Who goes there?

Guest Blogger: Professor Declan McCabe

How can biologists efficiently collect enough observations to draw conclusions about mammal abundance or diversity in a habitat? This is exactly the problem my students and I tackled in the Saint Michael's College Community Ecology course in the last two weeks. Attempting to observe shy mammals can be disappointing, particularly when moving through a habitat as a group of 20. Instead, our approach was to record mammal footprints at track stations.

Our track stations included a layer of powdered black chalk to blacken the feet of the mammals and a sheet of sticky contact paper to collect each chalky print. All of this was sheltered from rain in a plastic tunnel-shaped structure with an opening at one end. Students determined which habitats to study and we left several track stations in each habitat. We convinced the mammals that walking through chalk and onto contact paper was a good idea by baiting the stations with peanut butter or dog biscuits.

We recorded a total of 355 visits to our 31 track stations over a two week period. We have indeed confirmed that the campus is a grey squirrel and chipmunk haven! Prints were also left by skunks, raccoons, muskrats, and mice. One of the stations with rather smudged prints also contained several black hairs. Microscopic scale patterns on the hairs confirmed our suspicions that the nocturnal visitor was a skunk. Perhaps most interesting, the traps set by the Winooski River were visited by mink; perhaps many mink, or perhaps just one extremely well fed mink with a deep fondness for peanut butter and dog biscuits.

Come and Visit!

Fall is a great time to come and visit - and we've got lots to show you.

It is beginning to feel a bit more fall-ish these days - shorter days and cooler nights.... a few leaves starting to turn colors. And another sign of the season - visitors, and lots of them. High school students with their parents, touring the campus, stopping in to visit, talking and emailing us with questions about our programs. And we love it - students doing their homework and looking closely into potential colleges..... looking for the right match, the place that "feels right".

If you are interested in learning more about us - please visit our Bio Department web page. There you can link to a short YouTube video featuring recent alumni talking about their SMC experience within our program. You can also look at where some of our alumni are, and the careers that they've entered. And you can link to our e-newsletter, "Biology Matters" which we publish each spring and fall.

Consider visiting during one of upcoming Academic Preview Days (October 8 and November 12)- contact our Admissions Office for more information. And on both of those dates, we plan to have a Bio Department "Open House" at the end of the afternoon's planned events. So stop by, meet some of our students.... and make yourself feel at home.

BIOLOGY is number 1!

That's right - we are the number one declared major among incoming first-year students at Saint Michael's. Our program has been growing each year, and for the fall of 2011 we welcome 80 new Biology majors! As in the past, we continue to offer a broad selection of courses, dedicated faculty, personal attention, and strong success by our graduates. For more information, please visit our Biology Department webpage.

If you are among the new arrivals at St. Mike's - please stop by our table on Saturday morning, August 27 (9:30 to 10:30) during the Majors Fair in the gym.

If you are currently in high school and thinking of majoring in biology, please come to visit and ask us about our program. Our Admissions Office has Academic Preview Days planned for October 8 and November 12. If you come to one of these preview days, please plan to visit our Biology Department Open House on the third floor of the Cheray Science Hall at the end of the afternoon scheduled events.

Valuable Information for New Students

Welcome to incoming Biology majors! We look forward to meeting you this fall in classes, but before that it might be helpful to give you a bit of advice regarding registration for fall courses.

• Please attend one of the summer registration days if you can; they are scheduled for July 8, 12, and 15. We will have someone from the Biology Department available to assist you with course selection and discuss our program if you wish.

• All first semester Biology majors (and also those majoring in Biochemistry) should take BI 151 (Intro. Ecology and Evolution) and CH 110 (Chemical Structure, Bonding, & Reactivity). This is also true for anyone who plans to pursue our Pre-Pharmacy major, or a “Pre-Med” or similar “Pre-Health” course of study, regardless of your intended major. These courses will put you on the right track for future course work in these fields. The demand for these introductory courses in Biology and Chemistry is often quite high – so to help ensure that all students who need these courses get into them, we will make an effort to register all students who have declared Biology or Biochemistry as their intended major for these courses before the summer registration days. This will make your summer registration day go more easily, as you will already have these two courses in your schedule.

• Therefore, if you have indicated Biology or Biochemistry as your intended major, we will do our best to place you into BI 151 and CH 110. However - If you initially indicated Biology or Biochemistry as your intended major and have changed your mind and therefore do not want BI 151 and CH 110 in your first semester, please contact Katherine Orthman (korthman@smcvt.edu) in the registrar’s office. We can drop you from those courses, and you will have more flexibility in your course selection for the first semester, and also allow more space in these courses for students who need to take them.

• Anyone who has not indicated Biology, Biochemistry, or Pre-Pharmacy as their intended major will not be placed into these courses. Therefore, if you intend to pursue one of these courses of study, or a Pre-Med/Pre Health program, I strongly suggest that you contact the registrar’s office (Katherine Orthman, korthman@smcvt.edu) and declare one of these majors – it is the best way to maximize the likelihood that you will get into these courses and get off to a good start in these majors.

A note regarding Math requirements: Biology majors are required to take two semesters of math, with at least one of those being calculus. However, Biology majors are not required to take Calculus in the first year, but some students choose to so that the Calculus that they had senior year in HS is still fresh. However – Biochemistry majors should take Calculus in their first semester.

o If you took AP Calculus and got a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, you will get credit for Calculus 1 (MA 150) and are eligible to take Calculus 2 (MA 160). If you took a non-AP Calculus I course in high school (or do not yet know your AP score) and did well in the course, you may also be eligible to take Calculus 2 in the fall and should contact Dr. George Ashline (gashline@smcvt.edu) of the Math department if you would like to register for Calculus II in the fall.

o The Math Department offers sections of Elements of Calculus (MA 130), Calculus 1 (MA 150) and Calculus 2 (MA 160) that can be scheduled along with BI 151 and certain sections of CH 110 for the coming fall semester.

o If you are planning to take introductory Calculus (either MA 130 or MA 150) at Saint Michael’s as an incoming Biology and Biochemistry majors, then you should take the on-line Calculus readiness test (see link) that was mentioned to you in an earlier notice. This will help you determine your preparation for introductory Calculus. If you successfully completed a Calculus I course in high school, then you need not take the Readiness test. Calculus 2 is not required for the Biology major - however, some graduate programs, including some medical schools, like to see it. Calculus 2 is required for the Biochemistry major.

o Please note – If you plan to take Calculus 2 (MA 160) this coming fall, then we will then try to schedule you for BI 151 and the appropriate sections of CH 110 that will allow you to take Calculus 2. (You would be eligible for Calculus 2 if you anticipate receiving credit for Calculus 1, or you successfully completed a Calculus I course in high school and feel comfortable with those concepts).

o Information about choosing the right math course is available on pp. 17-18 of your New Student Guide.

o If you have any questions regarding the options for Calculus this coming fall or the calculus readiness test, please contact Dr. George Ashline (gashline@smcvt.edu) of the Math Department.

Biology Faculty Honored

At the Saint Michael's Senior Awards luncheon (May 13), which is part of the pre-commencement activities of the College, three Biolgoy Department faculty were honored by the senior class.

Professors Mark Lubkowitz and Donna Bozzone each received Class Appreciation awards for their outstanding commitment and service to the students and broader community of Saint Michael's College. In addition, the 2011 Yearbook was dedicated to Professor Doug Green.

What's the news?

.... check it out for yourself. The Spring 2011 edition of Biology Matters, our departmental e-newsletter is now available. Read about some of what we've been up to, including student and alumni profiles. We publish Biology Matters twice a year over the last several years - to see previous issues, please go the the Index page.

For additional informatino about the Biology Department, please check out our web page.

Biology Majors Earn Honors

Tri-Beta Inducts New Members

The Saint Michael's College chapter of Beta Beta Beta (National Biological Honor Society) inducted 15 new members on Friday, April 1 in the Pomerleau Alumni Center: Amy Blackey, Heidi Chapman, Jacqueline Cronin, Leah Damon, Christopher Dustin, Katherine Gregorits, Spenser Johnson, Matthew Jordan, Stephanie Locke, Katherine McGrath, Kaitlyn O’Donnell, Sydney O’Saben, Steven Paula, Janel Roberge, and Amanda Willette. Earlier this spring, Tri-Beta elected its officers for next academic year: Janel Roberge (President), Heidi Chapman (Vice President), Michael Herring (Secretary), Tom Perekslis (Treasurer), Steven Paula (Historian), and Jake Girard (Public Representative).


Dr. Pam Carroll (SMC class of 1985) was the guest speaker at the induction. Earlier in the afternoon, Dr. Carroll, who is currently the Head of Research at the Belfer Institute of Applied Cancer Science at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, gave a research presentation on “Conquering the Complexity of Cancer” and talked to interested students about her path after St. Mike’s, offering advice on what lies ahead after graduation. Dr. Carroll was also inducted as an alumni member to the SMC chapter of Beta Beta Beta, along with honorary inductee SMC President Dr. Jack Neuhauser.

Check out the new website for the SMC Tri-Beta chapter!



A Bumper Crop of Biology Students Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa this Year
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society, was founded on December 5, 1776, by five students at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. It was the first society to have a Greek letter name and to introduce the essential characteristics of such societies: an oath of secrecy (discarded in 1831), a badge, mottoes in Latin and Greek, a code of laws, and an elaborate initiation ritual.

As the Gamma chapter of Vermont, Saint Michael’s is one of only three Vermont institutions to have Phi Beta Kappa chapters, along with the University of Vermont (Alpha) and Middlebury College (Beta). Of the 220 Catholic colleges in the country, only 20 have chapters, four of them in New England: Saint Michael’s, Boston College, Holy Cross and Fairfield.

While Biology majors have typically been well represented among the PBK inductees each year, there is a bumper crop this year. We are proud of the seven biology majors (Kaitlyn Begins, Derrick Cumberbatch, Maggie Ecker, Anna Gauthier, Matt Jordan, Jennifer Lermond, and Chelsea Myers), one biochemistry major (Jeff Dukette) and one biology minor (Amanda Willette), who will be inducted this year. While not a biology major, we are also proud of Sarah Brault, a psychology major and daughter of our Administrative Assistant, Denise Brault, who is also among the inductees this year. Given that a Chapter may induct only up to 10% of the senior class into PBK, it is a considerable honor to be chosen. The Induction Ceremony was held Friday, April 8th at 4:30 PM in McCarthy Recital Hall.