Fall 2006

9/11 - Steve Freedberg, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology Department, St. Olaf College
Why are sex chromosomes so rare in turtles?
Eric Cole, Ph.D., Professor, Biology Department, St. Olaf College
The effect of hurricane impact on life history characteristics in the scaly pearl oyster

9/18 - Kathy Shea, Ph.D., Professor, Biology and Environmental Studies Depts, St. Olaf College
Explorations from Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Roof of Africa, to the Serengeti Plains

9/25 - Kerri Carlson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology Department, St. Olaf College
Bridging the Gap Between Basic Research and Therapeutic Development in the Neurodegenerative Disease Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1

10/2 - Mike Limm, Integrative Biology Department, UC Berkeley and Nathan Mueller, Biology and Environmental Studies Major, ’07, St. Olaf College,
Topic - Effects of Sedimentation on Algae

10/9 - Jean Porterfield, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology and Integrative Studies, St. Olaf College,
Tall Fish Tales and Tracing Genetic Trails

10/23 - Fall Poster Session – biology student posters from summer research

10/30 - Eric Newman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Topic – Glial Cells in the Brain

11/6 - Camille McNeely – Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, beginning January 2007,
Caddisflies and their influence on ecosystem processes in mountain streams in Northern California

11/13 - Paul Overvoorde, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Macalester College Forward and Reverse Progress Towards Elucidating Hormone Action in Plants

11/20 - Mike Swift, Assistant Professor, Biology Department, St. Olaf College and Anne Walter, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Biology Department, St. Olaf College
Environmental Science in Australia 2006 trip

11/27 - Ralph Holzenthal, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Topic
Biodiversity in Caddisflies

Spring 2007

Feb 5 – Daniel Crawford, Ph.D., The University of Kansas
The Robinson Crusoe Islands: Plant Evolution, Conservation, People and the "Good Life”

Feb 12 – Scott Zeger; Chair, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dept of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
IRAQ MORTALITY SINCE THE U.S. INVASION: WHEN COUNTING IS NOT AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3, Interdisciplinary seminar sponsored by Statistics, Biology and Political Science

Feb 19 – Steve Freedberg, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology Department, St. Olaf College
Two Girls for Every Boy: What Can Biased Reptilian Sex Ratios Tell Us About the Evolution of Environmental Sex Determination?

Feb 26 – Interim Off Campus Studies Presentations - Mayo Scholars Program with Advisor Kevin Crisp and Island Biology in the Bahamas with advisor Eric Cole

Mar 5 – Brian Burrell, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Sanford School of Medicine
The University of South Dakota
The synapse is not enough: Modulation of excitability and its' contribution to learning

Mar 12 – Peru and Ecuador Interim Off Campus Studies Presentations - Equatorial Biology (Bio 288) Studies in Ecuador from the Amazonian Rain Forest, to the Galapagos Islands, to the Andes Highlands, Advisor – Kathy Shea, Peruvian Medical Experience, (Bio 284), Advisor – Dave Van Wylen

Mar 19 – Jennifer Wolff, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology, Carleton College
Are worms from Mars or Venus? C. elegans as a model for sex-specific nervous system development

Apr 2 - Michael Pappas – Avocational Turtle Biologist
The World Turtle Crisis, Conservation of Minnesota's Riverine Turtles, and the Role of Dispersal and Orientation on Hatchling Survival

Apr 16 – Jon Piganelli, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
A Career in Biomedical Research at the University of Pittsburgh

Apr 23 - Dave Mount, Ph.D. Research Aquatic Biologist, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Duluth, MN
Water, oil, and sunshine don't mix: The interactive effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sunlight on aquatic organisms

Apr 30 - Paul Egland, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Augustana College, Interspecies Signaling Between Human Dental Plaque Bacteria

May 7 – Sarah Hobbie, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Admissions, Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota
The influence of tree species on biogeochemistry: Interactions among litter chemistry, earthworms and microbes.