Missouri State University
CNAS NewsWatch
An online publication for the alumni and friends of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Faculty receive renewed funding for undergraduate research program

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Three faculty in the Missouri State University department of mathematics received a renewed grant of $99,367 from the National Science Foundation for their project “Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Mathematics at Missouri State University.”

The project team consists of:

  • Dr. Les Reid, professor
  • Dr. Jorge Rebaza-Vasquez, professor
  • Dr. Xingping Sun, professor and College of Natural and Applied Sciences associate dean

The program will provide summer research opportunities to eligible junior or senior mathematics students in the fields of algebra, analysis, combinatorics, differential equations and numerical analysis. Students will learn how to communicate the results of their research and participate in the peer review process.

Research opportunities last eight weeks and participating students receive a $3,700 stipend, as well as on-campus housing, travel and meal allowances.

For more information, contact Reid at (417) 836-5583 or Rebaza-Vasquez at (417) 836-5943.

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Faculty receive continued funding for mathematics instruction project

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Dr. Lynda Plymate, professor of mathematics at Missouri State University, and Dr. Diana Piccolo, assistant professor of childhood education and family studies, received a renewed grant of $364,570.48 from the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MoDHE) for their project “Transforming Mathematics Instruction Using Inquiry and One-to-One Environments (TRIM I+21) Year 2.”

Funds for this project were provided by a grant from Title II, Part A, of the Improving Teacher Quality Grant administered by MoDHE. The total costs of the project are financed with $295,331.49 in federal funds and $69,238.98 from non-federal governmental sources.

The Improving Teacher Quality Grant is provided to create quality teachers and principals, and to increase student academic achievement.

For more information, contact Plymate at (417) 836-4152

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Science faculty, staff recognized for teaching, research, service

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Missouri State University’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences recognized excellence in teaching, research and service during its second annual CNAS Awards Reception held on May 1. All award winners were nominated by departmental personnel committees, department heads or students.

The recipients are listed below.

  • CNAS Excellence Award – Staff
    • Angela Plank, biology
    • Laura Rios, physics, astronomy and materials science
    • Katie Tucker, hospitality and restaurant administration
  • CNAS Faculty Excellence in Service Awards
    • Rich Biagioni, chemistry
    • Jill Black, geography, geology and planning
    • Lynda Plymate, mathematics
    • Becky Baker, physics, astronomy and materials science
    • Michelle Bowe, biology
  • CNAS Faculty Excellence in Research Awards
    • John Havel, biology
    • Bob Pavlowsky, geography, geology and planning
    • Adam Wanekaya, chemistry
  • CNAS Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awards
    • Bryan Breyfogle, chemistry
    • Debbie Corcoran, geography, geology and planning
    • John Heywood, biology
    • Kathy Hughes, biology
    • Diann Thomas, chemistry
  • CNAS Student Nominated Awards for Faculty Excellence
    • Rich Biagioni, chemistry
    • Mario Daoust, geography, geology and planning
    • Alicia Mathis, biology
    • Paula Kemp, mathematics
  • 2013 Atwood Research and Teaching Award
    • Day Ligon, biology
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Students win top awards at microbiology conference

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Biology research lab students at Missouri State University won top awards for their research presentations at the Missouri Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting March 22-23.

Presentations included research related to medical microbiology, environmental microbiology, molecular and cell biology, general microbiology and undergraduate biology research. Awards were given to the top graduate and undergraduate student presentations, including three Missouri State students:

  • Katelyn Bartlett, a graduate biology student, received first place in the graduate student oral presentations. Bartlett presented her research called “Reassessment of Microdomains in Budding Yeast.”
  • Katie Schmelzle, a senior wildlife biology major, received first place in the undergraduate student oral presentations for her research, “The Functional Cooperation Between Vps1 and the Retromer for Endosome-to-Golgi Recycling.”
  • Michelle Williams, a senior microbiology student, placed second in undergraduate student oral presentations for her research, “Vps1 at the Trans Golgi Network and Functions with Clathrin.”
  • Richard Wells, a biology graduate student, placed second in the student oral presentations for his research, “Infection Rates of Amblyomma Americanum and Dermacentor Variabilis by Borrelia Burgdorferi and Borrelia Lonestari in Southwest Missouri.”

“Although my major is in wildlife, I was fascinated by the cell biology aspect of how things work in nature,” said Schmelzle. “Studying mutations in the retromer complex can help us better understand the mechanisms in which Alzheimer’s disease is kicked on. Although I study the retromer complex in yeast (saccharomyces cerivasiae), about 20 percent of human disease genes have counterparts in yeast, which makes it a beneficial model organism for this study.”

For more information, contact Dr. Kyoungtae Kim, professor of biology, at (417) 836-5440.

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Undergraduate research day highlights exceptional student work

Posted on by Gale Lininger

165721515The College of Natural and Applied Sciences at Missouri State University provided two opportunities recently for undergraduate students to present their research during its annual Undergraduate Research Day and a regional conference for the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (specifically for students in the department of hospitality and restaurant administration). The events showcased 56 undergraduate research poster presentations by CNAS students, and 32 faculty served as mentors to these projects.

For more information, contact Dr. Tammy Jahnke, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, at (417) 836-5249.

Each year, awards are given to the top projects from each department.  They are listed below:

Undergraduate Research Day

  • Biology: Ecology, conservation and wildlife: Kendell Loyd , first place, “Classical Conditioning in the Ozark Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon angusticlavius),” faculty adviser: Dr. Alicia Mathis
  • Biology: Ecology, conservation and wildlife: Courtney Heuring, second place, “Embryonic Learning in Freshwater Snails? Support for the Null Hypothesis,” faculty adviser: Dr. Alicia Mathis
  • Biology: Cellular, microbiology and genetics: Michelle Williams, Hyoeun Ahn, Courtney Hofstetter and Jeff Sletto; first place; “Potential Functional Connection Between Dynamin and the Coat Protein Clathrin;” faculty adviser: Dr. Kyoungtae Kim
  • Biology: Cellular, microbiology and genetics: Ryan Cady and Evan Clark, second place, “Amylase, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, Cortisol, Estradiol and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Levels in Treximet Treated and Untreated Menstrual Migraine Patients,” faculty adviser: Dr. Paul Durham
  • Chemistry: Juliano Silveira, first place, “Analysis of Conformation Change in DNA Double Helix by 8oxoG Single Base Modifications,” faculty adviser: Dr. Gary Meints
  • Chemistry: Shalisa Oburn and Lisa Kirchner, second place, “Evaluation of Halogen Bonding for Crystal Engineering,” faculty adviser: Dr. Eric Bosch
  • Engineering: Elliott Hankison, Jordan Keene, Nathan Minor and Wayne Spencer; first place, “Mechanical Design and Construction of a High-Potential Testing Station for Industrial Batteries,” faculty advisers: Drs. Robert Egbert and Kelvin Erickson
  • Engineering: Kennedy Kiptanui, Daryl McConnell, Brad Mothersbaugh and Zach Yarger; second place; “Heating Oil By Focusing Solar Energy Using An Inward Facing Compound Parabolic Trough;” faculty advisers: Drs. Robert Egbert and Steve Watkins
  • Geology, geography and planning: Joshua Elson, Brandon Ives, Mark Larson and Joe Talarico; first place; “Clastic Dikes within the Swan Creek Sandstone, Southwest Missouri;” faculty adviser: Dr. Charles Rovey II
  • Geology, geography and planning: Mark Larson, second place, “Gravity and Magnetic Analysis of Plutons, Ring Plutons and Mafic Bodies in the St Francois Mountains, SE Missouri,” faculty adviser: Dr. Kevin Mickus
  • Mathematics: Jeremy Berry, first place, “Subgroup Lattices of Genus One,” faculty adviser: Dr. Les Reid
  • Mathematics: Alex Thomson, second place, “Krylov Subspaces and Adaptive Arnoldi Methods for Computing Pagerank,” faculty adviser: Dr. Jorge Rebaza
  • Physics, astronomy and materials science: Adam Brandt, Steven Harrellson and Scott Maasen; first place; “Investigations of Fe-Doped Mesoporous Silica FDU-12 Treated Under Hydrothermal Conditions;” faculty adviser: Dr. Robert Mayanovic
  • Physics, astronomy and materials science: Philip Crouse, second place, “Photometric Analysis of Nine Yellow Supergiant Stars,” faculty adviser:  Dr. Robert Patterson

 

165721697ICHRIE Central Federation Research Symposium Dean Jahnke presented awards to the following hospitality and restaurant administration students:

  • Tyler Bahr, Kaley Esbeck, Melissa Dedmon and Jeff Driskill; “Cruise Ship Waste Management;” faculty sponsor: Dan Crafts
  • Lindsey McQueary, Stephanie McGirl, Lauren Mattson and Jake Medford; “Challenges, Benefits and Strategies for Green Marketing;” faculty sponsor: Dan Crafts
  • Kelsey Staiger, “Recent Trends and Barriers of the Online Gaming Market in the United States,” faculty sponsor: Melanie Grand
Posted in Biology, Chemistry, CNAS, Engineering, Geography Geology and Planning, Hospitality and Restaurant Administration, Mathematics, Physics Astronomy and Materials Science | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hein named interim department head of hospitality, restaurant administration

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Melissa Dallas, JD,  head of the hospitality and restaurant administration department, will be stepping down effective June 1 to join the regular faculty on a nine-month appointment as professor.

After an internal search, Dean Tammy Jahnke is happy to announce that Dr. Stephanie Hein has agreed to serve as interim department head beginning June 1, pending board approval.   Hein is looking forward to the opportunities and challenges of the year ahead.

She added, “It is an honor to lead the HRA department into its next phase of development. I am committed to building on Melissa’s efforts and helping the HRA department, its students, faculty and staff realize continued success.”

Jahnke said, “I thank Melissa Dallas for her five years of service as the head of HRA. The program provides great educational opportunities to its students and the department is poised for growth. I also thank Dr. Hein for agreeing to serve in this interim position.  There is much to do in the coming year, and I look forward to working with Dr. Hein.”

A national search will be conducted for a permanent department head beginning in fall of 2013.  Dr. Dan Beckman, associate dean, has agreed to chair the search committee.

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Faculty receive grant for advanced computing research

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Dr. A. Steven Younger, applied science and engineering research professor at Missouri State University, and Dr. Emmett Redd, physics, astronomy and materials science professor, received a grant of $139,134 from the National Science Foundation for their project “Super-Turing Computation and Brain-like Intelligence.”

“If successful, this project could result in a new type of computer which would be capable of performing computations that are beyond the limitations of a conventional Turing-Machine-based computer,” said Younger. “We are particularly interested in machines that have properties that are important for more brain-like, intelligent capabilities: learning, adaptability, pattern-recognition robustness and flexibility.”

In the 1990s, a theoretical model was developed illustrating the possibility of a computer capable of unprecedented dynamic, flexible and interactive behaviors. Younger and Redd’s research consolidates experimental and theoretical research in the field of Super-Turing computation in the hopes of developing a machine that can perform well beyond the capabilities of present-day computers.

Younger and Redd believe that, despite the capabilities of modern computers, their research could contribute to the development of an advanced machine with a knack for common sense and the ability to learn well beyond the parameters of its programming.

Research for this project will be completed in conjunction with Dr. Hava Siegelmann, professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.

For more information, contact Younger at (417) 836-3780.

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Faculty receives grant for cottonmouth research

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Dr. Brian Greene, associate professor of biology, received a grant of $4,000 from the Dickerson Park Zoo for his project “A Comparison of Spatial Patterns and Habitat Selection in Resident and Introduced Captive-raised Juvenile Cottonmouth Snakes.”

The purpose of Greene’s research is to study how the spatial and habitat use patterns of wild cottonmouth snakes compare to those of captive-raised cottonmouth snakes by comparing the behavior of both at the same site.

For more information, contact Greene at (417) 836-6379.

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Student wins top paper at mathematics convention

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Brittany Street, a junior mathematics major at Missouri State University, won Top Paper for her presentation on “Eignenvector Ranking of Sports Teams” at the Kappa Mu Epsilon National Convention on April 12 at Washburn University.  The award included a $100 prize and the right to have her paper published in a future edition of The Pentagon, the organization’s official journal.

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