This has been a great year for Omicron! When the year started, the president was fresh off the plane, following a year in Costa Rica and only knew four of the fourteen members of the executive crew. We bonded quickly over lab manual sales, and kicked off the year with our Welcome Back Party and Stu-dent/Faculty Mixer.

We were again asked to put on a Science Fair Workshop at Notre Dame Elementary School, which was a success with lots of animal, plant, and microscopic life to get kids excited about science and help them ask questions. In the spring a team judged the Chico Science Fair for “Superior Use of the Scientific Method in Biology.” All three of our winners ended up being from Notre Dame, which implies good things about our workshop. Further trials are needed to determine any real correlation.

Our annual Halloween Party resulted in some creative biological costumes including an Aurelia moon jelly, a dissected fetal pig from a lab exam, a house fly, star thistle, and Darwin. Brogan Begley again produced his famous cockroach bread and took the prize for most disgusting dish. Our Holiday Party was a classier event with more faculty attendance and a white elephant gift exchange. We also did a double-feature movie night and showed the documentary Shark Waters, which exposes some myths about sharks, followed by Jaws, which perpetuates them.

We had two extremely successful field trips this year, one to the Eagle Lake Field Station, and the other to Southern Arizona. A lot of time and energy went into planning these and Advisor Shelly Kirn de-serves recognition for everything she did to make the spring break trip a success. Excursions like these are invaluable learning and bonding experiences.

We celebrated the start of spring semester with more lab manual sales, another welcome-back party, and mixer. In April, we initiated five Omicrons into active membership at the home of Kristina Schierenbeck. There was a good mix of students and faculty, and the entertainment provided by the initi-ates was a highlight, as usual.

The College of Natural Sciences Softball Tournament was hosted this year by SAACS (Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society). Omicron put up a strong fight, but in the end the Pre-Med Club triumphed, and won the esteemed Howie.

Two exciting happenings on campus were the procurement of a new sofa for the Omicron room, and the resurrection of the tradition of baking homemade cookies for the Biology De-partment/Omicron Theta Epsilon Friday Semi-nar Series. Store-bought cookies can never compete, and our cookie-bakers received lots of accolades.

As president, I couldn’t have asked for a better crew of officers and chairpersons. Each job was done well and efficiently and with a prevailing feeling of high morale and camarade-rie. This year has been wonderful, and I’m proud to have been a part of it.

The Scope V O L U M E 6 1 O M I C R O N T H E T A E P S I L O N

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

Eagle Lake

Field Station

Omicron

Research

Award

Social Report

Sports Center

Organ Pipe

Spring Break

Trip

New Officer

Team

Year in Review by: Ellie Oliver

Omicron Members in the Fall of 2012 Ready and Excited for a new School

Year!

P A G E 2

Coffee and Donut Chairs:

Margaret Jones & Cody Czer-

Ransom

Publicity Chairs: Devyn

Trenary & Nikki Fugate

Sports Chair: Garrett Haffy

Social Chairs: Brogan Begley &

Chadwick McCready

Outreach and Education:

Aurelia Gonzalez

Historian: Kelsey Escobar

Purchaser: Sophia Goodyear

Seminars: Tyler Fowler

Vice President Katie

Scott and President

Ellie Oliver

Executive Officers President: Ellie Oliver

My first Omicron meeting of the year was the first time I had been in Chico for over 12 months. I was nervous, and I was 5 minutes late to a meeting, that I was supposed to run. How did I get here?

I came to Chico as a freshman in 2009 and with first-year enthusiasm signed up for everything, including Omicron. I loved the idea of a club that allowed me to meet other Biology majors and spend time with my profes-sors outside of class. As a sophomore I was the publicity chairperson. That year I also planned our spring break trip to Death Valley National Park, was initiated, and received the first Outstanding Omicron Award. The end of that year held mixed emotions, mostly excitement. I was leaving to spend a year studying abroad in Costa Rica, heading into the unknown! Off to adventure and learn and grow, equipped with a camera, binos and bird book. The ex-perience was incredible for me. I took excellent field courses, learned Span-ish, traveled all over Costa Rica and other parts of Latin America, and devel-oped a love of the tropics and its organisms. For a Biology major with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology, it was a year in paradise.

I was delighted to get an email from Omicron in April asking if I wished to run for an office. Of course I did! It was already part of my plan.

So I ended up as President, a job that is an honor and a pleasure. Thanks to Omicron I was chosen as the Outstanding Student Leader for the College of Natural Sciences 2013 as well as the Student Reflection Speaker for Graduation. Many of my fondest memories of college have been Omi-cron-related. I am thankful for everything Omicron has done for me, and proud to be part of this outstanding organization.

Vice President: Katie Scott

Katie Scott has been an initiated member of Omicron since spring of 2012. She will be graduating this year with her B.S. in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. During her senior year she had the opportunity to work with Dr. Gordon Wolfe and his graduate students on the organism Emiliania huxleyi, in which she conducted experiments that characterized the flow of carbon through the use of pulse labeling. She has also had the pleasure of working in the lab at Enloe Medical Center for the last four years. Being a part of Omicron Theta Epsilon for the last few years has been a wonderful addition to her college experience, one that will forever be cherished.

T H E S C O P E

P A G E 3

Executive Officers Continued Secretary: Kara Babo

My name is Kara Babo and I am a fourth year biology student at Chico State. I originally joined Omicron in the fall of 2011 as an associate member. At that time, I held the historian chair position for the club. In spring 2012 I was initiated into Omicron and became an active member. In fall 2012 I was elected Secretary, and hold the position now.

I will be graduating this May with a Bachelor of Science in Cellular Molecular Biology and a Minor in Chemistry. During my time at Chico State I have been very active in the community and on campus. I am currently the director of BloodSource at Chico State where I help coordinate and host blood drives. I also actively volunteer in the community. I spend a lot of time working with children at Little Discoveries Pre-School in downtown Chico, and I like to spend my Sundays helping at the Shalom Free Clinic.

Omicron has opened up many opportunities for me and I have made many wonderful memories with my fellow club members. I am honored and pleased to say I am and always will be an Omicroner.

Treasurer: Bryan Ervin

Currently working my way through the Master’s program, studying fungi from an acidic hot spring in Lassen Volcanic National Park; I am hoping these organisms can advance biofuels and bio-remediation.

I also TA two introductory cellular/molecular biology labs (seeing many Omicron faces there too) and work off campus at a water quality testing company, surrounded by science.

Omicron brought me closer to more folks than grad school could alone. I'll have to come back as an alumnus just to help with the science fair.

Member at Large: Michelle Ocken

Michelle Ocken got involved with Omicron while working on her undergraduate degree in 2004. She was initiated in 2005 and served as the Coffee and Donut Chair in 2006. She also served as Secretary the following year. She graduated in 2007 and spent a few years working in the field before returning to Chico State to get her Master’s Degree studying the habitat requirements of the Western Burrowing Owl.

Upon returning to Chico State, she immediately became involved in Omicron again and served as President for the ‘11-‘12 school year. Serving as Presi-dent was a great honor for her and when she turned the reigns over Ellie Oliver the next year, she was hap-py to take up the mantle of Member-at-Large. Even though she had some scheduling conflicts in the spring semester that limited her involvement, Initiation went off without a hitch and we had a great crop of new ini-tiates that will carry the club forward. When asked if this is for her, Michelle replied simply, “I’ll always be an Omicroner.”

T H E S C O P E

Eagle Lake Field Station by: Jay Bogiatto

P A G E 4 O M I C R O N T H E T A E P S I L O N

The Eagle Lake Field Station (ELFS), owned and administered by CSU, Chico (CSUC) and the Research Foundation (RF), has a long and storied history, beginning with the signing of a long-term lease agreement with the Bureau of Land Man-agement (BLM) in the late 1950s. Located 26 miles (by road) northwest of Susanville in Lassen County, the 80-acre facility lies on the eastern shore of Eagle Lake, one of Cali-fornia’s largest and most pristine lakes. The diverse ecologi-cal context of this region makes the ELFS extremely well suited to those wishing to conduct field research and teach field courses at a station offering access to a wide variety of

habitats. For over 40 years, the ELFS, one of North America’s most remote field stations, has served as a site for these types of academic activities as well as numerous academic retreats, workshops, and confer-ences. As has always been the case, the financial situation of the ELFS continues to be an issue, due primarily to ever-rising operational costs. Also, in 2009, after a relationship of nearly 20 years, the finan-cial agreement between the RF and UC Davis came to an abrupt end. With the termina-tion of this contract, coupled with the current financial situation of the CSUC and RF, the campus-run operation of the ELFS was terminated. Since that time, the station has continued to operate under former ELFS Steward and Cook, John and Tracey Crowe, who are leasing the ELFS facilities from the RF. Fortunately for our academic users, the Crowes have continued to host university courses, field schools, conferences, and re-searchers, along with groups of fishermen.

As of Spring 2013, the situation at Eagle Lake continues to be promising, thanks in large part to the efforts of our Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Dr. Fraka Harmsen, and Associate Dean, Dr. Randy Miller. Most recently, our ELFS “Recovery” Committee, which also includes several Natural Sciences faculty, met with representatives from the BLM and U. S. Forest Service, Lassen County Schools, and Lassen Community College, in order to share information regarding the current status of the ELFS. This meeting, which was held at the BLM office in Susanville, was the first of what we hope will be many more collaborative efforts with public and private organizations in Northeastern California that may share an interest in the ELFS.

At this time, there is one field school, one professional conference, and one class field trip on the books for summer/fall 2013. The field school, Zooarchaeology and Field Ecology, first taught at the ELFS in 1988, is a 4-week course taught from 23 June through 20 July by faculty from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Utah (Dr. Jack Broughton) as well as the Departments of Anthropology and Biological Sciences at CSU, Chico (Dr. Frank Bayham, and Jay Bogiatto, M.S., respectively). The Stanley J. Olsen Eagle Lake Zooarchaeology Conference will run from 19-20 July at the tail end of the field school. Students enrolled in the field school will be among the presenters at the Olsen Conference.

Lastly, as has been the case over the past several years, the CSUC Mammalogy class will be taking a weekend field to the ELFS in the fall. This past fall 2012, Students, Faculty, and Staff from Omicron Theta Epsilon and the College of Natural Sciences jointed the Mammalogy class on their field trip up to the ELFS. There were 40 indi-viduals in this group, which took part in several local hikes, as well as diurnal and nocturnal live mammal trapping efforts. Of the 12 mammals trapped and released, we tallied 3 yellow-pine chipmunks in or diurnal set, and then for our nocturnal effort, 3 North American deermice, 2 pinyon deermice, 2 yellow-pine chipmunks, 1 Great Basin pocket mouse, and the highlight, 1 striped skunk. The release of the skunk proved to be quite memorable indeed.

“This is an old

lake lying on the

edge of the Great

Basin with desert

on the north and

east and heavy

timber on the

south and west”

- Dr. Vesta Holt

P A G E 5

“Science is great

game. It is

inspiring and

refreshing. The

playing field is the

Universe itself”

- Isidor Isaac Rabi

US Physicist

Dr. Vesta Holt

Education & Outreach by: Aurelia Gonzalez

From the Omicron Treasure Vault by: Bryan Ervin

Omicron Research Award Chadwick McCready

This year coffee, donut, lab manuals, pizza, field trips, and parties were mostly made possible by ATP but with help by some green-colored cellulose. Though my background is microbiology -could you guess- keeping the books for Omicron Theta Epsilon has been a refreshing aside this past year and I am happy to say that things are on the up and up.

Lab manual sales, the Coffee and Donut stand and membership dues continue to sustain Omicron as a self-sufficient entity within the college. Our ability to cover our own costs, like donuts and social events, have allowed us to give support back to the Biology department. Our monetary ties to the Biol-ogy department help with the Friday Seminar Speaker series and we fund in-dependent Omicron Awards/Scholarships for biology student projects. Even with all of these expenses and contributions, our savings account is still rolling over each quarter ensuring we have funds for the years to come.

The purpose of education and outreach is to promote additional oppor-tunities with the College of Nature Sciences and beyond. This is done by an-nouncing events, such as scientific conferences, seminar speakers, research symposiums and competitions at Omicron meetings. One of the most important duties of the Education and Outreach chair is the coordinator of the workshop geared towards elementary aged students on the use of the scientific method, located at Notre Dame Elementary School. This spring, Omicron judged science fair projects at Notre Dame Elementary, Hooker Oak Elementary, as well as the 2013 Chico Science Fair where a committee of students picked three projects which express Superior use of the Scientific Method. Omicron also facilitated student-led tours of lab and lecture classrooms for Chico Junior High students. These efforts were directed towards promoting higher education through the eyes and daily life of an undergraduate biology students in Omicron Theta Epsi-lon. Since this position has been recently resurrected, the Education and Out-reach committee continues there will be a liaison to CSU Chico’s biology stu-dents and the Chico community.

T H E S C O P E

P A G E 6

Do you recall those great moments in sports history where the most notorious team comes back from an upsetting season and reclaims their place as the true victor? I’m talking about the 1987 Lakers or the 1941 Yankees—the comebacks that nobody in sports history will ever forget. Well, this was NOT one of those seasons for Omicron. As hard as we tried and as hard as we practiced, that shiny victorious College of Nature Sciences Softball trophy, the Howie, will unfortunately be without its rightful owner most likely in the pre-med clubroom acting as a coat hanger. Yes, it was a sad day for Omicron when we suffered our defeat but it wasn’t all bad. Some first time players, who have never stepped foot on a baseball dia-mond got a chance to show their skills and surprisingly turned out to be great contributors for our team. Other good news about the tournament was that we won our first game against Physics who ironically beat us in the bowling tournament.

When it comes to next season, I suggest we put heaps of pressure on our next sports chair, Tyler Fowler, to reclaim our place as victors to this tournament that we hold so dearly. As a soon to be Chico graduate, I will not be around to en-sure Mr. Fowler is preparing us appropriately, so to intimidate accordingly I recommend a full membership-revoke of our sports chair if he/she fails to bring us to our rightful place. A bit brash? Perhaps, but I feel this change is necessary and truly feel Charles Darwin would agree based on his quote, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” I feel this change is necessary and will forever keep us from succumb-ing to the disappointing idiom of ‘There’s always next season.’

I had an amazing two years with Omicron and will miss everyone tre-mendously. The future looks bright for this amazing club and I am excited to see what will be in store for us years to come.

Social Report by: Chadwick McCready Biology students are notorious for spending most of their time studying. Time to relax and kick back with friends is a scarce commodity over the course of the school year. Fortunately, Omicron had plenty of enjoyable social events this year for us to relax and enjoy some time away from our studies.

Fall semester started off strong with our fall student-faculty mixer, held on-campus. This event was an important one as it introduces new members to their peers and faculty and allows everyone a chance to catch up on what happened over the summer as well as anticipate the semester to come. We had a great turnout and a good number of new members. This was followed by our first off-campus event, our welcome back social, which was held at Brogan’s house. Fall semester also included our Halloween social, where we got to show off our costumes and taste some very unique party dishes. The final event of the fall was the holiday social which involved an exciting white elephant gift exchange and a

delightful potluck dinner.

This spring semester began with a bang with our spring student-faculty mixer. This was followed by our spring fling social where everyone enjoyed good food and merriment at Matt’s house. All of these events helped to prepare us for our annual initiation ceremony, where faculty and friends joined us at Dr. Schierenbeck’s for the initiation of our newest mem-bers into Omicron. Great food, Science Charades, and entertainment provided by the initiates made it an awesome night that everyone enjoyed. Great food and drinks were a standard at every social but most importantly, Omicron came together and made every event memorable to all those who attended.

T H E S C O P E

Sports Center by: Garrett Haffey

P A G E 7 O M I C R O N T H E T A E P S I L O N

For the third year in a row, Omicron trekked to the desert during Spring Break. Spring Break 2013 found 13 Omicrons exploring the Sonoran Desert (one of the hottest, driest, and most diverse deserts in North Ameri-ca) of Southern Arizona! In attendance were advisors Jay Bogiatto and Shelly Kirn along with 11 undergraduate and graduate student members Tyrone Asencio, Chrisie Coffman, Nikki Fugate, Aurelia Gonzalez, Margaret Jones, Joanne Nagle, William McCall, Ellie Oliver, Shannon Rich, Julie Shaw, and Glenn Woodruff.

With a rented van plus Shelly’s Subaru towing a trailer for all of our gear, we met at 4:30am Saturday (well, most of us did!) before hitting the road for Cattail Cove State Park on Lake Havasu. The next day, we ex-plored the Bill Williams River NWR for a few hours before pushing on to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM). We eventually made it to our re-served site in the group camp area, and were thrilled to discover that we had the entire loop completely to ourselves. The area around our campsite was amazing, surrounded by saguaro, organ pipe cactus, creosote bush, and many

other desert plants. At night we were serenaded by coyotes and elf owls. It was truly magical. Over the next couple of days we explored the Monument, includ-

ing Alamo Canyon and Ajo Mountain Drive. The scenery was absolutely stunning!

On Wednesday morning well before dawn, we broke camp and drove further east to the Santa Rita Mountains South of Tucson. Along the way, we pulled over to enjoy several crested caracaras perched on saguaro cactus. We made it to Madera Canyon in the Santa Ritas by mid-morning and spent time hiking, watching for birds and herps. The next two nights were spent camping at Patagonia Lake State Park, and alt-hough not as aesthetically pleasing as the group camp at OPCNM, it afforded us access to some amazing

habitats (including The Nature Conservancy Property) along Sonoita Creek (male elegant trogon!), and the world-famous birding meca, Paton’s yard (violet-crowned hummingbird and others!) near Patagonia.

Overall, In 5 full days spent in the desert Omi-cron was able to see over 130 species of birds, 9 species of mammals (including javelina), 10 rep-tiles (but only 1 snake), 1 species of amphibian (red-spotted toads), and 1 species of fish, the Quitobaquito pupfish.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Beyond! by: Shelly Kirn

Omicron hiking into Arch

Canyon in Organ Pipe N.M.

A pair of common side-blotched

lizards (Uta stansburiana), a species

seen many times over multiple days.

A male elegant trogon (Trogon elegans) that

Omicron saw and photographed well near the

mouth of Sonoita Creek at Patagonia Lake,

Arizona. This was the “Holy Grail” bird for

some of the participants.

Nikki is holding a Western patch-nosed snake

(Salvadora hexalepis) that was first discovered by

Julie while our group was doing an afternoon hike

near the “end of the road” of Puerto Blanco Drive in

Organ Pipe NM. This was our only snake species

observed!

Biology Honors Society

Department of Biological Sciences, CSU, Chico

Chico, CA 95929-0515

Omicron Theta Epsilon

The 2013-2014 Executive Team

President: Chadwick McCready

Vice President: Lizzy Franceschini

Treasurer: Frans Honig

Secretary: Devyn Trenary

Coffee & Donut Chairs: Margaret Jones & Matthew Bancroft

Publicity Chairs: Holly Wyatt

Sports Chair: Tyler Fowler

Social Chair: Nikki Fugate

Education & Outreach: Aurelia Gonzalez & Anoop

Pandit

Historian: Kelsey Escobar

Purchaser: Sarah Egget & Christina Misuraca

Seminars: Brianna Faulkner

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