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Life Line March 2018 Otterbein University Digital Commons @ Otterbein Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter Biology and Earth Science 3-2018 Life Line March 2018 Otterbein Biology and Earth Science Department [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/lifeline Part of the Biology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Otterbein Biology and Earth Science Department, "Life Line March 2018" (2018). Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter. 5. https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/lifeline/5 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology and Earth Science at Digital Commons @ Otterbein. It has been accepted for inclusion in Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Otterbein. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Volume 19 Published by Otterbein University Department of Biology and Earth Science March 2018 Welcome Spring 2018 Welcome to another edition of His research interests include our annual newsletter! You’ll see computer modeling of disease, that a lot of exciting things have skeletal articulation of museum been happening over the last year, specimens and raccoon research, including the addition of a new however, he’s spent most of his faculty member, Dr. Andrew Calin- time working internationally on ger-Yoak. Andrew joined us in fall managing free-roaming dog popu- 2017 and has been teaching many lations in places like India, Ethio- of the nursing-facing courses like pia, and the Galapagos Islands. Anatomy & Physiology and Patho- Andrew is really excited about in- physiology. He has a B.S. in Zoolo- volving Otterbein students with gy and a Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecolo- his work and sharing his passion gy, and Organismal Biology from for science. Andrew Calinger-Yoak The Ohio State University. After He’s a long-time resident of graduating, he spent several years central Ohio and lives with his know you will be hearing more as a post-doctoral researcher in the wife and three young children in about his great work with our stu- Department of Preventive Veteri- addition to their ever-growing me- dents in future newsletters. nary Medicine at OSU working nagerie of animals. We are so hap- Dr. Sarah Bouchard, directly with the USDA and CDC. py to have him on our team and Professor and Chairperson Underwater University The Department of Biology and Earth Science’s zoo pro- gram has been so successful, that we have decided to expand in a new direction. Starting this fall, students can choose to pursue the “Aquarium Track” within the Zoo Science major. The Columbus Dispatch story on our new program gave us the headline “Underwater U”. While the goals of the track remain focused on the science and practices of animals in captivity, the new path allows students to focus on aquatic biology and aquarium specific practices. Dr. Michael Hoggarth will be developing a new course on freshwater biology to complement Dr. Halard Lescinsky’s existing coral reef ecology course and a new introduction to marine science course will be offered. One key to the new offerings will be a practicum course designed Claire Sinard ’19 interning at the Discovery Reef, specifically on tank upkeep (“life support”). The practicum will Columbus Zoo and Aquarium be offered in conjunction with our partners - the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and Reef Systems Coral Farm of New Albany. In addition, much of the lab in room 113 will be ret- rofitted to house a series of new marine tanks for students to hone their aquatic husbandry skills. We hope the program’s new focus will allow us to add 10-12 new students to the major each year. PAGE 2 LIFE LINE VOLUME 19 Otterbein’s Well Field Goes Off the Grid and Gets an Outdoor Laboratory Environmental science students water pump and solar panels that are familiar with the monitoring well will supply the electricity for the network behind The Point (60 system, and support materials for Collegeview), and now thanks to a the development of the water generous donation from Alan Goff ’75 feature. The intent is to train and Coral Harris, a solar powered students how water supplies can pumping system and an outdoor be developed in areas that do not laboratory will be constructed as part have access to electricity. of the improvements and renovations Dr. Kevin Svitana is to the former Mettler-Toledo building. incorporating the well Both the pumping system and the development and pumping The solar powered pumping system that will be installed outdoor laboratory are currently system installation into his at The Point. under construction. hydrology class, ESCI 3100. Goff and Harris cited a concern Students will do hydraulic analysis of related to global warming, water the aquifer to determine the sizing of covered area behind The Point that scarcity and a disappearance of arable the pumping system, work with Dr. will have sinks, storage and workspace land as the motivation for their Svitana to install the pump and solar for both Biology and Earth Science $100,000 Innovative Sustainability panels and learn how to perform classes. Thanks to the generous Fund. The couple are proudly maintenance on the system. “This is donation, students will be able to work sponsoring the development of a solar an excellent opportunity to provide in the field, rather than transport powered water supply system that students with first-hand experience everything back to the Science Center. will be integrated with a water with developing an off-grid water Drs. Bouchard, Hoggarth, Lehman and feature to be developed by the supply system. We really appreciate Svitana envision using this facility to Department of Art. Their donation what Alan and Coral have done,” help add to curricular opportunities will be used to drill a 25-foot deep stated Svitana. related to field laboratory exercises. water well, purchase a submersible The outdoor laboratory will be a Conservation Biology Storytelling Students in the fall 2017 Jenny Currier, freelance journalist, Conservation Biology class focused on and Kyle Huetter, Education Manager how to use storytelling to inspire from The Walt Disney Company, by people to help protect the skyping them into our classroom. The environment and endangered species. students worked hard all semester Everyone took an online storytelling with many ups and downs and course produced by the International multiple drafts of each version. Union for the Conservation of Nature Stories focused on a wide variety of (IUCN). The course, Storytelling for environmental problems, including Conservation Action, contained five how palm oil production and cell main units entitled: (1) Designing phone manufacturing are directly tied your stories; (2) Developing your own to deforestation, the causes and nature conservation story; (3) How to consequences of native bee population use the power of storytelling; (4) decline and connections between the Joining IUCN CEC’s campaign “How fashion industry and environmental to Tell a Love Story”; and (5) The pollutants (among many others). Each power of storytelling. story worked hard to hook the reader After completing the course, into caring about these environmental Storytelling at Glacier Ridge Elementary School students worked in groups to write issues and offered concrete solutions. We wrapped up the semester by their own stories, one aimed at college them. The interviews were one of traveling to Glacier Ridge Elementary students and one aimed at fifth several sources that the fifth graders School, where the students shared graders. Terry Hermsen from the used to write their own essays. their stories with Allison Lodico’s fifth Otterbein Department of English and Although many of the Conservation grade class, which was also studying Beth Armstrong from Conservation Biology students were nervous about conservation. Otterbein students Initiatives visited our class to talk the experience, it was highly served as experts in their area and about their experiences telling stories successful and very rewarding for after they read their stories to the fifth and to offer some helpful pointers. everyone. We also tapped into the expertise of graders, the children interviewed VOLUME 19 LIFE LINE PAGE 3 Safari in South Africa By Kyle Turner ’19 and Rachel Wilson ’19 This summer a group of students Academy and found ourselves Once our first two legs of the trip in the Otterbein Biology and Earth immersed in the surroundings. With were over, we jumped on another plane Science Department traveled to no connection to our phones, we were and flew across the country to the South Africa to study large animal fully focused on our experience. We Eastern Cape and drove to Mossel Bay. ecology. The trip was led by Dr. were greeted by our host, Wayne, and There we stayed with Oceans Research Halard Lescinsky and Dr. Beaux his wife. They welcomed us to stay in and ventured out to different locations Berkeley with the hopes of engaging dormitories and fed us wonderful to learn and help in research. We their students with higher level cuisine. The milk we had was from a assisted in great white shark surveys thinking in new situations. Overall neighboring farm, most of the food was and benthic shark tagging. We also got we visited more than a dozen locally sourced and we got to see what to see humpback dolphins, cape seals different places in a span of 14 days it took to live in the country side in and a wright whale and her calf. After and countless memories were made. South Africa. At the Conservation we had our fun in the water we jumped Our first full day in the country Academy we learned about land on yet another plane and headed to the was spent exploring the city. We management and we had the most anticipated part of our journey: visited several places that were opportunity to hike the surrounding Kruger National Park.
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