Achievements

John M. Mola, Rachael L. Olliff, Christopher M. Steenbock

Biological Sciences

Biology graduate students John Mola and Rachael Olliff and Botany/Biology-Ecology undergraduate student Christopher Steenbock received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship on March 29th.

Amy Sprowles

Biological Sciences

Biological sciences professor Amy Sprowles recently won an elevator pitch contest summarizing her research on stem cells. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's Elevator Pitch Challenge asked scientific researchers to explain what they do, why it’s important and why the public should care in 30 seconds or less. Sprowles and her students are studying how cancer genes may turn on stem cell like properties in normal adult cells. Their research is supported by CIRM's Bridges to Stem Cell Research Awards program. You can see the speeches on YouTube at #SciencePitch.

Bethany Baibak

Biological Sciences

Bethany Baibak (MSc, Biological Sciences) has been named a 2013 California Sea Grant State Fellows. Since 2010, Baibak has held positions as a wildlife biologist at the National Council on Air and Stream Improvement in Arcata and as a wildlife technician at Stanislaus National Forest. As a state fellow, Baibak will work closely with California Department of Parks and Recreation's division chief to develop strategies and policies that protect coastal parks from sea level rise and other climate impacts.

Sharyn Marks

Biological Sciences

Sharyn Marks published a paper in the journal "Molecular Ecology" on the phylogeography and historical demography of Black Salamanders. This manuscript was based in part on data collected by Sean Reilly as part of his master's thesis under the supervision of professors Marks and Bryan Jennings. Reilly is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley and Jennings is a Visiting Professor at the Museo Nacional in Rio de Janeiro.

Sean B. Reilly, Sharyn B. Marks and W. Bryan Jennings. 2012. "Defining evolutionary boundaries across parapatric ecomorphs of Black Salamanders (_Aneides flavipunctatus_) with conservation implications. Molecular Ecology 21: 5745–5761.

Gregory Manata

Biological Sciences

Biology student Gregory Manata has received the 2013 Crellin Pauling Student Teaching Award from the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB). The $1750 award recognizes outstanding student teaching by California State University students in biotechnology.

Manata will be honored at the 25th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium Jan. 6 in Anaheim.

Jianmin Zhong

Biological Sciences

Professor Jianmin Zhong in the Department of Biological Sciences has been awarded a $353,500 R15 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The title of Professor Zhong's project is Symbiotic Rickettsia Species as a Model System for the Study of Folate Biosynthesis.

Kathryn Wiles

Biological Sciences

Kathryn Wiles, Ecology junior, has been selected to receive a 2012 CSUPERB Presidents’ Commission Scholar Award to fund her summer research project titled, ”Investigation of Horizontal Gene Transfer and Biogeography among Thermoacidophilic Isolates from Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA.” Wiles' faculty mentor, Dr. Patricia Siering, was instrumental in writing the proposal. Her adviser is Dr. Erik Jules. A committee of CSUPERB faculty and deans selected 25 proposals out of 67 submitted. The CSUPERB Presidents’ Commission will meet award winners and mentors in August 2012 at the CSU Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach.

Jessie Hagadorn

Biological Sciences

Biological Sciences student Jessie Hagadorn (Advisor Dr. Jacob Varkey) has been awarded a 2012 Global Youth Advocacy Fellowship.

The fellowship, which begins in April 2012, will provide specialized training from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the opportunity to participate in youth-led global advocacy at the Commission on Population & Development (CPD) meeting at the UN in New York City. Fellows will also participate in a youth coalition at the International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Washington, DC in July 2012.

Jon Forrest Dohlin

Biological Sciences

Jon Forrest Dohlin ('92, Biology), is currently working on a new shark exhibit at the New York Aquariam. Dohlin was named director of the aquarium in 2008. He pursued a master's degree in architecture at Parson School for Design. There, he focused on sustainable and green building. Dohlin was able to combine his love for both fields working as a designer for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Read an "article":http://thelumberjack.org/news/alumnus-big-new-york-hsu-graduate-becomes… on Dohlin in HSU's student newspaper, "The Lumberjack":http://thelumberjack.org/home.

Leah Sloan

Biological Sciences

Leah Sloan, graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, recently tied for first place for the Best Student Poster Award at the recent Western Society of Naturalists meeting held in Vancouver, Washington. The title of her poster was: "The Bane of Bullfrogs: Population Structure of Western Pond Turtles (Emys marmorata) in Lentic Habitats Along the Trinity River."