Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Biologists Featured in Trinity Magazine




Several biology faculty were featured in the most recent Trinity Magazine that was just released.



  • Jonathan King was featured on the front cover as part of a nice story on multidisciplinary activities in the sciences (No Boundaries - Science Education Expands in New Directions). Mark Brodl was also featured in text and photos.

  • James (Jimmy) Roberts was featured in a story about his coming to Trinity (see news release).

  • And finally, Kelly Lyons Biodiversity of Mexico course and her class field trip to El Cielo Bioreserve in Mexico was featured in the magazine (unfortunately there is no web link, so you will just have to get a copy to see!).

Friday, November 14, 2008

Biology Club Participates in Mitchell Lake Fall Festival











Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is located on a 1200-acre natural area just outside San Antonio’s loop 410. It is an excellent spot for birding and enjoying nature, especially because of the extensive wetland habitat on the property. For the past four years the Center has put on a Fall Festival to give families an opportunity to interact with local outdoor-minded organizations and explore nature in a more interactive way.


The Biology Club had a booth at the festival where we made plaster of paris mammal tracks with kids and talked to people about the different mammals in the area. We were loaned a beautiful collection of skins and scat by Texas Parks and Wildlife so there were lots of fun things to touch and see. Kids especially liked the scat. We went through two 25 lb bags of plaster which made a lot of tracks, so the event was quite a success!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Prof. Ribble Receives Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship

Our own David Ribble received the Z. T. Scott Faculty Fellowship at the May graduation ceremony. Prof. Ribble is the second Biology faculty member to receive this award – Prof. Blystone received this award in 1991.

Official Press Release

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Biology Welcomes Dr. Roberts and Dr. Rennebeck





On 12 September, the Department hosted a party to welcome our newest faculty, Dr. James Roberts and Dr. Gabriela Rennebeck.


Dr. Roberts will fill the Cowles Endowed Professor position. Dr. Roberts is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist who studies the roles of estrogens and androgens in protecting or recovering from damage in the brain due to oxidative stress. He has held positions at prestigious medical schools, including Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and most recently the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He will be teaching neurobiology class and leading the newly developed Neuroscience Major. Welcome to the Biology Department, Jimmy!

We are also please to have hired Dr. Gabriela Rennebeck in a new position, Instructor of Biology. Dr. Rennebeck received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas, and completed postdoctoral work at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and the University of Kentucky. Dr. Rennebeck will be directing and coordinating faculty and students in our introductory laboratory classes, which includes over 200 students this fall! We are delighted to have Dr. Rennebeck on board.

Professor Espey Retires

After more than 40 years of service to the University, Professor Espey retired at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. Although he refused to allow us to throw him a party, we surprised him on the last day of classes with a lunch which was attended by some his favorite students from years past. Fortunately for us, Professor Espey will maintain an office for sometime, and he and Doina will be staying in central Texas.

Congratulations Larry on a long and impressive career here at Trinity. We will miss you.

(SURPRISE!)















Dennis Kelly presented Dr. Espey with a some of his publications and letters from former colleagues in a bound volume. CHEERS!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Technology vs Content

My life has come to this: blogging. Why am I doing this? What could I say that has any bearing on the blogosphere?

I have seen dogs go to a door at a specified time, because they know their owner will come through that door at any time. The dog sits patiently looking at the door, head cocked, ears at the alert. Minutes pass, and pass. The door opens and the dog goes ballistic.

I have seen people sitting at Whataburger waiting for their order to be brought to the table. These people cradle their cell phone in their hands. Their head is cocked, ears at the alert. Minutes pass. They give up, the flight of the valkyries ring tone never sounds. So the impatient person text messages something. I guess the dog equivalent is to go wet on the door.

Do I podcast my lecture? Must I organize my thoughts using PowerPoint? Do students expect that I will post my lecture on Blackboard? Is there something magical about educational technology that will allow students to grasp difficult concepts better? Can I as a professor spend so much time developing and responding to the teaching technology that the content being delivered is substandard? Is the delivery package more important than what is in the box?

Don't expect any answers from me to these questions. So let's see what happens when this blog piece hits the digital whatever.

Bob Blystone

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Biology Summer Research 2008


Many of our students are working hard this summer in our research laboratories, funded through HHMI, NIH, NSF, and a TU - Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant. In addition to conducting research, students make weekly research presentations during the summer and take part in an end of the summer research conference.

Details of the students' research projects are listed below.

Conner Hickey - Tight Junction Protein Cleavage by Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Results In Tight Junction Barrier Dysfunction (Dr. King).
Bryce Bushe and Hanna Kodeih - Relationship of Fluidity and Function in the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Barley Aleurone Cells (Dr. Brodl).
Kevin Eaton - Characterization of γ-butyrolactone (GBL) Receptors in Streptomyces acidiscabies and Elevation of Angucyclinone Polyketide WS5995B Production in GBL Receptor Mutant sabS (Dr. Healy).
Ryan Luby - Effect of elevated temperature tarp treatment on germination of native grasses and Bothriochloa ischaemum (KR Blustem) (Dr. Lyons).
Kendalyn Morris - The Effect of Native and Non-native Grassland Habitat on Ant Species Composition (Dr. Lyons).
Nancy Nguyen - Competition Among Native Species and Bothriochloa ischaemum (KR Bluestem) in Texas Grasslands (Dr. Lyons).
Thomas Robinson - Fire Induced Soil Surface Temperature Elevation and Direct Flame Succeptibility among Native Grasses and Bothriochloa ischaemum (KR Bluestem): Implications for Invasive Species Management using Prescribed Fire (Dr. Lyons).
Prajit Limsirachi - Nutritional and Respiratory Physiology in Thermus thermophilus HB27 (Dr. Healy).
Colleen Hughbanks and Rachel Johansen - Effects of Hyperoxia on Epithelial Cells (Dr. King)
Brian Malpede - Cloning of a Duplicated Locus in the carotenoid Biosynthetic Pathway (Dr. Livingstone).
Amanda Benbow - Flower Color Change and Pollinator Visitation in Lupinus texensis (Texas Bluebonnet) (Dr. Lyons).
Kevin Meyer - Baseline data on the distribution of Pennisetum ciliare (Buffelgrass), an invasive C4 grass in the greater San Antonio area (Dr. Lyons).
Laney Redus and Erica Scott - The Genetic Mating System of the Round-eared Elephant-shrew of South Africa (Dr. Ribble).