July 2006

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS

Joshua Voss (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) will defend his Doctoral Dissertation entitled “Coral disease dynamics and environmental drivers in the northern Florida Keys and Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas” on 5 July 2006 at 3:00 pm in WC 130.

Erasmo Perera (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos) will defend his Doctoral Dissertation entitled “The isolation and characterization of tescalcin, a novel gene differentially expressed in the mouse testis during the early stages of gonadal differentiation” on 13 July 2006 at 1:00 pm in WC 130.

Virginia Cornett (Major Advisor: James Fourqurean) will defend her Master’s Thesis entitled “Spatial distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in the Shark River estuary and implications for understanding movement and feeding patterns of manatees” on 14 July 2006 at 2:30 pm in WC 130.

Shamayra S. Smail (Major Advisor: Rene Herrera) will defend her Master’s Thesis entitled “Isolation and characterization of the Bombyx mori U4 snRNA and U6 snRNA variants” on 18July 2006 at 9:00 pm in WC 130.

Irina Fernandez (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos) will defend her Master’s Thesis entitled “The role of ErbB3 in melanocyte development” on 21 July 2006 at 10:00 am in WC 130.

RESEARCH SEMINARS

David Green (Major Advisor: Joel Trexler) presented a seminar entitled “Fishing for answers: investigating community structure and function along a salinity gradient in the Florida Everglades” at Mote Marine Lab on 14 July 2006 as part of their summer seminar series.

GRANTS

Vicky Salazar (Major Advisor: Philip Stoddard) received the Ralph Sanchez Grand Prix Scholarship ($1000) offered by FIU. Congratulations Vicki!

PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

Alessandro Catenazzi presented a co-authored poster at the Gordon Research Conference on the Metabolic Basis of Ecology, held on 9-14 July 2006 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Catenazzi, A. and M.A. Donnelly. The Ulva connecdtion: Marine algae subsidize terrestrial predators in coastal Peru.

Several FIU students and former students presented contributed papers and invited symposium papers during the Joint Meeting for Ichthyologists and Herpetologists held in New Orleans, Louisiana 13-17 July 2006 as follows:

Alessandro Catenazzi (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) presented a contributed paper entitled “Topographic effects on marine subsidies for gecko coastal desert populations.”

Alessandro Catenazzi (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) presented a co-authored poster: Catenazzi, Alessandro, Jorge Carrillo, and Maureen A. Donnelly. “Seasonal and geographic eurythermy of Microlophus peruvianus, a coastal Peruvian lizard.”

Ralph Saporito (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) presented a contributed paper entitled “Oribatid mites: A major dietary source for alkaloids in poison frogs.”

Steven Whitfield (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) presented an invited co-authored symposium paper: Whitfied, Steven M. Kristen E. Bell, Federico Bolaños, Gerardo Chaves, Mahmood Sasa, Thomas Philippi, Jay M. Savage, and M.A. Donnelly. “Faunal declines across 35 years at La Selva, Costa Rica: More trouble in paradise?”

Former student and current postdoctoral fellow James Watling (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) presented an invited co-authored sympsoium paper: Watling, J.I. and M.A. Donnelly, “A re-examination of diversity patterns of South American herpetofaunas using multivariate statistical approaches.” James also presented a co-authored contributed paper: Watling, J.I. and M.A. Donnelly, “Species richness and composition of amphibians and reptiles on isolated tabletop mountains of the Guayana Shield.”

MOVING ON

Shamayra Smail (Major Advisor: Rene Herrera) will begin her doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University in the Fall of 2006.

Stephanie Douglas (Major Advisor: David Kuhn) will begin teaching biology at South Miami High School in August 2006.

FORMER STUDENTS

Cristine Stewart (Major Advisor: Brad Bennett) was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship teaching Botany and Ecology courses at the University of Dschang in Cameroon. She will also work on a research project in a montane part of the country.

Julissa Roncal (Major Advisor: David Lee) recently published a chapter from her dissertation: Habitat differentiation of sympatric Geonoma macrostachys (Arecaceae) varieties in Peruvian lowland forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22: 483-486.

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