Department of Biology and Earth Science

previous_graduate_students

Faculty and Graduate Student Research

Current Faculty

Dr. Stefan Cairns

Dr. Cairns maintains broad research interests that include applied aquatic biology problem solving, environmental stream ecotoxicology, environmental education, application of remote sensing to environmental assessment, eutrophication monitoring of lakes and reservoirs, restoration and recovery of damaged ecosystems, limnology, and aquatic ecosystem population dynamics.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2003	Kim Erndt	MS	Culture and use of the amphipod, Hyalella azteca, in in situ ecotoxicological field studies and sediment toxicity tests.
2004	Lisa Neerhof	MS	Eutrophication monitoring and management strategies of four ponds located in Pertle Springs recreational area.
2004	Mike Nations	MS	Amphibian assessment of seven ponds in west central Missouri.
2004	Angie Corson	MS	Topeka shiner, Notropis topeka, distribution and habitat characterization in selected Missouri streams.
2005	Daniel Metcalf	MS	Evaluation of paddlefish spawning habitat and success of spawning efforts on the Marais Des Cygnes River.
2005	Leslie Bilbrey	MS	Analysis of herpetofaunal diversity in selected riparian areas in southwest Missouri.
2005	Danny Beam	MS	NT Report – History, classification, selected functions and natural restoration of wetlands in Missouri.
2006	Megan Hendrick	MS	Short-term tag retention rate and visibility of Visible Implant Fluorescent Elastomer (VIE) marking material in Blue Catfish, Ictalurus furcatus
2006	Judson Meirs	MS	NT Report – Using internet technology to model breast cancer biomarkers
2007	David Iott	MS	Efficacy of in situ growth of the Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea, as a biomonitoring tool in west-central Missouri rivers.
2008	Allen Brandes	MS	Effects of Hand Fishing on Nest Success in Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris)
2008	Sheri Medlock	MA	MA -NT Report – Integrating Appropriate Science Education for Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
2008	Jeff Ross	MS	NT Report – A History of Toxicology
2009	Jacob Colehour	MS	Fecundity of Flathead Catfish and Blue Catfish from the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
2009	Shelly Banks	MS	Temporal variation of habitat structure and fish communities in intermittent headwater prairie streams in west central Missouri.
2009	Heather Krempa	MS	Effects of impoundments on amphibian communities of three seasonally-flooded riparian wetlands along the Marmaton River, west-central Missouri, USA
2010	Christi Baron	MS	Effects of global climate change on the prevalence and distribution of plague.
2012	David Penning	MS	Growth rates and prey-handling behaviors of hatchling corn snakes, Pantherophis guttatus (Colubridae)
2012	Alvin Brass	MA	An evaluation of the effectiveness of government regulations on catastrophic oil spills
TBD	Jennifer Peek	MS	Parasites in Channel Catfish in the Blackwater River, Missouri
TBD	Rachel Rush	MS	An assessment of fungal and viral pathogens associated with amphibian population declines in North America
TBD	Harold Ray	MA	Paleostraigraphy and paleoecology of Pleistocene deposits associated with the giant ground sloth recovered in West Tarkio Creek beds located in Page County, Iowa, USA
TBD	Suzy Latare	MA	Networking agencies, communication, community groups and environmental issues: what works?
TBD	Brandye Freeland	MS	Orconectes Hylas and its Impacts on Macroinvertbrates in the St Francois Drainage
TBD	Alex Prentice	MS	Land use characterization in possible Topeka shiner reintroduction watersheds in Missouri and the use of Orangespotted sunfish as a spawning associate in refuge ponds.
TBD	Ryan Dunwoody	MS	Aquaponics

Dr. Kurt Dean

His research projects include: the ecology and energetics of neotropical woodland migrant Passerines at riparian stopover sites in the northern Great Plains, and the ecology and breeding biology of an extra-limital population of Virginia's Warblers (Vermivora virginiae) in the southwestern Black Hills of South Dakota.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2006	Debbie Foster	MS	NT Report - Population trend of Greater Prairie Chickens in relation to land use practices in Benton County, Missouri.
2006	Chrissi Johnson	MS	NT Report - Effects of temperature on American Toad (Bufo americanus) tadpoles: are they cannibalistic
2009	Matt Sailor	MS	Mallard usage of cylindrical overwater nesting tunnels on Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
TBD	Michael O'Keefe	MA	NT Report – Avian Conservation Surveys
TBD	Lynn MIller	MS	Raptor densities relative to highway buffer zone land use classifications
TBD	Michelle Burdon	MS	Biology education project

Dr. Joseph Ely

Dr. Ely continues collaboration with experts in his field and recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study multi-species competition in an agricultural setting for two years starting January 2004. This work includes experimental design, statistical analysis, simulation, and modeling of multi-species interactions

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2006	Jason McCauley	MS	Vascular flora and savanna restoration at Knob Noster State Park, Johnson County Missouri.
TBD	Chris Niemeyer	MS	Plant and Avian Communities of selected wetland reserve program sites and Locust Creek Floodplain, Pershing State Park, MO.
TBD	Shannon Thompson	MS	Plant Communities of Oxbows along Clearfork Creek Floodplain, Knob Noster State Park, Missouri
TBD	Stephanie Payne	MS	The distribution and characterization of vernal pools along Clearfork Creek Floodplain, Knob Noster State Park, MO.
TBD	Ted Abel	MS	Life history and population dynamics of Phalaris arundinacea (Reed canary grass) and riparian plant community surveys of Prairies State Park, MO.
TBD	Ryan Reece	MS	Plant and Amphibian Communites of selected oxbows and wetlands of Clearfork Creek Floodplain, Knob Noster State Park, MO

Dr. John Gole

His research interests include: neuroendocrine control of cockroach carbohydrate metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism as a target for control of cockroach growth and reproduction.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2006	Scott Cowden	MS	Alpha-amylase as a putative biomarker of academic stress in undergraduate students
2007	Pam Bos	MS	NT Report – Restoration and reintroduction of the Blackfooted Ferret

Dr. Vicki Jackson

Dr. Jackson currently teaches Introduction to the Sciences: Ecology, Mammalogy, Wildlife Conservation, Senior Colloquium, Zoology and Comparative Anatomy Laboratories, and Experimental Design and Analysis. Her research interests are varied but she focuses on applied spatial ecology and resource use by wild vertebrates. She has an active research lab which engages both graduate and undergraduate students in applied wildlife ecology.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2005	Keith Donaldson	MS	Evaluation of two foothold restraining devices used to capture raccoons in drowning sets.
2007	Donna O'Neill	MS	NT Report - Ecotoxicology
2007	Karla Sparks	MS	Relationship between landscape composition and lek stability of Greater Prairie Chickens
2008	Carlye Banks	MS	Morphometrics and Ecology of Peromyscus gossypinus in Missouri
2009	Erin Fanning	MS	Predictive models and the Missouri Natural Heritage database: Mammalian distributions
2009	Johnathan Slade	MS	Utility of trail camera users to assess deer population sex and age structure
2010	Liisa Niva	MS	Habitat use and coexistence of ground squirrels in northern Missouri
2011	Mike Cove	MS	Occupancy modeling of mammal diversity in a Central American biological corridor
2011	David Wisker	MS	Habitat fragmentation effects on selected species of small mammals
2012	Neena Williams	MA	Watershed delineation and sediment load characterization of Lions Lake in Warrensburg, Missouri
TBD	Kim Watson	MA	The development & management of an environmental education center
TBD	John Platt	MA	Small mammal survey of Knob Noster State Park
TBD	John Lisek	MS	Predicting occupancy from a community survey of medium-to-large sized mammalian carnivores and herbivores in the Tuli Game Reserve of Botswana.
TBD	James Douglas	MS	Using maxent to estimate habitat suitability for the american badger (taxidea taxus) in Missouri.
TBD	Barry Pabst	MS	NT - White Tail Deer management project

Dr. Scott Lankford

His research interests center on how the neuroendocrine system orchestrates the reallocation of biological resources to allow vertebrates to physiologically cope with environmental disturbances, while maintaining the biological functions that are essential to life. He is currently utilizing fish as a research model due to their intimate relationship with their environment.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2010	Matt Cook	MS	Intraovarian regulation of steroidogenesis in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss : implications of the TGFß superfamily members as regulators in the steroidogenic shift during oocyte maturation
2010	Julie Reeves	MS	The effects of gonadotropin hormones and maturation inducing hormone on BAMBI, INHININ BETA-A, INHIBIN BETA-B, and INHIBIN ALPHA subunit MRNA expression in the late-to-post-vitellogenic Rainbow Trout (Oncorhyanchus mykiss) ovary
TBD	Jessica Little	MS	The Effects of IL-6 on Fatigued Rainbow Trout Skeletal Muscle In Vitro and In Vivo.
TBD	Angela Lankford	MS	Biology education project
TBD	Ryan Dunwoody	MS	Aquaponics

Dr. Selene Nikaido

My research focuses around my interest in how photosynthetic organisms adapt to varying environments by altering genes and gene expression. For my graduate and post-graduate training, I studied cellular and molecular aspects of biological clocks. An extension of that work is to examine how the unicellular alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, responds to the changes in UV level throughout the 24-hour day. I am also collaborating with Dr. Jay Raveill on projects involved with population genetics of hybridizing plant species. With the recent acquisition of a DNA analyzer, we are training students on various molecular techniques including DNA sequencing for phylogenetic analysis and AFLP for population genetics studies. We are also engaging students in studies looking at floral pigment expression.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2001	Danita Bradshaw	MS	Identification of genetically distinct individuals of pawpaw, Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal (Annonaceae) using molecular markers.
2002	Steve Giambrone	MS	Investigation of day/night differences in the in vivo expression of the alpha subunit of transducin in chicken (Gallus gallus) pineal gland and retina.
2002	Ginger Miller	MS	Molecular phylogeny of selected higher taxa of Delphacidae (Homoptera:Fulgoroidea) based on 18S rDNA sequences
2003	Hai Yan Lin	MS	The role of cell division in the phase-dependent daily variation in survival of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii from ultraviolet radiation.
2006	Sally Salah	MS	Genetic and morphological characterization of Red Mulberry (Morus rubra L.), White Mulberry (Morus alba L.) and their hybrids.
2010	Abdullah Alqahtani	MS	Anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in Hemerocallis and Dianella

Dr. Anna Oller

Dr. Oller’s research interests include polysaccharide and melanin regulation mechanisms in the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans, Staphylococus aureus transmission mechanisms, antibiotic resistance mechanisms, food microbiology, and ecological relationships to disease. Almost any topic dealing with clinical microbiology is of interest. She has served as a mentor for over 32 undergraduate research projects, many with internal funding, and multiple graduate student projects.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2004	Kimberly Keane	MS	Identifying human characteristics via multiplex polymerase chain reaction for forensic science applications.
2005	Jessica Claxton	MS	Use of selective media for isolation, identification, and determination of antibiotic resistance in oral microbes.
2006	Adam Walter	MS	Prevalence of tick-borne diseases in field collected ticks and small mammals in central Missouri
TBD	Clarissa Brown	MS	NT Report - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Cervical Cancer Knowledge Level Among College Students in a Midwestern University and Internet Educational Intervention Program
TBD	William Kirby	MS	NT Report - The Professional Science Masters: A feasibility study on the creation and effectiveness of a masters program that combines Business and Biology
TBD	Stephanie Tristani	MS	Bacterial inhibition to Echinacea plant extracts
TBD	Geoffrey Vincent	MS	Tick-borne illness prevalence in Missouri.
TBD	Johnathon Adams	MS	Aureobasidium pullulans morphology

Dr. Jay Raveill

My primary research focus is the taxonomy and phylogeny of North American representative of the leguminous genus Desmodium and related genera. Current or past projects include: documentation of the rare D. humifusum as a hybrid between two common species, D. paniculatum and D. rotundifolium; distribution of genetic (allozyme) variation among single species and mixed populations of two interfertile species, D. paniculatum and D. perplexum; and preparation of treatments of the genera Desmodium, Lespedeza and Kummerowia for volume two of Steyermark's New Flora of Missouri. I am presently sequencing chloroplast and nuclear DNA searching for highly variable regions for use in phylogeny construction.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2001	Grady Pettigrew	MS	Morphological analysis of a mixed species oak community.
2006	Jason McCauley	MS	Vascular flora and savanna restoration at Knob Noster State Park, Johnson County Missouri.
2010	Alex Harris	MS	The Uncultured Vascular Flora and Plant Communities of Powell Botanical Gardens
2011	Gary Blagg	MA	NT-Soil analysis & plant community in a degraded Osage Plain undergoing periodic inundation

Dr. Ray Voorhees

The History of Biology class takes a trip to the rare book room of the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City. The library has a world-wide reputation as an outstanding science library. Prof. Voorhees is looking for a graduate student or two who would like to do some original research in some phase of the history of biology, with the original materials at Linda Hall as primary research material.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2001	Linda Johnson	MS	NT Report- Field guide to the overwintering stages of common Missouri wildflowers.

Dr. Steve Wilson

Dr. Wilson continues to work with students on research projects on insect taxonomy and ecology. Has published over 70 papers and 3 book chapters on planthoppers; 12 of the papers are with UCM students. Over the past five years these students include Chris Wooten and Ken McPherson who are officers in the US Army; Becky Freund who completed her Ph. D. working on insect ecology at the University of South Dakota was a faculty member at Northwestern Georgia State University and is now a U. S. Secret Service Agent; Carl Doud who finished his Master's degree in entomology at Oklahoma State University and is now an entomologist in the US Navy; and Amy Miller who completed a Master's degree at Emporia State University. Other students include Jennifer Plett who is working on her doctorate at the University of Alaska and Ginger Miller who completed a Master's thesis on using molecular techniques to infer planthopper phylogenies and is now a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas.

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2002	Ginger Miller	MS	Molecular phylogeny of selected higher taxa of Delphacidae (Homoptera:Fulgoroidea) based on 18S dDNA sequences.
2011	Aaron Bossert	MS	Comparison of the Life Histories of two dicot-feeding Pissonotus planthoppers (Hemipera: Delphacidae)
TBD	Lauren Quick	MS
TBD	Brian Connacher	MS
TBD	Matthew Stanfield	MS	NT Report
TBD	Scott Lomis	MS

Emeritus/Former Faculty

Dr. Noor Babrakzai

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
1998	David Hout	MS	The histochemical nature of silver staining in the polar ring complex in Hepatozoon sp. under the light microscope

Dr. John Belshe

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
1999	La Roy Brandt	MS	Ecological characterization of the prairie mole cricket at Chapel View Prairie
2001	Zoe Geist	MS	Habitat selection of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in west-central Missouri
2001	Brandi Hackett	MS	Distribution of tardigrades on foliose lichen hosts on sandstone and limestone outcrops of the Missouri Springfield plateau.

Dr. Jack Butler

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2002	Matthew Parker	MS	Assessing biological control agents for area-wide control of leafy spurge with foci in Montana and South Dakota

Dr. Harold Keller

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2002	Kenneth Snell	MS	Vertical distribution and assemblages of corticolous Myxomycetes on five tree species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
2007	Sydney Everhart	MS	Canopy Myxomycetes on Grapevine (Family Vitaceae): species assemblages, distribution, and biography
2008	Courtney Kilgore	MS	Canopy Myxomycetes (Family Vitaceae): species assemblages, distribution, and biography
2008	Chris Crabree	MS	Macroscopic fungi and Myxomycetes in selected communities of Ha Ha Tonka State Park: Glades, open woodlands, close-canopy woodlands, flatwoods, and karst areas

Dr. Laura McLellan

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
1997	Rebecca Erickson	MS	Small mammal response to vegetation cover in two Missouri savannas.

Dr. Steve Mills

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
1997	Weiru Wang	MS	Development of temperature regulation in juvenile thirteen-lined ground squirrels.
2000	Aaron Alford	MS	The effects of ambient temperature change on metabolic responses in two populations of eastern chipmunks
2005	Cindy Harmon	MS	NT Report - Thermal regulation in small mammals

Dr. Cheryl Schmidt

Year	Author		Thesis or Report Title
2000	Brenda Henry	MS	Small mammal habitat utilization along a forest-field edge
2000	Francisca Mendez-Harcierode	MS	Chromosomal polymorphism in a South Dakota population of the northern pocket gopher

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