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

New hellbender research recently published in Zoo Biology

Posted on by Gale Lininger

College of Natural and Applied Sciences Laboratory Supervisor Adam Crane and Dr. Alicia Mathis, biology department head, recently published an article in Zoo Biology. The piece was entitled “Predator-Recognition Training: A Conservation Strategy to Increase Postrelease Survival of Hellbenders in Head-Starting Programs.”

Send feedback to the author
Posted in Biology, CNAS | Tagged | Leave a comment

Physics student wins award for presentation

Posted on by Gale Lininger
Student gives oral presentation at conference for biological science, physics, chemistry
 
James Hansen, a senior physics major at Missouri State University, recently received 2nd place for his oral presentation, “Synthesis and Structural Characterizations of Graphene-supported Tin Oxide Nanoparticles,” at the Arkansas INBRE Research Conference.

Hansen’s research is with graphene, a single sheet of carbon atoms that exhibits high electrical conductivity. The application of graphene in a photovoltaic cell as a conducting electrode could improve the efficiency of the solar cell and lower its manufacturing costs.

“The results were promising and opened an avenue for us to collaborate with Dr. Paul Thibado, a professor in the physics department at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, for future research,” said Dr. Lifeng Dong, associate professor in the department of physics, astronomy and materials science.

The INBRE Research Conference involves participation from colleges and universities in Arkansas and surrounding states in biological science, physics and chemistry. Students get the opportunity to present their research and see the research of their peers.

The conference was Hansen’s first professional meeting. “At the conference, I realized the importance of collaborating with other scientists to understand and make new discoveries in science,” he said. “It motivated me to work harder as a student to learn and understand more.”

For more information, contact Dong at (417) 836-3755.

Send feedback to the author
Posted in CNAS, Physics Astronomy and Materials Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Professor continues to collaborate on NASA satellite mission

Posted on by Gale Lininger
Dr. Michael Reed, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Missouri State University, was recently awarded $41,000 from NASA (project #00029558-01) via Missouri S & T for continuation of the Missouri Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) project.

The MSGC grant will continue to be used for funding student involvement in research (training in techniques and equipment used in scientific research), educational outreach and public outreach programs.

This grant has funded both masters and undergraduate students for the past 21 years, and the research has focused on global warming, ices in the outer solar system, variable star astronomy and materials for solar cells and better rechargeable batteries.

For more information, contact Reed at (417) 836-5131

Send feedback to the author
Posted in CNAS, Physics Astronomy and Materials Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Student, alumni, professor prepare poster for chemistry conference

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Jacob Robison, graduate student in the chemistry department, presented the poster “Synthesis and Characterization of New PEGylated Poly(estersulfide) Denrimers,” co-authored with alumni Jonathan Fury and Dr. Reza Sedaghat-Herati, professor, at the 242nd National American Chemical Society meeting in Denver, Colo.

Send feedback to the author
Posted in Chemistry, CNAS | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Chemistry students present research at American Chemical Society meeting

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Five Missouri State University chemistry students presented their research at the American Chemical Society Regional Meeting in St. Louis. The meeting took place Oct. 19-21.

Chad Hagan and Melissa Hayes, chemistry graduate students, presented “Raman Scattering of Deuterated DNA Nucleosides and Solid DNA Structure,” which they originated with  graduate student Sarah Nichols and Dr. Gary Meints, associate professor of chemistry.

Michael Hilton, undergraduate chemistry major, presented work he co-authored with Dr. Nikolay Gerasimchuk, associate professor of chemistry, and Henry Charlier. The project was entitled “Preparation, characterization and Human Carbonyl Reductase (HCBR) inhibition studies of 2,4-dichlorophenyl-cyanoxime, H(2,4-diCl-PhCO).”

Stephen Kramer, chemistry graduate student, presented “Assignment of Proton Resonances for Damaged DNA Using Two-dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.” This project was a joint effort with chemistry graduate student Brianna Medrano and Meints.

Lauren Verheyen, chemistry graduate student, presented “Synthesis of Some New Tridentate Ligands to Complex Silver(I)” which was aided by Dr. Eric Bosch, professor of chemistry.

Send feedback to the author
Posted in Chemistry, CNAS | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chemistry professor co-authors, publishes research with students

Posted on by Gale Lininger
 
Dr. Mark Richter, professor of chemistry, recently co-authored two articles for publication. With Megan Schnuriger, graduate student, he published “Electrogenerated chemiluminescence from Osmium(II) Polypyridine Carbonyl Chloride Systems” in Inorganic Chemica Acta. He co-authored “Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Quenching of Ru(bpy)3 2+ (bpy = 2,2’-bipyridine) in the Presence of Acetaminophen, Salicylic 2+ Acid and Their Metabolites” with Catherine Haslag, which was published in the Journal of Luminescence.
Send feedback to the author
Posted in Chemistry, CNAS | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Associate professor published in Journal of Nanotechnology

Posted on by Gale Lininger
Research explores nanotubes, antibiotic effects
 
Dr. Lifeng Dong, associate professor in the department of physics, astronomy and materials science at Missouri State University, recently had two research articles published in the Journal of Nanotechnology. They are titled “Antimicrobial Activity of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Suspended in Different Surfactants” and “Uptake of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Conjugated with DNA by Microvascular Endothelial Cells.”

“Our findings reported in these two publications indicate that low toxicity to humans and high antibiotic effects make nanotubes serve as potential drug and gene vehicles for therapeutic applications,” said Dong. “They may also solve problems surrounding drug-resistant and multi-drug-resistant bacterial strains.”

Collaborators on the first article include Dr. Christopher Field, professor in the department of biomedical sciences, and Alex Henderson, a student from Truman State University. Those for the second article include student Joseph Harvey and Dr. Jianjie Wang from the department of biomedical sciences, and Dr. Kyoungtae Kim and student Jacob Hayden from the biology department. The research projects are supported in part by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the National Science Foundation.

Both articles are online at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnt/contents. For more information, contact Dong at (417) 836-3755.

Send feedback to the author
Posted in CNAS, Physics Astronomy and Materials Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Graduate students present biology research at regional conference

Posted on by Gale Lininger

Biology graduate student Denise Thompson, advised by Dr. Day Ligon, won the Toland Award for Best Student Presentation at the recent Kansas Herpetological Society’s annual conference in Wichita. Her presentation was entitled “Rocky Raccoon Must Die: Nest Predation Patterns in a Reintroduced Population of Alligator Snapping Turtles.”

In addition, two other MSU graduate students presented their work: Biology graduate student Travis Anthony  presented “Freshwater Turtle Community Composition and Microhabitat Preferences among Three Rivers in Northeastern Oklahoma” and Charles Tucker  presented “Can Automated Radio Telemetry Quantify Ornate Box Turtle Activity and Nesting Patterns?”

Send feedback to the author
Posted in Biology, CNAS | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Graduate student wins ‘best presentation’ at mammalogist meeting

Posted on by Gale Lininger
Biology graduate student Joe Lemen, advised by Dr. Lynn Robbins, received the Best Student Presentation by a Master’s Student award for his talk on maximum entropy modeling of habitat for Indiana bat maternity roosts. He presented this at the Central Plains Society of Mammalogists meeting.
Send feedback to the author
Posted in Biology, CNAS | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Biology research published in online ecological journal

Posted on by Gale Lininger
Missouri State University biologists recently published an article in the International Journal of Ecology. The work, which was written by Adam Crane, laboratory supervisor for the College of Natural and Applied Sciences; Carly McGrane, a recent biology graduate; and Dr. Alicia Mathis, biology department head, is entitled “Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Ozark Zigzag Salamanders to Stimuli from an Invasive Predator: The Armadillo.”
Send feedback to the author
Posted in Biology, CNAS | Tagged | Leave a comment