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Bio-Logue - July, 2019

Students studying

Dear Alumni and Friends

Our department continues to advance the research mission of CU Denver. Our faculty and graduate students traveled nationally and internationally to speak at conferences and present their research. We also have success in the teaching mission of CU Denver. Our graduates are successfully advancing their careers by being accepted into Ph.D., Medical and Dental programs and into the industrial sector. We also graduated our second cohort of PhDs. We’d like to say farewell to Dr. Charles Ferguson as he takes a well deserved retirement and share all the details of the Spring Semester with you below and we'd also like to hear from you, your professional accomplishments and milestones and share these in future newsletters. If you have news to share please email, jacki.craig@ucdenver.edu. Previous editions of Bio-logue are here.

All my best,

John Swallow, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

Alumni News to Share

Nicholas Parisi accepted to University of Miami Medical School

Nicholas Parisi, a student of Dr. Cheri Jones, has been accepted to the University of Miami Medical School. Nicholas was in Dr. Jones’ General Biology II and Principles of Ecology classes. Congratulations to Nicholas and Dr. Jones!

Mohammed Alawami accepted  to University of Cambridge, UK

Mohammed Alawami, a student of Dr. Phiel, will start a PhD program, October 1st, 2019, at the prestigious University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Mohammed was in Dr. Phiel’s Introduction to Molecular Biology class and worked in Dr. Phiel’s laboratory as well. Congratulations to Mohamed and Dr. Phiel!

Cody Sellers accepted to Osteopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University, Fl

Cody Sellers, a student of Dr. Charlesworth, will attend the Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University in Clearwater, Fl, starting Fall, 2019. Cody was in Dr. Charlesworth’s General Cell Biology class.  Congratulations to Cody and Dr. Charlesworth!

Victoria (Tori) Gray accepted to Midwestern University Dental School

Tori Gray, a student of Dr. Charlesworth, is accepted to Midwestern University in IL for dental school. Tori was in Dr. Charlesworth’s General Cell Biology class and was an officer in CU Denver Biology Club, for which Dr. Charlesworth is the advisor. Congratulations to Tori!

Catherine McCoy has a new position as an Analytical Microbiologist at Bayer.

Catherine McCoy, a former graduate student in Dr. Charlesworth’s lab has a new position as an Analytical Microbiologist at Bayer. Congratulations to Catherine!

Faculty News

Dr. Diana Tomback

Diana Tomback speaks at Southern Ute Museum Photo Unveiling

Ignacio, Colorado was host to the Southern Ute Bear Dance and Pow Wow over the Memorial Day weekend as well as a photo unveiling and wolf event at the Southern Ute Museum. Dr. Diana Tomback , CU Denver Dept. of Integrative Biology, delivered remarks at the Museum on behalf of...

Tomback edits Biodiversity and Conservation in Forests

Biodiversity and Conservation in Forests, edited by Integrated Biology Professor Diana F. Tomback (MDPI Books). This Special Issue of the journal Forests explores the unique biodiversity supported by forest communities, how forest communities are rapidly changing, and conservation approaches to preserving forest biodiversity.

Buma publishes on adapting to fire

Brian Buma, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology, recently co-published Integrating subjective and objective dimensions of resilience in fire-prone landscapes in BioScience. Managing and responding to fires is both an ecological and a sociological problem, and requires an integrated look at social-ecological systems in a truly holistic way. This publication unites traditional disturbance/fire ecologists with sociologists in a team effort to unite the disciplines and provide a way forward for communities who need to adapt to fires in their midst.

Swallow publishes on sex difference in aggression

John G. Swallow, Professor and Chair of Department of Integrative Biology, recently co-published Sex differences in aggression: Differential roles of 5-HT2, neuropeptide F and tachykinin. Despite the conserved function of aggression across taxa in obtaining critical resources such as food and mates, serotonin’s (5-HT) modulatory role on aggressive behavior appears to be largely inhibitory for vertebrates but stimulatory for invertebrates. However, critical gaps exist in our knowledge of invertebrates that need to be addressed before definitively stating opposing roles for 5-HT and aggression.  Specifically, the role of 5-HT receptor subtypes are largely unknown, as is the potential interactive role of 5-HT with other neurochemical systems known to play a critical role in aggression.

Leo Bruederle publishes in Molecular Ecology

Although highly controversial, the existence of small in situ glacial refugia in northern Europe has only recently gained molecular support. Leo P Bruederle (professor emeritus, Integrative Biology) recently co-authored a paper in Molecular Ecology providing genomic evidence for in situ glacial survival of Carex scirpoidea, the Canadian single-spike sedge, in Scandinavia. Carex scirpoidea is an amphi‐Atlantic arctic–alpine sedge that is widely distributed in North America, but absent from most of Eurasia, apart from three extremely disjunct populations in Norway, all well within the limits of the Weichselian ice sheet.

Westergaard, KB, S Fior, LP Bruederle, HK Stenøien, N Zemp, and A Widmer. 2019. Population genomic evidence for plant glacial survival in Scandinavia. Molecular Ecology.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.14994

Buma publishes on forest carbon map

Assistant Professor of Integrated Biology Brian Buma and Thomas Thompson (of the US Forest Service) recently published the first spatially explicit map of carbon in one of the densest forests in the world - the coastal rainforests of Alaska (Long-term exposure to more frequent disturbances increases baseline carbon in some ecosystems: Mapping and quantifying the disturbance frequency-ecosystem C relationship. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0212526). The largest National Forest, and one of the last wild places in the United States, it is a true national resource for carbon sequestration. Estimates of total carbon place the region as one of the most carbon-rich regions on the planet, but dynamic - with wind and landslides driving differences on the ground. This work illustrates the value of forests to our national and international carbon strategy, as well as the need to consider the dynamics of those systems in a changing climate.

Brian Buma publishes on Wiley.com

Emergent freeze and fire disturbance dynamics in temperate rainforests

The coastal temperate rainforests of South and North America are part of the most biomass dense forest biome on the planet. Here, we compare and contrast Southern and Northern Hemisphere coastal temperate rainforests of the Americas, two of the largest examples of the biome, via synthesis of current literature, future climate expectations and new downscaling of a global fire model. In terms of snow loss, a rapid decline in winter snow is leading to mass mortality of certain conifer species in the Northern Hemisphere rainforests. Southern Hemisphere forests are seeing the invasion of fire as an ecological force at mid‐to‐high latitudes, a shift not yet observed in the north but which may become more prominent with ongoing climate change. We suggest that research should focus on the flammability of seral vegetation and bogs under future climate scenarios in both regions. By comparing these two drivers of change across similar gradients in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, this work points to the potential for emerging change in unexpected places in both regions.

Phiel honored with special publication

Associate Professor of Integrative Biology Christopher Phiel (and colleagues) paper "Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) regulates mRNA methylation in mouse embryonic stem cells," has been awarded the honor of being featured in a special virtual issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (one of the top scientific journals in biochemistry for over 100 years) on Pluripotency and Regulation and Differentiation. This publication will compile the papers published in JBC from 2016-2019 that were deemed to have been the most exciting advances in stem cell biology.

Alan Vajda advises you think before you eat fish from the South Platte

Integrative Biology Associate Professor Alan Vajda is one researcher who said there’s more to consider before eating fish from the South Platte. “Mercury is far from being the only concern to fish health,” he said. “Even if wastewater treatment plants were doing everything they could do to remove 100 percent of 100 percent of chemicals, there would still be a problem.”

Denver's South Platte Has Plenty Of Fish. Think Hard Before You Put One In Your Mouth

Colorado Public Radio, June 3

Brian Buma publishes on resilience in fire-prone landscapes

The recent paper Integrating Subjective and Objective Dimensions of Resilience in Fire-Prone Landscapes (BioScience, Volume 69, Issue 5, May 2019, Pages 379–388), combines the expertise of land managers, fire scientists, and sociologists evaluating the best way to manage and think about resilience in an increasingly flammable world.

Student News

Dr. Munira Lantz with Dr. Annika Mosier

Congratulations to new Ph.D.s, Dr. Paul Le and Dr. Munira Lantz.

The Ph.D. program in Integrative and Systems Biology graduated its second cohort of doctoral students. Dr. Paul Le, a student of Associate Professor Dr. Laurel Hartley , successfully defended his thesis on “Facilitating inclusion and access of undergraduate students in large-enrollment science classrooms". Dr. Munira Lantz, a student of Assistant...

Kyle Turchick spotlighted for work in Buma Lab

Meet Kyle Turchick. Kyle is a Master’s student in the Buma Lab studying disturbance ecology on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska.

Andrew Andrade presents at Ecological Society of America 2018 Meeting

Integrative Biology doctoral candidate, Andrés Andrade, recently presented a chapter of his dissertation research, titled “Multi-decadal Succession of the Understory Community After the 1988 Fires: Assessing Patterns of Recovery” at the Ecological Society of America’s 2018 meeting. Co-authors include his adviser Diana F. Tomback (Professor, Integrative Biology), Timothy R. Seastedt (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CU Boulder), and Sabine Mellmann-Brown (USDA Forest Service, Northern Region, Missoula, MT). The 1988 Yellowstone fires were the most significant fire event in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in the 20th century and are considered the first in a series of large fires that have burned across the west in recent decades. Andrés is studying the first 30 years of recovery of the understory plant community at Henderson Mountain, Montana. Initial analyses suggest that differences in soil moisture regimes play an important role in shaping post-fire communities. Furthermore, after 30 years of succession, recovering communities have remained dissimilar in species composition to unburned communities, which could be the result of sparse conifer regeneration on Henderson Mountain.

Alli Pierce and Scott Yanco present at Gordon Research Conference on Animal Movement Ecology in Italy

Integrative Biology PhD students, Alli Pierce and Scott Yanco, recently presented posters about their collaborative animal movement modelling project (co-authored with Dr. Mike Wunder) at the 2019 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Animal Movement Ecology in Tuscany, Italy. Alli’s poster, entitled “Simulating animal movement using genetic algorithms and agent-based modeling”, presented the theoretical framework of their animal movement model. The model uses a genetic algorithm to integrate an agent-based movement model with a dynamic energy budget model. The aim is to develop hypotheses about how animals optimize their movements for both energetic gain and overall reproductive fitness. Scott’s poster, entitled “Using genetic algorithms and agent-based models to explore landscapes and life histories which give rise to migration” presented an application of this model. Animal movements were simulated in a seasonal energetic landscape to explore how life-history tradeoffs in bio-energetic budgets shape different migration strategies.

Maria Nikulkova awarded Competitive Research Capstone Fellowship

Maria Nikulkova photoMaria Nikulkova, Integrative Biology MS student in Dr. Chris Miller's lab, was recently awarded a competitive Research Capstone Fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology. This award provides up to $2000 in travel support to attend the selective ASM Microbe Academy for Professional Development, and to present the results of Maria's research project at the 2019 American Society of Microbiology “Microbe” Meeting in San Francisco, CA this summer. Congratulations Maria!

Outstanding Integrative Biology Students 2019

2019 Spring Outstanding TA

    Gabrielle Rietz

2019 Spring Outstanding Undergraduate Research

    Hannah Abroe

2019 Spring Outstanding Service Learning

    Victoria Vilensky

2019 Spring Outstanding Graduate Defense

    Paul Le

2019 Spring Outstanding Graduate Student

    McCall Calvert

Smilodon Integrative Biology Outstanding Student Scholarship

We are very grateful to an extremely generous anonymous donor for recently creating an endowment in Integrative Biology to fund two $250 student scholarships for deserving undergraduate Biology students each semester. To give to the Smilodon Fund please go to giving.cu and in the write-in fund section paste “Smilodon Biology Scholarship fund, allocation number 0350146” in the comments box.

Smilodon Outstanding Underclassman

     Anthony Rubalcaba

Smilodon Outstanding Upperclassman

    Joseph Soukup

Giving to Help

Farewell to Charles Ferguson

Please join me in extending best wishes to Dr. Ferguson, who retired (for the most part) from the University on June 30, 2019. Charlie has been an esteemed member of our campus community for 34 years. He has been instrumental in the development of a number of K-12 pipeline programs as well as a number of Post-Bac programs designed to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds obtain a college education and pursue their passion in the medical profession. He will be greatly missed by students and colleagues alike –Trishia Vasquez MSS, Director of Health Professions Programs.

Give to the Charles Ferguson Scholarship Fund

“There are two things I will never forget about Dr. Ferguson. The first is that he never wore shoes when he taught and he never told us why. The second is the way he made us all feel when he gave his last lecture of the semester.  Dr. Ferguson was never a soft touch, but he made sure we all knew that he was proud to be a part of our education and of the positive work we were going forward to do. For me Dr. Ferguson was more than just a teacher, he was an adviser, a mentor and a role model. He helped me with the basic things like deciding on which classes to prioritize, when to take the MCAT and which schools to apply to, but what meant the most to me was how he encouraged me to know and stay true to my core values. When I started as a pre-medical Biology major at UCD, my only background was in poetry and social justice non-profit work. My major required a lot of work, but I struggled most to figure out where I fit in with my non-traditional background. Dr. Ferguson helped me to see my life experiences as valuable and was a role model for how to incorporate social justice beliefs into my daily work. I am inspired today to use medicine to promote positive change as he used his many roles to build up so many students who's lives he touched.” - Sarah Bardwell, M.D. Candidate at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

The Charles Ferguson Scholarship will allow pre-health students to pay for expenses beyond tuition, fees and materials. The fund will support students in completing test prep courses, paying application or test fees, or covering life expenses that might derail them at completing their education. Dr. Ferguson has always been acutely aware of student need and committed to trying to meet it. He has long had on his ‘wish list’ exactly this sort of fund, so that more students could pursue their educational and professional goals. Advancement’s goal is to have the scholarship in his honor at endowment level by the end of this academic year. An endowed scholarship exists in perpetuity at CU and spins off 4% of the principal in support of scholarships. $25,000 is the minimum required to establish an endowed fund.

How to donate:

Checks can be made out to University of Colorado Foundation (include on the memo line of the check “gift is intended for the Charles Ferguson Scholarship, allocation number 0321984”) and mailed to ATTN: Cristina Sloan/Austin Locke University of Colorado Denver, Office of Advancement, 1380 Lawrence St. , Suite 1201, Denver, CO 80204.

OR, go to giving.cu.edu and click on the Give Now button (at the top of the page there is a “click here to write-in a fund” button) use Charles Ferguson Scholarship Support Fund. The fund number is 0321984.

OR, if you would like to make recurring gifts to Charlie’s fund (also an option on the giving.cu.edu link), you can do so through payroll deduction. Here is the link to the relevant form: https://giving.cu.edu/payroll-deduction-form

Give to Integrative Biology

To provide scholarship support to students enrolled in the Integrative Biology Department at the University of Colorado Denver, please go to: https://giving.cu.edu/fund/integrative-biology-scholarship-fund

Integrative Biology

Mailing Address:
Campus Box 171
P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364 

Department Administrator:
Jacki Craig
Phone: 303. 315.7600
Fax: 303. 315.7601

Physical Location:
1151 Arapahoe St.
SI 2071
Denver, CO 80204

Department Policies & Resources:​
Faculty Resources

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