The Department of Biology of West Chester University Presents:

Dr. Terrie Williams

Center for Ocean Health

University of California Santa Cruz

Paradise Lost?

The science and conscience of saving America's most endangered marine mammal, the Hawaiian monk seal

7:00 PM

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Room 151 SSL (Schmucker Science Center)

Dr. Williams is a marine biologist, specializing on marine mammals. She was involved with the rehabilitation of sea otters from the Exxon Valdez disaster and she has done fieldwork in Antarctica. Dr. Williams is the author of two books, The Hunter’s Breath and The Odyssey of KP2.

Students, faculty, staff and the general public are welcome to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Frank Fish at 610-436-2460 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Biology undergraduate student Carl Cummins and Dr. Greg Turner presented “The status of Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) at the Gordon Natural Area” at the Saint Joseph’s University, 24th Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Symposium, April 19th in Philadelphia.

Dr. Steven L. Broitman, Chunlai Chen, Haibo Zhang, Michael Reiche, Ian Farrell, Barry S. Cooperman & Yale E Goldman had the following article published: "Dynamics of translation by single ribosomes through mRNA secondary structures." 2013. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Advance Online Publication.

Biology Graduate student Veronica Pistoia and Dr. Jessica Schedlbauer presented "The water relations of roundleaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia L.) encroaching on serpentine barren ecosystems in southeastern Pennsylvania" and Biology undergraduate student Greg Barren and Dr. Schedlbauer presented "The effects of prescribed fires and environmental variation on soil respiration in the serpentine barrens of southeastern Pennsylvania" at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science in Bradford, PA on April 6, 2013.

Dr. Giovanni Casotti, Dr. John T. Beneski, and Dr. Maureen T. Knabb had the following article published: "Teaching physiology online: successful use of case studies in a graduate course." 2013. Advan. in Physiol. Edu. 37:65-69. doi:10.1152/advan.001159.2012

Dr. Frank Fish presented “Flow patterns associated with swimming motions of benthic and pelagic batoids as visualized with DPIV”  The paper was co-authored with Biology undergraduates Janet Fontanella and Nicole DiNenno, and graduate student Molly Gabler at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA, on January 4, 2013. At the same meeting, Dr. Fish also co-authored the presentation “Mathematical analysis of three-dimensional open water maneuverability by mantas (Manta birostris)” with Dr. Allison Kolpas and undergraduate Alex Meade.

Biology graduate student Molly Gabler, Dr. John T. Beneski, Samantha Mulvany, Keith Moored, and Dr. Frank Fish presented “The hydrodynamics of ground effect in relation to the head shape of the spotted eagle ray”, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Francisco, CA, on January 4, 2013.

Kimberly Urban (M.S. Biology, 2007), successfully defended her Ph.D. Dissertation in Neuroscience at Drexel University.  Kim completed her Master’s thesis in biology at West Chester University under the supervision of Dr. Oné R. Pagán.

 Previous Biology Highlights (2012)