Biology Announcements
The following is a list of the latest news from the Department of Biological Sciences. For more general stories or announcements, please visit the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science homepage, the Jupiter Life Science Initiative webpage, and the Owl Research & Innovation Magazine.
December 6, 2019
What Can you Do With a Biology Degree? December 2019 Featured Alum. Aaron McFarlane earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from FAU in spring 2019. He is now a graduate student in the Integrative Biology PhD program and working towards pursuing a career in biomedical research.
November 20, 2019
2019 Broward Student Research Symposium Winners. Integrative Biology PhD graduate students swept this year's competition and highlights the outstanding work our students are doing under the mentorship of the exceptional FAU faculty.
November 18, 2019
What Can you Do With a Biology Degree? November 2019 Featured Alumna. Kaitlin Grell earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences and an Environmental Science certificate from FAU in May of 2019. About a month after she graduated from FAU, she started work with the Walt Disney World Company as an Aquatic Research Intern at the Seas with Nemo & Friends.
November 15, 2019
IBNS Alumna Publishes Paper. Dr. Priyanka Kakad, who worked in the laboratory of Dr. Tanja Godenschwege, recently published an article entitled "Transcriptional dysregulation by a nucleus-localized aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy" in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
November 11, 2019
Biology Postdoc Publishes Paper. Dr. Itzel Sifuentes-Romero, a postdoctoral fellow, recently published a paper with Dr. Kate Detwiler, Associate Professor of Anthropology, in the scientific journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
November 8, 2019
Biology Faculty Member Featured on WFTV Orlando. Dr. Jeanette Wyneken, Professor of Biology, was recently featured on WFTV Orlando to discuss why female sea turtle births are at an all-time high.
November 6, 2019
Colgan Foundation Supports FAU Shark Research. The migration and behavioral patterns of blacktip sharks can tell us a lot about the health of our oceans. That’s why we’re grateful for the generous and ongoing support from the Colgan Foundation to renowned shark researcher Dr. Stephen Kajiura, Professor of Biological Sciences.
November 4, 2019
Biology Honors Thesis Student Presents at a National Conference. Anastasia Tyulmenkova, a Biology Honors Thesis student who works in the laboratory of Dr. Ceylan Isgor, recently presented her research at the Society for Neuroscience 49th Annual Meeting that took place last month in Chicago, Illinois.
November 1, 2019
IB PhD Student Trains at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Danielle Riboul, who works in the laboratory of Dr. Greg Macleod, recently trained at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with Dr. David Hall, the director of the world’s most extensive C. elegans electron microscopy database, the WormAtlas.
October 30, 2019
'Image of Distinction' in 2019 Photomicrography Competition. Congratulations to Dr. Wen Shen, Associate Professor of Biomedical Science and Biology graduate program faculty member, for receiving the 'Image of Distinction' honor for her entry in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.
October 28, 2019
'FAU Day' Celebrated at the Florida Capital. Every year, FAU sends a select group of students to join FAU President John Kelly and the FAU Board of Trustees to advocate on behalf of the University in Tallahassee. Dr. Ken Dawson-Scully, Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, joined to represent FAU.
October 23, 2019
IB PhD Student Publishes Paper. James Jaggard, who works in the lab of Dr. Alex Keene, along with collaborators recently published a paper entitled "An Adult Brain Atlas Reveals Broad Neuroanatomical Changes in Independently Evolved Populations of Mexican Cavefish" in the scientific journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.
October 18, 2019
FAU Jupiter Executive Director of Academic Operations Selected. After a national search, FAU selected Bethany Stanhope, Ph.D., as the Executive Director for Academic Operations of the Jupiter campus effective October 19, 2019.
October 11, 2019
Sea Turtle Research Featured at the Museum of Discovery and Science Turtle Trackers Exhibit. FAU sea turtle conservation research from the FAU Marine Research Lab at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is on display in a new exhibit at MODS in Fort Lauderdale now through the end of the year.
October 9, 2019
Blacktip Sharks of Florida. Dr. Stephen Kajiura was featured on JONATHAN BIRD'S BLUE WORLD, an Emmy Award-winning underwater science/adventure series featuring underwater cinematographer/naturalist Jonathan Bird.
October 7, 2019
Biology Faculty Featured in Online News Platform. Dr. Stephen Kajiura was featured in the online article "Sharks Swimming Farther North: Another Sign of Global Warming" on WhoWhatWhy.org. Kajiura discusses his research findings on shark migration patterns.
October 4, 2019
Biology Graduate Program Faculty Member Earns Early-career Fellowship. Dr. Andia Chaves Fonnegra, Assistant Professor of the Wilkes Honors College and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, received The Gulf Research Program’s 2019 Early-Career Research Fellowship of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
October 1, 2019
IB PhD Students Among Poster Winners in the 2019 Research Showcase. Danielle Ingle and Alexandra Lolavar, both IB PhD candidates, and Andrea Hernandez, a Biology Masters student, were among the authors listed on the "FAU Owls Imaging Lab" poster from FAU High School that received an award. The 2019 FAU Research Showcase saw more than 300 people come through the doors at FAU Tech Runway last week to hear about some of university’s top research initiatives.
September 27, 2019
FAU to Host Events in Honor of 2019 Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month. Florida Atlantic University will celebrate Hispanic/Latinx Heritage with a series of events for students and staff beginning Saturday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Oct. 15, at its Boca Raton, Jupiter and Broward campuses.
September 23, 2019
Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Randy Blakely, executive director of the FAU Brain Institute, received the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2019 STEM Innovation Awards.
September 20, 2019
FAU Postdoctoral Fellow Awarded NARSAD Young Investigator Grant. The Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation (BBRF) awarded the prestigious NARSAD Young Investigator Grant to Dr. Adele Stewart, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Randy D. Blakely.
September 16, 2019
IBNS Student Studies Gene Editing Techniques. Roberto Hernandez, who works in the laboratory of Dr. Greg Macleod, recently visited Brown University to learn gene-editing techniques from leaders in the field who developed the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique for fruit flies, a powerful technique for investigating the genetic basis of human disease.
September 13, 2019
FAU Ranked by ‘U.S. News & World Report’ as Top Public School. U.S. News & World Report ranked FAU in its list of “Top Public Schools” in the nation for the first time in the university’s history.
September 9, 2019
FAU Marine Lab Helps Turtle Conservation. Dr. Jeanette Wyneken and the FAU Marine Laboratory at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center were recently featured in the Miami Herald article discussing how climate change negatively affects the sea turtle gender ratio.
September 6, 2019
‘Dream Team’ Awarded $1.1 Million for Blind Mexican Cavefish Research. Drs. Erik Duboue, Johanna Kowalko, Alex Keene and collaborators have received a three-year National Science Foundation EDGE grant totaling $1,148,464 to develop powerful transgenic tools and gene-editing technologies in the blind Mexican cavefish to significantly advance it as a research model system.
September 3, 2019
FAU Attracts Record Number of National Merit Scholars. Florida Atlantic University has welcomed a record number of National Merit Scholars for the fall 2019 semester. A total of 35 National Merit Scholars are enrolled this semester and 11 of those finalists will join the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College at FAU's John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter.
August 30, 2019
IBBS PhD Student Publishes Paper. Joshua Disatham, who works in the laboratory of Dr. Marc Kantorow, recently published a paper in the scientific journal Developmental Biology.
August 26, 2019
New Faculty Member Joins the Biology Department. Dr. Carl Hansen joins the department from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. His current research focuses on understanding G-protein mediated signaling inputs regulating angiogenesis, a collaborative effort with the laboratory of Dr. Janet Robishaw.
August 20, 2019
Marine Science Master's Student Featured on German Public Radio. Dr. Sarah Milton and her graduate student Heather Seaman were featured four times over the past few weeks on different broadcasts over German Public Radio.
August 15, 2019
2019 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Retreat. The FAU Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) office held their 7th Annual Summer Retreat. SURF projects are ten-week, intensive summer immersion research experiences for FAU undergraduate students. This year students in the labs of Drs. Rindy Anderson, Evelyn Frazier, Diane Baronas-Lowell, James Hartmann, and Marianne Porter participated in the SURF program.
August 9, 2019
What Can a Blind Fish Teach Us About Sleep? Frontiers for Young Minds recently published an article written by Alexandra Paz, a second-year Integrative Biology-Neuroscience student who works for Dr. Alex Keene, that explores the various experiments that can be conducted using cavefish and why these experiments might be useful for humans.
August 5, 2019
IB PhD Alums Publish Paper. Drs. Olena Mahneva and Stacee Caplan, both who were co-advised by Dr. Sarah Milton and Dr. Ken Dawson-Scully, recently published a paper in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology.
August 2, 2019
Shark Researchers Featured on National Geographic. Drs. Steve Kajiura and Matt Ajemian were recently featured on the National Geographic television show "When Sharks Attack" in an episode titled, The Shark Bite State.
Updated Monday, November 11, 2019
