Dr. Jorge Conchola is the recipient of the Dr. Ram De La Rosa Innovation Award for the 5th annual Excellence in Online Learning Conference. For this award, the recipient was recognized by his innovation practices that serve as a model for online/hybrid teaching and learning.
Dr. Kathryn Perez was awarded with a grant for $150,000 from the US Army Corps of Engineers through a collaborative proposal with faculty from Biology and Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center at Texas State University to work on groundwater snails for 3 years. We wish them success in their new project.
Two Biology graduate students Clarissa DeLeon and Xochitl Estrada, from the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Vitek were selected for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Summer Program for 2022. They were the only two selected from UTRGV. They will spend the summer working with scientists in Japan.
The Biology Department has a new Chair: Dr. Robert Dearth who received an overhelming number of nominations supporting his vision and leadership for our department. He has pledged to engage the faculty and build consensus to lead the department to higher levels of performance. Dr. Dearth has successfully organized and led our Graduate Program in the past years. We all wish him a fruitful and pleasant experience in his new administrative post.
It is with great sadness to report the death of Dr. Kristine Lowe. Dr. Lowe joined us in Fall 2004 and became instantly successful in the lab and the classroom. She rose through the academic ranks and added leadership to her contributions. Dr. Lowe played key roles in the Office for Faculty Success and most recently as our Department Chair of Biology for the past three years. She led the department through worst of the pandemic and her efforts were key to the success of Biology during those most difficult times. Dr. Lowe was tireless advocate for students and positively affected an uncountable number of lives. She was a highly valued colleague and friend. She will be greatly missed by all and we send our condolences to her family.
Dr. Scott Gunn has retired after many years of service to the Department. He dedicated his efforts in teaching genetics and assisted many students who wanted to study medical-oriented careers. The faculty members and staff of our department wish him a happy retirement.
Dr. Andrew McDonald accepted a position in the Department of Biology in September of 2006. He earned a PhD in Botany at The University of Texas-Austin in 1982 with a specialization in flowering plant systematics, during and before which he had already developed a penchant for botanical exploration in tropical regions of the Earth. These and later activities resulted in his contributions to a variety of disparate fields in the disciplines of plant systematics, floristics, biogeography, conservation biology and ethnobotany. The faculty and staff of the Biology Department wishes him a happy retirement and success in his future endeavors.
Tim Brush grew up in New Jersey, the 4th child of two college professors! He got interested in birds as a teenager and continued that interest at Earlham College, where he majored in Biology. He got his MS in Biology at Arizona State University, where he studied cavity-nesting birds along the lower Colorado River. This is when he first experienced bird study along a river through dry country! He obtained his PhD in Zoology at Rutgers University, and after a short postdoc studying salt marsh birds in Massachusetts, he began at Marycrest College, Davenport, Iowa. He taught there for 5 years. Although he was worried he would spend the rest of his life in areas with cold winters, he got the job at UT Pan American in Edinburg in Fall 1991, where he has been ever since. He has taught mainly ornithology and embryology courses and has enjoyed studying a variety of birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In recent decades he has enjoyed helping his wife Ki with her bird-banding, which has added a lot to his bird studies. All 3 children have a strong interest in nature, and John works close by at Quinta Mazatlán. He appreciated working with faculty, staff and students through the years, and looks forward to continued bird study in the Valley!
It is with great sadness to report of the death from a heart attack of our colleague, Dr. Frank Judd. Frank worked for decades as a faculty member in Biology while at UTPA and was an Emeritus Professor of Biology at UTRGV. Frank left an exemplary legacy in research, teaching and service. Frank was a friend to the department who continued to publish research articles well past his retirement. He authored several books on Texas wildlife and ecosystems and, was named Texas Scientist of the Year in 2005. He remained a mentor, valued colleague, role model, and most importantly, a friend to all through his final retirement last year. Indeed, it is a great loss for our Department, the College, the University, and his entire family. We thank him for all of his services at all levels and offer our most sincere condolences to his family.
Team Snail attended the 123rd annual Texas Academy of Science conference in Nacogdoches, TX at Stephen F. Austin University. I attended with 7 Biology undergraduates who conduct research in my lab. Vanessa Torres, Melissa Lopez, Alison Schofield, Dominique Alvear, Christina Ortega, Samantha Gonzales, and Jose Rojas.
All students participated in presenting talks and posters, sharing their work with a large group of scientists. They attended talks on all aspects of science and math and had the opportunity to meet other students of science from across Texas. Dominique Alvear won an award for giving the top oral presentation in the Freshwater Sciences. Dr. Perez was presented with a plaque in recognition of her years of service to the Academy as Manuscript Editor of the Texas Journal of Science.
Platform
Alvear, D.*#, K.E. Perez, W. Nowlin, C. Nice. 2020. How can DNA help us with conservation in San Solomon Springs? Texas Academy of Science, Feb 27-29, 2020. Sam Houston State University, Nacogdoches, TX.
Schofield, A.*#, N. Barr, K.E. Perez. 2020. Species identification of an invasive leatherleaf slug using degenerate primers of the mitochondrial CO1 gene. Texas Academy of Science, Feb 27-29, 2020. Sam Houston State University, Nacogdoches, TX.
Poster
Ortega, C.*, M. Lopez*#, S. Ruiz*, S. Gonzalez*, W. Nowlin, K. E. Perez. 2020. Life history and reproductive dynamics of the Phantom Tryonia (Gastropoda). Texas Academy of Science, Feb 27-29, 2020. Sam Houston State University, Nacogdoches, TX.
Torres, V.*#, J. Rojas*, D. Alvear*, P. Diaz, K.E. Perez. 2020. Phylogeography of Phreatodrobia conica (Gastropoda: Cochliopidae). Texas Academy of Science, Feb 27-29, 2020. Sam Houston State University, Nacogdoches, TX.
* indicates undergraduate students
# indicates primary presenter
Dr. Rupesh Kariyat, assistant professor in the UTRGV Department of Biology, has been awarded the Entomological Society of America’s Southwestern Branch Distinguished Award in Teaching for his unique, hands-on approach to teaching undergraduate entomology.
Dr. Robert Gilkerson, Associate Professor, was recently named the UTRGV Faculty Mentor of the Year. He was nominated for the award by Dr. Nirakar Sahoo, who is a first-year faculty member that has been mentored by Dr. Gilkerson for the past year. Dr. Gilkerson received his award at a reception on May 2, 2019. The award included a plaque and a $500 honorarium. Congratulations to Dr. Gilkerson on this great achievement and well-deserved honor!
Patient-Initiated Automatic Control of Neural Tissue (US 10118039)
A patient-initiated automatic neural tissue control system and methods of providing patient-initiated automatic control of neural tissues are disclosed. The patient-initiated automatic neural tissue control system and methods allow for patient-defined internal initiation of motor control, by initiation of the controlling signals in the contralateral motor area the patient controls (e.g., previously damaged motor areas). The patient-initiated automatic neural tissue control system and methods involve brain signals that initiate from patient-defined motor actions from the contralateral motor area of the patient's brain which stimulates brain areas near the damaged brain areas. The brain areas stimulated near the damaged brain area include brain areas adjacent to the damaged brain area and brain areas below the damaged brain area.
Dr. Kristine Lowe, professor, has been appointed as the Interim Chair for the Department of Biology. We congratulate her and wish her success in the administration and leadership of our Department.
Dr. Fred Zaidan, professor, served as a Chair of the Biology Department for more than five years. He has been recently appointed as an Associate Dean for Student Success. We appreciate his efforts for maintaining excellence in our department, and wish him success in his new position.
During the 2018 College of Sciences Annual Research Conference held on April 13, 2018, Dr. Megan Keniry received the College Award for Excellence in the category of Teaching. Dr. Keniry is well known to actively integrate teaching and research methods to her students. We congratulate her for this outstanding achievement.
Faculty members of the Biology Department displaying their awards.
During the 2018 College of Sciences Annual Research Conference held on April 13, 2018, Dr. Teresa P. Feria received the College Award for Excellence in Community Engagement. We congratulate her for this outstanding achievement.
The Executive Vice-President's Appreciation Award was presented to Dr. Luis Materon for his Leadership in Program Development in the College of Science. Dr. Materon recently chaired a cluster search committee and was instrumental in the creation of the College website.
As part of the College of Science Annual Conference, faculty members were recognized for their engagement developing community learning exchange courses. The college of science has selected several faculties to offer courses in collaboration with three different community organizations such as ARISE, LUPE, and UNIDOS. Drs. Patricia Feria and Mirayda Torres-Avila have collaborated during this semester with other faculty members from the college of science and community leader to develop courses that will help with the problems that confront our Rio Grande Valley communities. These courses are designed interdisciplinary in collaboration with faculties with different expertise. The students taking this course will be able to apply the scientific knowledge to help the community. Dr. Feria's class will be working at San Carlos Community Center and Dr. Torres-Avila's class will be involved with the LUPE Center in San Juan, TX. These courses will be offered next year.
Dr. Mohammed Farooqui has been appointed as Interim Dean for the College of Sciences. Dr. Farooqui completed his PhD in Entomology at the University of Illinois. His research portfolio includes being Principal Investigator on various NIH grants, a contributor in other research projects, and serving as program director and mentor on numerous occasions. He has significant administrative experience, including his current appointment as Associate Dean for the College of Sciences. He also served, for over 10 years, as Chair of the Department of Biology. Moreover, his dedication to our students and teaching is reflected by several awards recognizing his excellence in teaching.
Dr. Farooqui has the knowledge and experience to be an effective leader of the College. We are confident he will continue to work collaboratively with the faculty, staff, and administration to ensure the success of our students
Dear Faculty and Staff,
As I assume my new role as the Executive Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies and New Program Development this week, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our journey and thank you for working with me during the past three years in the College of Sciences. it has been extremely rewarding and enjoyable to work with you all. We made tremendous progress on many fronts in this short period of time.
In addition to developing/establishing policies, processes and procedures to bring our legacy institutions together, over $45M in funding, and many publications in high impact journals, we developed four BS (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Marine Biology; Statistics; and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems) and three new MS (Agricultural, Environmental & Sustainability Sciences; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; and Ocean, Coastal & Marine Sciences) programs during the past three years. We also developed three new successful planning authority proposals for doctoral programs (Cellular, Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, Mathematical & Statistical Sciences with Interdisciplinary Applications; and Physics). Additionally, three new MS (Actuarial Science; Applied Statistics & Data Science; and Space Science Technology & Commercialization) and three new planning authority proposals for doctoral degree programs (Applied Materials and Interfaces; Ocean, Coastal and Marine Sciences; and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Science) are currently under development. We also established three new interdisciplinary Research Centers (Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Advancement; Center for Vector Borne Diseases; and Center for Urban Ecology). Summarized this way, I cannot even believe we accomplished all this in three years. So I thank you for your hard work in creating these exciting educational and research opportunities for our students! Please share these opportunities with our students and disseminate them locally, nationally, and internationally to recruit outstanding students and faculty.
Thank you again for your dedication and passion for our students and communities. I look forward to continue to partner with you in my new role in nurturing these and other new and cutting edge programs to build UTRGV as an eminent institution renowned for innovation and high impact discoveries for student, faculty, staff and community success!
Best wishes,
Parwinder
Dr. Rupesh Kariyat, a recent hire in the department received the UT System Rising Star award. The award comes with $300,000 grant for the purchase of equipments for research. Dr. Kariyat works in the field of insect-plant ecology focusing on herbivores and pollinators.
To our new colleagues,
It's rare to have the opportunity to shape a university.
Most universities are decades, if not centuries, old. They have well established traditions, cultures, and ways of doing things. While being part of an academic tradition has its advantages, there can be a sense that you are a replaceable cog in a machine that was more or less the same before you came, and will be the same after you leave.
At UTRGV, you have an opportunity to create traditions and culture. As an institution and department, we are still finding our way. We are still trying to work out what will be our strengths, what will we be known for, and what we want to become.
We are glad to have you as part of our team that will be shaping this department.
June 16, 2017
In this article we describe a new species of scrub snail, Praticolella salina Perez & Ruiz 2017 found only in coastal Cameron County including South Padre Island. We used DNA data, anatomical data, shell characteristics, and habitat characteristics to distinguish it from other closely related species. Previous snail workers had known of this population but had confused it with other species some native and some not native to Texas. UTRGV undergraduates Eli Ruiz and Marco Martinez Cruz contributed to the project with Eli especially taking the largest role reflected in his name being included in the species authority.
Dr. Anxiu Kuang, professor of electron microscopy and plant sciences in our department has died in a recent tragic car accident. We extend our deepest condolences to her family.
It is with great sadness that we inform you that Diana Womble has taken her last breath in Weslaco. She had been residing at Aurora House Hospice for the past few months while putting up a strong fight against her battle with brain cancer. She will be missed by those of us who worked closely with her. Please keep her family in your prayers.
Diana was in the process of obtaining her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts (MFA).The Art Department will be working with her family to put on the art show and have a memorial service at that time.
A successful display of items of biological interest were exhibited on Oct. 8, 2016 in the Science Building. Approximately 2,000 visitors attended and interacted with exhibitors. Among exhibitors were professors, health specialists, medical doctors, undergraduate and graduate students, and staff. There were displays of biological interests such as animals (snakes, chameleons, oysters, etc), plants, microbes, cells. In addition, two large rooms were dedicated to anatomy displays with tables with brochures for prevention of STD's, diabetes, breast cancer and other forms of cancer that were presented by experts in the field. The Department of Biology is grateful to all of those who organized and participated in this important annual event.
See panoramic views See photos
Brenda Hernandez-Barron, an undergraduate student supervised by Dr. Christopher Vitek, received a first place award for the undergraduate poster competition at the recent International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference held in Orlando, Florida, from September 25 to 30. The poster was titled “Zika Virus Infection and Dissemination within South Texas Mosquito Vectors”. The work detailed results from a preliminary research effort to examine infection by Zika virus in vectors from the region. ICE is held once every four years, and draws thousands of entomologists from around the world.
Dr. Kenneth R. Summy is retiring in May 2016. He came to UTRGV in 2000 after spending 21 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Weslaco, Texas as a Research Entomologist.. Dr. Summy holds 3 degrees: a B.S. in Biology from Stephen F. Austin State University, a MS in Entomology from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Texas A&M University. Dr. Summy had 70 publications in his years with the U.S.D.A.
Dr. Summy taught 11 different courses during his 16 years at UTRGV (4 graduate and 7 undergraduate). He served as Chairman of 11 graduate student MS committees during his tenure at UTRGV. Dr. Summy has been a productive scholar throughout his career. He has a total of 106 publications and he currently has a textbook titled “Effective Speaking and Writing Techniques” in Press at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. Dr. Summy has made arrangements for royalty monies to be transferred to the Biology Department at UTRGV. Dr. Summy held 9 grants during his years at UTRGV and he produced 36 publications (not counting the book in press). Dr. Summy was a most congenial colleague. He was an excellent role model for both new and experienced colleagues. He will be sorely missed.
A recent paper published by Kathryn Perez and colleague Rebecca Price was featured in the Research In Other Journals section of Science magazine. Drawing on their experience developing concept inventories on evolutionary mechanisms, Price and Perez propose that an over-emphasis on teaching natural selection impedes student understanding of additional evolutionary mechanisms.
Price, R.M., K.E. Perez (co-first authored). 2016. Beyond the Adaptationist Legacy: Updating Evolution Education to Include a Diversity of Evolutionary Mechanisms. The American Biology Teacher 78(2):101-108. DOI: 10.1525/abt.2016.78.2.101. Reviewed in Science 15 Apr 2016: Vol. 352, Issue 6283, pp. 305-306.
Biology major Victoria Garcia Gamboa received the Best Poster presentation award for the Systematics and Evolutionary Biology Section of the Texas Academy of Science at their annual meeting in Junction Texas, March 3-6, 2016. Her research presentation was titled: “Identification of a newly discovered population of apple snails (Ampullariidae) in the Rio Grande Valley." Her research is co-authored with myself and Dr. Romi Burks, Southwestern University.