BSC Faculty Retirement: Dr. Thomas Pauley

    The Department of Biological Sciences thanks and congratulates Dr. Thomas K. Pauley for his many years of service to the Department, and for his unmatched contributions to the herpetological knowledge base for West Virginia.

    Raised in West Virginia, Dr. Pauley earned his MS at Marshall, and his PhD at WVU. He was then on faculty at Salem College for 16 years; at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for 5 years; and then accepted a position here at Marshall in 1987, where he has been on faculty for 26 years!

    Dr. Pauley has most frequently taught Herpetology, Ornithology, and Conservation Biology for the Department, as well as additional graduate courses, including journal clubs. He has also taught Herpetology at WVU's field station, and for the University of Pittsburgh's Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. In addition, he has served on PhD committees at WVU. Dr. Pauley's research career has focused on the natural history of the reptiles and amphibians of West Virginia, and in support of that research, he has mentored 95 MS students at Marshall. Of those MS students, 17 have already earned PhDs, and another 10 are currently in PhD programs.

    Happily for the Department, Dr. Pauley will stay on as an emeritus Professor, continuing his work in the West Virginia Biological Survey Museum (housed in the Department), where he will check all 15,000 specimens against the database for accurate identifications. However, because that's not enough to keep him busy, he is also working on six books, including the Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in WV.

    Dr. Pauley says that he has "so many wonderful memories while at MU." Funding from the US Forest Service, US Park Service, WV Department of Natural Resources, and various private agencies has allowed him and his graduate students "to study amphibians and reptiles from New River Gorge to the Cheat Mountains. My graduate students and I have searched about every mountain and stream in the state. The experiences and stories are many, and memories from these experiences will carry me through my retirement years."

    Dr. Pauley also says that he has "been blessed with so many wonderful students. My hope is that I have done some good for students who have come my way. If the Lord were to give me 10 lifetimes on Earth, I would want to do the same thing (with some modifications based on experiences from this first life)."

    We wish him the very, very best!

Stuffed Cells by Zedmalia Wolfe

Research in Progress: Amy Fiedler

    Amy Fiedler is from Marysville, Michigan, 15 minutes from the bridge to Canada. She earned her BS in Zoology in 2010 at Michigan State University, through Lymann Briggs College. While at Michigan State, Amy interned at Potter Park Zoo, assisting their Poison Dart Frog breeding attempts by obtaining, caring for, and hatching eggs into tadpoles. She is now working on her MS with Dr. Pauley.

    Amy's research investigates habitat use and movement of the Eastern Snapping Turtle. While currently considered a species of no concern, the snapping turtle faces several threats to its survival that are common to many turtles, such as habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation, nest predation, and slow sexual maturity rates. In addition, it faces the additional threat of nearly unrestricted commercial harvest. Studies in Canada suggest the turtle may be declining in its northernmost range.

    This past summer, Amy studied a population of both juvenile and adult snapping turtles in Wheeling, WV. She equipped them with radio transmitters, and tracked their locations three times a day via radiotelemetry. This data will allow Amy to study both the daily and seasonal movements for the adult and juvenile turtles (separately and together). She also collected hibernacula data and a number of size-related measurements, and will compare her data with studies from other areas of the US. Amy is currently working on her thesis and hopes to find a field-based job studying reptiles and amphibians.

BSC Team Wins Best Poster Award at ASB Conference

    Congratulations to BSC's Carol Starkey and coauthors Katherine Forester and Dr. Brian Antonsen, who were awarded Best Poster at the 74th Annual Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) Conference held in Charleston, WV, on April 10-13, 2013. Their poster titled "Subthreshold Toxic Effects of the Herbicide Atrazine on Learning and Behavior in Procambarus clarkii, Red Swamp Crayfish " was selected out of 167 posters presented during this conference. ASB has about 1,400 members from 220 academic and 60 non-academic institutions, making for a well-attended conference!

Congratulations to BSC's Dr. Paul Constantino!

    BSC congratulates faculty member Dr. Paul Constantino, who was selected as a Marshall University Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award (MU-DASA), Junior Recipient. According to the MU-DASA website, "The purpose of this award is to recognize distinction in the fields of artistic and scholarly activity on the part of Marshall University faculty." This is a competitive award, and we are proud of Dr. Constantino for earning it!

Do You Plan to Graduate This Summer?

    Marshall's summer graduation dates for 2013 are July 12 and August 16. Applications are available in the College office, S-270. A $50 diploma fee must be paid at the Bursar's office. Your completed application and diploma receipt must be turned into the College office by the following deadlines: materials for July graduation by June 14, and the August application deadline is July 19.

Research-based Tuition Awards Available to BSC Undergraduates

    BSC has a small number of research-based tuition awards available to undergraduates for 2013-2014. Students granted research-based funding work with a BSC faculty member on Independent Study or Capstone research; awards are based on scholarship and an evaluation of the research plan. To request departmental funds for research supplies, submit a detailed budget page with your application; the form may be obtained from (and returned to) the BSC main office, S-350, or online; more information can be found here. If you have questions about the awards, contact Vickie Crager at crager@marshall.edu or in S-350. The application deadline is May 31, 2013 (this is an extension of the date listed on the form).

Selected BSC Contact Information

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