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NHRE 2012
3.45% The acceptance rate for
applications to NHRE 2012
(Compare with 5.9% - the
record low acceptance rate
for Harvard in 2012).
5,560 Minimum number of biologi-
cal specimens examined by
NHRE interns in 2012.
11 The number of home states
represented by the NHRE
class of 2012 (not including
Puerto Rico and India)
384,000
The greatest distance, in
kilometers, ultimately trav-
eled by any object analyzed
by a 2012 NHRE Intern
(Lunar meteorite PCA
02007)
24,300 The approximate distance
traveled, in miles, for field-
work by NHRE interns - to
Montana and Indonesia!
94 Number of oysters harmed
in the name of science.
Director’s Corner
Well, this is exciting! Welcome to the first edition of Natural History
Research Experiences’ annual newsletter. Our hope is to connect you –
to us, to one another, and to the museum you called home for 10
weeks one summer.
Motivated by the NHRE Class of 2012, the summer of 2012 was action-packed with new
program events and initiatives. We tackled head-on issues faced by underrepresented
groups in the sciences by having an honest exchange with museum and area professionals
from underrepresented groups. Then our interns became mentors themselves in an ex-
change with the YES! high-school interns here at NMNH. Finally, in one of the greatest ex-
pressions of what it means to disseminate your
science, our interns stepped out into the mu-
seum’s halls to meet our visitors in an all-day,
museum-wide event celebrating NHRE research.
This latter activity was so successful that NSF
has chosen to write a “highlights” article about
the day that you can find at www.research.gov.
There’s never a dull moment as we are in the
throes of preparing for the class of 2013. We
are testing new application systems, new means of promoting the program, and new ways
of engaging with the natural world and the museum community. The NHRE website has had
a much needed update and oh yes, we are trying to make sure the class of 2013 has great
housing…
Liz’s lab is buzzing with four postdoctoral researchers and two predoctoral students. She is
excited to be the COMPRES (Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sci-
ences) Distinguished Lecturer in 2012-2013, though this will mean a lot of nights away from
her two kids Madeline, age 4, and Dale, age 1 (sniff!). Gene is similarly enjoying a stint as
a Distinguished Lecturer for the Paleontological Society (the NHRE is a very distinguished
program), and is getting ready for a little tyke of his own, expected in January.
Please tell us what you are up to! Are you in school? Working? Have you done a fellowship?
Gone in the field? Had a major life event? Published a manuscript? Please let us know. You
can send a brief update or a full-length article. Pictures appreciated!
All of our best!
Liz & Gene
Volume 1, Issue 1.
NHRE NEWS The Newsletter of the NSF REU Site Natural History Research
Experiences Summer Internship Program
REU Site, EAR-1062692
Autumn 2012
Rebecca Richards wins a Rhodes Scholarship
Page 2 NHRE NEWS
Submitted by Rebecca Richards
Life has been hectic since my Summer Internship at the Smith-
sonian. I remain enormously grateful for the encouragement
and opportunities provided through this program to broaden my
horizons and to believe that I can learn and contribute in a
much wider arena.
First of all, I was able to utilise and build on the intensive re-
search I commenced at the Institution on bark paintings ac-
quired through the 1948 joint Smithsonian / Australian expedi-
tion to Arnhem Land. This then became the basis of my Hon-
ours thesis for which I was fortunate to be awarded First Class
Honours.
Gaining this result also led to other adventures including the
surreal experience of becoming Australia’s first Indigenous
Rhodes scholar and South Australia’s Young Australian of the
Year, which included a dinner with our Governor General and
morning tea with our Prime Minister.
It also resulted in the gaining of a place in the Master of Philosophy program in Material Anthropology and
Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford. An adventurous journey over here saw six young Aussies
bound for Oxford fly to Beijing and then – after local tours – boarding the train to Mongolia. A horse trek
through parts of the awe inspiring Mongolian landscape of wild plains and mountainous ranges resulted in a
desire to spend more time in these glorious open spaces – as well as some colourful bruises!! A steamer on
Lake Baikal and then the Trans-Siberian railway line provided many other interesting experiences on the way
to St Petersburg and finally London.
Oxford with its amazing college system, its historic buildings, its traditions and its academic rigour has been
an incredible highlight. I now live in a 500 year old ford house spanning a rushing stream and with views of
the deer park – the source of the venison served at some of the wonderful formal dinners at my college
(Magdalen). The studies are demanding but incredibly interesting. My current thesis is delving into the tragic
history of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as they were near completely decimated in a short thirty year time
-frame, through an investigation of a number of portraits painted by colonial artists in the 1830s and 1840s.
Their ultimate survival is another tale.
I look forward to my second year here but then to returning to Australia to continue my passion to investigate
Indigenous ethnography and to assist in the assumption by Indigenous people of the management of their
own representation within museums and academia.
NHRE Class of 2010
Page 3 NHRE NEWS
Connections: From Fossilized Shells to Sugar-coated Cells
Submitted by Carlos Rodriguez-Russo
It feels like just yesterday that the 18 interns of NHRE 2010 were giddily getting organized in our luxurious GW
dorms before our first day of lab, making chit chat and wondering how on earth we were going to see every mu-
seum in DC before 10 weeks had reached their end. Now, almost three years later, it’s strange to realize that I
am now around the same age that most other interns in the group were on that first day. Seeing and cheering
on as each of the other 2010 interns dove into an amazing postgraduate career makes me both giddy and ex-
cited as I look forward to my own!
I currently am a senior at Harvard College studying Developmental and Regenerative Biology. As the youngest
member of the NHRE class of 2010, my decision to devote my career to biological research was directly put into
motion by my experience within the NMNH department of paleobiology. Though I applied to the program with an
interest in studying big, fierce dinosaurs, I soon learned the immense importance of studying microbiology while
reconstructing the environment of the Cretaceous period through the biogeochemical lens of microscopic fo-
raminifera shells.
Over the following semesters, I became even more fascinated with the chemistry of life at the smallest scale. My
next summer was devoted to characterizing the complex parasite-host interactions that underlie schistosomiasis,
an extremely prevalent yet severely neglected tropical disease. This illness is caused by tiny, microscopic worms
that penetrate human skin upon contact with infested water; once inside the body, these worms are armed with
an astounding arsenal of molecular immunoevasive techniques that allow them to survive undetected within their
human hosts, even as they cause severe tissue damage. My research elucidated the role of soluble CD23 protein
in parasite immune resistance, bringing the quest for a much-needed vaccine one step closer to the clinic.
Since the fall of my junior year, I have been pursuing honors thesis research at Brigham and Women's Hospital/
Harvard Medical School, examining the "sweet" carbohydrate chemistry that mediates stem cell migration to tar-
get tissues from the bloodstream. My goal is to control the display of specific sugar epitopes on the stem cell sur-
face so that these therapeutic cells, once injected into a patient, can selectively migrate to the damaged tissues
that they are meant to regenerate.
The NHRE program changed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined as a rising sophomore. It not only gave me
my first experience in biological research and deepened my passion for biochemical analysis, but it also gave me
an enriched perspective on the broad applications of natural sciences to many different fields. Indeed, connec-
tions abound between the natural sciences and human affairs, and I find myself drawn to their intersection: my
career aspirations are centered upon answering scientific questions that integrate the natural sciences, medicine,
and chemistry. After graduating next spring, I will spend a fellowship year completing research at the Sackstein
laboratory at Harvard Medical School, simultaneously applying to graduate programs centered upon translational
science in global health.
Page 4 NHRE NEWS
Joanna Larson receives a Fulbright to do fieldwork in Tanzania
Submitted by Joanna Larson
After graduating from Harvard in 2011 with a degree in Organismic
and Evolutionary Biology, I started a Fulbright Grant in Tanzania. My
goal was to survey forests in the Eastern Arc Mountains for amphibians
and small mammals to better understand their biodiversity and investi-
gate patterns of species distribution.
Fieldwork in Tanzania is logistically and bureaucratically challenging,
but all of the headaches are forgotten once I arrive at my fieldsite in a
wet, montane forest and begin to find frogs. In one place, the very
first frog that I found has turned out to be a fascinating new species. I
keep moments like that in mind when my tent is invaded by biting ants
that were driven out of their nest by pouring rain.
The aim of the Fulbright Program is to promote cultural exchange be-
tween the U.S. and the host country, so I also spent time teaching in
village schools about my research and the local fauna. Sometimes this
involved structured lessons in a classroom and other times it was more
informal discussions while the children (and adults) watched me pre-
pare specimens.
My Fulbright ended in early September, but I extend my stay for an additional three months in order to do more
research, see more places, and meet more people. Currently, the adventures are on hold for a few weeks while I
sit in Dar es Salaam with fairly reliable internet to apply to graduate programs in evolutionary biology. By the
time I am done with those, the rains will be about to resume after six very dry months and I will go join the frogs
in the forest once again.
“Doing Science” in West Africa
Submitted by Sarah Ehlinger
During the past year, I learned how to “do science” in a developing country. As much as it seems that the quest
for knowledge should not change between locations, there are major challenges doing research in a place with a
completely different social, cultural, and economic climate. With a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, I spent the
past year starting a Master’s Degree in Geography and Resource Development at the University of Ghana, West
Africa. My thesis will focus on the role of socio-economic status in shaping resident’s environmental risk percep-
tion regarding air pollution and health in Accra.
Air pollution in Ghana and many developing countries has countless effects, both on the environment and on
human health. Ghana has been hit hard by climate change as seasonal irregularities put pressure on the liveli-
hoods of thousands in the country. The capital city, Accra, has seen incredibly high rates of urbanization, which
is accompanied by an increase in population density, increase in airborne particulate matter, and increase in
childhood morbidity and mortality due to respiratory illness.
Page 5 NHRE NEWS
There are already data regarding the amount of
pollution in the air. Less understood is how educa-
tion, income, exposure, and health status impact a
person’s perception of risk.
If those of higher income and higher education in
Accra are less exposed to air pollution and less
aware of its effects – having private houses, per-
sonal cars, paved roads, and gas stoves instead of
wood or charcoal–will they have a lower than pre-
dicted perception of risk? What is so challenging
when dealing with issues of vulnerability and com-
munity engagement is that public perception must
be understood before change will occur. Yet in or-
der to learn about public perception and the factors
that best explain and predict a person’s perception of environmental health risks, research must be conducted in a
scientific manner. I learned this year how natural science underlies social science… and social science is still a sci-
ence.
The wonderful thing about spending time at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum was we saw first-hand that
well-planned and executed research not only helps us as humans understand the world (a duty in itself); it can
have serious implications on policy. We saw this when researchers fought to preserve biodiversity. We saw it
when the Assistant Director testified in front of Congress about the Gulf oil spill or climate change.
Matthew Nielsen is in Graduate school in the Ecol-
ogy and Evolutionary Biology department at the Uni-
versity of Arizona and things are going well although
he has not quite worked out his dissertation project
yet. Most recently he has been working on writing up
for publication some research that he has been doing
on how caterpillar size affects their thermoregulation.
He was very fortunate to receive an NSF GRFP this
past year and before getting the funding he decided
to spend the summer curating the UA Natural History
fish collections—a departure from the insects but still
enjoyable!
Alumni update 2010
Sunjana Supekar has been living in Puerto Rico for
the past six months, working as a field assistant for a
professor at Columbia University and setting up a long
term forest dynamic study plot.
She is returning to Washington DC in December.
Kristen Simmons is currently enrolled in the University
of Chicago doctoral program for Anthropology.
She hopes to pursue research regarding issues of contem-
porary American Indian politics, particularly around green
energy development on reservation lands. Kristen is pre-
senting on this research, continued on from her under-
graduate senior thesis at the 2013 Society for applied An-
thropology annual meeting in Denver.
Over the summer she was a Fellow at the Field Museum,
where she worked with Dr. Alaka Wali, Curator of North
American Anthropology on building the urban Native
American collections, particularly around the creation of
pow-wow regalia in Chicago and examining the history of
the American Indian Center of Chicago. Kristen also
worked in the Repatriation office, where she focused on
several current projects involving various Native groups.
Kristen plans to present this research at the 2013 Native
American and Indigenous Studies Association annual
meeting in Saskatoon.
Page 6 NHRE NEWS
Heidi Wollaeger is working on her Masters in Horti-
culture at Michigan State University.
It has been a fruitful summer as not only did she
received a graduate support fellowship to attend the
American Society of Horticultural Science in Miami,
FL, where she received second place in an oral pres-
entation competition on controlled environment re-
search, but she also received the American Floral
Endowments Ball Seed Co. Summer Scholarship.
Heidi also attended OFA (Horticulture Professionals)
conference in Columbus OH in July as an OFA
scholar. She is now working
on presenting research
about plant growth and
developmental responses to
different light qualities
(light distributions) using
LEDs.
Spencer Galen is currently a Graduate student at the
University of New Mexico.
He traveled to Peru this summer to do field work,
and while he was there he prepared a museum
specimen of the Rufous antpitta, the very species he
researched while at the Smithsonian. He felt that these
two experiences were very much intertwined as he would
not have found himself in Peru had he not been a NHRE
intern.
Katie Marshall is currently working on her MS in geol-
ogy at Idaho State University.
For her thesis project she is attempting to constrain the
timing and extent of glaciation in the Hoh and Queets
drainages of the Olympic Peninsula by studying and dat-
ing, using radiocarbon and optically stimulated lumines-
cence, glacial outwash and marine transgressions ex-
posed along the Olympic Coast.
NHRE Class of 2011
Submitted by Alyson Harding
Things are going well……I'm graduating from North Carolina State University in May with degrees in Anthropology
and Chemistry. Right now I'm planning to take a year off to do service work, with most likely AmeriCorps. I've
worked with a variety of nonprofits and service organizations through my college career, and it's something I'm
deeply passionate about. After a year of service I'm thinking about going to graduate school for my masters of
public health, but that's still fairly undecided.
I spent last summer on an archaeological dig in Palau, in the Pacific. It was an incredible experience. I really en-
joyed the cultural aspect of it. I participated in the Island Archaeology Program. While in Palau, I worked with a
team to conduct an archaeological dig at a cemetery on the Rock Islands. The site, known as Chelechol ra Orrak,
is approximately 3,000 years old and is one of the oldest known cemeteries in the Pacific Islands.
My daily responsibilities included organizing the lab, wet screening in the field, and excavating trenches. Informa-
Alyson Harding gains Archaeology experience in Palau, Micronesia
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tion gathered from Chelechol ra Orrak is fundamental to understanding
the lives of the Pacific Islands’ earliest residents.
My 2011 NHRE mentor Dr. Ortner is also always in my thoughts. Last
year my scholarship required us to identify a leader in our field and inter-
view them about leadership. So in March I called Dr. Ortner to talk about
leadership. It was an incredibly meaningful conversation to me, and look-
ing back I'm very glad I took that opportunity to talk to him. He was cer-
tainly an incredible person and I was so fortunate to have the opportunity
to work with him.
I am currently serving as co-president of the NC State chapter of Habitat for Humanity and received a Park En-
richment Grant this past spring to support a trip with my chapter to work with Habitat for Humanity of Greater
Miami and learn about affordable housing issues in Florida.
I plan on pursuing a PhD in anthropology after I graduate next spring.
Submitted by Luke Lavin
Over the past few years I have become very interested in energy issues at the intersection of my two majors
(physics; anthropology). I spent this past summer doing research for science journalist Charles C. Mann on a va-
riety of energy issues, primarily unconventional hydrocarbon supply and development, for a book due to be pub-
lished in 2014. I'm currently working on my senior thesis, an exploration of rhetoric and ideology on both sides of
a debate over the viability of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Vermont.
I have also continued the anthropological research I began interning for Dr. Joshua A. Bell at the Smithsonian in
2011. In fact, I just got back from presenting part of the paper we are collaborating on at the American Anthro-
pological Association conference in San Francisco. I also did more archival anthropological work this past summer
for a professor at Amherst College, looking into the development of early secular humanitarianism following the
Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) in the former Ottoman Empire.
Tackling questions about the social and scientific nature of energy
Submitted by Ryan Moraski
Following my stint as an intern in the 2011 Smithsonian NHRE program I graduated with honors from The Penn-
sylvania State University in May 2012 with a degree in Biology. During my senior year I applied to and was ac-
cepted to several Ph.D programs in botany and Ecology/Evolutionary Biology including UW-Madison, The Univer-
sity of Georgia, and The University of Florida.
I decided on Florida and I am currently a Ph.D student at the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Depart-
ment of Biology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Ryan Moraski begins a Ph.D in Botany at the University of Florida
This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your news-
letter as a promotional tool is
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other marketing materials, such
as press releases, market studies,
and reports.
While your main goal of distribut-
ing a newsletter might be to sell
your product or service, the key
to a successful newsletter is mak-
ing it useful to your readers.
A great way to add useful con-
tent to your newsletter is to de-
velop and write your own articles,
or include a calendar of upcoming
events or a special offer that
promotes a new product.
You can also research articles or
find “filler” articles by accessing
the World Wide Web. You can
write about a variety of topics but
try to keep your articles short.
Much of the content you put in
your newsletter can also be used
for your Web site. Microsoft Pub-
lisher offers a simple way to con-
vert your newsletter to a Web
publication. So, when you’re
finished writing your newsletter,
convert it to a Web site and post
it.
which you can choose and import
into your newsletter. There are
also several tools you can use to
draw shapes and symbols.
Once you have chosen an image,
place it close to the article. Be
sure to place the caption of the
image near the image.
This story can fit 75-125 words.
Selecting pictures or graphics is
an important part of adding con-
tent to your newsletter.
Think about your article and ask
yourself if the picture supports or
enhances the message you’re
trying to convey. Avoid selecting
images that appear to be out of
context.
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Inside Sto ry Headline
Inside Sto ry Headline
Inside Sto ry Headline
upon new procedures or im-
provements to the business.
Sales figures or earnings will
show how your business is grow-
ing.
Some newsletters include a col-
umn that is updated every issue,
for instance, an advice column, a
book review, a letter from the
president, or an editorial. You can
also profile new employees or
top customers or vendors.
This story can fit 100-150 words.
The subject matter that appears
in newsletters is virtually endless.
You can include stories that focus
on current technologies or inno-
vations in your field.
You may also want to note busi-
ness or economic trends, or make
predictions for your customers or
clients.
If the newsletter is distributed
internally, you might comment
“To catch t he rea der's a tten tion, place an int eresti ng sent ence o r quo te f rom the st ory he re.”
Page 8 NHRE NEWS
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Page 8 NHRE NEWS
I am in the first year of their PhD program in Botany where I am focusing on developing a
project in molecular systematics and evolution of a flowering plant widespread in the
Neotropics.
My experience in plant systematics and molecular biology with my NHRE advisors Drs. Jun
Wen and Liz Zimmer during the summer of 2011 has been invaluable in providing me with a
strong background in the theory and methods commonly used in the field.
Alumni update 2011
Anikó Tóth has returned to the Natural History mu-
seum to work on a contract for her NHRE mentors Kay
Behrensmeyer and Kate Lyons.
She is creating a database of mammal species lists for
Kenyan national parks, backed by specimens or pub-
lished primary sources. Each species has presence/
absence information for the early 1900's and late
1900's. The database includes a number of ecomor-
phic characteristics for every species.
Gretel Corsa is graduating from Cornell University in
December of this year with a major in Anthropology
and minors in Visual Studies and Latino Studies, and a
strong interest in Human Development. She continues
to work with the Latino Studies Program.
After graduation, Gretel will be moving to Los Angeles
where she hopes to find a job in Public Health and
eventually earn her Master’s Degree in the field of Pub-
lic Health as well.
Rhiannon LaVine “I am beginning my trek to my
PhD.”
Rhiannon is enrolled as a graduate student at the Uni-
versity of Chicago -Department of Geophysical Sci-
ences, concentrating in Paleobiology.
Victoria Danner graduated Cum Laude from St.
Mary’s College of Maryland and won the Margaret E.
Keen award for academic achievement as a female un-
dergraduate.
She is working and preparing for graduate school. She
wants to go into medical anthropology with a focus on
health and education in Native American communities.
Victoria just bought her first car.
Anthony Deczynski is studying Entomology at the
University of Delaware.
Last November, Anthony presented his NHRE research
in a poster competition at the annual meeting of the
Entomological Society of America (ESA).
In January 2012 he participated in a wildlife study
abroad program in Costa Rica. He was able to obtain
collecting permits while he was there.
This past summer, Anthony was accepted into the
REU at the Field Museum in Chicago. He worked un-
der Dr. Margaret Thayer and studied an undescribed
Staphylinid genus (Coleoptera) from Tasmania. He
will give a presentation on this research at the ESA
meeting in November this year.
Matt Chansler is currently working on a Master's
program at Michigan State University in plant biology.
He is studying a disjunct distribution pattern shared
by many species of plants. In Michigan they're local-
ized to the Upper Peninsula, and will not be present
anywhere else except for the West Coast. He is trying
to use some genetic data to determine if the pattern is
due to long-distance dispersal or vicariance.
Matt is a lab assistant at the MSU Herbarium.
This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your news-
letter as a promotional tool is
that you can reuse content from
other marketing materials, such
as press releases, market studies,
and reports.
While your main goal of distribut-
ing a newsletter might be to sell
your product or service, the key
to a successful newsletter is mak-
ing it useful to your readers.
A great way to add useful con-
tent to your newsletter is to de-
velop and write your own articles,
or include a calendar of upcoming
events or a special offer that
promotes a new product.
You can also research articles or
find “filler” articles by accessing
the World Wide Web. You can
write about a variety of topics but
try to keep your articles short.
Much of the content you put in
your newsletter can also be used
for your Web site. Microsoft Pub-
lisher offers a simple way to con-
vert your newsletter to a Web
publication. So, when you’re
finished writing your newsletter,
convert it to a Web site and post
it.
which you can choose and import
into your newsletter. There are
also several tools you can use to
draw shapes and symbols.
Once you have chosen an image,
place it close to the article. Be
sure to place the caption of the
image near the image.
This story can fit 75-125 words.
Selecting pictures or graphics is
an important part of adding con-
tent to your newsletter.
Think about your article and ask
yourself if the picture supports or
enhances the message you’re
trying to convey. Avoid selecting
images that appear to be out of
context.
Microsoft Publisher includes
thousands of clip art images from
Inside Sto ry Headline
Inside Sto ry Headline
Inside Sto ry Headline
upon new procedures or im-
provements to the business.
Sales figures or earnings will
show how your business is grow-
ing.
Some newsletters include a col-
umn that is updated every issue,
for instance, an advice column, a
book review, a letter from the
president, or an editorial. You can
also profile new employees or
top customers or vendors.
This story can fit 100-150 words.
The subject matter that appears
in newsletters is virtually endless.
You can include stories that focus
on current technologies or inno-
vations in your field.
You may also want to note busi-
ness or economic trends, or make
predictions for your customers or
clients.
If the newsletter is distributed
internally, you might comment
“To catch t he rea der's a tten tion, place an int eresti ng sent ence o r quo te f rom the st ory he re.”
Page 9 NHRE NEWS
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Page 9 NHRE NEWS
David Reed is living in Washington DC and working
at a higher education tech company called 2tor as
an Admissions Counselor.
He took some time out this Fall to take a trip to Viet-
nam, his first major international trip. He was very
much looking forward to immersing himself in a com-
pletely different culture, and eating lots of good Viet-
namese food.
Alumni update 2011
Angela Rueda is pursuing a Masters of Anthropology
with a concentration in museum and heritage studies
at Denver University. She was really fortunate to re-
ceive almost full funding to pursue her degree, and so
far has been loving the program and faculty.
Although Angela has not finalized her research, she is
looking into studying the relationship between com-
munity-based museums and the formation of racial
and ethnic identity through a descendent community
in Southern Colorado.
Submitted by Tyler Imfeld
Currently, I'm finishing up my core classes at Xavier as well as taking Introduction to Entomology, of which I'm
loving every minute. We're required to make an insect collection and I've gone on to the curating stage for my
80+ insects.
This year I am the president of Xavier University's Outdoor Club (XUODC) and I have begun planning a number
of trips including backpacking at Red River Gorge, spelunking in Mammoth Cave and whitewater rafting on the
New River in West Virginia. We also recently held a day-trip to go fossil hunting and hiking at a local state park.
As for post-graduation plans, I am currently meeting with every biology professor with whom I've had a class,
asking them about their respective fields and entering the early stages of networking to obtain a job as a lab
tech, research assistant or any other job through which I will be able to get more experience and narrow my
focus for a PhD or Masters program.
Regarding my NHRE research: I am planning on applying to the Ecological Society of America. Their conference
which will take place next August.
NHRE Class of 2012
Tyler Imfeld becomes President of the Xavier University Outdoor Club
Haley Vaseghi has made a decision to change her
career goals. Instead of conservation biology, she is
now studying molecular biology and plans to do
graduate work in biomedical research.
This summer she participated in another NSF REU
program at the University of Minnesota. She worked
on a bioengineering project that cloned different
genes into E. coli for applications in metabolic engi-
neering.
Currently Haley is doing research at George Mason
University studying the effects of anthrax infections
on host cell signaling pathways.
She still loves natural history and misses working at a
museum.
In her spare time she volunteers with a local bird
banding station and enjoys bird watching with friends.
This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your news-
letter as a promotional tool is
that you can reuse content from
other marketing materials, such
as press releases, market studies,
and reports.
While your main goal of distribut-
ing a newsletter might be to sell
your product or service, the key
to a successful newsletter is mak-
ing it useful to your readers.
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Page 10 Volume 1, Issue 1.
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Page 10 NHRE NEWS
Page 10 NHRE NEWS
Submitted by Dakota Rowsey
After I finished my NHRE internship and returned to Oregon, I was invited to present my NHRE research at the
Gilbert Ichthyological Society that was to be held in HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, McKenzie Bridge, Oregon.
Although my work did not directly pertain to their research interests, I received nothing but positive feedback
and congratulations on the work I had done. In particular, Dr. Brian Sidlauskas, the former head of the society,
told me that he reviews about 30 papers per year and that my research paper would be one of those he would
recommend favourably. He said that I was 90 percent of the way there. He strongly encouraged me to publish.
It was a rewarding experience for sure and I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to present in a different format (i.e,
a presentation rather than a poster session) to broaden my horizons as far as presenting research goes!
My presentation title was “ Species Boundries of Brushtail Possums in the Queensland Wet Tropics”. It was
based on my NHRE project with Kris Helgen. We hope to publish next year.
Dakota Rowsey presents at the Gilbert Ichthyological Society
Alumni update 2012
After returning home from the NHRE internship and
starting the fall semester at Arizona State Univer-
sity, Samantha Hauserman submitted a grant
application to her college.
The grant is called the Unusual Student Projects
Grant, and is offered by the Center for Biology and
Society at ASU. She applied for the grant so that
she could go to the American Museum of Natural
History in New York and continue the research that
she was doing during her NHRE internship. The
grant would cover the costs of airfare to New York.
In early October she received news that she had
been awarded the grant. Sam travelled to New York
on the 11th of October for two weeks to work on the
AMNH collection of penguin skeletons.
Adam presented his NHRE intern project at the 2012 Gil-
bert Ichthyological Society meeting that was held in HJ
Andrews Experimental Forest, McKenzie Bridge, Oregon.
For the future, Adam is looking into research opportuni-
ties abroad.
Akela Kuwahara is about
to get her BA from Hum-
boldt University. She is in
her last semester and has
started doing on campus
research looking at stem
cell model pathways in
cancer cells.
Akela is in touch with her
NHRE mentor Chris Meyers
quite often these days,
and she has submitted an
abstract to present at the
2013 Society of Integrated and Comparative Biology an-
nual meeting in January 2013.
Adam Martin is currently at Oregon State Univer-
sity working as an assistant in the Collection of
Fishes. He is also volunteering as a proctor for the
Systematics of Fishes course, and assisting with
then the species descriptions (based on morphologi-
cal characters) of some Anostomid fishes.
Elected as the lead mentor for a scholar organiza-
tion at OSU, he is currently responsible for a group
of 64 students.