Spring, 2001

Instructors: Matt Persons, Tom Peeler, Jack Holt

Meeting time: Friday, 3:00-4:00pm

321 Fisher Hall

• Increase oral and/or written presentation skills by presenting results of senior research or a previously published article.
• Discuss aspects of effective oral and poster presentations
• Provide feedback to others on their presentations
• Learn about research activities from individuals at other institutions
• Evaluate the Biology Department curriculum

Grades for Research II and Seminar will be based, in part, on attendance, completing feedback forms, giving a presentation, completing portfolios, and completing a biology department evaluation form. Any missed class meetings will negatively impact your grade and will be reported to your primary research advisor.

January 19 Organizational Meeting

January 26 Presentation Workshop: dissecting the 12 minute talk.

February 2 C.V. and cover letters-or how scientists beg for jobs.

Invited Seminar speakers: TBA but most likely dates: February 9, 16, 23, April 6, April 27th

February 23, Dr. Grant Brown, Biology Department, Union College, "Ostariophysan fish alarm pheromones: what makes them work and why do we care?"

March 2- NCUR Poster or Oral Presenters practice talks. Feedback

March 9-Spring Break No seminar

March 16-No seminar -NCUR meeting (URLs for portfolios due)

March 23 and ? PAS Poster or Oral Presenters Practice talks. Feedback

(additional times may have to be scheduled in the evening)

March 30- No seminar-PAS meeting

April 6 -Dr. David W. Seaborn, Old Dominion University. "The fish killer, Pfiesteria piscicida, and other intriguing dinoflagellates in Chesapeake Bay"

April 13-Easter Break No seminar

April 20- Mike Witcoskie Seminar, Last date for first draft of research paper (advisor may have earlier deadline for 1^st draft)

April 24-Senior Scholar's day (please support your fellow researchers!)

April 27. Dr. Kent Vliet, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Florida. "Social Behavior of American Alligators"

May 1 Evaluation of Biology program, Final draft of research papers due.

Check Biology Senior Seminar Web page for latest schedule, updates, and relevant links

http://www.susqu.edu/facstaff/p/persons/Researchseminar2001.html

Requirements for the Spring semester

Research Paper: You will submit a final research paper by the last day of class in the Spring semester. We expect to see previous drafts earlier in the semester. Remember that your final grade is assessed upon these papers so the better they are, the higher the grade. The more we see the earlier drafts, the better the final paper will be. The format for these papers should be discussed with your supervisors.

Senior Seminar: As part of the requirement for senior seminar, you will present your work in the spring semester. You have the option of presenting your work to the Department in the form of a 10-12 minute talk, or in the form of a poster to be presented to the SU Scholars Day event held at the end of the semester. For any of you presenting to the PAS or tri-Beta meeting, the talk will serve as valuable practice. In addition to the above requirements, you must attend all of the formal departmental presentations as required by the faculty.

Pennsylvania Academy of Science/ Tri-Beta Meetings: The Pennsylvania Academy of Science has an annual meeting each spring in which members (both students and faculty) can present their work either as a talk or in the form of a poster. The deadline for abstracts is early December for the meeting on March 30 - April 1, 2001 in Pittsburgh. We encourage you to attend. Discuss this with your supervisors. The Tri-Beta Biological Honor society has an annual meeting during the spring semester which is another opportunity for you to present your research.

Outstanding Research Award: The Biology department started several years ago to award two prizes at the Senior Luncheon, one for outstanding academic achievement (based solely on GPA) and one for outstanding research. Last year's winner was Whitney Boyle. Work hard, and it could be you!

Lab etiquette: There are over 30 students who will be working on their projects this year, with limited space and resources. Please take case to keep the labs clean and tidy, put things back where they should be, and generally be courteous to others. If you behave like a bum, we'll treat you like a bum!

Special Requirements for Honors Students:

The requirements for Department of Biology Honors are that you should have an overall GPA of 3.0, a major GPA of 3.25 and submit a research paper for oral examination by the faculty at the end of the Spring semester. All students who believe that they might wish to try for departmental honors must submit a pre-thesis to their supervisor by December 8th together with a letter requesting that they be considered for Honors.

The final oral examination for Honors (held during senior week prior to Commencement) will take the form of a 30-minute panel discussion with the candidate and the faculty on the student's research and on the general areas of science that surround this work. It is intended to be a most rigorous examination of the student that will allow exemplary individuals to attain Honors. A practice oral examination for Honors candidates will be held during the first two weeks of the Spring semester, 2001. To be a candidate at this stage of the process, we require that you have either an overall GPA of 3.0 or a major GPA of 3.25.