Research in Biology

Introduction

A student wishing to enroll in this course must first select a faculty mentor. Working with this mentor the student decides on a research project and the number of hours of work to be carried out on that project each week. Before the student enrolls a one page summary of this agreement must be submitted to the department chair for approval.

Click on the links on the left to learn about the research interests of the biology faculty and some of the projects that they have available.

Mark Paulissen

General research interests: behavior and ecology of reptiles and amphibians.

Specific projects include:

Evaluation of spatial learning in lizards.
Study of the role of scent in predator detection and avoidance in reptiles.
Territoriality and aggressive behavior in skinks (a group of lizards found in Oklahoma).
Role of experience in influencing the outcomes of aggressive encounters in reptiles.
Effects of human impact on reptile and amphibian populations.
Natural history of neonate and juvenile reptiles and amphibians (the life history stage upon which natural selection acts most dramatically). Studies are of diet, habitat selection, microhabitat use, seasonal and daily activity periods, etc.

Cindy Cisar

My research interests are in the area of environmental microbiology. I currently have two research projects.

The first research project is to develop a PCR assay to specifically detect and quantitate chicken fecal pollution of water. Water quality is closely monitored in the United States. This is especially true for water resources that are used as sources of potable water or for human recreation. Fecal pollution of watersheds is of particular concern as human and animal feces may contain human pathogens such as bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli), viruses (e.g. hepatitis A), or intestinal parasites (e.g. Giardia lamblia). The most commonly used method for monitoring fecal pollution involves determination of the numbers of coliform bacteria present in a water sample. This method is extremely useful but suffers from the drawback that it does not indicate the potential source(s) of fecal pollution. Several laboratories in the United States are working on techniques to be used for microbial source tracking (MST) of fecal pollution. MST utilizes a variety of methods to identify fecal microbes specific to a particular host or group of hosts. Once the source(s) of fecal pollution is identified steps can be taken towards remediation of the problem.

The second research project is an examination of antibiotic resistance in bacteria present in the environment. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. However, we know very little about antibiotic resistance in bacteria in natural ecosystems. Are there bacterial reservoirs of antibiotic resistance in the environment? How readily are genes for antibiotic resitance transferred between bacteria under natural conditions? How and under what conditions does gene transfer take place in the environment? Does resistance to antibiotics confer a selective advantage to bacteria in a natural ecosystem? There are many questions to be answered and the answers will likely have a significant impact on the use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture.

We are currently examining antibiotic resistance in bacteria from local streams. We are comparing antibiotic resistance in bacteria obtained from sites upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants.

Craig Clifford

Suggested projects:

Basic biology and rearing of invertebrates with emphasis on arthopods, especially Class Insecta.
Reproductive biology of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus.
Studies on local parasites.
Environmental and/or comparative physiological studies of animal systems.
Research of physiology teaching methods.
Ectoparasite distribution at the Nature Conservancy Nickel Preserve.
Distribution and natural history studies of the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, at Camp Gruber Training Site.

Mia Revels

I am conducting a research project on the Swainson's Warbler in the Little River National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oklahoma (McCurtain county). Swainson's Warblers are medium-sized neotropical migratory birds that are known for their extremely cryptic, skulky behaviour. You are more likely to hear their loud, ringing song than to see these brown birds in the dense, swampy thickets where they are found. They spend their winters in Jamaica and the Yucatan Penisula of Mexico, then migrate in the spring to the southeastern United States where they breed in bottomland hardwood forests. Historically, Swainson's Warblers were found throughout eastern Oklahoma, but due primarily to habitat loss/degradation are now found only in the southeastern corner of the state

Suggested projects:

Protocalliphora parisitism (blood-sucking maggot).
Habitat characteristics.
Nest behaviour.
Territory size.
Song studies.
Life history (clutch size, incubation period, nestling period, etc.).
Fledgling growth rates.
Population densities.

Jim Schooley

Suggested projects:

Prey selection by sculpin (a fish) in an Ozark stream.
Impact of increased minimum flows below Tenkiller Dam on stream invertebrates.
The distribution and abundance of zebra mussels in Oklahoma.
Analysis of fish community structure in an Ozark stream on the Nature Conservancy 's Nickel Preserve.
The vertical distribution of light and chlorophyll in Tenkiller Ferry Reservoir.
Using fish and invertebrates to monitor water quality in Oklahoma streams.

Amy Smith

My research interests are:

Effects of disturbance in streams on aquatic invertebrates.

Meiofauna colonization dynamics. (Meiofauna are invertebrates that are smaller than one millimeter. Common types of meiofauna include rotifers, cladocera, copepods, ostracodes, and other intriguing organisms.)

Cave invertebrates.

Cave ecology.

Click here to read two research articles that I have published.

Suggested projects:

Studies of cave invertebrates.
Examining mieofauna populations in streams throught the seasons.
Studying meiofauna colonization after stream disturbances.
The use of meiofauna as bioindicators.
The effect of siltation on stream invertebrates (meiofauna or macroinvertebrates).
Macroinvertebrate surveys of streams.

	John de Banzie
	Suggested projects: Characterisation of endogenous retroviruses of chickens. Investigation of the nuclear architecture of yeast. Regulation of patterning in regenerating flatworms.

	Monica Macklin
	Suggested projects: Distribution and ecology of rare woody plants in northeastern Oklahoma. Use of a database for herbarium management. Seasonal changes in the nutritional content of native plants. Floristics of the Ozark Plateau of northeastern Oklahoma.

	Kathi McDowell
	Suggested projects: Structure and function of nucleolar organizing regions and nucleolar biogenesis. Potential role of nucleolar organizing regions in chromosomal abnormalities. Study of satellite associations. Satellite associations are non-random associations among chromosomes containing nucleolar organizers. Molecular aspects of the aging process using model organisms.

	Chris Pritchett
	Suggested projects: Please contact Dr. Pritchett for information.

	Donna Smith
	Suggested projects: Please contact Dr. Smith for information.

	Erik Terdal
	Suggested projects: Mammals of the Nickel Preserve in Cherokee county, Oklahoma. Assessment of the human health risks of the consumption of heavy-metal-contaminated fish and wildlife in Ottawa county, Oklahoma. Population biology of captive mandrill monkeys. Behaviour and husbandry of captive old-world monkeys. Conservation of African monkeys. Tropical biology. .

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				Revised 20 August 2006