Announcements

2009 MCAT Testing Schedule

The 2009 MCAT Testing Schedule is now available at http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatschedule.htm.  Information about registration opening dates, deadlines, and score releases will be posted by early October.

Prior to the first registration opening, a Web conference will be held for pre-health advisors to review the registration system and provide updates on registration and test day policies. Information about the conference will be sent out later in September or early October.

Also available is a list of MCAT activites at the AAMC's 2008 Annual Meeting.  If you plan to attend the meeting in San Antonio this year, please join us for our sessions or visit with us at our exhibit booth - the dates and times are on our Web page: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatactivities.htm.

Science Division Events

Fall 2008 Events

Science Scholars' Reception
Wednesday, September 17 at 6:00 p.m.
The Manse
Casual dinner for all science scholars and science majors to welcome the incoming science scholars.

2008 Annual Fall Research and Internship Forum
Wednesday, October 22, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Boyd Science Center Lobby
Poster Presentation showcasing students' summer research and internships. Light refreshments.
Photos

Internship Identification Workshop
Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 p.m.
Boyd Science Center 336
Learn to identify internship and research opportunities and how to proceed through the application process.

Science Division News

October 22, 2008

The Annual Fall Research & Internship Forum

The Annual Fall Research & Internship Forum was held on Wednesday, October 22, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. showcasing science students' research and summer internships. Seventeen students participated from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics and Engineering and the programs of Conservation Science, Environmental Science, and Neuroscience.

Photos

Abstracts

NESTING SUCCESS OF GRASSLAND BIRDS ON A RECLAIMED SURFACE MINE
Allissa Anderson, Kyle Axe, and Jim Siford
Conservation Science Program and Department of Biology

SUMMER PHYSICAL THERAPY INTERNSHIP
Emily Brown
Department of Biology

AUDUBON SPECIES SURVIVAL CENTER INTERNSHIP
Kelley Crater
Department of Biology

TESTING ALLELE-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION OF TEN PUTATIVE IMPRINTING GENES
Mai Dang, Purnima Singh, and Piroska E. Szabo
Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy
Department of Molecular Biology, Beckman Research Institute
Duarte, California
Department of Chemistry

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSITION METAL MALEONITRIOLEDITHIOLATE COMPLEXES
Ruth Gentry
Department of Chemistry

EFFECTS OF STRESS-INDUCED CHANGES IN THE HEMOLYPH OF FRESHWATER UNIONID MUSSELS FROM EXPOSURE TO ANOXIC CONDITIONS
Kylie Johson
Conservation Science Program

R.W.SIDLEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY INTERNSHIP
Nathan Hedge
Environmental Science Program

SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT MUSCATATUCK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Andrew Houze
Department of Biology

PHYSICAL THERAPY OBSERVATION HOURS AT THE CLEVELAND CLINIC
April Hung
Department of Biology

ACCUTE EFFECTS OF MDMA AND MA ON THE EXPRESSION OF GAD AND ENKEPHALIN IN MULTIPLE REGIONS OF ADULT RAT BRAINS
Katie Easley
Neuroscience Program

COMPARISON OF STREAM MORPHOLOGY IN HEADWATER CATCHMENTS THAT HAVE AND HAVE NOT BEEN SURFACE-MINED: COLLINS FORK AND SALT CREEK CATCHEMENTS
Matt Konkler
Department of Geology

CONSERVATION EDUCATION INTERNSHIP AT SEA WORLD ADVENTURE PARK (ORLANDO, FL)
Jessica Lade
Conservation Science Program

DARTER DIVERSITY AT THE WILDS
Cessna Cubbison Nichols
Conservation Science Program

400.000 PEOPLE WHO LANDED ON THE MOON: LIFE STORIES OF ENGINEERS INVOLVED IN THE MOON LANDING
Camelia M. Petre and Johannes Strobel
Department of Physics and Engineering

THE CINCINNATI ZOO AND BOTANICAL GARDEN
Julia Travaglini
Department of Biology

THE AFFECTS OF HUSBANDRY SITUATIONS ON THE LEVELS OF CORTISOL IN PERSION ONAGERS (EQUUS HEMIONUS ONAGER)
Jessica Turner, Jim Dooley, and Mandy Vick
Conservation Science Program

SYNTHESIS OF URANYL PEROXIDE NANOSPHERES, DIMERS, AND MONOMERS
Brittany Weaver
Department of Chemistry

October 10, 2008

Chemistry Department Receives New Machine

This summer, the chemistry department received new instrumentation that was paid for by a grant. The plan is to incorporate this instrument into all levels of chemistry education. The chemistry department worked together to write a grant in order to obtain the money for a new Perkin Elmer Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry machine. This machine can be used for various types of applications because it can provide a specific identification of a substance. The College has never had a piece of equipment such as this before that can definitively identify a substance.

"The instrument is probably the last piece of equipment we needed to be a modern chemistry department," said Associate Professor of Chemistry, Lois Zook-Gerdau, who spear-headedf the effort to obtain this instrument. "It is utilized in industry and academics both. It is a very common instrument used all the time, and it is really the last piece of major equipment we needed to say that we have all the major instrumentation that a chemistry lab should have."

Obtaining this piece of equipment was no easy task, however. The equipment cost about $121,000 and additional $15,000 was needed for training and installation fees associated with it.

"To get the equipment, we wrote a grant to the National Science Foundation," said Zook-Gerdau. "We wrote the grant three different times. We got it on our third try. We also needed the VPAA to sign off on it to say that he supported the grant."

According to Zook-Gerdau, the machine is going to be available for senior seminar immediately. Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Eric Schurter and his student assistants are already using the instrument in their research, and it will be incorporated into every level of classes the chemistry department offers. The instrument will also provide a new learning experience for students who have never been exposed to it before.

"I think it will benefit my learning experience to have this new machinery to use," said junior chemistry major, Katie Stewart. "This will enable us to perform different experiments that we may not have had the opportunity to try before."Excitement about the machine, which was custom-built for Muskingum College, has been running high from both students and faculty alike.

August 26, 2008

Science Division Professor Receives The Cora I. Orr Faculty Service Award

IN THE PHOTO: Pictured from left to right are Dr. Laura Hilton,
Dr. Paul Reichardt, Dr. Ray Rataiczak and Yan Sun.

At Muskingum College's Annual Convocation, held August 26 on the campus, three faculty members were recognized for excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. The awards were presented by Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Paul F. Reichardt.

The Cora I. Orr Faculty Service Award was bestowed upon Professor of Chemistry Dr. Raymond D. Rataiczak. It is named in honor of a Muskingum faculty member and administrator who served the college with devotion and distinction for four decades.

Of Dr. Rataiczak’s achievements at the college Dr. Reichardt said, “Your leadership has been instrumental in the formation of Muskingum College’s identity as a leading 21st century comprehensive liberal arts college.”

Dr. Rataiczak joined the faculty in 1980. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Waynesburg College and a doctorate in physical chemistry from Saint Louis University.