Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
News 2005 -2006
July 2006
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2005-2006 Graduates and Awards
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Warren Bergquist, Osage City, KS - B.A. Physics, magna cum laude
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Angela Jones, Enid, OK – B.A. Mathematics
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Jeff Coburn, Guthrie, OK - B.A. Biology
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Katy Conway, Salina, KS – B.S. Biology, cum laude
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Briana Dickerson, Denver, CO – B.S. Biology
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Jason Kearns, Parson, KS – B.S. Biology, cum laude
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May Wells, South Haven, KS - B.A Biology
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Andrea Zanatta, Kansas City, KS – B.A. Biology, cum laude
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Lauren Rood, Wichita, KS – B.S. Marine Biology
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Shannon Cork, Dodge City, KS – B.S. Biochemistry
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Jeremy Wilcoxson, Osborne, KS – B.A. Chemistry
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Brent Inkelaar, Wichita, KS – B.A. Chemistry, summa cum laude
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In addition, Brent Inkelaar was also recognized as a Masterbuilder and was inducted into the Order of the Mound.
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Dr. Charles Hunter and Dr. Patrick Ross Receive Teaching Awards
At the annual Honors Convocation held in late spring, the students of Southwestern College recognized Charles Hunter, professor of biology, with the Student Government Association Faculty Citation for excellence in teaching. This is the second time that Charlie has received this award. At graduation, Patrick Ross received the Charles H. and Verda R. Kopke Distinguished Teaching Award. The recipient of this award is chosen by the President and Dean of Faculty in recognition of faculty for their service to the college
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Senior Math and Science Division Awards
This year, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics inaugurated a set of awards to honor our graduating seniors. The award for Academic Excellence in Math and Science was awarded to Brent Inkelaar, Douglass. The Research Achievement in the Sciences award went to Laurie Goodman, Lenexa. Goodman has conducted several independent research projects both on the Southwestern College campus and during summer 2005 at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. The Exemplary Service Award in Math and Science was given to three students— Andrea Zanatta, Kansas City; Katy Conway, Salina; and Jessica Harr, Wichita, all three of whom have been officers in Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society.
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Student Selected as KU Scholar in Primary Care
Southwestern College junior Danielle McCaulley, Great Bend, has been selected as a Scholar in Primary Care at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. If McCaulley satisfactorily completes all program requirements, she will be automatically admitted to the medical school when she completes her SC bachelors degree. McCaulley becomes the sixth Southwestern student to earn this selection since 1997. Only Kansas State and Kansas have had more students accepted into the program than Southwestern.
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Summer Plans for our New Graduates
Many of our new graduates are still waiting to decide their plans for the upcoming year. Some plan on taking a year off before the next step in their academic and professional lives, others will be staying at Southwestern College for one additional semester of coursework to satisfy their thirst for knowledge or just a graduation requirement. Here are some the plans that are certain. If you see a student on the list that will be in your geographic area for the summer, do not hesitate to contact us about setting up a meeting with the student to say hello. I’m sure they would appreciate seeing a friendly Moundbuilder face.- Katy Conway (Salina) will be beginning her studies at the Pennsylvania School of Optometry near Philadelphia
- Andrea Zanatta (Kansas City) will be involved in an intensive biostatistics training program at North Carolina State University.
- Briana Dickerson (Denver, CO) will be taking some biology courses at the University of Colorado, Denver prior to beginning her medical degree at the same institution.
- Brent Inkelaar (Douglass) will be enrolled in Southwestern College’s MBA program as well as working for the Office of Student Life.
- Warren Bergquist (Osage City) received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in structural engineering at Washington University as part of Southwestern College’s dual degree engineering program. He is currently working at Alper Audi, Inc., a structural engineering firm in St. Louis.
- Jeff Coburn (Guthrie, OK) is awaiting to hear about his country placement with the Peace Corps. He is hoping to land a teaching assignment in Africa.
- May Wells (Caldwell) is working for the National Resource Conservations Service on projects involving nonpoint source pollution and the use of agricultural buffer strips. She is also working in the Grouse and Silver Creek areas encouraging conservation projects among local residents
- Shannon Cork (Dodge City) is attending the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy in the fall.
- Jeremy Wilcoxson (Osborne) is working as a research chemist at Koch Industries in Wichita.
- Angela Jones (Enid, OK) has been teaching mathematics at Ark City High School this past year.
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Summer Student Activity
A number of current Southwestern students will be traveling the country this summer participating in a variety of research and other academic activity. If you see a student on the list that will be in your geographic area for the summer, do not hesitate to contact us about setting up a meeting with the student to say hello. I’m sure they would appreciate seeing a friendly Moundbuilder face.- Alex Stong (Tulsa, OK) will be doing physics research at Duke University in Durham, NC.
- Rachel Pollock (Hays) will be at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR involved in a physics research project.
- Scott Kuhn (Hays) will be involved in an internship with US Fish and Wildlife at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, only 26 miles from Times Square in New York City
- Laurie Goodman (Lenexa) is working with the State of Kansas Biological Survey on fish populations in Kansas.
- Chelsea Epler (Columbus) will be at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA conducting microbiological research as part of an REU.
- Nicole Kierl (Paola) will working on an ecological research project as part of an REU at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL.
- Andrea Maxwell (Edgerton) is participating in Baylor College of Medicine’s SMART Program.
- Katy Balzer (Lehigh), Lauren Rood (Wichita), Matt Hodges (Omaha, NE), Warren Hanson (Hays) will be taking coursework at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, OR.
- Katie Copeland (Lindsborg) will be taking coursework at Shoals Marine Laboratory in Maine.
- Jenna Swisher (Cunningham) will be involved in an educational internship with Seaworld in Florida.
- Daniel Haneke (Sylvia) will be working on a project with Kansas Wildlife and Parks near El Dorado involving the control of zebra mussels in local waters.
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Summer Faculty Activity
- Dr. Patrick Ross will be attending to a variety of administrative tasks for the Division during the summer as well as taking care of his kids, Sam and Anna.
- Dr. Charlie Hunter will be attending a Bioquest workshop on Exploring Complex Data Sets in Beloit, Wisconsin. He will also be spending time on the Zebra Mussel project with Rick Cowlishaw.
- Dr. Rick Cowlishaw will be working on Zebra Mussel project with Charlie as well as attending a workshop on astrobiology at the University of Washington in mid July.
- Dr. Terry Barnett will be making his annual summer pilgrimage to New Mexico to teach summer classes of Organic Chemistry at the New Mexico State University.
- Dr. Michael Tessmer attended a workshop entitled Modeling Biomolecules at Jackson State University in Mississippi in early June.
- Dr. Bob Gallup, along with Rick Bicker from Teacher Education, will be facilitating a workshop for math and science teachers in Ark City during June and July.
- Dr. George Gangwere will be attending a weeklong Chatauqua on Archaeoastronomy of the Mayans in Flores, Guatemala in early July.
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Dr. Ahmad Mojiri Departs
Ahmad Mojiri has found a new faculty position at Texas A&M – Texarkana teaching mathematics. He hopes to return to Winfield in the fall for the annual Walnut Valley Music Festival.
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Mastin Scholar Selected
JoAnna Ellsworth (Baxter Springs) was awarded this year’s Mastin Scholarship, one of the three largest scholarships on campus. Joanna is planning on majoring in Chemistry and hopes to eventually pursue research in fire prevention (her dad is a fire fighter). The selection committee found her to be an ebullient, energetic young woman who will be a delightful addition to the academic and social life of the Beech Science Center.
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Collaborative Project on Zebra Mussels with Kansas Wildlife and Parks
Through the efforts of Dr. Charles Hunter and Dr. Rick Cowlishaw, the biology department has received a $9,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Part of the grant will be used for one SC student to research the zebra mussel problem in El Dorado Lake as well as educating boaters about the problem. The research project will focus on the potential for transporting veliger larvae to other locations in the state.
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Southwestern Campus Reevaluates General Education Requirement
In the Fall of 1993, Southwestern College created an innovative approach to its general education requirement. The core of this program, known as Integrative Studies, consisted of eight interdisciplinary courses that students would choose from a diverse list created by faculty from all academic disciplines. The hope was that regardless of the curricular choices made by students, they would be exposed to a diversity of areas of thinking and knowledge. This would be accomplished by having each course embrace multiple academic disciplines. Examples of such courses include Planet Earth, which examines environmental issues from scientific, economic, and political viewpoints, and Atom and Cosmos which combines aspects of Astronomy, History and Philosophy. Unfortunately, it has become clear that students are not receiving the diversity of academic experiences that was hoped. For example, science majors tend to only take the Integrative Studies courses that emphasize science, while nonscience majors do the opposite. Consequently, many of our graduating students receive little or no exposure to one or more of the major areas of academics that are the traditional cornerstone of general education requirements at other institutions, i.e. mathematics, history, science, literature, social science, etc. This past fall, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics addressed one aspect of this problem by passing a campuswide mathematics requirement. The discussions that came out of that process have expanded to include a re-evaluation of Integrative Studies and the possibility of developing a new General Education program at Southwestern. When the faculty return in the fall, we will begin that process. The hope is that we can retain the best aspects of the current Integrative Studies program while instituting some specific distributional requirements that will guarantee that our graduates receive a well-rounded liberal arts education.
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Senior Science Assessment
In an effort to better understand the level of scientific education and understanding in Southwestern College graduates, we administered a survey to all students of senior standing this spring. This Senior Science Assessment Survey asked questions in four different areas: (1) Basic understanding of the facts of science; (2) Understanding of the process of science; (3) Scientific critical thinking (the ability to discriminate between science and pseudo-science); and (4) Enthusiasm for science. We were able to gather data from 93 students. Although we plan on conducting a number of analyses, our chief interest is in gauging how well the Division’s Integrative Studies courses (Planet Earth, Atom and Cosmos, History of Science) provide students with a needed background in science. We will also examine the level of scientific understanding among students who do not take any science-related Integrative Studies courses. This information will provide important input to the ongoing discussions on Southwestern’s future general education program.
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Project Kaleidoscope Update
Dr. Patrick Ross and Dr. Charlie Hunter, along with Dean Andy Sheppard and Michelle Boucher, Director of Integrative Studies, continued our participation in Project Kaleidoscope Leadership Initiative by attending a spring meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The focus of the meeting was “Science for All.” We continued our discussions on providing a better foundation in science education for all Southwestern students with our main efforts directed at making the Moore Field Station a multidisciplinary resource for a variety of learner communities. We developed a strategic plan which included formation of a group of stakeholders from other academic departments on campus, K-12 educators in the county, representatives from Cowley Community College and other community development groups (Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees, Rotary, City Libraries, etc.). This stakeholder group will provide input on what infrastructure and packaged curriculum would lead to greater and more diverse use of the field station. The list of infrastructure items will be used to solicit funds and apply for grants. The list of curricular needs would be shared with education and science faculty in an effort to produce cross-disciplinary projects involving the field station.
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Moore Field Station Update
In addition to planning for the educational use of the Moore Field Station, Dr. Charlie Hunter has also been working with the campus’ property manager, Tom Schnittker, on a land use plan for the 240 acre parcel of land. Trying to combine educational and conservation priorities with traditional land management strategies has been a learning experience for all of us. The final product is a plan that will ensure a diverse array of ecosystems for educational purposes as well as providing some agricultural income for the college.
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Dr. Patrick Ross and Dr. Rick Cowlishaw Conduct Science Workshops in Singapore
As part of our ongoing collaboration with St. Francis Methodist School in Singapore, Patrick Ross and Rick Cowlishaw traveled across the Pacific Ocean to conduct workshops on using inquiry-based hands-on laboratory activities to teach science. In Asia, most introductory science classes at the high school and college level focus primarily on scientific content rather than learning the process of science. This is a result of their educational systems being based on the British system and its reliance on “all-or-nothing” examinations for advancement to the next academic level. The workshops were part of a symposium hosted by St. Francis Methodist School entitled Innovation and Creativity in Education. There was a full house for both of our workshops, which were presented twice over two days. Pat’s workshop focused on genetic engineering in bacteria, while Rick focused on simulating the greenhouse effect and global warming in the classroom. Over their weeklong visit, they were able to meet and eat with faculty, staff, and students which will hopefully lead to further collaborations in the future. Planning is currently underway for a group of St. Francis faculty and students to visit Southwestern College in mid November. The group will include some of the first students in the St. Francis Baccalaureate program who will attend Southwestern College for their junior and senior years after completing two years of Southwestern inspired coursework at St. Francis.
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Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society News
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Southwestern’s chapter of Beta Beta Beta enjoyed a resurgence of activity this year with advisor Dr. Rick Cowlishaw initiating fourteen new members into the chapter. Our chapter hosted the district meeting at Camp WaJaTo near Lyons, Kansas this April with campuses from Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in attendance. Southwestern had an impressive showing with a third place showing in the research paper competition by Scott Kuhn (Hays). Scott presented the results of his summer research on crayfish sex ratio patterns. Our delegation furthered honored Southwestern by winning the evening Biology Family Feud contest. In addition, Dr. Patrick Ross was selected as the new head of the North Central 2 District for Beta Beta Beta, which includes Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
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The chapter officers for next year are:
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President: Chris Norris (Wellington)
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Vice President: Andrea Maxwell (Edgerton)
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Historian: Chelsea Epler (Columbus)
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Secretary: Warren Hanson (Hays)
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New Course Biology Course Offering
This fall, the biology department will be offering a new course, Conservation Biology, taught by Dr. Patrick Ross. This 3 credit course for juniors and seniors will examine both theoretical and applied aspects of conservation biology at the population, community, ecosystem and landscape level. Given that there may be some shifts in teaching responsibilities with the expected changes in Southwestern’s general education program, it is not known whether this course will be offered again. In the meantime, it is a great addition to our current offerings in ecology and environmental biology.
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Dr. George Gangwere Promoted
George Gangwere’s application for promotion to full professor of Physics was approved by the Board of Trustees this spring. George has been with Southwestern College for over 20 years as the primary instructor for our introductory physics courses and many of our advanced physics courses. George, along with colleague Dr. Bob Gallup, also helped to develop one of our popular Integrative Studies courses, Atom and Cosmos. Among his recent contributions to the college, George helped in the implementation of the college’s laptop and academic technology program and has been devoting a lot of time to incorporating more international experiences into the curriculum through trips to China and Ecuador. George was the 1999 recipient of the Fassnacht Outstanding Faculty Award, which is based upon nominations by the faculty.
Feb 2006
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Ed
Loeb hired as new Mathematics Faculty Member.
Ed is a graduate of Bethany College (but we won’t hold that against him). He is finishing up his dissertation in quantum and algebraic coding theory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May. We were impressed by his engaging classroom presence and his experience in math education and developing math coursework for the “math-phobic.” Ed has family in nearby Oxford so we have high hopes that he will become a long time member of the Moundbuilder family.
- Toma Foster hired as our new
Faculty Assistant.
Kathy Harris, left us in January to take a position with Good Samaritan, a local nursing home facility. Toma has worked as an office manager for several medical offices and has experience dealing with over-educated blowhards with no clue how to manage an office. Just what we need!!
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College adopts new Campuswide
Mathematics Graduation
Requirement.
Following a recommendation from the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the college has instituted a new graduation requirement in which all Southwestern students will have to pass either College Algebra or Statistics. This primary motivation for this change was low math scores among our students and the ubiquitousness of similar requirements among our benchmark institutions. This requirement will be made operational with our 2006 freshmen class.
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