On Friday and Saturday April 10^th-11^th , 2015, Millersville Biology Faculty Drs. Ryan Wagner, Sharmin Masswood and Aaron Haines were accompanied by Millersville undergraduate biology students to attend the 46^th Annual Meeting of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Biologists at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University Biologists (CPUB) was founded in 1973 as an organization to provide support for the teaching and research activities of faculty in the biological sciences. Every year CPUB provides a forum for graduate and undergraduate students for the presentation of their research.  This year, 10 biology students and 1 Earth Science student from Millersville University attended the Annual CPUB meeting to present their research findings.  In addition, Dr. Ryan Wagner presided over the Conference as he has done during the last 4 years as President of CPUB.  Below is a picture of all Millersville University Faculty that attended and the Undergraduate Research Presenters.

In back from left to right: Dr. Sharmin Masswood, Andrew Lytle, Charissa Mohn, Jennifer Spangler, Amanda Isabella, Angela Fetterolf, Lori Sampsell, Folake Meshe, Joel Hassel, Brendan Cowhey, Dr. Aaron Haines and Hilary Powell.  In Front: Amanda Kato (consumed by Tyrannosaurus Rex) and Dr. Ryan Wagner.

In addition, we had a number of award winners from Millersville University.  Below are Millersville Biology Students who won awards for their Undergraduate Research Projects.

 From Left to Right: Joel Hassell (First Place Poster Presentation for Cell and Molecular session), Jennifer Spengler (First Place Poster Presentation and CPUB outstanding student), Hilary Powell (Second Place Platform Presentation for Cell and Molecular Session), Amanda Kato (Second Place Poster Presentation for Ecology and Evolution Session) and Lori Sampsell (First Place Poster Presentation for Ecology and Evolution Session).

Below is a list of all the students who attended the 46^th Annual CPUB Meeting and the titles of the research projects which they presented.

1)      Joel Hassell: Cognitive behavior after Tropisetron treatment in estrogen -primed Female Rats (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Sharmin Masswood) .

2)      Jennifer Spengler: Characterization of two waves of neural crest migration in the Red-Eared Slider Trachemys scripta (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Judy Cebra-Thomas).

3)      Angela Fetterolf: Identification of areas baited for wildlife using chemical analysis (Faculty Advisors, Dr. Aaron Haines and Stephen Kennedy).

4)      Hilary Powell: Investigating Polyphenol Oxidase activity in senescing woody plant species (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Ryan Wagner).

5)      Charissa Mohn: Impacts of Ailanthus altissima leaf pack leachate on Radish (Raphanus sativus) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum) seed germination and seedling growth (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Ryan Wagner).

6)      Bredan Cowhey: Characterizing the venom of ratfish (Faculty Advisors, Dr. James Cosentino and Dr. Dominique Didier).

7)      Andrew Lytle: Evolutionary conserved mechanism of epidermal appendage formation in tooth-like dermal structures of skates (Faculty Advisors, Dr. Judy Cebra-Thomas and Dr. Dominique Didier).

8)      Amanda Kato: Behavioral Analysis of Spodoptera frugiperda in relation to Volatile Chemicals of Ailanthus altissima (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Ryan Wagner).

9)      Amanda Isabella: Radio-telemetry tracking of Phasianus colchicus at Safe Harbor Nature Preserve, Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania: A pilot educational study (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Aaron Haines).

10)  Folake Meshe: Identification of research needs for wildlife law enforcement (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Aaron Haines).

11)  Lori Sampsell:  Reducing anxiety related symptoms in domesticated cats (Faculty Advisor, Dr. Jean Boal).

Next year, Millersville University will be host to the 47^th CPUB Annual Meeting.

We released 6 birds last week. After a week of radio-telemetry, all birds fell victim to birds of prey, most likely hawks and owls based on the remains.  Below is a map showing all the locations.  One bird stayed within 50 yards of the release site for 5 days until predation, and another bird traveled almost a mile away and went all over the preserve for 7 days until predation.  The birds really preferred the edge habitat.  They did not venture very far into the woods and preferred to travel along the thicket cover of the woody edge habitat or along trails in the woods.  Overall, the Millersville University Pheasant Tracking Team, led by Amanda Isabella, did a great job collecting data from these birds and getting the transmitters back.  We may have to restart this effort again in the near future.