Education

A.B., Bryn Mawr College;
Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Research Interests

"My lab studies two distinct neuroscience research questions using the same model organism, the cichlid fish Rocio octofasciata. The cichlid retina, which contains adult stem cells, allows us to ask questions about how stem cells choose their final fate. Cichlid fish also have complex social interactions, and we study their behavior and the underlying brain areas to understand aggression and reproductive behavior. Recently, we have begun using chick neurons to ask whether herbal remedies such as Ginkgo biloba can act to keep neurons healthy in neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke."

Inspiration

My students challenge me daily to think clearly about science, and their enthusiasm for learning is contagious! I am also inspired by my colleagues’ high standards for teaching, service and scholarship at Cedar Crest. Daily reading of the New York Times and listening to NPR news inspire me to think about the roles that scientists and educators can play in our society. And my children inspire me daily to work toward making the world a better place in which they can live and learn.

On Becoming a Teacher

My father is a medical school professor, and my mother is a recently retired high school science teacher. As a child, I learned how much of an influence a teacher can be on the lives of her students, as well as how much work goes into good teaching. Excellent science faculty in my high school chemistry class and during my undergraduate years helped me to realize that I wanted to be a scientist in an undergraduate setting, where I could teach students in both the classroom and the research lab.

Education

Director of Biodiversity & Conservation Biology
B.S., University of Rochester; Ph.D., Boston University

Research Interests

"My research interests include marine ecology and conservation, especially the conservation of marine fisheries and the effect of global warming and climate change on marine populations. Current research projects in my lab include determining whether a marine reserve in Belize is effectively conserving queen conch populations and using computer modeling to study the long-term effects of global warming and overfishing on marine species. I am also collaborating with Dr. Rich Kliman on a project studying the conservation genetics of queen conch. "

Career Highlights

After completing his doctoral dissertation on octopus behavioral ecology, John Cigliano, Ph.D. became interested in marine conservation issues and has been working on marine conservation ever since. His current research is on queen conch conservation ecology, the effectiveness of a marine reserve in Belize on conserving queen conch populations, and the conservation genetics of queen conch (in collaboration with Rich Kliman, Ph.D.), as well as studying the long-term effects global warming and overfishing on marine species.

John Cigliano, Ph.D. is also an active member of the Society for Conservation Biology and is on the board of governors of the Society's Marine Section. He has chaired and been on the organizing committee of the International Marine Conservation Congress, a major meeting for marine conservation researchers and practitioners. He is also committed to conservation education and is part of the American Museum of Natural History's Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners. John Cigliano, Ph.D. has a special interest in providing students with international field experience and has taught field courses in the Amazon rainforest and on the coral reefs of the Caribbean.

Memberships

John Cigliano, Ph.D. is a member of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Courses Taught

Marine Ecology, Marine Field Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Genetics, & Evolution, Living Learning Community in Environmental Stewardship Animal Behavior

Why Cedar Crest College

"I chose to teach at Cedar Crest because of its commitment to the liberal arts and the strong tradition of undergraduate research in the Department of Biological Sciences. I am equally excited about the College's commitment to women's leadership and global connectivity."

Advice

"My advice is for students to take advantage of all the great academic and co-curricular activities and opportunities that are provide here. College is a time for intellectual and emotional growth. And there is no better place for young women to do this than at Cedar Crest College. And while it's very important to work hard and be serious in their studies, students should not forget to also have fun."

Inspiration

"Passionate students who have a desire to learn. And seeing these students develop into self-confident, capable leaders and scientists."

Becoming a Teacher

"When I began teaching as a graduate student. I knew right away that I loved teaching and wanted to teach at the college level."

Education

B.S. in Biology, East Stroudsburg University
Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Lehigh University

Courses Taught

Microbiology Lecture and Labs

Career Highlights

Epsaro has extensive experience in clinical lab work. Prior to earning her doctorate degree, she was a medical technologist and responsible for the microbiology department at St. Luke’s Hospital during the afternoon shift. During this time, she also pursued research and training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, in Boston. During her graduate school years, she taught science courses at the St. Luke’s School of Nursing. She has over 20 years of teaching experience and works hard to continually update and improve her courses. She recently wrote a 254-page laboratory manual specifically for the BIO-127 course.

Memberships

American Society of Clinical Pathology

Professional Advice

One of the most important things to realize is that learning is a lifelong process. Involve yourself with people and opportunities which allow you to continually grow as a person and in your career. Have a passion for what you do. As an unknown author once said, “Do what you love, and love what you do.”

Why Cedar Crest?

I enjoy teaching at Cedar Crest College because it is a close, friendly environment. Since the class sizes are relatively small, I have welcomed the opportunity to really get to know my students and interact with them one on one. I have a passion to share the exciting world of science with my students, and feel that this is very well accomplished in the community environment of our science department. I feel very fortunate to teach at Cedar Crest College because I am not only able to develop meaningful interactions with my colleagues, but also with the individuals that I teach. To have a lasting impact on their lives and future careers is very important to me.

Education

B.A., Mount Holyoke College
Ph.D., University of Arizona

Courses Taught

Principles of Biology II
Botany
Evolution
Conservation Biology and GIS
Case Studies in Conservation Biology Junior Colloquium
Ecology and Natural History of the American Southwest
Evolution, Ecology and Population Genetics Lab

Career Highlights

Among the career highlights of Amy Faivre, Ph.D., were taking Organization for Tropical Studies course in Costa Rica followed up by several summers of research there, and conducting research on the pollination of tropical plants in Panama in the Smithsonian Institute's Barro Colorado Island field station. She has also found the study of the reproductive biology of rare and endangered plants in wetland habitats of Ohio and Michigan, and now in the Florida scrub with researchers at Archbold Biological Station, very rewarding

Memberships

Botanical Society of America
American Society of Plant Taxonomists
Ecological Society of America
Society for the Study of Evolution
Torrey Botanical Society
Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences
Sigma Xi

Professional Advice

Ask questions, ask for help, ask your professors, peers, advisors how you need to achieve your goal, or even determine what your goal is--and then try to do it!

Why Cedar Crest?

I hope to excite and educate students on a range of topics relating to our natural world. I want to help students develop observational skills to be used both in the field and the lab and to start to ask interesting questions--as they also learn to explore and become knowledgeable about what information is available in the scientific literature.

Education

B.S., College of William and Mary
M.S., College of William and Mary
Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research Interests

"Research in my lab focuses on the use of RNA to examine changes in gene expression in response to environmental stimuli. The tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, is the model organism for most of my research projects, but chicken embryos, tomato plants, and human tissues have also been used by my research students. In addition, projects that focus on RNA decay in deposited stains connect my RNA research to the field of forensic science."

Career Highlights

K. Joy Karnas, Ph.D., continues her investigation of lipoprotein biosynthesis in the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) through use of an S2 cell system and budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) secretory mutants. She has several research projects currently being conducted with Cedar Crest College students.

Inspiration

"My students inspire me. They are the reason that I am who I am, and the motivation for me to do what I do. If I didn’t have such incredible students who truly appreciate the effort that I put into my teaching, I don’t think I would feel as passionate about my teaching and scholarship. Nothing inspires me more than learning that one of my students has achieved more than they thought possible, and words cannot express how much I value letters from alumnae that praise the genetic engineering program and the courses they took at Cedar Crest College."

On Becoming a Teacher

"In my first true teaching experience (beyond simply serving as a teaching assistant and running college biology labs), I discovered my talent for breaking complex concepts down into bite-sized bits that students could comprehend. I have a knack for developing analogies to help students visualize exactly what they are trying to learn. I describe biological concepts in simple, everyday terms, creating a parallel that is easier for novices to grasp. I love teaching the details of molecular genetics-introducing upper-level college students to the intricate world of gene expression-but also enjoy outreach activities that connect me with elementary school classrooms. I am passionate about student centered learning and incorporate classroom discussions, inquiry-based learning, and laboratory activities into my teaching as much as possible. Every time I step into a classroom, my connection with the students helps me rediscover why I love this job."

Education

A.B. in Biology and Music, Colby College
Ph.D. in Biology, Wesleyan University

Research Interests

"My research deals mainly with evolutionary and ecological genetics. On the evolutionary side, I am interested in the relationship between genetic recombination and the effectiveness of natural selection in fruit flies, and I also study ongoing natural selection on DNA sequences in fruit flies and the single-celled fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. On the ecological side, I use patterns of DNA sequence variation to study population demography; I also collaborate on field work to study queen conch abundance in a recently enforced marine reserve in Belize."

Courses Taught

Biostatistics
Ecology and Environmental Issues
Genetics
Human Biology and Health Issues

Career Highlights

After completing his dissertation research on physiology and quantitative genetics of biological rhythms in rodents, Richard Kliman, Ph.D., completed four years of postdoctoral research in molecular evolution, population genetics, and speciation at Rutgers and Harvard. His research interests remain broad, and have expanded to include ecological genetics and assessment of the effectiveness of a marine reserve in Belize (in collaboration with John Cigliano, Ph.D.). He is especially committed to evolution education and to complement his teaching at Cedar Crest, he has developed instructional software, served as a lead editor of Nature Education/Scitable, coordinated an undergraduate program for the annual Evolution conference, and coordinated Cedar Crest’s Darwin Day celebration. He has also served as an associate editor of two scholarly journals, Genetica and The Journal of Molecular Evolution, and as a program director in the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation. He is currently the editor-in-chief of a forthcoming Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology, the editor of the EvoED Digital Library, and a member of the Education and Outreach Committee of the Society for the Study of Evoluion.

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
Genetics Society of America
Society for the Study of Evolution

Professional Advice

Be an active participant in your education. It's about reading, writing, ''rithmetic, (c)ritical thinking, and (c)reativity. Do the hard work that it takes to get better at all of these; it's why you're in college. You may think the purpose of college is to graduate with a particular major, minor, or concentration. That's understandable--you have and will continue to develop particular interests--but the credentials are secondary. Notice that none of these words (major, minor, concentration) start with an R?

Why Cedar Crest?

Before coming to Cedar Crest, I taught at large state institutions. I moved to Cedar Crest for two reasons: to teach at a liberal arts college and to engage more undergraduates in research. I believe strongly that students benefit most when they seek diverse challenges in and out of the classroom, and I believe that liberal arts colleges provide the best opportunity for students to do this. I also believe that students profit immensely from participation in undergraduate research, and Cedar Crest makes this possible for many students.

Inspiration

I am inspired by courage in its many forms. It can be the courage to take risks or to make sacrifices when there are real consequences. It can be the courage to speak or perform in front of an audience. It can be the courage to invest significant time and energy into a worthy endeavor that might fail. It can be the courage to challenge conventional wisdom or prevailing viewpoints-or to discard one’s previously held views even if this means admitting error. It can be the courage to confront the unknown.

On Becoming a Teacher

I started to think seriously about teaching toward the end of my junior year in college. I don’t remember why, and I certainly didn’t know what; at the time, I was leaning toward graduate school in music theory and composition. I had great professors who expected that I work hard; they loved to learn as well as to teach, and they taught me that learning takes dedication. The decision to become a college professor wasn’t made at any particular moment in time. It emerged from my experiences, observations, and values, and it would be pointless and inaccurate to try to pinpoint when it happened.

Education

B.A. in Chemistry and Biology, University of Northern Iowa
Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Iowa College of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Brandeis University

Research Interests

My research uses techniques in Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, Genomics, and Proteomics to understand how a protein called Replication Protein A (RPA) functions in DNA replication, Cell Cycle regulation, DNA damage recognition and repair in the Budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By developing a better understanding of the function of yeast RPA in these complex processes we will gain insights into the underlying causes of human cancers, and other diseases caused by defects in chromosomal DNA maintenance.

Courses Taught

Cell and Molecular Biology
Advanced Recombinant Techniques
Cell Culture and Microscopy
Advanced PCR Techniques
Junior Colloquium

Career Highlights

After obtaining a Ph.D. in biochemistry, Andre Walther earned a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health to do research in molecular genetics at Brandeis University. Since joining Cedar Crest College, he has maintained an active research lab focused on understanding how cells recognize and respond to DNA damage. Numerous students have presented their research at regional and national scientific conferences, and have earned summer internships at prestigious universities throughout the U.S.

Memberships

American Society of Cell Biology
American Society for Microbiology
Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences
Sigma Xi Research Honor Society
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Professional Advice

My advice to students would be for them to understand that the question can be just as important as the answer. It is important to learn how to ask good questions in order to gain valuable knowledge in life.

Why Cedar Crest?

I teach at Cedar Crest College because it allows me to interact with students in both the classroom and the lab from the very beginning of college. I greatly enjoy doing my research in collaboration with students. This allows students to use the scientific method in a real research lab, beginning as early as their first year of college. Students have made significant scientific discoveries in my lab and have been able to share their results with scientists across the globe at a number of research conferences.

Inspiration

My biggest inspiration is seeing the transformative effect that scientific research can have on a student. I have observed students that had early struggles in coursework, but then developed and matured once they were exposed to the excitement of research.

On Becoming a Teacher

As the son of an elementary school teacher and a college professor, it was probably predestined that I become an educator. I spent much of my early life self assured that I would never follow in the footsteps of my parents, but early required teaching experiences in graduate school led me to see that I really enjoyed teaching, especially in the research laboratory setting.