Division of Sciences 2003-04

BIOLOGY

Charles Chester

Awarded:

• Tenure and promotion to associate professor

• Teagle Foundation interdisciplinary partnership grant with Dr. Mel Brandon to link BIO 110 Environmental Biology and PHL 233 Environmental Ethics

Member:

• Council on Undergraduate Research 

• SHC's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Planning Committee that submitted an invited proposal for funding undergraduate research (not funded)

Co-trip leader, Hillsborough Community College Florida Keys Trip, May 2003

Visiting researcher, Keys Marine Lab:  studying the feeding biology of Florida Bay sponges

Collaborated with librarian Bret Heim on ways to develop students' research and scientific writing 

SHC liaison officer, Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium at Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Works in progress:

• "Potential Role of the Sponge Community in Controlling Phytoplankton Blooms in Florida Bay" by B.J. Peterson, J. Fourqurean, and C.M. Chester

Donald Culberson

Publications:

• Manci EA, Culberson DE, Yang Y-M.  2003.  "Causes of Death in Sickle Cell Disease:  An Autopsy Study."  British Journal of Hematology.  123:359-365  (refereed) 

Attended:

• Council on Undergraduate Research Workshop:  "Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research Institute" The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey

• Heartland/Delta Conversations, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

Member:

• SHC's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Planning Committee that submitted an invited proposal for funding undergraduate research (not funded)

Designed and taught a new non-majors biology course, BIO 115 Biology of Sex, to traditional undergraduates and Lifelong Learning Students

Faculty representative to the Student Life Committee, SHC Board of Trustees

Works in progress:

• Continued collaboration with research laboratories at the University of South Alabama;  in conjunction with these activities, was re-appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in USA's Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience

David Dean

Awarded:

• Teagle Summer Curriculum Development Grant to develop the portion of CHM 461 Biochemistry I relating to cellular metabolism 

Attended:

• SHC workshop on ERes

Member:

• Core Curriculum and Assessment Committee, Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS); began serving as co-chair in Spring 2004 

Continued to expand use of case studies BIO 131 Human Anatomy and Physiology I and BIO 462 General Physiology 

Added material from two courses to ERes

Adult literacy tutor with the Goodwill/Easter Seals Adult Literacy Program

Works in progress:

• Three original case studies to be presented at the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society annual conference in Calgary, Canada, in summer 2004; will also submit these case studies to MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) for publication

• Developing additional original case studies, each involving a different organ system

• Preparing materials needed to teach the first half (cellular metabolism) of CHM 461 Biochemistry I in Fall 2005

Paul Kohnen

Attended:

• Alabama Health Professions Advisors Meeting, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Member:

• American Phytopathological Society

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Council on Undergraduate Research

• SHC's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Planning Committee that submitted an invited proposal for funding undergraduate research (not funded)

Seven new course preparations:  BIO 100 Human Biology, BIO 101 Principles of Biology, BIO 103 Principles of Biology Laboratory, BIO 102 Botany, BIO Botany Laboratory, BIO 360 Cell Biology, BIO 362 Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory

Increased use of PowerPoint in classroom presentations

CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND DUAL DEGREE ENGINEERING

Shawn Allin

Publications:

• Review:  Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks: The Spirited History of Physical Chemistry, Cobb, C. Prometheus Books; Amherst, NY, 2002, in Foundations of Chemistry 2003, 5, 249-252 (peer reviewed)

• Review of Polymer Science & Technology, 2^nd Edition, Fried, J.R. Prentice-Hall Profession Technical Reference, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2003 in Journal of Chemical Education. In Press. (peer reviewed)

• Review of Chemical Explanation: Characteristics, Development, Autonomy, Earley, J.E, Sr. (Editor) New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 2003 in Hyle: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry. In Press. (peer reviewed)

Lectures/presentations/talks given:

• Spoke at a Hollinger's Island town meeting regarding the location of a liquefied natural gas facility at the Navy Home Port facility on Mobile Bay

• Hosted tour of Chemistry Department and conducted experiments with six members of Troop 1, Mobile Area Council, Boy Scouts of America

• SHC COOL (Celebration of Our Learning) Day:  "Adding Photons: When 1 Plus 1 Equals 1 - or - Frequency Doubling and the Effects of Temperature"

• SHC Faculty Friday: "Formative Evaluations: News from the Western Front"

Awarded:

• SHC Teagle Summer Research Grant: "Novel Routes to Copolymer Reactivity Ratios: A Computational Quantum Mechanics Approach"

• Attendance at workshop at the National Science Foundation's Center for Workshops in Chemical Sciences, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy," University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (includes registration costs, accommodations, food per diem, and all workshop materials)

Attended:

• Council on Undergraduate Research Proposal Writing Institute, College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

• American Chemical Society national meeting, Anaheim, California

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, September 2003:  "The Chemistry of Wine" by J. Ernest Simpson, California State Polytechnic University (hosted meeting)

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, October 2003:  "Archeology at Old St. Stephens: ' Where Alabama Began' " by George Shorter, University of South Alabama (hosted meeting)

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, November 2003:  "Cleaning and Preservation of Copper Coins" by Dr. C. Alton Hassell, Baylor University

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, January 2004:  "From Garbage to Stuff: How We Recycle Plastics" by Dr. William F. Carroll, OxyChem  (hosted meeting)

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, February 2004:  "Making Chemicals One at a Time: A Good Business Model?" by Dr. Joe Serafin, University of South Alabama  (hosted meeting)

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, March 2004:  "Chemical Weapons: What, Where, and How" by Dr. Robert J. Radel, U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground  (hosted meeting)

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, April 2004:  "The Chemistry of Marijuana in Humans" by Dr. Joe A. Vinson, The University of Scranton  (hosted meeting)

• "St. Ignatius in Cyberspace: The Ratio Studiorum for the 21^st Century" videoconference

• Two Christus Theological Institute lectures

• All SHC Faculty Friday lectures

Grant proposals written:

• National Science Foundation CCLI-A & I: "Enhanced Critical Thinking Skill Development Using Multi-Nuclear Fourier-Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy"; S.B. Allin and L. Bordas; $90,860; not funded

• Teagle Curriculum Development Grant: "Comprehensive Revision and Update of General Chemistry Laboratories"; S.B. Allin; $2,500; not funded because my Teagle Summer Research Grant was funded (SHC policy is to award only one Teagle grant per person per summer)

Member:

• American Chemical Society

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society: 

• Executive Committee member (secretary)

• Organized the society's High School Chemistry Awards Banquet for approximately 100 students, parents, and teachers

• American Physical Society

• Council on Undergraduate Research

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

• National Science Teachers Association

• Project Kaleidoscope, Faculty for the 21st Century

• South Mobile Industrial Association Community Advisory Panel

• Holcim (US) Inc. Community Advisory Committee

• SHC's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Planning Committee that submitted an invited proposal for funding undergraduate research (not funded)

Traveled to Beaumont, Texas, to facilitate collaborative research with Dr. Stephen P. Fearnley on the intramolecular cyclization of aryl silanes  (Dr. Fearnley is now on the faculty at The City University of New York - York College) 

Maintained personal subscriptions to Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Chemical Reviews, Journal of Chemical Education, Hyle: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry, Science, Physics in Perspective, CUR Quarterly, American Scientist, Chemical Heritage, Discover, Physics Today, and Journal of College Science Teaching

Participated in a meeting with the Editorial Board of Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education

Faculty representative to the Committee on Mission and Identity, SHC Board of Trustees

New course preparations: CHM 444 Physical Chemistry, CHM 422 Biophysical Chemistry, CHM 424 Biophysical Chemistry Laboratory, and CHM 442 Physical Chemistry II

Works in progress:

• Working on manuscripts or generating data in several areas:

• Investigations into thermal effects on molecular hyperpolarizabilities

• Determination of molecular hyperpolarizabilities via solvatochromism

• Computational methods for determining copolymer reactivity ratios

• Intramolecular cyclization of aryl silanes

• Expanding preliminary data on my copolymer reactivity ratios project, hopefully leading to a presentation at the spring 2005 American Chemical Society national meeting, a publication, and a proposal to the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund

Lesli Bordas

Lectures/presentations given:

• Murphy High School junior/senior chemistry class: "Forensics in the Classroom"

• Interviewed by local media on the topic of solar flares

• SHC COOL (Celebration of Our Learning) Day poster presentation on forensic chemistry

• SHC Faculty Friday: "Retention: It's About Empowering the Underpowered"

Awarded:

• Petroleum Research Fund Research Grant: "The Use of Crown Ethers as Molecular Shields to Prevent the Formation of Secondary Structure in Solid Phase Peptid Synthesis";  $35,000

• Attendance at workshop at the National Science Foundation's Center for Workshops in Chemical Sciences, "Forensic Science," Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts (includes registration costs, accommodations, food per diem, and all workshop materials)

• Course release for the spring semester to examine undergraduate research (sponsored by the Teagle Foundation)

Attended:

• Council on Undergraduate Research Proposal Writing Institute, College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

• Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

• National Science Teachers Association Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia

• Attended several seminars and classes: Bio-Rad pGLO Bacterial Transformation and Green Fluorescent Protein Purification, Forensics in the Classroom, Flinn Chemtopic Labs Workshop: Experiments and Demonstrations in Chemistry, Bio-Rad Forensic DNA Fingerprinting, Bio-Rad ELISA Immuno Assay Explorer, Shoestring Biotechnology, Design YOUR Lab in the Future, Motivating Students with Qwizdom, an Interactive Learning System

• National Science Foundation seminar: "Increasing the Retention of Minorities in the Sciences," Dayton, Ohio

• Computational chemistry class, "Wavefunction, Anaheim, California; this enabled me to use the computational software recently installed in the chemistry computer lab

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, September 2003:  "The Chemistry of Wine" by J. Ernest Simpson, California State Polytechnic University

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, January 2004:  "From Garbage to Stuff: How We Recycle Plastics" by Dr. William F. Carroll, OxyChem 

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, February 2004:  "Making Chemicals One at a Time: A Good Business Model?" by Dr. Joe Serafin, University of South Alabama 

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, March 2004:  "Chemical Weapons: What, Where, and How" by Dr. Robert J. Radel, U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground  

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society meeting, April 2004:  "The Chemistry of Marijuana in Humans" by Dr. Joe A. Vinson, The University of Scranton

Grant proposals written:

• National Science Foundation CCLI-A & I: "Enhanced Critical Thinking Skill Development Using Multi-Nuclear Fourier-Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy"; S.B. Allin and L. Bordas; $90,860; not funded

• Association of American Colleges and Universities, Network for Academic Renewal:  attendance at "Diversity and Learning: Democracy's Compelling Interest" meeting;  pending 

Named Advisor of the Year

Accepted into the Who's Who of Executives and Professionals

Member:

• American Chemical Society: 

• Student Affiliate Coordinator

• Women and Minorities Committee

• Mobile Local Section of the American Chemical Society: 

• Executive Committee member (chair-elect)

• Council on Undergraduate Research

• Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

• National Science Teachers Association

• Association for Women in Science

After attending the Wavefunction computational chemistry class, I adapted two labs in CHM 334 Organic Chemistry Lab II so students could be exposed to computational experimentation

Began to use ERes

Works in progress:

• Petroleum Research Fund grant project:  have hired two undergraduate students to do research with me in summer 2004

• Writing a workbook to accompany Solomn's text on organic chemistry

• Ordering instrumentation, materials, and chemicals for the biochemistry lab (through the Crampton Trust grant)

• Adapting the organic chemistry labs to a new laboratory format

Larry Brough

Attended:

• Local meetings of the American Chemical Society

• American Chemical Society Counselor's meeting

Member:

• American Chemical Society:  Serve as Counselor for the Mobile section

• Community Based Expectations Committee (committee is part of an extensive air quality study organized by Mobile Bay Watch and supported by local industry, Bay Watch, the city of Mobile, and Mobile County;  it will work to develop air quality standards for this area)

• Mobile Bay Sierra Club:  Serve as chair

Remained current in field by reading:

• Chemical and Engineering News

• Chemical Abstracts Selects: Organosilicon Chemistry

John Kane [Division Chair]

Member:

• American Association of Physics Teachers

Subscribe to two professional journals of the American Association of Physics Teachers

MATHEMATICS

Charles Cheney

Lectures/presentations given:

• Dr. Alex Landi's Master of Liberal Arts Modernity class:  on the conflict between science and religion as illustrated in a work of Galileo

• SHC Faculty Friday lecture: "Uncertainty in Mathematics: What My Teachers Never Told Me About Godel's Incompleteness Theorem"

Revised MTH 465 Probability and Statistics

Implemented the new initiatives for secondary and elementary education majors;  these involved the new mathematics major for secondary education majors who want to be certified to teach mathematics and the new mathematics course, MTH 192 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers II, that was created to provide elementary education majors with enough hours in mathematics

Works in progress:

• Continuing to strengthen the writing component in MTH 301 Introduction to Abstract Mathematics

Daniel Cyphert

Awarded:

• Teagle Summer Curriculum Development Grant to more fully develop MTH 470 Mathematical Modeling

• Selected as a participant in a Summer 2004 National Science Foundation Short Course:  "An Introduction to Maple Programming" 

Presentations:

• COOL (Celebration of Our Learning) Day: poster presentation on my research

• Teagle Grant results meeting: poster presentation on my research

Reviewer, Mathematical Association of America publications:  Mathematics Magazine and The College Mathematics Journal

In working with a student on her senior seminar, I proposed some original work that may result in publication

Substantial reading of journals of the Mathematical Association of America

Department liaison to the Mathematical Association of America

Works in progress:

• Investigation of parameterization of curves using area

• Investigation of complex variable techniques for minimal-time trajectories in vector interactive fields

• Article for Ocean Navigator Publications

• Paper for Mathematics Magazine

Jeanette Monroe

Awarded:

• Promotion to assistant professor

Member:

• Mathematical Association of America

In fall 2003, began taking courses in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, toward earning a PhD in Science and Mathematics Education

New course development:  MTH 192 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers II

Put most of the lectures in MTH 113 Contemporary Mathematics into PowerPoint