All students, staff, faculty, and friends are invited to visit the Crab Lab during its open house on Friday, September 27, from noon to 6 p.m., in Swindells 139 and 128, according to Tara Maginnis, biology. With over 1,000 gallons of saltwater and six species of crab, there is plenty to explore. Maginnis and her biology research students will be there explaining how the lab works and what kind of research goes on there (and no, you don’t get to eat the crabs). For more information contact Maginnis at maginnis@up.edu.
Biology
UP Fulbright winners top nation . . . Again!
University of Portland has been named the top producer of Fulbright scholars in the nation among “master’s universities” for the third consecutive year, according to a study released today by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The University had six alumni win the prestigious grants to work and study abroad for 2012-13.
Three of the Fulbrights won by UP alumni for 2012-13 are for English teaching positions in Germany, while the others are for graduate studies in the United Kingdom, research in India, and English teaching in Spain.
The University has been a leader among its peer institutions in producing Fulbright scholars for several years, also ranking first nationally in 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2007-08 and second nationally in 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2009-10. Since 2001, students from University of Portland have earned 40 Fulbright grants. [Read more…] about UP Fulbright winners top nation . . . Again!
Founder’s Day Presenter: Tim Luethke
Of his four years at UP, senior biology major Tim Luethke’s favorite experience was doing undergraduate research with crabs in what is known on campus as The Crab Lab. The Crab Lab, which was built by a team of students in summer 2011, has offered biology students like Tim an opportunity to get hands-on experience during their undergraduate years.
“Having the opportunity to do undergraduate research in behavioral biology was probably the most beneficial academic aspect of my time at UP,” Tim said.
His Founders Day presentation will focus on the research he did in The Crab Lab, which looked at how limb loss affects the dorsoventral righting reflex (the ability to flip over) in purple shore crabs. Tim tested crabs’ ability to turn over while missing certain assortments of limbs.
Tim said his professors, especially Dr. Tara Maginnis, helped him achieve his goals at UP.
“Dr. Maginnis offered a truly remarkable experience,” Tim said. “The Crab Lab was not a canned experience with research. I had free reign with my research, but she was there to guide me.”
Tim’s plan after graduating this May is to work with the national parks for a year. After that, he plans to go to grad school and study either entomology (which was his favorite class at UP), botany, or ecology. When he finishes grad school, Tim hopes to return to the national parks to be an ecologist.
Two Students Win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarships
University of Portland students Claire Couch, of Oregon City, OR, and James Gaynor, of Vancouver, WA, have received prestigious scholarships from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Couch and Gaynor earned two of 271 scholarships that were awarded to undergraduate sophomores and juniors for the 2013-2014 academic year.
The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,107 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated nationwide. The one and two year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
Couch is a sophomore biology major from Oregon City. Her career goals include getting her doctorate in virology and conducting research in virus ecology and viral evolution.
Gaynor is a junior chemistry major from Vancouver, Wash. He plans to pursue his doctorate in physical chemistry and masters in materials science as well as research nanomaterials for application in biomedicine and energy, and teach at the university level.
Past Goldwater Scholarship recipients from the University of Portland include Claire Clelland ’05 and Mitchell Myjak ’01. Truc-Vi Huynh Duong ’13 was an honorable mention for the award.
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program, honoring Senator Barry Goldwater, was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.
Since its first award, the foundation has bestowed more than 6,550 scholarships worth about $40 million. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 80 Rhodes Scholarships, 118 Marshall Awards, 110 Churchill Scholarships and numerous other distinguished fellowships.
Tara Maginnis wins Murdock Grant
Tara Maginnis has been awarded a grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for $40,500 to study “The Evolutionary Significance of Leg Loss and Regeneration in Crabs.”
Program description:
The Murdock College Research Program for Life Sciences supports research in the life sciences in private predominantly undergraduate colleges and universities. Proposals that describe original research in the life sciences will be evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit, the scientific qualifications of the investigator or investigators that are proposing the research, and the feasibility of the work. Involvement of undergraduate students in the research is also considered important.
The goals of this Program are several. Primary among these goals is the development of excellent faculty and undergraduate students in life sciences. Faculty and students are encouraged to work together in the pursuit of the knowledge and understanding of the basic principles underlying the function of living systems. It is anticipated that such research will be strongly educational in itself, but that it will also catalyze improvements in traditional science courses through inquiry-based teaching. The primary criterion that will be used in evaluating proposals will be the perceived scientific quality of the research as measured by its likelihood to contribute significantly to fundamental knowledge in the field. A clear commitment of the college or university to support the research will also strengthen a proposal, as will substantial participation of undergraduate students as research associates, rather than merely as technical assistants.
David Alexander wins Becky Houck Award
David Alexander has been awarded the Becky Houck Award for Excellence in Advising. The Professor Alexander was honored at the CAS All-College Celebration February 27.
David Alexander has been a member of the faculty at the University of Portland since 1995. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Microbiology from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Texas A&M University. After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Texas at Austin and at Texas A&M, Dr. Alexander worked as a research microbiologist at Oregon Health Sciences University and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, where he helped design and evaluate new classes of antimicrobial agents. He is interested in the physiological ecology of bacteria, focusing particularly on symbiotic interactions of bacteria with other organisms. Dr. Alexander teaches Microbiology, and in 2005 was honored as Teacher of the Year by the University of Portland Air Force ROTC detachment. He has served as the Health Professions Advisor for 16 years, and during that time has mentored hundreds of students interested in careers in health care.
The All-College Celebration is held annually to recognize achievements by faculty and departments within the College of Arts and Sciences.
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Engineering + Science Fair
The Engineering + Science Fair will take place on Friday, February 22nd, 1:00pm-4:00pm in Shiley Hall.
The following companies are recruiting mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology students in addition to engineering students for internships and job opportunities at the fair:
- Cooper Zietz Engineers (specific majors to be announced)
- Garmin (specific majors to be announced)
- Fast Enterprises – Mathematics majors
- Expeditors – Mathematics majors
- Oregon Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Survey (specific majors to be announced)
- Portland General Electric – Mathematics majors
- Nalco – Chemistry majors
- Rentrak – Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics majors
- Clean Water Services (specific majors to be announced)
- Cvent (specific majors to be announced)
- US Army Corps of Engineers – Mathematics majors
- Intel Corporation – Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics majors
- United States Marine Corps Officer Programs – all majors
- Siltronic (specific majors to be announced)
Career Services is helping students to prepare for the event via their “How to Work a Job Fair” workshops. These will take place on Wednesday, February 20th and Thursday, February 21st at 1:00pm and 4:00pm. Students are encouraged to go learn some tips and tools for attending the career fair. All workshops are 30 minutes and conducted in the Career Services office, lower level of Orrico Hall.
In addition, Career Services is offering extended drop-in hours (10:00am-4:00pm) for resume review on Wednesday (2/20) and Thursday (2/21). No appointment is necessary and free resume paper is available.
Number of students with double majors nearly triples
By Kate Stringer, Staff Writer
From THE BEACON
With two majors and a 23 credit hour course load, junior Kristin Wishon is lucky if she gets four hours of sleep at night.
“I don’t have time to do things that are just for fun,” said Wishon, who is double majoring in biochemistry and music. “But I enjoy what I’m doing anyways so I don’t really care.”
Wishon is part of a growing trend at college campuses across the country. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of college students who double major has increased over the past 10 years by 70 percent. While some students choose two majors because they believe it will make them more employable, many are simply passionate about multiple fields of study.
[Read more…] about Number of students with double majors nearly triples
Students conduct Tree Inventory
Students in David Taylor’s Biology 341: Field Botany lab are getting a chance to both learn to identify trees as well as to give back to the University Park neighborhood.
Trees provide an economic value for the neighborhood–reducing erosion and run-off, cooling streets and homes in the summer, and increasing property values. Recently Prof. Taylor contacted Portland Parks and Recreation about helping inventory trees in University Park. In exchange for collecting the data Parks and Rec. needed, Taylor was able to add more information to the survey, which the Park department will then process and crunch into useable data on the growth and distribution of mosses and other activity in the area.
Taylor notes that the experience has been good for students as well as the neighborhood. One resident asked the students to help him identify various trees he had in his backyard that he had always wondered about. Delighted that the students answered his questions, he responded by sending the students on their way with a basket of plums from one of his trees!
Students show off ocean creature research
By Hannah Kintner , Staff Writer kintner13@up.edu
From THE BEACON
So you spent your summer at the beach? So did seniors Tim Luethke and Matt Ortman, but they got to bring the beach back to school with them.
Over the summer, Luethke and Ortman worked with biology professor Tara Maginnis as Crab Lab interns. Crab Lab is a research programMaginnis started where students can study animal limb regeneration and animal behaviors.
The lab was set up last year and mainly focused on crab research. The program was expanded this year when Luethke and Ortman took it upon themselves to create miniature ecosystems in each of the holding tanks so they can take their research to a new level. [Read more…] about Students show off ocean creature research