Biology students will give talks on their research

SUNY Fredonia students, all recipients of grants for summer research, will present reports on their projects on Friday, Oct. 19, at 3 p.m. in Jewett Hall Room 101 on the SUNY Fredonia campus.

"Active participation in research projects is a key component in the education of many Fredonia Biology majors." --Dept. Chairperson  Ted Lee

Jonathan Sanford works on streaking e-coli from one media to another. His project is supervised by Dr. Ted Lee with support from the New York State Great Lakes Protection Fund

The event will be preceded by an informal reception in honor of the researchers in the Jewett Hall lobby at 2:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend both events.

Funding for the summer research projects resulted from a grant received by the Fredonia College Foundation from the Holmberg Foundation of Jamestown, as well as the college foundation’s Constantine Barker Fund and Biology Department Endowment, the McNair Scholars Foundation, and the New York State Great Lakes Protection Fund.

The student researchers who will be presenting projects are:

• Holly Kaas of Fredonia, who under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Strakosh, studied the movement of Lake Erie smallmouth bass in local tributaries. 

• Scott Sullivan of Rochester helped Dr. Strakosh assess the relative abundance, growth, condition and diet among tributary versus lake spawned smallmouth bass.

• Nicholas Sard of Panama, who is studying the genetic differences between the smallmouth bass populations that spawn in Lake Erie and those that breed in creeks that serve as tributaries to the lake, also worked with Dr. Strakosh.

• Lindsay E. Martin’s project focused on understanding the effect of non-native species invasion on native western New York plant communities. Of Fredonia, her faculty mentor was Dr. Jonathan Titus.

• Alicia Fahrner of Grand Island studied longitudinal variation of fish assemblages in Canadaway Creek with a focus on exotic species under the direction of Dr. Strakosh.

• Gregory A. Muntz of Fredonia, under the direction of Dr. William Brown, studied the aggressive song in male House Crickets, Achetas domesticus.

• Terry Plunkett of Springville studied bat sonar calls under the direction of Dr. Karry Kazial.

• Jonathan Sanford of Hamlin and graduate student Richard Boheen of Rochester worked under the direction of Department of Biology Chair Ted Lee in his work of microbial source tracking of Escherichia coli in Lake Erie. 

Dr. Lee noted, “Active participation in research projects is a key component in the education of many Fredonia Biology majors. Students work closely with a faculty mentor on an original research project, with the faculty member providing advice, support and materials. Fredonia student scholars have attended national scientific meetings to present their findings and are co-authors of published research articles. These experiences greatly benefit the students as they go on to graduate school, medical school or gain employment after graduation.”