College of Science and Liberal Arts

Dr. Marc Baarmand gave an invited talk at the Physics at Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. His presentation was titled, “Top quark studies from the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment
at LHC.”

Dr. Laszlo Baksay presented an invited talk at the VIII Inter-American Conference on Physics Education in Havana, Cuba. His talk was titled, “The QuarkNet Outreach Project in the United States.”

Dr. Mark Bush presented two papers at the XVI INQUA Congress (International Union for Quaternary Research) in Reno, Nev. The papers were “Dynamics of Central Andean highland vegetation since the Glacial Maximum,” with graduate student Chengyu Weng, and “Computerized graphically-guided pollen key system,” with Weng and graduate student Andrea Gomez. He also published “A 37,000 year environmental history of the northern Peruvian Andes: A record from Laguna La Compuerta, Northern Peru,” in Quaternary Research.

Dr. David Carroll chaired the session, “Maturation and Fertilization” for the 15th Annual Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin Meeting in Woods Hole, Mass.

Marcia Denius, humanities and communication, presented a paper, “Poetry in motion: The Web, hypertext, and negative capability,” at the annual meeting of the Florida College English Association in St. Petersburg. She also had three poems published in the Fall 2003 journal, Florida English.

Dr. Arvind Dhople made two presentations on the antibiotic sitafloxacin at the 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago. He also presented a seminar to the medical staff of University of Chicago Hospital. It was titled, “Recent advances in the chemotherapy of mycobacterial diseases.”

Dr. Michael Grace published “Predatory targeting in snakes and owls: Behavioral correlates of multi-modal imaging” in Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians and the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians. He also gave an invited lecture on the neurobiology of infrared imaging systems for the University of Central Florida’s Department of Biology.

Dr. Julia Grimwade’s manuscript titled, “E. coli pre-replication complex assembly is regulated by dynamic interplay among Fis, IHF and DnaA” is being published by the journal, Molecular Biology. It is co-authored by Dr. Alan Leonard, and graduate student Valorie Ryan.

Dr. Alan Leonard presented a seminar, titled, “A switch in time works fine: Ensuring E. coli chromosome replication is properly timed during the cell cycle,” to the Purdue University biological sciences faculty. He also gave a presentation on his laboratory work at a Gordon Research Conference on chromosome and plasmid dynamics. It was held at Tilton School in New Hampshire.

Dr. Junda Lin’s paper, “Biological control of aquarium pest anemone Aiptasia pallida by peppermint shrimp,” was accepted for publication by the Journal of Shellfish Research.

Dr. Nabil Matar lectured in Morocco at Al-Akhawayn University, Irfane, and the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University, Fez. His presentation was titled, “Confronting the loss of the Andalus: Al-Ghassani in 1691.” He also delivered a keynote address on Americo Castro, a Brazil-born philologist and literary critic, in a conference celebrating his legacy at the University of California, Berkeley.

A paper by Dr. Terry Oswalt, doctoral student Merissa Rudkin, and undergraduate Kyle Johnston has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The paper is titled, “Multisite observations of the PMS delta Scuti Star V351 Ori.” Oswalt also presented two invited papers at the triennial International Astronomical Union’s general assembly in Sydney, Australia. They were titled, “The case for small telescopes in the age of giants,” and “A search for variability in white dwarf stars.”

Dr. Kanishka Perera was an invited primary lecturer at the “Summer Program on Morse Theory, Minimax Theorems and Applications to Differential Equations.” The program was held at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Dr. Virender Sharma and graduate student Anthony Zinger published “Dissociation constants of protonated methionine species in NaCl media reference,” in the journal, Biophysical Chemistry. Sharma also presented a seminar on ferrates at the Innovative Center, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and at the National Research Center for Environmental and Hazardous Waste Management in Thailand.

Dr. Jonathan Shenker coordinated a “Gulf, Caribbean and Florida East Coast Fisheries Workshop” in the university’s Clemente Center. The program, attended by over 70 scientists and environmentalists, was hosted by the Indian River Lagoon Estuary Program and sponsored
by Florida Tech, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Association of National Estuary Programs. He also earned two grants, including a $38,640 award, from the Florida Non-Game Wildlife Program, to fund his study, “Quantitative assessment of the fish and fauna of complex and vulnerable estuarine habitats in Florida.” He made presentations on his artificial reef research to the Sebastian Inlet Sport Fishing Association and, with Nicole Hoier, to NASA’s Environmental Advisery Board at Kennedy
Space Center.

Gordon Shupe was recognized by Apple Computer Inc. as an Apple Distinguished Educator for his contributions integrating technology in the education setting.

Dr. Judith Strother gave an invited keynote address, “Gender-based communication issues,” at the annual symposium on Executive Women’s Issues in the Workplace. The symposium was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. She also presented, “Shaping Blended Learning Pedagogy for Delivery in China,” at the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference in Orlando. Her paper will appear in the conference proceedings.

Dr. Richard Tankersley made two presentations at the Freshwater Mollusk Society meeting in Raleigh, N.C. They were about the suspension feeding biodynamics of freshwater mussels.
The book, Rebel Storehouse: Florida in the Confederate Economy, by Dr. Robert Taylor, has been issued in paperback.

Dr. Richard Turner published, “Calocidaria micans and pseudoboletia maculate: Additions to the sea urchin fauna of the Gulf of Mexico,” in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. His manuscript, co-authored with Paula Mikkelsen ’94 Ph.D., was accepted for publication in the journal Nemouria. The manuscript is titled, “Annotated bibliography of the Florida Applesnail, Pomacea paludosa, from 1824 to 1999.

Dr. Robert van Woesik presented a seminar on coral bleaching at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. His manuscript about the host-coral Montipora Digitata was accepted for publication in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. His paper, “Water flow facilitates recovery from bleaching in the coral Stylophora pistillata,” was published in the Marine Ecology Progress series.