues of conserva on and climate change. The students in this course spent two weeks studying at the Danau Girang Field Centre on the Island of Borneo in Malaysia.
The Duffield lab was recipient of the Presco Award for "Response to marine mammal strandings by the Northern Oregon/Southern Washington Stranding Program (NOSWSP)". The Marine Mammal strand‐ing network responds to marine mammal strand‐ings from Tillamook, OR North through Long Beach, Washington. This program is part of a Na onal net‐work inves ga ng the causes of death of Marine Mammals along out coastlines.
Catherine Dayger, PhD Student in the Lu er‐schmidt Lab, has been selected as the Oregon Sea Grant Natural Resource Policy Fellow! During the next academic year, Cat will be working directly with the Natural Resource Policy Advisor at the Office of Governor Kate Brown. Cat will begin her fellowship in September.
Ma hew Holdgate, a PhD graduate from the Duffield lab did a major part of his graduate re‐search on the study of elephant welfare at the Ore‐gon Zoo. The Oregon Zoo has published his work along with many other researchers working on the study in PLoS One.
Dr. Mike Murphy was science adviser and field coordinator for a segment of an episode of Nature that aired on PBS last night! The series focused on life in the sky and was produced by PBS and the BBC. (The whole episode is great! but King Birds start at me 19:45)h p://www.pbs.org/video/2365791097/
PSU Biology grad students Catherine Dayger (PhD, Lu erschmidt Lab), Jessica Hebert (PhD, Morgan Lab), and Jess Millar (MS, Raghavan Lab) were awarded scholarships to a end the Pacific North‐west Women‐in‐Science Retreat at Camp McGruder in Rockaway Beach.
Dr. Masta was interviewed for a story on KATU about a na ve scorpion sigh ng in the gorge this weekend! h p://katu.com/news/local/watch‐where‐you‐step‐scorpions‐found‐in‐the‐gorge
The summer class of Herpetology had an excellent trip to Nevada and Southern Oregon last week. The course instructor was Herp vetran Dr. Ed DeGrauw and had TA support from PhD student Kyle Tidwell. The class finished their lab prac cal and final exams and packed to leave the next day to apply their newly learned knowledge and techniques in the field. A combina on of day me hikes and evening road running trips yielded great returns for the students wherein they iden fied among the desert plants, mammals, and birds; seven lizard species, four species of snakes, and the local toad. Focus was given to the herpetofauna, but students also discussed the natural history and geology of the region, successfully digging for fossils and the Ore‐gon state rock, the thunderegg.
Amie Romney, PhD candidate in the Podrabsky Lab presented her poster at Sigma Xi NW/SW + AAAS Pacific Division Annual Mee ng at the Univer‐sity of San Diego tled: Epigene c regula on of alterna ve developmental trajectories in an annual killifish. She was awarded first place in Cell and Molecular Biology, plus the President's Award.
Adrienne Godschalx PhD candidate in the Ballhorn Lab was featured in Provost Andrew’s recent blog. Check out her 3 minute thesis talk! h ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsJby9RfDFQ
Dr. Ken Stedman was featured in the August issue of the Portland Business Journal tled “PSU spinnoff looks to stop flu vaccine spoilage”. The ar cle discusses his spinoff company to develop a flu vaccine that is stable at room temperature!
BIOLOGY GENOME 9
LESTER NEWMAN BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT SEMINAR SERIES
PSU/OHSU KNIGHT CARDIOVASCULAR SEMINAR SERIES
SEP
29 TBA Presented by Dr. Anne Royer Willame e University
OCT
06 “Finding The Parasites Before They Find Us. Implementa on of the DAMA protocol.” Presented by Dr. Sco Gardner University of Nebraska ‐ Lincoln
OCT
13 “Evolu onary developmental biology: How the turtle forms its shell (an intro to evolu onary biology, using the turtle shell as an example)” Presented by Dr. Sco Gilbert Swathmore College
OCT
20 “How do we access animal welfare?” Presented by Dr. Jill Mellen, Disney Animal Kingdom‐Re red
OCT
27 “Explaining disparity: Diversifica on, Evolu‐onary mode and ecological limits”
Presented by Dr. Miriam Zelditch, University of Michigan
NOV
03 “Bacterial genome degenera on in the early stages of symbiosis” Presented by Dr. Colin Dale The University of Utah
NOV
10 “Harbor Porpoise Repopula on of Puget Sound” Presented by Dr. Sarah Courbis Smultea Sciences
NOV
17 TBA Presented by Dr. Daniel Voth, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
DEC
01 “High throughput biology with droplet based microfluidics” Presented by Dr. Adam Abate, University of California ‐ San Francisco
Join the PSU Biology Department for the 20th year of the Lester Newman Biology Department Seminar Series. PSU Biology faculty have invited expert scien sts from around the country to guest lecture on their latest works. This series is free and open to the public
12:00-1:00PM | SRTC 247
SEP
30 Blood, cells, and cardiovascular disease
Presented by Hagai Tavori & Joe Aslan
OCT
07 Hypertension
Presented by Elizabeth Le & Jim McCormick
OCT
14 Structure and func on of the heart & aorta
Presented by Jaishankar Raman & North Noelck
OCT
21 Congenital heart disease
Presented by Lauri Armsby & Luke Burchill
OCT
28 Cardiac development
Natasha Cha ergoon & Chris Ronai
NOV
04 Preven on of cardiovascular disease
Presented by Sergio Fazio & Michael Shapiro
NOV
11 Cardiac electrophysiology
Presented by Eric Stecker & Larisa Tereshchenko
NOV
18 Vascular biology
Presented Brian Davidson & Jonathan Nelson
DEC
02 Acute myocardial infarc on
Presented by Sanjiv Kaul
2:15-3:15PM | CLSB 1A001
PSU and OHSU are proud to introduce a new seminar se‐ries focusing on introductory talks about the basic physio‐logical principles of cardiovascular medicine and cu ng edge research at OHSU. This series is free and open to the public and may be taken for credit (BI 407, CRN 16356)
BIOLOGY GENOME 10
HOUSE
What's all the Buzz about?
22 October 2016, 1‐4 pm Science Research and Teaching Center 1719 SW 10th Ave Portland, OR 97201
You are invited to the Museum of Natural History Open House! Last fall’s Department of Biology Museum of Natural History Open House was a huge success, and par cipants clamored for more events. Therefore, we are mak‐ing this a regular periodic event. Come explore new interac ve exhibits de‐veloped by PSU students, featuring a diversity of organisms from our scien‐fic collec ons, plus glimpses into the research of our faculty. Open to eve‐
ryone, this free, family‐friendly special event is educa onal fun for all ages! The Department of Biology’s Museum of Natural History Open House Event will be held on the 2nd floor of SRTC in the lobby and in rooms 219 and 257.
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
BIOLOGY GENOME 11
D r. Lindgren came to
Portland five years ago
as the manager for the
Center for Life in Ex‐
treme Environments. When not
overseeing the day‐to‐day ac vi‐
es of the Center, Dr. Lindgren
trains and and mentors students,
coordinates outreach ac vi es
related to extremophiles, teaches Introduc‐
on to Marine Biology and Deep Sea Biology
and conducts independent research. Her
research focuses on systema cs and taxono‐
my of the molluscan class
Cephalopoda (squids, octo‐
puses and cu lefish). She
did not mean to be a ceph‐
alopod taxonomist when
she started her undergrad‐
uate degree; she was more
interested in Virology and
Immunology. However, a
mely Invertebrate Zoology
course and the promise of
fieldwork in the Mediterra‐
nean lured her into the
world of molluscs. As a master’s student
(New Mexico State) she published the first
combined morphology/mul ‐gene phyloge‐
ny of cephalopods, which only fueled a pas‐
sion and determina on to further under‐
stand these enigma c creatures. Subse‐
quent graduate (Ohio State) and postdoctor‐
al (UC Santa Barbara) projects included new
species descrip ons, collec on trips at sea
to preserve enigma c specimens, and using
phylogene cs in con‐
cert with morpholog‐
ical and environmen‐
tal data to under‐
stand how squids living in the open ocean
are related and iden fy poten al drivers of
evolu on.
Dr. Lindgren’s current research con nues to
build upon her previous work at several
different levels. With the help of undergrad‐
uate researchers, Dr. Lindgren uses molecu‐
lar and morphological approaches to iden fy
new species of squid, traces
biogeographic pa erns of
distribu on and works to
iden fy barriers to dispersal
in the open ocean. Dr. Lind‐
gren also uses phylotran‐
scriptomics and bioinfor‐
ma c tools to con nue to
improve our understanding
of how the major groups of
cephalopods are related.
Recently, she has become
more involved in under‐
standing how cephalopods will respond to
climate change, par cularly in areas where
oxygen minimum zones are expanding.
Cephalopods are one of the rare groups with
members that can live in oxygen‐limited/
absent waters for a prolonged period of
me; understanding the mechanisms behind
this process may shed light on how or if oth‐
er large predators will adjust.
Dr. Lindgren also works to increasing infor‐
mal STEM opportuni es for the public
through bringing visitors into CLEE and col‐
labora ng with the PSU Museum of Natural
History and OMSI. As an OMSI Communica‐
on Fellow, she regularly par cipates in
“Meet a Scien st” events and works to en‐
gage school aged children in STEM ac vi es.
In 2015, she helped to create a new course
for graduate and undergraduate students,
Museum Cura on and Outreach, which cul‐
minated in a group of new student‐led ex‐
hibits that were debuted at the first ever
Museum Open House (don’t miss the second
one on October 22nd, 2017!!).
In her expanded role as
Assistant Research Facul‐
ty, Dr. Lindgren is excited
to con nue to grow her
research program and the
visibility of CLEE, mentor
students and build collab‐
ora ons with faculty to
create new outreach ini ‐
a ves related to informal
STEM educa on.
Five Fun Facts about Cephalopods
Different species of cephalopod have been found in marine habitats from the Arc c, to hydrothermal vents, to the Antarc c and everywhere in between, even in waters with very low oxygen.
Cephalopods have 3 hearts, two to pump blood to the gills (where it becomes oxy‐genated) and one large central heart to pump the oxygenated blood from the gills to the body.
‘Octopuses’ is the plural form of octopus.
Cephalopods have blue blood because they use the copper‐containing protein hemocyanin to bind oxygen. Hemocyanin is much more efficient at transpor ng oxygen in cold water than our hemoglo‐bin, but only if the water is not too acidic.
Achieving a large size has happened sev‐eral mes in evolu onary history for cephalopods. The giant squid Archi‐teuthis dux and the colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltonii are not closely related. In fact, in both cases, their respec ve closest rela ves are un‐der a foot in total length. There are also several species of very large octopus, including the Giant Pacific Octopus Enter‐octopus dofleini) which can o en be seen by divers in waters off of Oregon, Wash‐ington and in the Puget Sound.
MEET DR. ANNIE LINDGREN
BIOLOGY GENOME 12
L auren Muñoz‐Tremblay, a first‐genera on university student and former foster youth, will graduate from PSU with degrees
in Biology and Psychology and pursue a career in medical prac ce and research. Lauren became involved with LSAMP shortly a er her arrival at PSU and has benefited from consistent support in the form of academic and career mentorship, leadership opportuni es, research placements and s pend support. Lauren’s leadership posi‐ons within LSAMP have included serving as coor‐
dinator for our STEM Public Outreach Community (SPOC), a group devoted to improving our com‐munity through STEM educa on and outreach. LSAMP connected Lauren with three different research posi ons in laboratories at Portland
State University and OHSU, experiences that al‐lowed her to build important technical skills while deepening her understanding of biological re‐search prac ce. Specifically, she inves gated the metabolic processes underpinning the resilience of invasive species, worked with children affected by ADHD and au sm spectrum disorders in a neu‐roimaging lab devoted to improving clinical diag‐noses, and studied the effects of nuclear genome muta ons on metabolism as a PSU Ronald E. McNair Scholar. Her career ambi ons have also been nurtured during an interac ve observership with a Legacy Emanuel Hospital internal medicine specialist and infec ous disease physician. Lauren contributes to crea ng a cycle of success for oth‐er underrepresented students in many ways in‐
cluding serving as a NIH BUILD EXITO peer mentor to non‐tradi onal students inter‐ested in scien fic and medical research careers.
Photo: Hillman (le ), Crawshaw (right) taken in 1995, prior to extensive aging.
The Biology Department would like to thank Emeritus Pro‐
fessors Stan Hillman and Larry Crawshaw for their generous support of the department through the
crea on and funding ($8000.00!!!) of the Hillman‐
Crawshaw Award in Vertebrate Physiology. The
purpose of this award is to recognize the highest level of academic achievement by an undergraduate Biology
major or Biology graduate student. The student’s field of
interest should be in the area of Vertebrate Physiology.
The criteria for this award is outstanding academic
performance in biology courses whose major focus is the
physiology of vertebrates (for undergraduates) or being
first author on a publica on resul ng from original re‐
search in the area of vertebrate physiology (for graduate
students). The selec on of the recipients of this award with begin with nomina ons from instructors
teaching courses in Vertebrate Physiology or graduate
advisors direc ng research in Vertebrate Physiology. Se‐
lec on made by a commi ee composed of the Vertebrate
Physiology Faculty. The award will be given in the form
of a $1000.00 cash dona on presented at either the an‐
nual Biology Alumni Night event or at the Spring Gradua‐
on Ceremony. The selected awardee will be expected to
be present at the ceremony.
BIOLOGY GENOME 13
Background ‐ The Louis Stokes Alliance for
Minority Par cipa on (LSAMP) is dedicated to enhancing the undergraduate experience for underrepresented students in Science, Technolo‐gy, Engineering, and Mathema cs (STEM). The program was named a er Louis Stokes, the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress. With par al funding through the Na onal Sci‐ence Founda on, 97 LSAMP alliances across the U.S. facilitate efforts by universi es and colleges to significantly increase the number of un‐derrepresented students gradua ng in STEM to diversity the workforce.
Comprehensive, Innova ve, Evidence‐based, Sustained Strategies ‐ LSAMP
has created a unique community that values excellence, persistence, and diversity. It empow‐ers LSAMP scholars to u lize cri cal resources, such as one‐on‐one tutoring and study groups, to improve learning in rigorous coursework. It mo‐vates and encourages LSAMP scholars and in‐
volves them in leadership ini a ves, community outreach, and professional networking. It pre‐pares and places select students in on– and off‐campus research opportuni es and internships where they can experience the variety and reali‐ty of STEM careers. Since its incep on at PSU in 2009, the LSAMP Program has placed over 100 LSAMP scholars in research labs at PSU, OHSU, Pacific Northwest Na onal Labs, Harvard, and MIT, and in internships such as Skanska Portland, Genentech, USGS, Bonneville Power Administra on, Port of Portland, Intel and Hewle Packard. These comprehensive, innova ve, evidence‐based, and sustained strategies have resulted in the gradua on of well‐prepared, highly qualified underrepresented students who are pursuing graduate educa on or STEM careers.
Collabora ve Rela onships ‐ LSAMP led
to the crea on of the Scholars for Success in STEM (S3) Bridge program, now housed within the Maseeh College of Engineering; LSAMP Pro‐gram success has been leveraged for two major ins tu onal awards: a Howard Hughes Medical Ins tute grant and a $24 million Na onal Ins ‐tutes of Health training grant – BUILD EXITO – to support diverse undergraduates pursing biobe‐havioral and biomedical research fields. PSU LSAMP has also strengthened its connec ons to neighboring Oregon Health and Sciences Univer‐sity, individual PSU STEM departments, PSU’s Offices of Advising and Career Services and Glob‐al Diversity and Inclusion, and with local STEM partners. LSAMP’s programming and ac vi es also provided a conceptual model for PSU’s new STEM Ins tute.
Partnership with Portland Community College ‐ LSAMP maintains a formal partner‐
ship with Portland Community College (PCC) to recruit and retain underrepresented students in
STEM prior to their transfer to PSU. Through visits to each of PCC’s 4 main campuses, the LSAMP Community College Liaison maintains contact with a district‐wide cohort of 24 stu‐dents. LSAMP PCC STEM students benefit from tutoring, networking, advocacy, and transfer support. They a end quarterly workshops, net‐working events, and STEM conferences; they par cipate in social events with their PSU LSAMP peers and many successful LSAMP alumni, and can become involved with leadership ini a ves and community outreach. LSAMP STEM Ambas‐sadors, successful transfers to PSU, work with the PCC cohort, act as mentors, and assist with program planning. Up to seven LSAMP PCC STEM students are selected annually for a Sum‐mer Undergrad‐uate Research Experience (SURE); the most recent SURE Scholars were placed in Bio‐chemistry, Phys‐ics, Physical Chemistry, or Biology labs.
Support for Diverse Students in STEM Numerous na onal reports chronicle the im‐portance of a diverse U.S. STEM workforce to our na onal health and economy. However, despite measureable gains, the number of underrepre‐sented minority (URM) graduates earning STEM degrees remains low. Cri cal factors impac ng URM success in STEM challenge even successful programs such as LSAMP. The President’s Coun‐cil of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) notes that “retaining more students in STEM majors is the lowest‐cost, fastest policy op on to providing the STEM professionals that the na on needs for economic and societal well‐being”.
URM STEM students face both financial and oth‐er barriers to higher educa on; without advoca‐cy, many are not able to succeed. Earning a STEM degree is demanding and challenging; it requires me, persistence, and dedica on. How‐ever, due to increasing costs for tui on, books, fees, and transporta on, most URM (and other)
STEM majors must work, and many have addi‐onal family responsibili es. The rigorous de‐
mands of coursework combined with employ‐ment pose formidable challenges. Further, stu‐dents are o en unable to afford local housing; instead, they live at home, enduring long com‐mutes that limit their ability to access campus resources. Without support, many talented URM students find these challenges insurmount‐able.
PSU Biology faculty and graduate students (e.g., the Biology Inves ga ons and Outreach, BIO, student group) have been among the strongest advocates and supporters of the program and its scholars, helping us to transform the lives of those we serve. THANK YOU!
SERVING UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS African American/Black; Hispanic American; Na ve American/Alaska Na ve; Hawai‐
ian/Pacific Islander SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY & PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
LOUIS STOKES MINORITY PARTICIPATION
Figure 1. URM STEM student enrollment at PSU has increased steadily during recent years, primarily as a result of greater numbers of La na(o) students declar‐ing STEM majors; however, recruitment (and reten on) of all URM groups into these programs remains low.
For More Informa on About LSAMP:
Portland State University LSAMP Cramer Hall, 345 Portland State University Phone: 503 725 2422 www.pdx.edu/lsamp
BIOLOGY GENOME 14
Originally from Ashland Oregon, Sarah Florig moved to Portland her freshman year of high school, shortly a er being diagnosed with leu‐kemia. She graduated top of her class and was one of 120 gradua ng Oregon seniors to be awarded the Ford Family Founda on Scholar‐ship. She was excepted into the Honors College at Portland State Uni‐versity and hasn’t looked back.
Now, in her third year at PSU, Sarah is studying Biology with a Chemis‐try minor. Her experiences as a cancer pa ent have been very informa‐ve in her academic and career choices. Currently a research assistant
for the Courcelle Lab here at PSU, she “couldn’t imagine her career without a combina on of working in the lab and seeing pa ents.” The research she currently is working on involves a drug used as a thera‐peu c agent for the same cancer she had.
A er her undergraduate studies, she intends to pursue an MD/PhD with a focus in immunology/oncology. Sarah is also ac vely involved in the university and community through organiza on such as the Jewish Student Union, Women in Science, OHSU, and Phi Delta Epsilon. In her free me, she loves to learn how to cook new foods, spend me with her cat, and play her guitar. She is currently learning how to speak Twi, a na ve Ghanaian language, in prepara on for her travel abroad to Accra, Ghana. Sarah was recently accepted into a program that will allow her to study there for the 2017‐2018 school year. During her me there she will be working in a lab that focuses on AIDS research
and traveling to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Photo by Aus n Fitzpatrick
The Portland State Biology Department is proud to announce that Dr. Daniel Ballhorn is the recipient of this year Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award.
The PSU Research Excellence Awards were established to recognize the importance to the mission of the University of crea ng and com‐munica ng knowledge. The purpose of the awards is to acknowledge faculty contribu ons to their field, originality of thought, and career produc vity. The Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award is for a ten‐ure‐track faculty member at the rank of assistant or associate professor and includes a $1500 honorarium. Each Spring nomina ons are solicited from the Dean of each college and selec on criteria is based on the im‐portance of the individual’s contribu on to their field, the originality of their work, the pa erns of the nominee’s research produc vity, involve‐ment with students in their research and the academic reputa on of the journals, publishing houses, exhibi ons and professional presenta ons in which the candidate’s work has appeared.
Dr. Ballhorn began his research program at PSU in the Fall of 2011 as a Chemical Ecologist and his research focuses inves ga ng the chemical and molecular interplay among organisms and their func onal role in trophic networks. Within this framework, Dr. Ballhorn focuses on plant‐herbivore and plant‐microbe interac ons. Herbivores in his studies range from insects and mollusks to mammals, whereas microbial plant‐associated organisms include both bacteria (rhizobia and pathogenic bacteria) and fungi (mycorrhizal fungi, pathogens and par cularly endo‐phytes). By including both ecological and applied scien fic approaches, Dr. Ballhorn’s research aims to iden fy the mechanis c basis for phe‐nomena observed in nature and also apply this knowledge for the bene‐fit of society.
Over the last 5 years at PSU Dr . Ballhorn has provided mentoring through direct research experience to 45 undergraduate students. He currently has three graduate students working in his lab and has over 24 publica ons. Dr. Ballhorn has had 7 grants funded totaling $569,600.00. When asked what it’s like to work in the Ballhorn lab his graduate stu‐dent Adrienne Godschalx said “Dan knows how to mo vate. He empow‐ered me to make research decisions in the field a er certain methods were not working. As I listed various experiments I could try, Dan gave me the freedom to test out my own cri cal thinking and problem solving as he said in one of my favorite emails I have ever received from him: “I recommend you try to not come home with nothing.”
BIOLOGY GENOME 15
I'm from Lubbock, Texas and a ended Angelo State Univer‐sity in San Angelo, Texas where I earned a B.S. in Ecology and Evolu onary Biology and an M.S. in Biology. My mas‐ter's thesis was on parasi c sinus roundworms found in skunks. My research interests include small mammals, ecology, conserva on and mammalian parasites.
My background is in biochemistry and human gene cs, B.S. from California State University, Stanislaus. I had the amazing opportunity to spend part of my undergraduate studies in Australia, studying stem cell ssue engineering. I also spent leisure me in Sweden soaking up the history of Linnaeus taxonomy and the applicable connec on to current evolu on models. Traveling is a love of mine and as such, I've witnessed an array of science‐teaching models across several disci‐plines in different con nents, which piqued my interest in best prac c‐es of pedagogy in biological educa on at PSU in Dr. Shortlidge's lab.
I am a transplant to the PNW from New Jersey, and recent‐ly graduated from The Evergreen State College. My re‐search interests include plant‐microbe interac ons and the resul ng ecosystem effects, especially with regard to in‐stream li er decomposi on and microbial community dynamics.
A born‐and‐bred Portland na ve, I have been at PSU as a student or employee for the past seven years and the last three of those were spent in Suzanne's lab. My interests are too varied to list, but I am especially par ial to me spent quietly in the forest and mountains. My research / profes‐sional interests include a whole lot of biology stuff and then some.
I graduated with a B.S. from UCLA in 2013 where I studied micro‐biology and molecular parasitology with the inten on of going to med school. I was diverted from that path when I discovered my passion for educa on while spending a few years working as a teaching assistant for upper‐division undergraduate research immersion courses. My goal is to be a biology educa on research‐er and teach undergraduate‐level biology as well as to be involved in a community to promote effec ve, evidence‐based teaching prac ces in undergraduate biology educa on.
I was born in Portland, OR, and received my undergradu‐ate degree in Biology from the University of Portland. Ul mately, I'd like to blend molecular, organismal, and ecological biology with social sciences and theories on intersec onality.
I was born in Medford, raised in Madras, went to Oregon State University for my B.S. in Microbiology at Corvallis, and have lived in Portland for the last five years; essen ally Born and raised in all over Oregon minus 2.5 years of ran‐domness in California. My research interests are in DNA damage repair mechanisms and their broad rela onship with cancer.
I'm a Portland girl, born and raised, and I just finished a micro/molecular biology degree at PSU. My research inter‐ests center around the microbial ecology of extremophiles ‐ specifically, how these microbes grow, interact, and thrive in environments so alien to our own. Outside of school, I love to hike with my husband, read way too many books, and play with our crazy ki en
I am from Portland Oregon, where I a ended Portland Community College before transferring to Portland State University to earn BS degrees in Biology, Psychology, and University Honors. My current research focus is on neuroendocrine pathways that use environmental cues to determine life‐stage transi ons, ie. between hiberna on and emergence, ma ng and feeding, or feeding and migra on, and I am primarily interested in how non‐chemical environmental factors affect development, par cularly brain development during gesta on.
I spent 6 years overseas (Japan and Italy) in the USAF serv‐ing as a muni ons inspector. I’m an Avid fisherman, salm‐on enthusiast, and a diehard LA Dodgers fan. I'm interest‐ed in neuroendocrinal mechanisms of stress and hiberna‐on in the red sided garter snake.
I currently reside in my hometown, McMinnville, Oregon. I earned my bachelors degree in plant biology here at Port‐land State University. My research interests include evolu‐onary ecology and plant physiology. My current research
pursuit involves inves ga ng clonal adapta on in Mimulus gu atus (Common Monkey Flower).
BIOLOGY GENOME 16
MAKE A DIFFERENCE ‐ WAYS TO GIVE
Department of Biology College of Liberal Arts & Sciences PO BOX 751 Portland, OR. 97207 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
If you would like to support the important ac‐vi es of the Department of Biology, please
donate to the PSU Founda on specifying the name of the account you wish to sup‐port. Alumni and friend dona ons have made a tremendous impact on our ability to serve our students, and we are very grateful for your generosity. Thank you!
h p://www.pdx.edu/biology/give‐biology
CONTACT US: Portland State University Department of Biology 1719 SW 10th Avenue Science Research & Teaching Center 246 Portland, OR. 97201 503‐725‐8757 [email protected] www.pdx.edu/biology facebook.com/BiologyPDX1 Editor: Ian Garre