THE SALEM STATE BIOLOGIST FALL
2025
THE SALEM STATE BIOLOGIST FALL 2025 Notes from The Chair’s Office
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Bermuda Trip 2 Botany in Europe
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Prof. Green-Gavrielidis and Prof. Popolizio Take the Reins of the Northeastern Massachusetts Aquaculture Center 3
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR’S OFFICE Meier Hall 404 Welcome to the Fall 2025 issue of our newsletter the Salem State Biologist. Life in the Biology Department is, as usual, somewhat busy as we are ending the first day of classes of the Fall 2025 semester. Although we are at the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, most of the articles in this newsletter cover the past year. As I write this on a warm, early fall Wednesday afternoon, I can report that: •
Commencement 2025, saw some 60 Biology Seniors graduate – see some of their stories later.
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Students and Faculty have conducted and reported on their research (from a variety of locations) at numerous meetings, including the North Shore Chapter of Sigma Xi held at Salem State in February 2025, the North East Algal Society symposium in Fayetteville, NY in April 2025, Undergraduate Research Day in May 2025 and the Biology Summer Research Program in June 2025.
Prof. Green-Gavrielidis brings a passion for marine biology and undergraduate research to the biology department 5
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We stay in fairly close contact with our alumni and they will always be welcome in the department. Read what Jesse Moreira (2017), Fred Jeffries (2022) and Azra Lakacha (2022) are up to.
Join SACNAS at SSU!
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Azra Lakacha and Her Career in Science Education
We said ‘farewell’ to Professors Juditha Burchsted (see articles later), David Mercer and Amy Sprenkle. Together they contributed over 70 years to the Biology Department.
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Looking Back with Fred Jeffries
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We welcomed two new colleagues, Jeremy Bechelli, PhD and Lindsay Green-Gavrielidis, PhD. Professor Bechelli is a microbiologist who will take over from Professor Amy Sprenkle who retired in December 2024. Professor Green-Gavrielidis, a marine biologist, will add to our marine ‘team’ following the retirement of Professor Mark Fregeau a few years ago.
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Our 46th Darwin Festival was jam-packed with interesting talks. We began the week with Roger Hanlon, PhD (Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole) explaining how cephalopod mollusks can change their ‘skin’ to camouflage themselves and ended with alumna, Ms. Pamela Rosales, revealing the details of ‘homologous recombination and heterochromatin maintenance’ in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the focus of her PhD research. See more details in this issue.
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Our student Biological Society (affectionately known as the ‘BioSociety’) and our Greenhouse Club have had another active year! In addition, the Salem State University chapter of SACNAS https://www.sacnas.org (see report later) continues to play a significant role in the lives of many students at SSU.
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Members of the Biology Department have numerous skills that often are not revealed. As you wander around the fourth floor of Meier Hall you may have noticed the striking photographs of owls, insects and crustaceans. Read more about Mr. Scott Weston’s photography in this issue.
46th Darwin Festival
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Prof. Jeremy Bechelli Our New Microbiologist
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Ryan Fisher and Amy Sprenkle being ‘pied’!
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Salem State University Research Day 7 A Message from Alumnus Jesse Moreira-Bouchard PhD
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Q&A with Arshnoor Kaur
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Q&A with Isaiah Cortijo
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Students and faculty attend the 2025 Northeast Algal Symposium 10 Sigma Xi North Shore Chapter (NSC) 11 Nature through the lens of Scott Weston
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Local Pond Monitoring and Restoration Project 12 The Legendary Prof. B
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The biology department at Salem State University seeks to foster in its students an understanding of the human organism as an interactive member of an enormous and diverse biological community.
As you read these pages you will note how active your Biology Department continues to be. To current students, please stop by the Biology Office if you have any questions and/or concerns and to alumni please do come by for a visit! Ryan Fisher September, 2025 1