| Bios |
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The Biology Department NewsletterFall 2000 |
Volume 16: No. 1, Editor: J. Maxwell, Publisher J.W. Dole California State University, Northridge |
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Faculty Achievements
A paper by Dr. Michael Summers appeared recently in the Journal of Bacteriology. The article, co-authored by three colleagues at Montana State University, Bozman, was entitled "The Sinorhizobium meliloti lon protease is involved in regulating exopolysaccharide synthesis and is required for nodulation of alfalfa."
A paper by Dr. Peter Bellinger and Kenneth Christiansen appeared in the Caribbean Journal of Science. The paper is entitled "A survey of the genus Seira (Hexapoda: Collembola: Entomobryidae) in the Americas."
Dr. Peter Edmunds had a paper entitled "Measuring the recruitment of scleractinians onto the skeletons of corals that have been killed by black band disease," published in Coral Reefs.
A critical review of the educational research cited by the AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy and NRC National Science Education Standards has just appeared in the form of a book chapter authored by Dr. Stan Metzenberg. The chapter, entitled "National Science Standards: Where is the Evidence Supporting Them?" is included in the book What's at Stake in the K-12 Standards Wars: A Primer for Educational Policy Makers. Dr. Metzenberg also served as an outside evaluator of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) this past summer. Working with other national experts on science teaching, Dr. Metzenberg examined the utility of the MSPAP, its technical quality, its content and its scoring.
Dr. Larry Allen and Dr. Dan Pondella of Occidental College recently published the paper, "The nearshore fish assemblage of Santa Catalina Island," in the Proceedings of the Fifth California Islands Symposium.
Dr. Paula Schiffman has authored an article entitled "Home on the Carrizo Plain" in the Southern Sierran, a publication of the Sierra Club. The article describes for the layman the sort of habitat that originally dominated much of the San Joaquin Valley, the "complicated and dynamic living museum" in which Dr. Schiffman and her students conduct most of their research.
Dr. Steven Oppenheimer served as grant proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation in July, 2000. He was also appointed Ex-Officio member of the Education Committee of the Society for Developmental Biology, by virtue of his authorship of internationally distributed textbooks on developmental biology. He had a letter about his NSF-sponsored program to involve local school teachers in scientific studies published in the journal, Science.
Dr. Oppenheimer gave an invited talk on "Research experiences for K-12 teachers and classroom implementation" at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology held in Boulder, Colorado. His address highlighted the workings of his NSF-sponsored program that involves classroom teachers in scientific studies with professors. In his talk, Dr. Oppenheimer showed how the teachers pass on what they have learned to their elementary and high school students. In many cases, students of the program participants are now doing simple research projects, presenting posters and publishing abstracts of their results, and winning recognition at science fairs.
Biology Faculty Receive Grants to Support Their Research and Teaching
The MARC program, under the direction of Dr. Maria Elena Zavala, has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for another five years. Each year the grant will provide $431,476, for a five-year total of $2,157,380. Dr. Zavala has also received confirmation of a supplemental award of $43,148 for the program.
Dr. Michael Summers received a CSUPERB grant of $8,695 with which he will purchase a Stratagene robocycler gradient temperature cycler and micropipettors. These instruments will be used to enhance the Bacterial Diversity and Microbial Ecology courses.
Dr. Larry Allen recently received a yearís extension to his California Department of Fish and Game-sponsored contract to study the abundance and distribution of juvenile white seabass off the coast of southern California. The $123,000 will continue a study begun in 1995.
Biology faculty were very successful in their quests for research funds from campus competitions this year. Winners of mini-grant awards for $4,500 from the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects include Drs. Lisa Banner, Randy Cohen, Steven Dudgeon, Peter Edmunds, Aïda Metzenberg, Stan Metzenberg, Michael Summers, Paul Tomasek and Maria Elena Zavala. Drs. Robert Carpenter, Jennifer Matos, and Paul Wilson were each awarded three units of reassigned time for spring 2001 semester.
The 2000-2001 College of Science and Math Research Competition saw eight Biology Faculty among the winners. Receiving $1,200 each are Drs. Randy Cohen, Peter Edmunds, Aïda Metzenberg, Stan Metzenberg, Michael Summers, Paul Wilson and Maria Elena Zavala. Dr. Steve Dudgeon was awarded three units of reassigned time for the fall 2000 semester.
Dr. Cathy Coyle-Thompson was the recipient of three units of reassigned time for fall semester to participate in the EOP Faculty Mentor Training Program.
Cal State Northridge Named Science Project Site
Drs. Steven Oppenheimer, Edward Carroll and Gerry Similaís (Geology) request to have Cal State Northridge designated a California Science Project Site was approved this past spring by the California Science Project Advisory Board and California Subject Matter Projects Concurrence Committee.
A grant of $179,392 funded the project for the first summer. The money was used to involve about forty teachers in science workshops where they were brought up to date on Californiaís new Science Standards and learned how to implement them in their classrooms. Drs. Lisa Banner, Randy Cohen, Cathy Coyle-Thompson, Mary Lee Sparling, Michael Summers and Paul Wilson presented workshops for the teachers.
During the fall semester, program participants return to their schools, implement what they have learned in their teaching and train their colleagues. Dr. Virginia Vandergon, one of Biologyís newest faculty, will work directly with the teachers to help them implement the new standards in their classrooms. In this effort she will be aided by Dr. Norman Herr, College of Education.
Previously, CSP Sites have been almost exclusively awarded to University of California campuses. Cal State Northridgeís site, called the San Fernando Valley Science Project, trains teachers from poorly achieving schools in up-to-date K-12 science.