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 FAU Jupiter campus webpage, and the Owl Research & Innovation Magazine.
Wild birds' gut microbiome linked with ornamentation, body condition. Dr. Rindy Anderson, along with her Ph.D. student, Morgan Slevin, have spent the last five years studying the relationships between songbird gut microbiomes and traits related to a bird's health and breeding success.
Palm Beach County Commissioners Tour Florida Atlantic's Marine Science Lab Several elected Palm Beach County officials visited the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science's Marine Science Laboratory throughout the Fall semester to visit the unique site and enjoyed tours led by renowned sea turtle scientist, Dr. Jeanette Wyneken, and other student researchers from the Marine Science Lab as well as staff from the Schmidt College of Science and members from Florida Atlantic's Office of Government Relations.
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken and her former graduate student, Dr. Christopher Mayerl, who is now a new assistant professor at Northern Arizona University, have a paper published in the Journal of Morphology. Mayerl, C.J., Capano, J.G., van Meer, N., Weller, H.I., Kaczmarek, E.B., Chadam, M., Blob, R.W., Brainerd, E.L., & Wyneken, J. (2024) Turtle Girdles: Comparing the Relationships Between Environment and Behavior on Forelimb Function in Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) and River Cooters (Pseudemys concinna). Journal of Morphology, 285(12), Article e70007. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.70007
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken also has another publication in the journal Vet Radiol Ultrasound. Erickson MCM, Gendron KP, Aguilar LAB, Wyneken, J, Walth GB, Gottdenker NL, Divers SJ. Intaosseous contrast administration for coelomic computed tomography angiography in green iguanas (Iguana iguana): Preliminary findings show promise as an alternative to the intravenous route. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2024 Nov;65(6):776-785. doi: 10.1111/vru.13416. Epub 2024 Aug 24. PMID:P 39180353.
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken named the College of Science Researcher of the Year Award (Full Professor Level). Reception to celebrate the College of Science awards will be held on Wednesday, December 4 on the 5th floor of the Wimberly Library.
Dr. Tanja Godenschwege's two undergraduate students win in this year's Art of Science competition: The photograph called "Guts and Glory" submitted by WHC undergraduate Chantae Bennet placed as an Art of Science "Student in the Lab winner" and the photograph called "Sense-sational", submitted by WHC/FAU High School undergraduate Fernanda Salomao Del Bianco placed as an Art of Science "People's Choice winner".
Dr. Stephen Kajiura's undergraduate student Rachel Lapensee won first place at the GIS Day Student Presentations, beating out graduate student competitors with her presentation on "Visualizing the blacktip shark migration".
Dr. Stephen Kajiura's graduate student Laura Jones successfully defended her Masters Thesis on the "Efficacy of a magnetic shark deterrent".
The LagoonFest was well represented by the FAU Marine Science Lab, the FAB lab (Dr. Marianne Porter, organized by Genevieve Syvester and attended by Jake Wood, Maddy Hagood, Madi Biordi and Genna Fielder ), and the ElasmoLab (Dr. Stephen Kajiura , attended by Ella Karakadze, Rachel Lapensee, Jorge Loli, Olivia Schuitema, Bryan Lopez Leon and Nic Castro). A special thanks to Dr. Chelsea Bennice (and her octopus costume!) from the FAU Marine Science Lab who organized SEA Scholar volunteers Gabby Carvajal, Alex Hoey, Hannah Mauer and Lisa Gisiger for not only the Nov. 2 LagoonFest in Lake Worth, but also the Cox Fall family Fun Fest (Oct. 19), and the Indian River Lagoon Science Fest (October 26), three weekends in a row!
Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu has been invited to join African heads of states, think tanks and multinationals by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to discuss a paper she submitted over the summer on "Harnessing Microbiomes for Economic and Climate Resilience".
Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu concluded an in-person retreat of the Applied Microbiology International Board of Trustees where she participated as General Secretary to create an ambitious strategic vision for this European professional society with a global reach.
Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu and her Ph.D. student, Michael Botey, published a review paper in Current Trends in Microbiology "Microbiomes innovation technologies for sustainable cultivation of sugarcane in south Florida: A Review".
Renowned soil microbiologists from all over the world teamed up, including Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu, to write a lead review article on microbiomes in carbon sequestration and climate adaptation: "Soil microbiome interventions for carbon sequestration and climate mitigation", which was accepted for publication in mSystems, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Congratulations to the hard work and success of the undergraduate members of the USDA Microbiome Innovation Program (PI Dr. Nwadiuto Esiobu). Joel Edouard, Shan Damas and Joshua Raia have maintained a perfect GPA of 4/4 in the past year. Shan Damas received the second best OURI poster award last Spring 2024 for his work on the role of microbiomes in the resistance of tomatoes to early blight disease. Shant Faradyn, Joel Edouard, Shan Damas and Declan Sullivan, successfully completed intensive summer experiential research at FAU, John Hopkins, FAU and US Sugar/USDA Canal Point respectively.
Dr. Rindy Anderson's Ph.D. student, Morgan Slevin, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation on "Testing relationships among the gut microbiome, fitness, and behavior in songbirds".
Dr. Randy Brooks and Dr. Chelsea Bennice's Masters student, Colleen Hecker, successfully defender her thesis on "A molecular and morphological assessment of Octopus vulgaris".
Immersive Learning at FAU’s Microbiome Innovation Cluster with Undergraduate Researcher Jon Declan - Senior biology major Jon Declan discovered the fascinating world of entomology at Florida Atlantic. He’s a founding member of FAU’s Microbiome Innovation Cluster, and his research on disease vectors and agricultural health is paving the way for a healthier future.
Faculty Spotlight on Marianne Porter, Ph.D., and the Biomechanics Laboratory - For over 10 years, Marianne Porter, Ph.D., has been leading the way in biological sciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. In her lab, the Florida Atlantic Biomechanics Laboratory (the FAB Lab), Porter and her students dive deep into the mechanics of how animals move.
Dr. Ale Aleuy is first author on paper "The invasive acanthhocephalan parasite Pachysentis canicola is associated with a declining endemic island fox population on San Miguel Island" published in the International Journal for Parasitology.
Dr. Rindy Anderson and her IB Ph.D. candidate, Heather Wolverton, had a review paper accepted to the top orinthology journal, the Journal of Avian Biology. The paper reviews research and terminology around the concept of syntax in animal communication systems and the use of terminology in bird song research.
Morgan Slevin, Dr. Rindy Anderson's IB Ph.D. candidate, had a paper accepted to the journal Oikos. This paper documents aspects of the gut microbiome of a wild songbird, the Northern Cardinal, and reports correlations between microbiome characteristics, body condition, stress hormones, and the expression of sexually-selected color signals. He also successfully defended his dissertation on October 28, 2024.
Dr. Sarah Milton is a co-PI on a $2.2 million grant from the Department of Education along with PI Dr. Donna Chamely-Wiik of OURI (Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry). The grant is titled, "Catalyzing Research-Intensive Innovations: Pathway to R1". THe goal is to positively impact underrepresented students who are completing their postsecondary degrees (undergraduate and doctoral) using evidence-based strategies including academic enrichments, long-term student engagement in research, faculty development, and tiered mentoring. Academic enrichments include targeted research courses and training in grant writing, transferrable skills including data-science, communication, and critical thinking and other professional development opportunities made available through collaborations with the various participaing units.
Dr. Rodrigo Pena's graduate student, Belle Krubitski, was awarded a June Jones Foundation Fellowship and will work under a Graduate Research Assistanship (GRA). Previously she received a Jupiter Life Science Institute (JLSI) travel award to present at the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago. Her presentation "Biphasic Activity in Co-Transmission of Glutamate and GABA" garnered good attention.
Dr. Rodrigo Pena's post-doctorate student, Cesar Ceballos, received a Jupiter Life Science Institute (JLSI) travel award to the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago and presented "Detection of biphasic synaptic currents from single vesicle release using machine learning". Dr. Rodrigo Pena was also at the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago and presented "Interleaved single and bursting spiking resonance", which is also a manuscript under review but with a preprint available here
Dean Valery Forbes and her post-doctorate student, Ines Haberle, participated in the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC) 45th annual conference that was held in Fort Worth, Texas from October 20-24. She co-chaired a session on "Using mechanistic effect modeling to support ecological risk assessment in the context of the Endangered Species Act" in which Ines Harberle gave a talk and a poster and Dean Forbes gave a talk and moderated a panel discussion. Dean Forbes also helped launch a new SETAC Interest Group on Effect Modeling together with colleagues from industry and government to share best practice, provide training, and raise visibility around this research area.
Ph.D. candidate and IMPRS student, Neha Sapkal, working in the Max Planck lab of Dr. Salil Bidaye, recently published a paper in Nature that describes their discovery of a neural circuit that stops fruit flies (literally): Sapkal, N., Mancini, N., Kumar, D. S., Spiller, N., Murakami, K., Vitelli, G., Bargeron, B., Maier, K., Eichler, K., Jefferis, G.S.X., Shiu, P. K., Sterne, G. R., & Bidaye, S. S. (2024). Neural circuit mechanisms underlying context-specific halting in Drosophila. Nature, 634 (8032), 191-200. Link
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken's Honors Biology Research undergraduate student, Noor Neha, won $600 for 2nd place at the recent Eric Shaw Science Social Research Competition for her poster "Size-dependent Differences in Turtle Carapace Sutures: Understanding Biomechanical and Evolutionary Adaptations". She was mentored by Dr. Wyneken's IB Ph.D. candidate Ivana Serra.
Dr. Jake Francis gave a seminar to the Entomology Department at UF the first week of October about his previous work and newly developing projects at FAU, met with potential new Florida collaborators and explored some N. Florida ecosystems. He also was invited by the Broward Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society's October meeting and gave a talk titled, Pollination Ecology in Action: From Sierra Nevadan Meadows to Florida's Greenspaces.
Morgan Slevin, Dr. Rindy Anderson's IB Ph.D. candidate, presented his work on cardinal microbiomes at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station on October 9th.
Set to Soar: Senior Vanessa Belizaire - Senior Medical Biology major Vanessa Belizaire is poised to graduate from Florida Atlantic in December 2024. While her undergraduate days will soon come to a close, she’s eager to continue her educational journey and hopes to enroll in a dual M.D./Ph.D. degree.
Dr. Chelsea Bennice, Dr. Jeanette Wyneken's post-doctorate student and Dr. Randy Brook's former student on octopus research, was featured in the October publicaton of the diving organization, PADI
We welcome Ken You Morisseau, the new Program Coordinator for the IB Program!
New Parasite Revealed Amid Decline of California’s Channel Island Fox - Results of the study, published in the International Journal for Parasitology, identify the parasite as Pachysentis canicola, a common acanthocephalan in multiple carnivore species in mainland North America. The parasite was detected in 69% of the necropsied foxes from San Miguel Island and was not found in any of the other five Channel Island fox subspecies.
Updated December 16, 2024
