June 2007

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS

Manuela Miranda (Major Advisor: Philip Stoddard) presented her Master's Thesis Defense Seminar entitled "Indirect evidence for a polygynous breeding system in the gymnotiform electric fish Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus in Uruguay" on 18 June 2007 at 2:00 pm in WC 130.

Wendy Wilsdon (Major Advisor: Jennifer Richards) presented her Master's Thesis Defense Seminar entitled "The distribution and reproductive biology of the Florida endangered Aletris bracteata Northrop (Nartheciaceae)" on 20 June 2007 at 12:30 pm in WC 130.

Theresa Meis Chormanski (Major Advisor: Jennifer Richards) presented her Master's Thesis Defense Seminar entitled "Morphology and anatomy of three common Everglades Utricularia species: U. gibba, U. cornuta, and U. subulata" on 25 June 2007 at 10:30 am in WC 130.

Jed Redwine (Major Advisor: Suzanne Koptur) presented his Doctoral Dissertation Defense Seminar entitled "Leaf morphology scales multi-annual trends in nutrient cycling and leaf, flower, and fruiting phenology among species in the sub-tropical hardwood forests of the northern Florida Keys" on 26 June 2007 at 2:00 pm in WC 130.

Roman Garcia (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos) presented his Doctoral Dissertation Defense Seminar entitled "Endothelin 3 induces skin pigmentation in a keratin-driven inducible mouse model" on 29 June 2007 at 2:00 pm in WC 130.

GRANTS & AWARDS

Cassandra Quave (Major Advisor: Brad Bennett) recently won the I was awarded the Fulling Award for the best contributed oral paper at the annual meeting of the Society for Economic Botany (see below). The award, given to persons early in their career, includes a certificate, a $500.00 award, and the paper is invited to be published in Economic Botany. Congratulations Cassandra!

Steven Whitfield (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) was awarded a three-year EPA STAR/GRO grant to support his dissertation research on the collapse of the La Selva herpetofauna. Congratulations Steven!

Steven Whitfield (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) received a $200 travel grant from the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles to attend the 2007 meeting of herpetologists and ichthyologists in St. Louis. Congratulations Steven!

Jamie Myers (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) was awarded the Bert and Lucy Williams Student Achievement Award for best student talk at the scientific meeting of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean, held in St. Thomas, USVI (see below) . Jamie was awarded $250; Congratulations Jamie!

Josette LaHee (Major Advisor: Evelyn Gaiser) recently received a Grant in Aid of Research for $996 from the Phycological Society of America to support your proposed research entitled "The effects of nutrient enrichment on benthic periphyton mat communities in two Florida Everglades coastal wetland habitats". Congratulations Josette!

PRESENTATIONS

Jamie Myers recently gave a co-authored presentation at the meeting of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean, held in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands: Myers, J.L. and L.L. Richardson. Culture, identification, DGGE analysis, and physiology of cyanobacteria associated with black band disease of corals.

Lonnie Kaczmarsky (Major Advisor: Laurie Richardson) gave a co-authored presentation at the meeting of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean, held in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands: Kaczmarsky, L., R. Sekar and L.L. Richardson. Sewage impact increases black band disease prevalence and might alter black band microbial community composition on reefs of St. Croix.

Jamie and Lonnie were co-authors on the following presentation delivered during the same meeting:

Richardson, L.L. M. Gantar, L. Kaczmarsky, J.L. Myers and R. Sekar. Toxin production and virulence factors in black band disease on reefs of the northern Caribbean.

Jamie and Lonnie were co-authors on papers delivered during the Meeting of the Eastern Fish Health Workshop held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania this month:

Richardson, L.L., M. Gantar, L. Kaczmarsky, J.L. Myers and R. Sekar. Toxin production and virulence factors in a polymicrobial disease of corals.

Gantar, M., L. Kaczmarsky and L.L. Richardson. Antibacterial activity of cyanobacteria associated with black band disease.

FIU was well represented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Botany Meeting in Chicago. Current students, Cassandra Quave and Janna Rose (Major Advisor Brad Bennett) and former student Gita Ramsay gave presentations. Former student Bruce Hoffman (M.S., Major Advisor: Brad Bennett) presented a paper on his Ph.D. research (University of Hawaii). The FIU papers included:

Mendez, S., C. Quave, J. Graham, and B.C. Bennett. Anti-Pseudomonas activity of selected plants used in traditional ethnoveterinary practices.

Quave, C. and B.C. Bennett. The search for new anti-staphylococcal leads: Comparing the antibacterial efficiency of Italian plants based on ethnobotanical use categories.

Ramsay, G. and B.C. Bennett. Effects of ethnicity on garden composition and potential ecological impacts of home gardens in Little Havana (Miami, FL USA).

Rose, J. Comparing apples and lemons: A literature review reveals similarities in the phytochemicals of antidiarrheal plants.

Vivian Maccachero (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) recently learned that a paper from her undergraduate research is in press: Hu, X, D. Cui, L.M. Moscinski, X. Zhang, V. Maccachero, and K.S. Zuckerman. 2007. TGF-b regulates the expression and activities of G2 checkpoint kinases in human myeloid leukemia cells. Cytokine, in press. Congratulations Vivian!

Laura May Collado (Major Advisor: Doug Wartzok) recently learned that one of her papers will be published in July 2007: May-Collado, L.J., In. Agnarsson, D. Wartzok. 2007. Reexamining the relationship between body size and tonal signals frequency in whales: A comparative approach using a novel phylogeny. Marine Mammal Science 23:524-552. Congratulations Laura!

Ralph Saporito (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) recently learned that once of his papers was accepted for publication in Toxicon: Saporito, R.A., M.A. Donnelly, P. Jain, H.M. Garraffo, T.F. Spande, and J.W. Daly. Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Alkaloid Variation in the Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio in Costa Rica and Panama Over 30 Years. Congratulations Ralph!

FORMER STUDENTS

Greg Starr (Major Advisor: Steve Oberbauer) recently accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position at the University of Alabama. Greg will start his new job in 2008. Congratulations Greg!

Alessandro Catenazzi (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) recently learned that a chapter from his dissertation has been accepted for publication in the Marine Ecology Progress Series: Catenazzi, A. and M.A. Donnelly. Role of supratidal invertebrates in the decomposition of beach-cast green algae Ulva sp. He also recently published another paper from his doctoral research in the Journal of Arid Environments: Catenazzi, A. and M.A. Donnelly. 2007. Distribution of geckos in northern Peru: Long-term effect of strong ENSO events? Congratulations Alessandro!

James Watling (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) recently published a paper from his dissertation: Watling, J.I. and M.A. Donnelly. 2007. Multivariate correlates to extinction proneness of amphibians and reptiles in northeastern Bolivia. Diversity and Distributions 13:372-378.

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