As we ring in the new year with excitement and hope, we reflect on the positive aspects of 2020 despite a tumultuous year. Our hearts go out to all of those impacted by the hardships of the past year. Despite these
unprecedented times, we have forged ahead with some creative ways to stay connected and learn this year at Otterbein. Some of these opportunities are described throughout this newsletter. Many will continue for-
Dr. Alicia Rich joined the faculty in the Fall of 2020 as Assistant Professor in the Zoo and Conservation Science Program and one of the core faculty in charge of the Intro to Cell and Molecular Biology class. Dr. Rich has a B.A. in Biology and Anthropology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate, she also worked at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, as well as the Kakamega Blue Monkey Project. For her Ph.D., she studied in the Anthropological Genetics Lab and the Primate Environmental Endocrinology Lab at Indiana University. Her dissertation focused on the reproductive health and population genetics of chimpanzees living in Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda. After graduate school, she returned to Uganda to study red colobus monkeys in Kibale National Park and carry out a camera trap survey in nearby Itwara Forest Reserve. After that, Dr. Rich moved to Boston University for a postdoctoral position in the Sensory
Morphology and Genomic Anthropology Lab. That postdoc also involved fieldwork in South Africa, where she trapped and sampled over 100 wild vervet monkeys. As a Visiting Scientist in the Genetics Department at South Africa’s National Zoo, Dr. Rich analyzed the vervet samples that she and others collected to study how the gut microbiome mediates developmental plasticity.
Currently, Dr. Rich is primarily interested in primate physiology and reproductive development in humanmodified landscapes. Her space in the Science Center, the PAL (Primates in Anthropogenic Landscapes) lab, will be fully equipped for DNA and RNA extraction from primate tissues, PCR for population genetics/metagenomics, and RT-qPCR for gene expression analysis. That work will also incorporate phytochemical and environmental toxin assays through a collaboration with San Diego Zoo. Outside of the lab, PAL members will have the opportunity to travel with Dr. Rich to
Spring is always an exciting time with seniors making their final push toward that celebratory walk across the commencement stage. There is also that extra level of excitement in the Biology and Earth Science Department as graduating seniors prepare to present the results of their research at our Senior Research Symposium. These presentations are often the culmination of multiple years of collaboration with an advisor, and seniors look forward to it
with nervous anticipation. So, when COVID struck and forced us all into our homes, we knew we had to find a way for seniors to have their moment in the sun and make their presentations. Looking back, almost a year later, managing an online symposium does not necessarily seem like that big of a deal, but at the time, when everyone was just learning the technology and people were still getting comfortable with their zoom-selves, it felt like quite a feat. The students
ward into the future as we look forward to a joyful and more socially connected 2021.
Dr. Jennifer Bennett, Chair
Uganda and Vietnam to gather primate samples and carry out demographic surveys using camera traps and other remote sensing techniques. In her spare time, Dr. Rich is also a long-distance runner with a competitive background in trail and ultrarunning. Her favorite part of her primatology career has been the many opportunities to apply her passion for trails and adventures to research and conservation. She looks forward to helping students make the most of their own unique backgrounds and interests in their careers too.
handled themselves with poise and grace, taking any technical challenges in stride and cheering each other on. The fact that we could not all be together in person was compensated for by the fact that so many friends and family who would not normally be able to attend the symposium were able to log in and show their support. Congratulations to all the 2020 Senior Research Symposium presenters! You made us proud!
This year, three faculty members in our department have won teaching awards! Dr. Sarah Bouchard has won Master Teacher of the Year, and Mr. Casey Tucker has won the Part-Time Teaching Award for Integrative Studies. Dr. Anna Young has won the Penny Bernstein Award for Teaching from the Animal Behavior Society, and her award is covered in a separate article in this issue.
Dr. Sarah Bouchard, recipient of the 2020 Otterbein Master Teacher of the Year Award, is a physiological ecologist in our department. She teaches Ecology and Vertebrate Biology, as well as teaching Gender and Biology in collaboration with the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. Dr. Bouchard uses a multitude of best practices and innovative techniques in her courses. In Ecology, she has students pursue a novel hands-on research project of their own design, culminating in a poster session at the end of the spring semester, where students present their research to their peers and faculty in the Science Center Atrium. She incorporates a variety of other fun, hands-on learning activities into her classes as well. Dr. Bouchard has students use the cemetery adjacent to Otterbein’s campus in an ecology lab, uses M&Ms in a probability and statistics exercise, and has students
dissect (and eat!) a rotisserie chicken in her vertebrate biology class. These fun and highly educational active learning strategies leave students feeling engaged and excited about the concepts they are learning.
Mr. Casey Tucker (pictured above), recipient of the 2020 Otterbein Part-Time Teaching AwardGeneral Education Category, joined our department in 2018. He teaches both discipline-specific courses for our department and in the Integrative Studies program. A student in his Birds of Ohio course describes how Professor Tucker is “full of endless awesome information about many bird species” and gives students “lots of field time to practice what we learned.” In this course, Mr. Tucker
National Groundwater Association (NGWA) consulted Dr. Kevin Svitana regarding educational opportunities online through virtual formats in response to COVID-19. Their first online effort occurred in the summer of 2020. Dr. Svitana assisted with their first virtual event “Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water” Conference (August 5, 12, and 19, 2020) with over 200 attendees.
NGWA’s annual conference, The Groundwater Summit (December 811, 2020), which usually draws over 2000 groundwater professionals, switched to a virtual format in 2020 because of COVID-19. This was NGWA’s first large-scale virtual
event, and Dr. Svitana served on the content and planning committee. The Summit was considered an overwhelming success. Over 2500 groundwater professionals from around the globe participated, representing 59 countries. There were over 210,000 desktop page views; over 57,000 mobile page views; more than 60,000 tweets related to the content; and more than 3,000 views on YouTube. While NGWA hopes that the 2021 event will be back in Las Vegas face-to-face, they feel that the 2020 event was an overwhelming success despite the challenges of a virtual format.
Dr. Svitana is currently working with NGWA to develop a virtual PFAS
brought students on field trips to area parks, the National Aviary, and the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History. In an evaluation, one student describes his INST course where he uses dinosaurs and Jurassic Park to set a framework for interdisciplinary discussions about fossils, genetics, cell biology and ecology: “Exciting, keeps you wondering about things, informative, something different from all the other INSTs.”
Mr. Tucker has also gone above and beyond in volunteering his time and inventing creative ways for students to become involved. He volunteered his time to organize and host an ornithology skins club last year, providing students with hands-on experience while adding to the bird teaching and research collections. Mr. Tucker also contributes to the STEM Art Show each year and helps at the Matting Party leading up to the show. He recently volunteered to lead nature hikes in the Signature STEM Series, created as a valueadded experience for first-year STEM majors. He also hosted an ISapproved “Reel Science” - Science Cinema Night for Otterbein Students at Polaris 18 Cinemas, giving commentary about the science behind the blockbuster science-fiction movie, Jurassic Park
conference for June 2021 and a new short course in August 2021. The new course, which will be either face-toface or virtual, will address issues related to hazardous waste sites and their conceptual site models. As hazardous waste remediation sites transition to the next generation of professionals, the importance of accurate conceptual site models becomes critical. This will be the focus of the course. Dr. Svitana is developing the course with Mr. Jeffrey Martin, Senior Project Manager with Ohio EPA, and Dr. Jeff Richard Laton, professor at California State University at Fullerton.
In August 2020, Rebecca Carter ’15 (BS Environmental Science, BA Art with Studio Concentration) graduated with her Ph D from the University of Notre Dame (UND) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Her research at UND focused primarily on the investigation of rare earth element signatures (REE) and surrogate nuclear melt glass for nuclear forensics. Nuclear forensics is the study of nuclear and other radioactive materials to determine origin and history of the material. Elemental signatures, such as REE signatures, can provide key information about the geology and formation of uranium ores and are therefore vital for source identification of intercepted illicit materials. As part of her research, batch sorption techniques were used to probe the solid-water interface of REE to UO2, a common nuclear material. The stability of REE signatures were investigated using techniques such as powder x-
ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, to thoroughly characterize the UO2, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, to monitored aqueous REE concentrations. Additionally, she helped develop a fluorination method using NF3 to quickly analyze surrogate materials at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). During her graduate studies, Rebecca participated in two National Security Internships at PNNL and presented her findings at numerous conferences, including the Spring 2019 American Chemical Society Nation Meeting and the National Groundwater Association 2019 National Meeting.
Rebecca Carter is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in the Production and Characterization Technology group, where she supports pyrochemical processing research for the development of the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. At SRNL, she works with scientists and engineers to conduct research benefit-
ing national security and the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy. Most of her work at Savannah River is government-classified, related to national security.
Remember way back in March 2020? Remember when we thought that a cyberattack was the most difficult challenge we could face in 2020? Yeah. That was a long 12 months ago.
The university community responded quickly when the Ohio governor mandated all universities and schools close their campuses and redesign courses to be online. Professors, students, and staff replaced our face-to-face interactions with Teams, Blackboard Ultra, and Zoom. We made it through a shocking Spring. Inside, we always wanted to return to that Westerville campus and the community feeling that made Otterbein our home.
The virus we hoped to conquer by shuttering the campus was victorious. It was not snuffed out in its early days and quickly covered the continental United States. Could campus-
es reopen in the Fall? Could the collaboration and friendship that came from daily experiences return to our lives? Somehow, unbelievably, the answer was “yes.”
Behind-the-scenes work went on in the Science Center with tradespersons, engineers, administrators, EH&S professionals, and politicians all working toward the common goal returning everyone to campus. Fine-pore filters were inserted into HVAC systems, air turnover in classrooms was increased, classroom spaces were assessed to design socially-distanced seating arrangements, gallons of hand sanitizer were produced, hundreds of buckets of disinfecting wipes were filled, and signs were designed. Meetings with Franklin County Health professionals and state advisors occurred. As the collective knowledge of COVID-19’s inner workings increased, policies were updated in response. Suggestions were shared
between universities as creativethinking and problem-solving were applied to fight the virus threatening our health and the educational experiences of our beloved students.
In the fall, many of us were able to return to the Science Center. There was a different feel to it and a sense of wariness at first. We wore masks. We washed our hands enthusiastically. The halls had sanitizer dispensers everywhere. Disinfecting wipes were visible in every classroom. Many classes stayed online or hybrid. Some staff or students needed to stay isolated. It was different. But it was ours. We came together, we adapted to the new normal, and we reclaimed that Cardinal Community feeling that made Otterbein the unique, welcoming, collaborative campus we call home. The effort was momentous. It tied us together in our moment in history. Erin Ulrich
Dr. Anna Young co-authored a paper, “Teaching animal behavior online: A primer for the pandemic and beyond,” with animal behavior instructors from eight different universities; it was published in the journal Ethology. The paper provides recommendations and opportunities to make online classes interactive and inclusive. Dr. Young has transitioned multiple classes online this past year, including those typically taught at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Ten Otterbein alumni joined class virtually in the Fall of 2020 to share their enrichment and training experiences at their jobs. A big thanks to Matt Vieth ’16 and Mara Eisenbarth ’17 from Reid Park Zoo, Kelly Jackson ’17 from Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Rebekah Perry Franks ’18 from Herit-
age Farm Museum and Village, Samantha Bonifas ’18 from Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Eileen Connon ’19 from Tulane National Primate Research Center, Amanda Sibert ’19 from the Birmingham Zoo, Haley Wasserman ’19 from the Toledo Zoo, Claire Sinard ’19 from the Living Desert, and Samantha Hymel ’17 from the Baton Rouge Zoo; for sharing your time and expertise! Dr. Young also partnered with Dr. Steffanie Burk from the Department of Equine Science to give students the opportunity to put the concepts and ideas from class into practice. Zoo and Conservation Science students paired up (socially distantly) with first year Equine Science students to work through exercises about animal behavior and training. Students recorded horse behavior before and after enrichment items were provided and used
positive reinforcement clicker training techniques to target-train the horses.
Building relationships is an important part of the first year of a student’s college experience, and we understood that first-year Otterbein students would be experiencing the start of college in a very unusual way, with less ability to interact under the constraints of social distancing and the fear of a rapidly spreading contagion. In order to offer opportunities to build relationships with peers and professors, our department collaborated with other STEM departments on campus to offer a Signature STEM Series. This extracurricular series incorporated both social and educational aspects. The series kicked off with nature hikes led by Biology and Earth Science faculty members focused on various themes, including plant, bird, and microbe hikes. Later in the semester, hikes incorporating a citizen-science component were introduced. These hikes encouraged students to use the iNaturalist app to capture photos and upload them to a database where naturalists from around the world
provide input to correctly identify species in an area. These hikes were part of an Otterbein-hosted BioBlitz to identify as many species as possible within a week. Participants who identified the most species correctly were awarded prizes as part of this fun challenge. The Chemistry Department also hosted an event where first-year students worked to produce videos of exploding liquid fountains in their Mentos and Coke Challenge.
As part of the Signature STEM Series and in conjunction with the American Society for Microbiology Student Chapter on campus, we hosted a campus-wide Agar Art Workshop. This workshop allowed students to “paint with bacteria.” Safe strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and other bacteria were applied onto petri dish canvases using sterile toothpicks. The E. coli contained pieces of DNA that bestowed various colors and even made some strains fluoresce or “glow” under ultraviolet light. The pieces of agar artwork were incubated overnight, then photos were taken. Participants were given
the option to enter their work into the Otterbein STEM Art Show in November and participate in the Agar Art Contest. Finally, we ended the semester with socially distanced matting parties for students to matte their artwork for the STEM Art show that was held in November at The Point Gallery on campus and online as a virtual gallery. Search www.flickr.com to see the 2020 STEM Art Show.
Dr. Anna Young, Associate Professor and Director of the Zoo and Conservation Science Program, was honored with a Career award for teaching in 2020. Dr. Young was the recipient of the Penny Bernstein Distinguished Teaching Award from the Animal Behavior Society. Dr. Penny Bernstein was a scientist who studied and taught Animal Behavior at Kent State University at Stark in North Canton, Ohio.
Dr. Young’s teaching portfolio was commended for innovative methods, such as pioneering incorporating virtual speakers from all over the world into the classroom. Dr. Young started connecting top scientists in animal behavior to Otterbein students virtually in 2013. She has focused on inviting scientists of color, female scientists, and scientists of different nationalities to amplify diversity in the scientific field. Dr. Young has also provided extra-credit assignments to students to write science-based limericks and to create memes related to concepts in animal behavior. These assignments help develop skills to communicate complex topics succinctly, an important skill for all scientists.
Science Poetry @Science_Poetry • Sep 26, 2019
By Sidney Street:
Wondering about the motor theory?
Look to hummingbirds for your inquiry learning varies local ly
Visually and vocally
Certainly a reason to be cheery !
Araya -Salas M et al , The Royal Society, 286, 1-9
Construction was deemed an essential activity during the pandemic. One might ask what that has to do with malacology (the study of mollusks). The quick answer is that instream construction (like bridge building) falls in the “essential activity” category; prior to any instream construction in Ohio and surrounding states, mussel surveys must be performed, which has kept a lot of mussel biologists and environmental scientists busy during the mussel season from May through September. And what that means is that mussel distribution data was being collected under essentially the same protocol this past summer as it had for the seven summers prior to that. In my case, then, these data are available to answer questions about the impacts of bridges on mussels (Holly Rundle’s ’20 Honors Thesis) and the efficacy of translocation of mussels prior to bridge construction and reconstruction. These, as well as reports on a reexamination of the mussels of the Little Miami River system (Em Da-
vis’ ’20 Honors Thesis) and the mussels in the streams located in Camp Garfield (formerly the Ravenna Arsenal), have been shared at the Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference and the Ohio Scenic Rivers Conference. Having lots of time on one’s hands also has allowed for the review of the mollusks that reside in the state. So, just in case anyone was interested, we have 80 species of freshwater mussels and 20 species of clams (Asiatic clam, and fingernail and pea clams). We have 140 species of land snails, and 50 species of aquatic snails: it is this last group that I will be introducing to the wildlife community at the upcoming Ohio Wildlife Conference, where the Division of Wildlife’s newest booklet will be unveiled, entitled: Freshwater Snails of Ohio. Tom Watters was working on this booklet prior to his passing, and we are releasing it in his honor at the meeting in March. The booklet covers 42 of the 50 species (actually 51, if we include one that is thought extinct) recorded for Ohio. It also makes it
Science Poetry @Science Poetry • Nov 6 2019
By Katie Gibson:
Male zebra finches usually learn songs from the ir father
But w hen affected by stress they say "w hy bother? "
Instead they copy the song of a peer
They do not listen when father is near.
Boogert et. al. 2018 Phil. Trans. R. Soc 8 373: 20170290 1-9
clear that, although Ohio is one of the most studied states as far as mollusks are concerned, there is still a lot of work left to do. Maybe this booklet, along with the mussel booklet that came out last year, will entice others to look for mollusks in our streams, lakes, swamps, and ponds. Malacology is alive and well in Ohio – and maybe will get even a bit better in the future!
Dr. Michael Hoggarth Ph.D.
Through COVID Conversations, a weekly series of interdisciplinary presentations and discussions, faculty at Otterbein were able to address various aspects of the COVID-19 crisis to engage the Otterbein community in a variety of subjects, ranging from science to literature to the pan-
demic’s impact on society and small businesses. All of these presentations were available online to the Otterbein community and were approved by the Integrative Studies Program. Five faculty from our department presented on topics such as the characteristics of the virus, disease transmission,
I was lucky enough to publish a paper on the work I did in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the February 2021 issue of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in a manuscript entitled: “Barriers and opportunities for canine rabies vaccination campaigns in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.” This work began a few years ago but culminated in several month-long trips to Ethiopia where we vaccinated several thousand owned (and unowned) dogs against rabies. Most humans that die of rabies were bitten by dogs that live much of their lives on the street and are only tenuously “owned.” My partners and I were able to dramatically
increase coverage of dog rabies vaccine in several districts of the city, while obtaining critically important information about dog ownership practices for use in future campaigns. Your dog at home is very likely a part of your family, a “fur-baby,” or at least a very pampered pet. But most dogs in the world live a very different life, being used as an alarm or guard against unwanted intruders; more utilitarian than part of the family. In Addis Ababa, this means that even if you own a dog, you’d have a hard time handling it without being bitten and certainly can’t bring it to a central vaccination point, which is the stand-
genomic variability, and COVID-19 in animals. We look forward to continuing this successful educational series this spring, as the virus and various aspects of the pandemic continue to evolve and the vaccine is beginning to be administered to the public.
ard for most of the world (including here in Columbus, Ohio). This meant we needed to travel door-to-door to vaccinate thousands of households’ animals to locally extirpate rabies. This work is currently being expanded to the entirety of the city to stamp out the threat of rabies to the people of Addis Ababa.
Andrew Calinger-Yoak, Ph.D.
In 2020, Otterbein University STEM programs received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of almost $1,000,000 to provide scholarships, support, training, and professional development for low-income, promising future scholars in STEM. These scholarships include Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Environmental Science, and Zoo & Conservation Science majors associ-
ated with the Department of Biology & Earth Science. Recipients will receive scholarships for $4,500 to $10,000 and curricular and cocurricular support for all four years. To learn more about the program, visit: https://www.otterbein.edu/ financial-aid/scholarships/ stemscholarships-the-cardinal-science -scholars-program/
If you are a high school student
Students in Dr. Bouchard’s Vertebrate Biology course learn about bird anatomy through rotisserie chicken dissection. First they focus on the musculature, learning the physiological basis for light and dark meat and identifying the important muscles used for wing flapping. Then, they extract all of the bones and piece the skeleton together, noting the various adaptions for flight. If anyone had leftovers, they took them home for their favorite chicken recipe. Extra credit went to anyone who gave their family a bird anatomy lesson at Thanksgiving!
interested in pursuing a major in STEM in any of the Department of Biology & Earth Science-associated majors, please contact Dr. David Sheridan, Associate Professor, at dsheridan@otterbein.edu for more information and to schedule a meeting. To ensure full consideration, you are encouraged to apply by Otterbein University’s Priority Application deadline, December 15.
Department of Biology and Earth Science 1 S. Grove St. Westerville, OH 43081
614-823-1517
drhodeback@otterbein.edu