Susquehanna University - Susquehanna Today - Fall 2005

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FALL 2005

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Global Notes

Carlos Iudica, assistant professor of biology
ARGENTINA

So Much to Share

Iudica poses in his lab with a number of mammalian skulls he has collected in Pennsylvania.

Carlos Iudica's methods of research may unsettle the passer-by. Once, Iudica was hacking off the head of a bear along the side of I-80 when a state trooper approached him, hand on holster. "What the hell are you doing?" Iudica remembers the trooper asked.

The professor stood up, his blood-covered hands holding a scalpel, and explained that he had an official permit to salvage roadkill in the state of Pennsylvania for research. The trooper decided to believe him, and quickly drove away.

"This happens almost every time on I-80," Iudica says with a smile.

Using roadkill as well as carcasses donated by trappers, Iudica is building a teaching collection of bones and skins at Susquehanna. He hopes to someday publish pictorial identification guides of the bones and hairs of every mammal in Pennsylvania.

"The rest of the department is extremely supportive," Iudica says, "although I sometimes make the department smell like a morgue."

Iudica had never heard of Susquehanna University before he applied to work there, but he got hooked on SU during his interview with Professor of Biology David Richard.

"I didn't realize what I was looking for until Dave put it into words," Iudica says. "He said that this is a department where we teach how to do research, and I realized, wow, this is exactly what I want....I like to share."

Having pursued the science of ecology all over the world, Iudica has a lot to share. He has studied forest ecology in his native Argentina and the influence of fruit bats on rainforests in Costa Rica and Panama; monitored flying foxes ("little Chihuahuas with wings") in Guam and Papua New Guinea; taught field techniques for studying mammal ecology in Nicaragua; and researched bats in the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian.

Iudica says, "You learn and appreciate things every time you are exposed to another culture. And if you are an open-minded kind of person, I am sure you can translate that into better teaching."

Although he plans to continue traveling abroad, Iudica intends to stay at Susquehanna. "I really feel at home," he says.

-- E.M.

Chris Janzen

Janzen, center, prepares to board the deep-sea submersible Alvin.

Chris Janzen, associate professor of chemistry -- EAST PACIFIC RISE

In April 2004, Janzen traveled to deep ocean vents on the East Pacific Rise, off the coast of Central America. He dove more than a mile to the bottom of the ocean in the submersible Alvin to study the chemistry of the unique ecosystem that exists there.

-- E.M.

M. Esther Asin '74 Artieda and Carlos Artieda '05 -- BOLIVIA

While families with multiple generations of Susquehanna alumni are not uncommon, the mother and son pair of M. Esther Asin '74 Artieda and Carlos Artieda '05 is our first international legacy story. She first came to Pennsylvania from Boliva as a high school exchange student, then later enrolled at SU. After graduating, she lectured with the university's Spanish department and enrolled in a master's of education program at Bucknell University. "In 1976, and with the deepest regrets, I had to leave Selinsgrove to make the long trip home to Bolivia," Ms. Artieda said.

Thirty years later, she encouraged her son to attend her alma mater. "I heard from my mother how great the university was and I was also interested in a well-founded business program," the younger Artieda said.

Neither mom nor son will forget their time at Susquehanna. "The most rewarding experience at SU is a combination of a well-rounded education, friendship, and a wonderful campus experience that is never to be forgotten," the newly-minted grad said.

-- J.S.

Todd Ericson '93 -- CHILE

When Ericson founded Chilean Adventures in 2002, the company "began strictly as a whitewater kayak instruction and guiding outfitter but over the years has grown to show two strong directions: education and adventure travel -- each complementing the other," he says. The company offers trekking, volcano ascents, horse packing, surfing, rafting and kayaking excursions, as well as outdoor leadership educational programs for high school and college students.

On the Web: www.ChileanAdventures.com
Read a Winter 2004 alumni profile of Todd Ericson

Amy Jonas '93 Gimbel -- COLOMBIA

Gimbel, right, and two other American CEUCA students, in Cartagena, Colombia, with the Caribbean Sea behind them.

I studied in Botog�, Colombia during the spring semester of my junior year in 1992. I went with a program called CEUCA and had classes both at the program offices and at la Universidad de Los Andes.

During my semester there, we had the fun of a telephone worker strike, which made calling home impossible for a good while, and of electricity rationing because of the drought in a hydroelectric power-dependent nation. Between doing classwork by candlelight, the roar of generators outside all the stores, and not being able to go outside after dark, it made for an interesting time. To conserve daylight, the government decided to change the clocks by one hour, which thoroughly confused most of the population, who have never experienced our strange habit of daylight savings time.

Two friends and I had an interesting trip to the coast during Holy Week with a tour group. We had a hard time making the others understand why we were uncomfortable that the bus driver was drinking aguardiente as we traveled the mountainous roads with no guardrails.

But I had lots of wonderful experiences with my new friends and host family, with whom I still communicate. And today I teach a Spanish class at the local community college, thanks in part to my immersion in the language in Colombia.

Carlos Albertotti '97 -- BRAZIL

Carlos attended Selinsgrove High School through a Rotary student exchange program and subsequently enrolled at Susquehanna. The tennis standout, who majored in finance, is now a vice president with Goldman Sachs in Switzerland.