ESU Students Presented Biology Research at the 89th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science

Posted by: admin on April 15, 2013, No Comments

Students majoring in biology from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) presented their research with their biological sciences faculty mentors during the 89th annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science (PAS) from April 5 to 7 at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, Pa. The PAS was founded in 1924 to foster an environment for the advancement of science and technology in the commonwealth. The annual meeting provides a venue for faculty and students from throughout the commonwealth to meet and present their research. At the meeting, ESU students presented research in the areas of ornithology, herpetology, parasitology, microbiology, immunology, population genetics, and mammalogy.

“When students carry out their own research, they have a chance to put into use what they’ve learned in the classroom and really make it their own. In this way, it can be the highest form of learning,” says Howard Whidden, Ph.D., professor of biology at ESU.

Dr. Whidden’s graduate students, Christopher Hauer from Womelsdorf, Pa., and Elizabeth McGovern of Quakertown, Pa., reported on their work monitoring summer bat activity and maternity colonies in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Alex Shupinski a junior from Telford, Pa., presented her research, an assessment of skeletal injuries in bats killed at an eastern Pennsylvania wind farm. Whidden was the ecology session chair.

Two graduate students working with Terry Master, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences, reported on their research. Jennifer Kutch from Allentown, Pa., presented her work on habitat preference of the hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina) within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Katie Barnes from Canonsburg, Pa., presented her research on using Louisiana water thrush metrics to compare productivity of two hemlock dominated habitats.

Graduate student Cate Flannley presented on the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in New Jersey Black Bears (Ursus americanus), a project she completed under the mentorship of Abdalla Aldras, Sc.D., associate professor of biological sciences. Cate is from Hellertown, Pa.

Working with Jane Huffman, Ph.D., distinguished professor of biological sciences, graduate student Larry Laubach, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., presented on the occurrence of intraerythrocytic parasites in Chrysemys picta, Chelydra serpentina, Sternotherus odoratus, and Trachemys scripta within Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Thomas Rounsville Jr. also of East Stroudsburg, Pa., presented on landscape genetics of coyotes (Canis latrans) of the eastern United States.

Attending the meeting were graduate students Meagan Napoli of Stroudsburg, Pa., Shawqui Darwish of Newfoundland, Pa., Meaghan Butler of Easton, Pa., and ESU Department of Biological Science faculty members Thomas LaDuke, Ph.D., Maria Kitchens-Kintz, Ph.D., Matthew Wallace, Ph.D., and Jennifer White, Ph.D.

Drs. White and Wallace serve as treasurer and treasure elect of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. Dr. Huffman serves as the editor of the Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. Graduate students Larry Laubach, David Good of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Meaghan Butler of Easton, Pa., are assistant editors.

For additional information about the ESU Department of Biological Sciences, contact the department at 570-422-3725 or visit www.esu.edu/biol. To learn more about the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, visit their website at pennsci.org.