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When working with human afflictions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes, researchers find it beneficial to study model organisms that can exhibit the same conditions. Animals such as mice and turtles, for example, can provide insight about the biological traits and medical conditions they share with humans. This summer Melanie Hundt ’13, Nicole Nietlisbach ’13 and Max Vaickus ’12 examined hypothyroidism and diabetes in mice and tested for the hormone ghrelin in turtles. The students worked with Professor of Biology David Gapp.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Ashleigh Smythe gave an invited talk titled “Molecular Phylogeny of Enoplia: Implications for Classification and Stoma Evolution” at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Society of Nematologists held July 17-20 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. Her talk was presented in the symposium “Freshwater and Marine Nematodes.”

Ichthyopthirius (Ich), a unicellular parasite that attacks freshwater fish and causes “White Spot Disease,” often has deadly consequences for its host, yet there is no effective treatment for the disease. An Ich outbreak could claim as many as 18 million fish, harming aquacultures and economies around the world. Despite the disease’s prevalence, researchers have no definitive mechanism for Ich’s reproductive cycle, making it difficult to find effective vaccination and treatment. This summer, Chun Yee Lau ’12 and Ravi Jariwala ’13 are working under Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang to discover more about the Ich reproduction cycle.

Jinnie Garrett, professor of biology, was an invited discussant at the dinner plenary talk "Education and the New Human Biotechnologies" given by Evelynn Hammonds, dean of Harvard University, at the Tarrytown Meetings of the Center for Genetics and Society held in Tarrytown, N.Y., July 23-25.

“This is the first time we have the data that we can analyze statistically that shows there’s a downward trend [in monarch butterfly populations],” said Professor of Biology Ernest H. Williams in a July 11 New York Times article titled “In Midwest, Flutters May Be Far Fewer.” Williams is the co-author of “Decline of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: is the migratory phenomenon at risk?” recently published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity.

Professor of Biology Sue Ann Miller participated in discussions about mechanisms of development at the Third Symposium on Frontiers in Biomechanics: Mechanics of Development.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Ashleigh Smythe was invited to be a keynote speaker in a symposium titled “Meiofauna – Comparative Morphology and Evolution” at the second International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology, held in June at Harvard University. Smythe’s presentation was titled “Marine Nematodes:  Unfathomable Diversity or a Sea of Opportunity?”

Ernest Williams, the Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Biology, presented a gallery talk on June 19 at the Arts Center in Old Forge, N.Y.

Butterfly populations, and the changes within them, can speak volumes about the ecosystem that these insects call home. Abby Koppa and Professor of Biology Ernest Williams will examine one particularly threatened species of butterfly in relation to its habitat in the Rome Sand Plains. 

“The evolutionary history of histone H3 suggests a deep eukaryotic root of chromatin modifying mechanisms,” a paper co-authored by Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang, was published in the online journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.  In the paper, Chang and his collaborators present the results of their research into the evolution of histone proteins in eukaryotes.