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Walter to discuss biological research in Mellby Lecture
March 4, 2008
Within a small but important group of research scientists outside of St. Olaf College, Professor of Biology and Department Chair Anne Walter is known as the "permeability person" for her more than 35 years of studying the fluidity of cell membrane compositions.
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| St. Olaf Professor of Biology Anne Walter, who also chairs her department, has been researching the fluidity of cell membrane compositions for more than 35 years. |
Preparing to move to the college's new Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, says Walter, has helped her realize the amount of change she's seen in her field. In her lecture, Walter plans to address how membranes are studied in the context of biology today compared to when she began her teaching career. She also will share her future research plans and what she would do if she had another 35 years to work. For Walter, "even something as simple as a lipid bilayer membrane still has questions worth asking."
Walter studies why the human body has so many types of special fat molecules, called phospholipids, in the membranes of its cells and why that composition is regulated when a biological organism changes its diet. Her approach is to look at a few molecules at a time and understand the nature of the membrane they make, or to add products such as drugs and detergents and determine their composition and fluidity. Since these membranes are only five nanometers wide, Walter relies on a tool called a fluorescent spectrometer -- as well as her inference skills -- to collect data.
"If you had any doubt about Mother Nature's exquisite physiological control, this is something to look at," Walter says. "These membranes have phenomenal detail control, and it's exciting because we don't know why it happens."
Walter's research on permeability began when she studied salt and water balance in gulls for her master's degree at the University of British Columbia. She continued in her Ph.D. studies at Duke University by looking at what controls permeability across membranes in the absence of protein.
Over the years Walter has been able to engage many St. Olaf students in her research, which she considers the most rewarding aspect of her work. While she has had little time to perform research while serving as chair of the Biology Department, she is thankful for the students who ask her questions and keep her informed on the topic. Starting in fall 2009 Walter will use a sabbatical to publish several papers in scholarly journals.
Walter hopes her lecture will encourage students to test their comfort level and work with one another to challenge assertions. "Science is collaborative. It's about bringing minds and hands together," she says.
The Mellby Lectures
The current academic year marks the 25th Carl A. Mellby Memorial Lecture series of two lectures per year that are given in remembrance of late St. Olaf faculty member Carl A. Mellby. They were established to allow St. Olaf faculty share their research with others. Mellby, known as "the father of social sciences" at St. Olaf, started the first courses in economics, sociology, political science and art history at the college. He was a professor and administrator from 1901 to 1949, taught Greek, German, French, religion and philosophy, and is credited with creating the college's honor system.
