To secure the global food supply under increasingly variable and extreme weather events, plant breeders must innovate new varieties of crops that are resilient to stressful environments. One approach to solve this problem is to establish a detailed understanding of the genetic architecture underlying plant stress responses. The Enders Lab aims to gain a better understanding of
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT:
TARA ENDERS
• HOFSTRA BIOLOGY •
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
LETTER FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR DR. PETER DANIEL Professor and Chair Department of Biology Hofstra University
Since I started writing this update on what our department has been doing over the past academic year, events have taken a serious turn. Our area has been particularly hard hit by COVID-19. Biology instructors have scrambled successfully to put all classes online. Students will not be coming back to campus this semester to complete courses or to participate in the graduation ceremony. We have tried to do our part through donations of desperately needed PPE to our local hospital system. I hope by the time this newsletter reaches you we will be on the downward side of the infection curve. Our sincere wishes for safety go out to all of our alumni, families, and friends. What follows is the original message for this newsletter before COVID-19 had become a pandemic. It is my honor to introduce the second issue of our Hofstra Biology Alumni newsletter where you will learn about the latest goings-on in the department and what some of your fellow alumni have been doing since graduating. This has been a busy year preparing for the implementation of a completely overhauled curriculum next year. The new curriculum is inspired by the document “Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action” (2011) (http://visionandchange.org/). It recommended 1) the integration of core concepts and competencies across the curriculum, 2) a focus on student-centered learning, 3) promotion of a campus-wide commitment to change, and 4) engagement of the biology community in the implementation of change. We had two goals. First, develop a more engaging, broader, first-year course and achieve vertical integration of concepts throughout the curriculum. Second, we aim to retain and enhance authentic research experience across the curriculum. Students will have more research experiences in and out of the lab classroom.
Tara Enders, who received her PhD from Washington University in St Louis and did a post-doc at the University of Minnesota, joined the department in September 2019.
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how plants respond to abiotic stresses over developmental time by linking genotypic information to phenotypic information in a variety of plant species. We are currently focusing our efforts using the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. Students are growing diverse varieties and single-gene mutants of Arabidopsis in a range of environmental conditions, such as extreme cold, heat, drought, and saline soils. Students build and use high-throughput imagebased phenotyping systems to analyze morphological and color changes over time in response to these stresses, and use genetic information to understand the molecular basis for variation among those responses.
This year, we welcomed a new geneticist and faculty member, Dr. Tara Enders, hired to help accommodate the forthcoming retirements of our two geneticists, Drs. Vallier and Clendening. Microbiology has become the upper-level lab course with the most demand thanks to the burgeoning Dual Entry BS/MS Physician Assistant Studies program. Add to that the news that the University is opening up a new BS in nursing program starting in fall 2021, and it is clear that two microbiology faculty, Drs. Nathan Rigel and Javier Izquierdo, are not enough instructors to meet demand. Therefore we are currently searching for a third microbiologist to join us in fall 2020.
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The department has also had discussions about the emergency financial situations some of our students encounter. For example, we have had students who are unable to apply for graduate school because they don’t have the means to pay for entrance examinations; others who are unable to afford textbooks one semester. In cases where need can be demonstrated, we can use our gift fund to provide small grants to cover these costs. Your donation to our gift fund of any amount could go a long way to help these students over a financial bump. Please go to hofstra.edu/giving and enter Biology in the “other” field under designation. – Dr. Peter Daniel, Professor and Chair
COURSE SPOTLIGHT: MARINE BIOLOGY
The Marine Biology Class at the Town of Hempstead Bivalve Hatchery
During the fall of 2019, students in Marine Biology (Bio 181) completed work in the classroom, laboratory, and field on a range of topics exploring marine ecosystems. Under the direction of Dr. Jason Williams, BIO181 students took part in experiments and experiences ranging from a rapid assessment survey of fouling communities at local docks to assessing impacts of debris on marshes at the Nike Environmental Center in Long Beach. In addition, students toured the newly expanded Town of Hempstead Shellfish Hatchery (Department of Conservation and Waterways), learning about current efforts in rearing clams and oysters and improvements on their algal culture system to feed the shellfish. Braving the elements on a rainy day in late October, the students completed a successful marsh clean-up, collecting dozens of bags of trash from waterways surrounding Freeport with Operation SPLASH (Stop Polluting, Littering and Save Harbors). In the laboratory, students also had plenty of
• Rahul Sharma, BA, Phi Beta Kappa, 1996
A LU M N I P R O F I LE S
hands-on experiences including identification of planktonic organisms collected with light traps. In the latter half of the course, students created 3D models of tentacles (feeding appendages) of polychaete worms with computer software (Tinkercad). These models were 3D printed in EdTech Calkins Lab and then the students examined the flow of fluids and food particles around the scaled-up appendages to test hypotheses on why the worms coil their tentacles under flow. Thus, the students learned multiple aspects of modeling applied to an ecologically important group of marine invertebrates. In lecture, students used primary literature to delve into the major environmental stresses facing marine systems today (from open ocean to estuaries) and created infographics to present their findings to the class. We hope some of these students join the upcoming study abroad course in Belize (January 2021) and apply their knowledge to coral reefs in the Caribbean.
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Calvin Carter, BS, 2009
Other Degrees: MD, MBA
Other Degrees: PhD (Neuroscience), 2014
First position in your field: After I graduated from Hofstra, I earned a combined MD/MBA in Health Management at Tufts University. Following graduation, I completed residency in emergency medicine at NYU/Bellevue Hospital, where I was
selected as chief resident. I then became an attending physician
and an instructor in emergency medicine at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medicine
Current position: American Diabetes Association Research Fellow; Founder, Geminii, Inc.
Current position: I presently serve as professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medicine, where I oversee 100+ faculty members and several emergency departments. I also serve as the chief and medical director for Emergency Medicine Services (EMS) for the New York Presbyterian Enterprise. I am also the president-elect of the New York Presbyterian Hospital Medical Board. Memorable classes/professors from your time at Hofstra University: I have many memories from my time at Hofstra in the Department of Biology. Most notably, I remember my esteemed professor and mentor, Dr. Robert Seagull, who taught me so much about critical thinking and project completion. He also impressed upon me the importance of not getting dejected or giving up when results don’t go your way. My classes in microbiology with Dr. Erb, Dr. Daniel’s Animal Physiology, and Comparative Anatomy with Dr. Morrissey, gave me the foundation for a career in medicine. To this day I remember things that I learned in those important classes and I am extremely thankful to all my professors and mentors at Hofstra. What skills did you learn at Hofstra that you have found particularly (or maybe surprisingly) useful in your career? Being in a relatively small class setting with dedicated teachers at Hofstra helped me identify some great mentors. The focus on critical thinking, teamwork, mentorship, and individual attention to students makes Hofstra stand out. Why did you major in biology? I was always fascinated by the human body and science. My parents and several family members were physicians and I was always comfortable in a healthcare setting. However, I did not want to be a doctor until I joined Hofstra. I took my Intro to Biology course at Hofstra and fell in love with science and eventually medicine. Biology and science always inspired and fascinated me, and also allowed me to think of how I could impact the lives of others. What advice do you have for a current biology major at Hofstra? Be very open minded, make sure that you work hard, find great teachers and mentors you can learn from and depend on, especially when you are making difficult decisions or are going through trying times. If you are active on any social media sites you’d like to share, please list them here: Twitter @DrSharma_NY
Unexpected career turns: I thought that the greatest mystery of the universe was in the brain. I got my PhD in neuroscience and thought that I would spend my career studying this organ. In a short time, I learned that the brain represents only a tiny fraction of the great mysteries out there. After graduate school, I was accepted to Yale Medical College. Before I moved to New Haven, I wanted to try one last experiment. I wanted to test the effect of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on the body. So I built a device that emits these fields and treated various animal models we had in the lab. I didn’t see any major effects, and I knew I had to stop the project soon to move.
Cheyenne Wong, BS, 2018 First position in your field: Scientist I at a small R&D company called Mozza Inc. Current position: Quality Control Microbiologist at Gilead Sciences, Inc. Are there any unexpected career turns you have had that you’d like to share? While I have wanted to be a doctor since I was four years old, I never could have imagined that I would be a doctor in the military. I am now a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. I will be attending medical school in July 2020 and am excited to see where my career will lead me.
Just a few weeks before my move, a graduate student needed to practice measuring blood sugar for a project. I lent her the animals that I had been treating with EMFs. She approached me the next day and asked why their blood sugar was half the normal level. I was shocked! Of all things affected by EMFs, blood sugar was the last thing on my mind. Today, my lab studies how energy fields interact with metabolism. My startup is developing a “remote control” to manage diabetes and other major diseases.
Memorable classes/professors from your time at Hofstra University: I have had so many memorable classes and professors; it would take me pages to write about them all. I will forever be grateful for Dr. Michael Dores’ mentorship and guidance. As a research professor, he taught me that all information is within my grasp to understand and as a mentor he has supported me in all my professional endeavors. Dr. Javier Izquierdo believed in me before I did. He offered me a position as a TA, which helped me gain more confidence in my knowledge. These are only two professors of the many that impacted me in my time at Hofstra.
Memorable classes/professors from your time at Hofstra University: Animal Physiology with Peter Daniel. We covered so much in a semester of an undergraduate class. It was a great foundation for graduate school. Also, neuroscience with Bev Clendening, which was the first neuroscience class offered at Hofstra. I never realized how much interest plays a role in motivation to do well in a particular class until I finished these classes.
What skills did you learn at Hofstra that you have found particularly useful (or maybe surprisingly) useful in your career? I learned how to do research in an aseptic environment with Dr. Dores, which I presently use as a microbiologist for a pharmaceutical company. Experience in keeping a sterile environment will also help me in the future, when I do my surgical rotations for medical school.
What skills did you learn at Hofstra that you have found particularly useful (or maybe surprisingly) useful in your career? Seeking out great mentors and being independent. The professors provided research opportunities that pushed me to develop independence. I was also fortunate to be on the Hofstra football team, where I learned the importance of teamwork, persistence, and patience. I learned that some things just take time to develop, particularly when you are developing new knowledge. Science can be harsh at times when experiments go haywire. Challenge dogma, ask for help, be patient (progress takes time) and never, never, never give up.
Why did you major in biology? I majored in biology because I wanted to challenge myself and I found life fascinating. I knew that it would prepare me for the rigor of medical school while developing a good basis of information.
What advice do you have for a biology major at Hofstra? The future of science lies at the intersection of physics, biology, and chemistry. A strong foundation in all three is important. Develop your curiosity and trust your intuition!
Volunteer work: I volunteer at two positions within the American Red Cross. As a blood transportation specialist, I transport blood to hospitals throughout Southern California for routine and STAT deliveries. As a community outreach volunteer, I attend health clinics and public events to bring awareness to underserved communities about disaster preparedness techniques and the supplies needed in the case of natural disasters.
If you are active on any social media sites you’d like to share, please list them here: linkedin.com/in/calvinscarter
What advice do you have for a biology major at Hofstra? Biology is not for everyone. It will be hard to balance life and school, and you will have to make many sacrifices to pass your classes. But if you really want it, then start good studying habits early and stick with it because it is one of the most rewarding fields to study.