OSU Zoology teams up with Nebraska and USGS on EPA Grant

Loren Smith and Scott McMurry of OSU working with Ted LaGrange of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Robert Gleason of the U.S. Geological Survey were awarded a $350,000 grant to study conservation effects on greenhouse gas release from wetlands. The study is primarily funded by the Environmental Protection Agency with matching funds from collaborators. The project will specifically study playa wetlands across southern Nebraska and how conservation and restoration of these wetlands affects gases that have been related to climate change. Results will be used with several other OSU Zoology studies to simultaneously evaluate the effects of land use change and conservation programs on the large suite of ecosystem services provided by wetlands across the entire Great Plains.

2011-2012 Niblack Research Scholars

Oklahoma State University has selected 12 undergraduate students to participate in the 2011-12 Niblack Research Scholars program.  Funded by a gift from OSU alumnus Dr. John Niblack, each student will receive an $8,000 scholarship and will have the unique opportunity to conduct research in a university lab, assisted by a faculty sponsor and graduate student mentor.

Four majors in programs associated with the Department of Zoology received this distinct honor:

• Benjamin DeWeese, a zoology major from Broken Arrow, Okla.
• Chelsea Fortenbery, a chemistry and biological sciences major from Durant, Okla.
• Brandi Gallaher, physiology major from Tulsa, Okla.
• Grant Tinsley, a physiology and nutritional sciences major from Centennial, Colo.

More details about the students’ research are available at http://research.okstate.edu/nrs-2011-12-scholars.

Niblack, who attributes his own pursuit of research as a profession to the experience he received as an undergraduate at OSU, says he funds the program to give young people that same opportunity. Niblack is the former vice chairman of Pfizer Inc. He worked as an active scientist for the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company from 1967-1980 directing research into drugs for viral illnesses, cancer and autoimmune disorders. He was appointed director of research for the company's U.S. laboratories in 1980 and named president of Pfizer's Central Research Division in 1990. He became vice chairman in 1993 and retired in 2002.

The Niblack Research Scholars will make presentations about their findings during OSU Research Week, Feb. 20-24, 2012.

Dr. John and Heidi Niblack (front, center) with the 2011-12 Niblack Research Scholars. (second row, L to R) Kelsie Brooks, Mrinalini Patil, Mackenzie Jochim (third row, L to R) Dr. Stephen McKeever, OSU’s VP for research, Brandi Gallaher, Benjamin DeWeese, Kayla Davis, Chelsea Fortenbery (back row L to R) Jared Austin, Daniel Osagie, Grant Tinsley and Zachary Sheffert (not pictured: Kara Miller).

OSU Zoology and Entomology team up on grant to study crop pest spread

Drs Monica Papes in Zoology and Tom Royer in Entomology received a $114,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study a new exotic insect pest on cabbage and other crop plants. The insect is called the Bagrada bug and was first recorded in 2008 in southern California. Little is known about this insect's potential distribution or spread in United States. Lack of such information makes control of the pest very difficult. Papes and Royer will employ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and ecological modeling to produce a first and time-critical assessment of the distribution potential of the Bagrada bug in United States. They will also investigate risk of infestation by overlaying the predicted distribution with a crop map for United States to locate risk of infestation of crop plants. This information will be used regionally, in the Great Plains, to raise awareness about this emerging pest by organizing a workshop with county extension staff and by creating documentation that will be available on Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service website.

Zoology field building open for business

Researchers in OSU Zoology are now using the recently constructed field building at the department's Lake Carl Blackwell property. The facility not only allows storage and preparation of field research equipment, but the compound provides secure sites for field experimentation and vehicle storage. The 6000 squarefeet building has 18 bays that are assigned to Zoology faculty members for their research as well as a long central hallway that can be used to set up field experiments and to construct experimental field materials. Funds were provided by the OSU Vice President for Research Office and the remainder was matched with private funds.

Zoology graduate student receives fellowship from NSECent

Doctoral Candidate, Anna Hiatt, has been awarded a Graduate Fellowship to the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) for her proposed project “Evaluation of the Validity and Reliability of the Evo-Devo Concept Inventory.” As a part of the fellowship Anna will spend several weeks of the upcoming spring semester at NESCent in Durham, NC, to work on the proposed project which encompasses the final stages of her dissertation research building an Evo-Devo Concept Inventory. Anna’s proposal was judged based NESCent’s scientific mission to advance research that addresses fundamental questions in evolutionary science by integrating methods, concepts, and data within and across disciplines. Anna’s time at NESCent will be spent working on her proposed project and helping to develop other concept inventories and providing tools for educators to use to improve evolutionary understanding through the Evo CI Toolkit Working Group. The Working Group is currently developing concept inventories on evo-devo, population thinking, and random processes in evolutionary biology. Concept Inventories are diagnostic tests composed of multiple choice questions with responses made up of correct statements and incorrect statements based on common misconceptions that students have and are used to measure a student’s understanding of a particular subject. In addition to working with other evolutionary biologists and evolution education researchers in the Working Group, the fellowship also provides her with an opportunity to meet with prestigious visiting scholars who conduct synthetic research in the evolutionary sciences. NESCent is jointly operated by Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University, and is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Anna’s project will be advised by her major professor, Dr. Donald French, and NESCent mentor, Dr. Kathryn Perez of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

OSU Zoology Professor Michael Tobler Receives National Science Foundation Grant

Dr. Michael Tobler in the OSU Zoology department has just been awarded a $481,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the evolution of fishes in extreme environments. Hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic gas that is lethal for most animals, even at low concentrations. In southern Mexico, small livebearing fish have independently colonized multiple sulfidic springs, where hydrogen sulfide naturally occurs in high concentrations. These fish provide an opportunity to study how vertebrates have managed to survive in conditions that are lethal for most other organisms. Adaptation in sulfide springs also leads to reproductive isolation between sulfidic and non-sulfidic ecotypes, providing insights about how new species evolve. Understanding organisms’ responses to naturally occurring stressful environments can ultimately be used to better understand causes and consequences of organismal responses to human altered environments. The project fosters collaboration in research and education between scientists and students from the United States and Mexico. The project also establishes a public outreach platform for fish biologists to interact with fish hobbyist organizations as a means to disseminate research findings to the lay public.