March 2008

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS

Cassandra Quave (Major Advisor: Brad Bennett) defended her Doctoral Dissertation entitled “An ethnopharmacological approach to multidrug-resistant Staphlococcus aureus: Evaluation of Italian plants used in the traditional healing of skin disease” on 12 March 2008 at 1:00 pm in WC 130.

Ines Iglesias-Lee (Major Advisor: Marty Tracey) defended her Master’s Thesis entitled “Comparison of the utility of Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms and short tandem repeats” on 24 March 2008 at 10:00 am in WC 130.

Allison Adonizio (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee) defended her Doctoral Dissertation entitled “Anti-quorum sensing agents from South Florida medicinal plants and their attenuation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity” on 25 March 2008 at 10:00 am in HLS II 655.

Melissa Doud (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee) presented her dissertation proposal seminar entitled "The cystic fibrosis lung harbors complex fungal and eubacterial communities" on 25 March 2008 at 2:00 pm in HLS II 655.

Robin Smith (Major Advisor: Todd LaJeunesse) defended his Doctoral Dissertation entitled “Specificity, sstability and comparative physiology of the coral-Symbiodinium mutualisms: Evaluating the potential for acclimation and/or adaptation in reef corals” on 27 March 2008 at 3:00 pm in MS 105.

BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM

Several students presented papers and posters during the Tenth Annual Biology Research Symposium. Melissa Doud (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee) won first place for her Oral Presentation, Marcy Lowenstein (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos) won second place for her Oral Presentation and Samantha Whitcraft (Major Advisor: Craig Layman) won third place for her oral presentation. Jay Munyon (Major Advisor: Evelyn Gaiser) won first place for his poster presentation.

Oral Presentations:

Adam Rosenblatt (Major Advisor: Mike Heithaus): Habitat use, movements, and trophic position of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in the Florida Coastal Everglades.

Adriana Galvis (Major Advisor: Alejandro Barbieri): Structural and functional specificity of Rab-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF).

Adam Obaza (Major Advisor: Joel Trexler): Effectiveness of drift fences as a method for monitoring fish movement.

Marcy Lowenstein (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos): Sox 10 and Endothelin receptor b interact during melanocyte development.

Paulo Olivas (Major Advisor: Steve Oberbauer): Fast assessment of ecosystem respiration: CO2 emissions at several islands of the Antarctic peninsula.

Nora Oleas (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega): Corss-species amplification of microsatellite markers in Phaedranassa (Amaryllidaceae)

Deepak Balasubramanian (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee): Elucidating the Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpR regulon.

Melissa S. Doud (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee): Metagenomic analysis of the cystic fibrosis lung using amplicon length heterogeneity polymerase chain reacdtion

Cassandra L. Quave (Major Advisor: Brad Bennett): Effects of extracts from Ballota nigraon biofilm formation and adherence in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Mario H. Perez (Major Advisor: Fernando Noriega): Yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) metallothionein: A molecular basis of mosquito adaptation to metal polluted urban environments.

Brett Jestrow (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega): Phylogenetics and biogeography of the West Indian genera Lasiocroton and Leucocroton (Euphorbiaceae)

Samantha R. Whitcraft (Major Advisor: Craig Layman): Intraspecific variations in gray snapper movement patterns.

Jason A. Somarelli (Major Advisor: Rene Herrera): Simulating a virtual spliceosome in 3D.

Sitti Zayda Halun (Major Advisor: Jim Fourqurean): Productivity and species richness of maraine benthic habitats in South Florida.

Jeremy J. Vaudo (Major Advisor: Mike Heithaus): Species composition and seasonal abundance of rays in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Poster Presentations:

Duane M. Choquette (Major Advisor: Tim Collins): Phylogeography and evolutionary origins of Florida’s native Apple Snail, Pomacea paludosa.

Karen Laubengayer (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega): Aiphanes minima: One species or more?

Vivian Maccachero (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly): Amphibian and reptiles species composition in two tropical swamps.

Jay W. Munyon (Major Advisor: Evelyn Gaiser): Influence of periphyton on carbon dioxide sequestration along enrichment and hydrologic gradients in Everglades marshes.

Varinder Pannu (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee): Molecular epidemiology of multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Southwest Nigerian hospitals.

Diansy Zinke & Deepak Balasubramanian (Major Advisor: Kalai Mathee): Characterization of the poxAB operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PUBLICATIONS

Flavio Brito (Major Advisor: Lidia Kos) recently learned that one of her manuscripts was recently accepted without revision! Brito F.C. and L. Kos. Timeline and Distribution of Melanocyte Precursors in the Mouse Heart. Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research,in press. Congratulations Flavia!

Daniel Gomez (Major Advisor: Steve Oberbauer) recently published a paper from his Master’s thesis: Gomez-Peralta, D., S.F. Oberbauer, M.E. McClain, and T.E. Philippi. 2008. Rainfall and cloud-water interception in tropical montane forests in the eastern Andes of Central Peru. Forest Ecology and Management: 255:1315-1325. Congratulations Daniel!

CLUB ACTIVITIES

The MCB Club held a meeting on 6 March 2008 at 12 pm at HLS 216 to discuss budget issues and future activities.

The MCB Club is providing a pizza lunch with the candidate for the virology position on 14 March 2008.

The BGSA held a pizza mixer on 28 March 2008 in the Ecotank to celebrate the first Friday after Spring Break.

FORMER STUDENTS

Brian Sidoti (Major Advisor: Javier Francisco-Ortega) will begin a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin next fall.

James Watling (Major Advisor: Maureen Donnelly) will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University with John Orrack in June 2008.
Laura May Collado (Major Advisor: Doug Wartzok) recently learned that one of her papers was accepted for publication: May-Collado, L. J. and D. Wartzok. 2008. A comparison of bottlenose dolphin whistles in the Atlantic Ocean: insights on factors promoting whistle variation. Journal of Mammalogy, in press.

Joe O’Brien (Major Professors: Steve Oberbauer & Suzanne Koptur) recently published a paper from his dissertation work: O’Brien, J.J., S.F. Oberbauer, D.B. Clark and D.A. Clark. 2008. Phenology and Stem Diameter Increment Seasonality in a Costa Rican West Tropical Forest. Biotropica 40:151-159.

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