College of Letters & Science UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ZoologyNews for Alumni and Friends of the Department of Zoology NowWinter 2012 Lions and Bison and Mollusks and More The UW’s Zoological Museum trains interns to prepare and display specimens hree white-coated Tstudent interns huddle over the remains of a female African lion in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum’s specimen-preparation room. Huge paws, still furry and whole, hang over the table edge, while the students patiently pick at tendons and membranes in the exposed rib cage, neck, and skull. Once the skeleton is completely disarticulated, it will be sent to the flesh-eating dermestid beetle colony in a subterra- nean room near Birge Hall. Then, after the bones are thoroughly cleaned, they will be added to the museum’s osteology collection and made available for research purposes. Without interns to help with such difficult tasks, the museum could not accept specimens such as Vilas the lion, euthanized in the sum- mer of 2012 and donated by Madison’s Henry Vilas Zoo. For many students, this is their BILL FEENY first experience with hands-on activities in close association Museum intern and UW-Madison student Agnieszka Podraza with Galápagos tortoise and sea turtle skeletons. Thanks to a unique research agreement between UW-Madison and Ecuador, the giant with museum professionals. Galápagos tortoise skeleton (collected after the animal had died) was permitted to leave the country and (Continued on page 3) join the UW’s collection in Noland Hall. BILL FEENY Notes from the Chair These are exciting Zoology Now, we feature two vignettes: you is important to us! We’d love to times for Zoology one about Professor Tony Stretton, and hear what you are doing with your at UW-Madison! another about a popular course offered Zoology degree, whether you are With the exploding by the Zoological Museum. We hope continuing to work in science or another interest in biology you enjoy them. exciting focus. Your varied career paths on campus, Zool- Several stories in this edition of can serve as inspiration to current stu- ogy is delighted to Zoology Now highlight notable ways in dents whose futures are still evolving. be at the heart of which our faculty and staff are impact- Please send your updates (and photos, several exciting ini- ing the campus and the world through too!) to [email protected]. tiatives for under- their research. In this issue, we feature We will share them in our next newsletter. graduates. With the Botany department, work by several of our ecology faculty. we received a major award from the Subsequent issues will focus on excit- Sincerely, Madison Initiative for Undergraduates ing work by our cellular, neurobiol- (MIU). Through the MIU, Zoology will ogy, and evolutionary biology faculty, lead exciting changes in the Introducto- so stay tuned. The MIU will help the ry Biology curriculum, led by Professor department to continue this tradition of Seth Blair. We are also at the center of excellence through the hiring of a new Jeff Hardin important discussions regarding several faculty member in cell, neuroscience, or Professor and Chair large biological science degree programs developmental biology. We are attract- on the UW-Madison campus. We hope ing many fine candidates, and we hope to tell you more about them in our next to introduce our new Zoology Now is the alumni newsletter of the edition of Zoology Now. colleague in our next edition. Department of Zoology at the Zoology continues its emphasis Our undergraduate and graduate University of Wisconsin-Madison. on advanced animal biology courses, students continue to flourish, winning L.E. Noland Zoology Building which include both new offerings and campus, national, and international 250 North Mills Street Madison, WI 53706 USA old favorites: Tropical Herpetology, awards to support their original research. Environmental Toxicology, a Neurosci- We thank you for your continuing con- Chair of the Department of Zoology: Jeff Hardin ence Biology lab course, as well as the tributions to Zoology’s UW Foundation Department Manager: Peggy Nowicki [email protected] return of Invertebrate Biology, Animal funds. Our students’ success would not Behavior, and Mammalogy. True to our be possible without your continuing, Writer: Mary Ellen Gabriel tradition, faculty and staff are passion- generous support. Design: Wisconsin Alumni Association® ate about teaching. In this edition of Speaking of success, hearing about 2 Zoology Now Continued from page 1 From the Dean’s Desk “We have only two state-supported I am de- sity’s biology major (the third largest staff to oversee collecting and curating, lighted to major on campus) and Biocore, an so we rely very heavily on our interns,” write to you award-winning, intercollege biology says Laura Halverson Monahan, curator from the honors program. of collections. SARAH MORTON College of Indeed, the Department of Zool- The UW Zoological Museum is Letters & ogy has much to celebrate. Alumni and a repository of more than 650,000 Science: friends should feel proud of its vibrant, skeletons, skins, and preserved whole the heart engaged community of faculty, staff, vertebrate animals and mollusks — with of UW- students, and alumni. Groundbreak- more arriving every day. Started in the Madison, ing research into ecological “tipping 1880s by Edward A. Birge (after a fire where stu- points” takes our faculty to far-flung destroyed an even earlier collection), dents learn places — from Yellowstone National the museum’s eight collections encom- to make a Park, where Monica Turner studies pass long-extinct creatures such as the good living and lead a good life. When forest fires, to Iceland’s Lake Mývatn, passenger pigeon, endangered species I think of the contributions that our where Tony Ives focuses on fluctuating such as the Wisconsin gray wolf, and departments make to the state and the populations of insects and fish. Both of thousands of other mammals, birds, world through research, teaching, and these scientists have received the pres- reptiles, amphibians, fish, and mollusks. public service, I am reminded why tigious Robert R. MacArthur Award The collection draws researchers from I have spent 30 of my happiest and from the Ecological Society of America around the globe and educates students most rewarding years here. — Turner in 2008 and Ives in 2012. about natural history, including new As you have heard, public higher I invite you to stay connected to and old preservation techniques. education is at a crossroads. State your alma mater. I appreciate your In addition to the museum’s support for the university now provides feedback and support, and I want to internship program, Halverson only 15 percent of our annual budget. thank you for all that you do. Monahan co-instructs a new, upper- I have asked all departments to care- level course focused on natural history fully consider interdepartmental On, Wisconsin! collections, which accepts 15 students collaborations, teaching strategies, per semester. Students learn to preserve and student programs that will ensure whole animals in fluid, prepare mam- a world-class, 21st-century education. mal skins, press and mount plants, and The Department of Zoology has risen pin and label insects. Their hands-on to this challenge. Faculty in Zoology, Gary Sandefur, Dean assignments teach them valuable skills, together with their colleagues in the [email protected] and at the same time, assist curators Botany department, teach core courses twitter.com/UWMadisonLS such as Halverson Monahan in keep- that lay the foundation for the univer- facebook.com/UWMadisonLS ing up with the influx of specimens donated by professors, museums, parks, zoos, natural resources professionals, and citizens. The museum will welcome a siz- able arrival this year: 500 bison bones, You have stories, photos, and memories. We want to hear about your wonderful. including very important skulls, from the Bell Museum of Natural History at For the first time ever, the university is groundbreaking research, and provide the University of Minnesota. The bones launched a new, multi-media effort to life-changing experiences for Badgers. are 7,800 years old, from a long-extinct encourage alumni to support their alma Your annual support ensures that species: bison occidentalis. mater through an annual gift. Your sto- tomorrow’s students are prepared to “This may end up being one of ries matter. Share your experiences and make a good living and lead a good life. the largest finds east of the Mississippi,” more at www.sharethewonderful.org. says Halverson Monahan. “A lot of peo- ple will want access to this collection.” Collectively, your gifts — no matter the size — make a difference. Gifts help n n n to recruit outstanding faculty, support zoology.wisc.edu 3 BILL FEENY “ The purpose has always been to clarify, to help them learn, to give them some- thing in some other region of their memory to hang the concepts onto, and yes— to lighten the moment, to elicit a smile or a laugh.” — Professor Antony Stretton Bascom Professor Antony Stretton (center) in his lab with graduate students Jennifer Knicklebine and Christopher Konop. Tony Stretton Shares Wisdom and Passion for Teaching If you had Professor Antony (“Tony”) A good lecturer communicates at mul- a fervent admirer of American Players Stretton for Neurobiology or Animal tiple levels and conveys much more than Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Physiology, chances are you would information. He or she also conveys he reads about a novel a week to relax. remember him. validity and authenticity, and gives allu- Perhaps the secret to Stretton’s Reading passages of Shakespeare’s sions to other spheres, both academic success lies in the passion that he holds Macbeth aloud? That is one way in which and in life, that help the student analyze, for his work.