April 2006

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS

James J. Valdés (Major Advisor: Ophelia Weeks) will present his Dissertation Proposal Seminar entitled "Lithium and Estrogen: A synergistic relationship in learning and memory?" on 24 April 2006 in WC 130 at 3:00. pm.

GRANTS

Josette La Hee (Major Advisor: Evelyn Gaiser) recently received a grant for $5000 in support of her project entitled "The effects of nutrient enrichment on benthic periphyton mat communities in two South Florida coastal wetland habitats" from the Garden Club of America. This grant is the Graduate Student Award for Coastal Wetland Studies. Congratulations Josette!

Derek Burkholder (Major Advisor: Michael Heithaus) recently received $4620 from the PADI Foundation to support his research project entitled "Predator-Prey Interactions, Foraging Ecology and Stable Isotope Analysis of Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Shark Bay, Western Australia." Congratulations Derek!

Nora Oleas (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega) received $750 from the Judith Parker Travel Award. Congratulations Nora!

Karen Laubengayer (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega) received $900 from the Judith Parker Travel Award. Congratulations Karen!

PUBLICATIONS

Two current students, Lonnie Kaczmarsky and Joshua Voss, and one former student, Shay Viehman, from Laurie Richardson's laboratory had papers published in a special issue of Disease of Aquatic Organisms. The issue includes papers presented during the Tenth International Coral Reef Symposium held in Okinawa, Japan as follows:

Kaczmarsky L.T. 2006. Coral disease dynamics in the central Philippines. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 69:9-21

Viehman S, Mills D.K., Meichel G.W., Richardson L.L. 2006. Culture and identification of Desulfovibrio spp. from corals infected by black band disease on Dominican and Florida Keys reefs. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 69:119-127

Voss J.D, Richardson LL. 2006. Coral diseases near Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas: patterns and potential drivers. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 69:33-40.

Laisel Martinez (Major Advisor: Rene Herrera) published two papers in 2005 that were not previously reported in the Graduate Accomplishments.
Congratulations Laisel!

Almargro, J.C., L. Martinez, S.L. Smith, A. Alagon, J. Estevez, and J. Paniagua. 2005. Analysis of the horse VH repertoire and comparison with human IGHV germline genes and sheep, cattle and pig VH sequences. Molecular Immunology 43:1836-1845.

Terreros, M.C., L. Martinez, and R.J. Herrera. 2005. Alu insertion polymorphisms and genetic diversity among African populations. Human Biology
77:675-704.

Steven Whitfield (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) has a paper from his Master's thesis entitled "Ontogenetic and seasonal variation in the diets of a Costa Rican leaf-litter herpetofauna" in press in the Journal of Tropical Ecology. Congratulations Steven!

PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

Joshua Voss (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) presented a multi-authored paper during the Comparative Immunology Symposium in March 2006: Joshua D. Voss, DeEtta K. Mills, Raju Sekar, Elizabeth R. Remily, and Laurie L. Richardson. Assessing variation in microbial community profiles associated with black band disease of corals by LH-PCR.

Several of our students presented papers at the 2006 meeting of the South Florida Plant Biologists. The meeting was held on 1 April 2006 at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Theresa Meis (Major Advisor: Jennifer Richards) presented a talk entitled "Morphology and anatomy of Utricularia gibba."

Chad Husby (Major Advisor: Steve Oberbauer) presented a multi-authored paper by C.F. Husby, S.F. Oberbauer, J. Delatorre-Herrera, and V. Oreste entitled "Salinity tolerance ecophysiology of the giant horsetail, Equisetum giganteum, in northern Chile."

Cary Pirone (Major Advisor: David Lee) presented a co-authored paper by C. Pirone and D. Lee entitled "A novel pigment from the Traveler's Palm, Ravenala madagascariensis."

Ronald Mossman (Major Advisor: Tom Philippi) presented a paper entitled "Everglades algal mat dynamics: Implications for fish and seeds."

Jed Redwine (Major Advisor: Suzanne Koptur) presented a co-authored paper: J. Redwine and M. Ross, "Are species composition and richness related to forest age in the sub- tropical forests of the northern Florida Keys?"

Two former students from Suzanne Koptur's lab also presented talks:

Hong Liu (DYF) presented a multi-authored paper: H. Liu, P. Stiling, R.W. Pemberton, and J. Peña. "Comparison of insect herbivore pressure among invasive, non-invasive and native congeners and implication for the enemy release hypothesis."

Carl Weekly presented a talk entitled "Seedling survival of the rare annual mustard Warea carteri."

AWARDS

Vicky Salazar (Major Advisor) was admitted to the prestigious Neural System & Behavior (NS&B) summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole MA. Congratulations Vicky!

INTERVIEWS

Longin Kaczmarsky (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) recently gave an interview (that will be played on public radio stations across the country) to the American Society for Microbiology radio program "MicrobeWorld" airing a couple of months from now. Previous interviews, are archived at www.microbeworld.org (click on the "Radio Program" tower on the lower left side of the page).

CLUB ACTIVITIES

The MCB club hosted a lecture by Dr. Takashi Mikawa of the Cornell University Medical College. He gave a talk entitled "Inhibition of vessel patterning by BMP antagonism" on 5 April 2006.

The BGSA sponsored an International Food Festival on 6 April 2006. The festival featured several dishes from a variety of countries.

The FIU Herpetology Club sponsored a lecture "Evolution of body size in snakes: Patterns, processes, and tests" by Dr. Scott Boback on Friday 14 April in WC 130 at 4:00 pm.

The FIU Herpetology Club sponsored a lecture "Patterns of body size in tetrapods" by Dr. Craig Guyer of Auburn University on 20 April 2006 at 12:15 in WC 130.

The BGSA sponsored an end-of-semester picnic on Saturday, 22 April 2006 at Crandon Beach at 12:00 pm.

The Comparative Immunology Club won an award from the Graduate Student Association for outstanding Graduate Student Organization.

Nichole Hinds (Major Advisor: Sylvia Smith) was recently elected to be the GSA Vice-President for the 06-07 academic year.

Thanks to the new officers of the BGSA! I am delighted that Jennifer Lewis (Major Advisor: Doug Wartzok), Sitti Zayda Halun (Major Advisor: Jim
Fourqurean), Josette La Hee (Major Advisor: Evelyn Gaiser), Cliff Ruehl (Major Advisor: Joel Trexler), and Raul Urgelles (Major Advisor: Joel Trexler) stepped up to take over the reins of leadership for this crucial organization. We look forward to BGSA events in the future.

MOVING ON

Gita Ramsay (Major Advisor: Brad Bennett) has been accepted to the Doctoral Program at the University of Michigan in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Congratulations Gita!

FORMER STUDENTS

Shanaz Baksh (Major Advisor: Jennifer Richards) recently learned that a paper from her thesis was accepted for publication and is in press: Baksh, S.I. and J.H. Richards. 2006. An architectural model for Eleocharis: Morphology and development of Eleocharis cellulosa (Cyperaceae). American Journal of Botany, in press. Congratulations Shanaz!

Elizabeth Remily (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) recently published part of the research from her Master's thesis: Remily, E. R. and L.L. Richardson. 2006. Ecological physiology of a coral pathogen and the coral reef environment. Microbial Ecology. (DOI: 10.1007/s00248-006-9029-9 online publication; hard copy journal issue is in press). Congratulations Liz!

Davecia Ragoonath (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) recently started a new job. She is a Research Associate in the Pancreatic Development and Stem Cell Laboratory in the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Congratulations Davecia!

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