October 2011, Volume 10, Issue 2
Upcoming Seminars and Events
Thursday, November 3
Joint Chemistry and Biology Department Seminar – Andrew Crofton ’09
The Roles of Transition Metal Dyshomeostasis and Inflammation in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease
3:00 p.m., RNS 390
Monday, November 7
Biology Department Seminar – Chuck Huff
Even the best fail: professional misconduct among moral exemplars in computing
4:00 p.m., RNS 410
Friday, November 11
Joint Chemistry and Biology Department Seminar – Burckhard Seelig
3:00 p.m., RNS 390
Monday, December 5
Biology Department Seminar – Scott Dee
Professor, Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota
How to Request Letters of Recommendation
Are you wondering how to ask your professors for recommendation letters? If you’re applying for research programs or internships for next summer, or maybe grad school, check out this advice from Emily Geary ’13 on how to ask your professors for letters of recommendation. More
Q & A with Tamar Resnick, Visiting Professor in Biology
Visiting Assistant Professor Resnick came to St. Olaf this fall just after completing her postdoctoral work in the developmental timing of the nematode C. elegans. She received her B.S. from Brown University in Providence, RI and went on to get her Ph.D in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. She sat down with Natalie Hofmeister ’13 to introduce herself and talk about her interim class, the Biology of Women. More
Research on the St. Olaf Natural Lands
Students and professors have long used the St. Olaf Natural Lands as a research subject for class and independent projects. Over the past 20 years of its existence, St. Olaf scientists have investigated methane production in wetlands, the relationship between snowpack and soil processes, patterns of tree growth and survival, prairie plant biomass production, and habitat utilization of small mammals, among many other topics. More
Northern Saw-Whet Owl Netting
Starting in late October, students of Assistant Professor Freedberg teamed up with banding expert Greg Munson to net and band Saw-Whet
owls at Weaver Dunes Field Station in Kellogg, MN. These owls are passing through southeast Minnesota on their migration south. Banding experts throughout Minnesota have been drawing the owls in by playing a Saw-Whet owl call, catching the owls in a mist-net, and then processing the birds and banding them to monitor this population.
Comments, questions or corrections? Interested in contributing? Please contact Tory Borovsky, academic administrative assistant in biology.