Tag: biology

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Campus News

Professor Hired After Five Year Search

After five years of searching, a Biochemistry professor has been hired. According to Karen Torraca, Chair of the Chemistry department, Paul Martino will join Houghton faculty in the Paine Center for Science.

Torraca stated “We really expect faculty to mentor students in the Christian faith.  Having that particular combination of having someone who is really good at science, in particular biochemistry, and mentoring students from a Christian perspective I think is a really tough combination to find.”  In Professor Martino, the hiring board believes it has found that combination.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

Torraca said she appreciated Martino’s academic and professional experience.  She recalled the board was “excited that he has lots of teaching experience already so not somebody who had just gotten out of graduate school.” She continued, “He comes to us from Carson Newman, which is a four year institution, where he taught Biochemistry as well as Organic Chemistry so he has teaching experience which has been great in terms of having him bring those experiences into the department”.

Additionally, Torraca explained that there was also the expectation for applicants to present the research they sought to conduct while working at Houghton. Martino said the expectation for further research was a major reason why he wanted to teach in an undergraduate college.  He remarked, “I came back east to follow my dream of being at a small undergraduate liberal arts college where I could actively do research in my field.”

This semester, Martino is teaching general education Chemistry courses, including Introduction to Nutrition. Colleen Shannon ‘17, a student in Martino’s Nutrition class, observed the difficulties of teaching the class, and stated, “I think overall one of the most challenging parts of teaching a gen ed course is that you have a wide range of students, where some students are chem[istry] majors or on the bio[logy] track and they have a lot of background and consistency in their bio[ology] education and then there are other students who are just checking a box off.”  In this situation, she acknowledged the positive difference it makes to have a teacher who knows and is passionate about the subject material.  She recalled a particular instance when Martino excitedly explained proteins to the class and allowed her to feel some secondhand excitement for the subject.

In this class, students are able to witness not only his experience in teaching and the field of Biochemistry, but also the impact of his Christian perspective.  Another Nutrition student, Jessica Robinson ‘18 commented on his method of presenting faith into his teaching, and stated he has “The awe of ‘Look what our God is able to do’… Our God is so cool that he is able to do all of this and make our bodies so intricate.” Shannon added his commitment to Christianity is evident “implicitly in the way he carries a joyful spirit in the way he teaches.”

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News

Students Present at Penn York Conference

Last weekend, roughly 80 students from multiple colleges presented on various fields of study at the Penn York Undergraduate Research Conference, hosted by Houghton College. Michael Klausner, director of social sciences program and associate professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, said “The tone, presentations, attendance, and keynote speaker were all first rate.”

ABurdoConferenceCMYKAccording to Laurie Dashnau, Houghton professor of writing and conference director, on Saturday approximately eighty students participated altogether from Houghton College, Hilbert College, St. Bonaventure University, Alfred University, the University of Pitt-Bradford, and the University of Pitt-Titusville.

Students had the opportunity to present their original pieces of work through oral and poster presentations in the subjects of physics, psychology, biology, chemistry, computer science, writing, linguistics, and history. Dashnau said the conference “affirms the high-quality of research students are doing” all while giving the students confidence and practice while sharing their information with  professors and classmates.

Laura Johnson, a sophomore, gave a presentation titled “Caring for Caregivers: A Different Side of Alzheimer’s” in writing. “Conferences like this are important for scholastic growth,” Johnson said. “It allowed me to gain experience from presenting in front of an academic group of people that I don’t necessarily know, people who believe different things from me, and people who are trained to think thoughtfully.”

A group of students also participated with a presentation from the Science department. Sylvia Morrow, senior, gave a poster presentation titled, “A Study of Weak Magnetic Focusing” in physics. “Many of the presentations I have done in the past have been for people who are in physics,” Morrow said. “So it was interesting to have the opportunity to talk about my research with people who are not a part of that community.”

Kayla Miller and Olivia Morse, sophomores, gave a poster presentation on the “Relationship between Greenhouse Gases and Changes in Altitude.” Morse said, “The most valuable part of this experience was learning how to create a scientific poster that was visually appealing, concise, and informative.” While Miller said, “It took a while to put it in poster format. It was certainly busy trying to do it on top of homework for regular classes.”

A considerable amount of time was spent by each student preparing for this conference, not only in practicing to present their material, but also the amount of research for each paper and poster. Rebekah Kimble, senior, gave a presentation on “Martin Luther: Supporters and Detractors among the German Princes” in history. She spent a considerable amount of time writing and researching to prepare for the conference. Kimble said, “I gave a fifteen-minute oral presentation. I read it over a few times both to practice for the presentation and to reacquaint myself with the material.”

Jacob Hertzler, sophomore, gave a presentation in computer science titled, “Overlapping Community Detection in Dynamic Networks.” Hertzler said the overall work came from this summer “which totaled about six weeks worth along with about 8 months of prep on the topic over the school year last year.”

Morse said it was a great experience to present alongside other Houghton College students and other students from different colleges. Some of the presenting students also had some stories to tell about other presentations they attended. Johnson attended a presentation where a young man spoke about entomology, which is the consumption of insects for a main food source. She said, “He brought in cookies made with chocolate dipped crickets, along with cricket and mealworm quinoa for everyone to try. And it wasn’t half bad.”

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Stories In Focus

Science Honors Tackles Climate Change

In Paine 212, there are 11 students working to analyze and learn more about climate change. They are the selected members of Houghton College Science Honors.

This year’s Science Honors Program is centered around learning about climate change while collecting data to add to the compendium of research on the topic. At the same time, students also study the humanities through the lens of science.

Science_Honors_2_Rachel.McClatcheyThe course incorporates two foci of research, the primary being to design and build a radiosonde. A radiosonde is a box of sensors that records atmospheric data and sends it by radio to students on the ground. It will be attached to a weather balloon and sent into the upper atmosphere when the students launch this May.

The secondary focus is researching the effect of climatic variation on fish. Using chillers, the students will alter the temperature of their aquaria to simulate forecasted climate change. They will then measure cortisol levels in the fish compared to the water temperature. This will attempt to measure the survivability of fish in the altered climatic state of the future.

Students will also record the rate of melting of the ice at local lakes over the next few weeks. “This is the beginning of a long data set that we will be trying to collect. A lot of people are doing this all over the world,” explained biology professor Dr. Wolfe, “We’ll also be taking representative shrubs and trees on campus and we’ll be measuring when they start to leaf out and flower.”

To tackle the task of building a radiosonde, the students have split into three groups. These being so named Sparkles, Maple Leaf, and The Flying Monkeys. Each has its own hypothesis it is looking to test. Team Sparkles is working to find out how the amount of UV radiation absorbed by the ozone layer affects temperature in the stratosphere. Team Maple Leaf is collecting data on how the concentration of carbon dioxide changes as altitude increases. The Flying Monkeys is researching the levels of infrared light that is absorbed by the atmosphere at each altitude.

Each group will build their own system to attach to a weather balloon. They will be programmed to record data relevant to what the students are testing and send it to them while in flight.

When they are not investigating the science of climate change, the students of Science Honors have been able to take trips relevant to their studies. Last semester, they took a trip to Canandaigua Lake to study glacial recession, took a boat cruise, and ate grape pies on the way back home. They went ice fishing on Cuba Lake earlier this semester. Right before spring break, they visited the oldest fish hatchery in the western hemisphere in Caledonia, NY.

These trips are designed to grow the students’ understanding of science and the world around them, but they also serve to unite them in a bond of camaraderie. “I will never forget the day in Science Honors on our way home from Canandaigua Lake when Dr. Wolfe bought us grape pies. We sat in the grass surrounding a Dollar General parking lot and chatted together as we ate our dessert. The adventures that we encounter on field trips: priceless!” said honors student Olivia Morse.

Another student, Ruthanna Wantz, said, “One of the most unexpected fun things about being in Science Honors has been hanging out with prospectives when they come for the interview weekends. And hearing the stories of the upperclassmen who were in Science Honors before.”

Though challenging, the students enjoy accomplishing tasks that get them closer to their goals. Said student Jordan Scott, “Science Honors has been a very enjoyable experience thus far. I have made 10 great new friends and developed relationships with three professors from different science disciplines that I never imagined I would have had when coming to college. This program has helped me further my thinking in all aspects of science and created a unique culture for learning through experience with assistance from professors and peers.”

The students have been very successful in working in a new and more flexible scientific environment. Guided by professors rather than fed knowledge, they are beginning to emulate the methods they will use when working as scientists in the future. Dr. Brandon Hoffman applauds their efforts, “It has been great to see the students getting excited about their projects. Some have charged far ahead, downloading manuals and developing systems they believe will be helpful to their project.”

The students have been recording their scientific adventures and discoveries in a blog at balloon2014.blogspot.com. They encourage all who have an interest in science to follow them as they prepare to launch their balloons during Mayterm this year.