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Eric S. Cole to present Mellby Lecture

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November 7, 2000

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? St. Olaf College biology faculty member Eric S. Cole will present a composite, multimedia talk on two themes during a Mellby Lecture Tuesday, Nov. 28.

Cole?s presentation, free and open to the public, will be at 7 p.m. in Room 525 of Rolvaag Memorial Library. He will address "Probing Life with Light: Adventures in Modern Light Microscopy" and "Science, Mystery and the Art of Inquiry: Reflections on a Scientist?s Relationship With Mystery."

Cole will share a view of the living cell as modern biologists see it, utilizing a "molecular paint set" to distinguish the cell?s features. He also will explore the idea of science as a personal relationship with mystery ? mystery as the object of inquiry, mystery shaping the inquiry and, ultimately, mystery shaping the scientist.

Cole joined the St. Olaf biology faculty in 1993. He teaches Introductory Biology, Developmental Biology and a number of interim offerings, including Investigative Microscopy. He helped create two popular St. Olaf interim foreign study programs: Island Biology in the Bahamas, a study of Caribbean coral reefs and other island ecosystems, and Equatorial Biology, which takes place in the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon Rainforests of Ecuador.

He and his wife, St. Olaf biology research associate Kathleen Stuart, recently published two chapters in a series entitled "Methods in Cell Biology." The chapters dealt with advanced microscopy techniques.

Cole has studied Tetrahymena (a freshwater protozoan) for 15 years, starting during his graduate years at the University of Iowa. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhoods of South Chicago, earning a bachelor of arts degree from Reed College, a master?s in zoology from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has done postdoctoral work at Cornell University.

? more ? Eric S. Cole lecture ? 2

He and his wife live in Nerstrand, Minn., with their daughter, Atia Rose Cole, 2, adopted from the Hunan province in China.

The annual Mellby Memorial Lectures are named after Dr. Carl A. Mellby and were established to let St. Olaf faculty members share their research with others.

Mellby, known as the "father of the social sciences" at St. Olaf, started the college?s first courses in economics, sociology, political science and history of art. He also taught Greek, German, French religion and philosophy, and is credited with creating the college?s honor system.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty of approximately 256. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in number of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.