Tag: biology
NIU student Angela Burke hails from blue-collar Burbank, Ill. With its prevalence of mom-and-pop restaurants and the regular roar of low-flying passenger jets from Chicago’s Midway Airport nearby, the southwest suburb certainly seems more city. So, for a week in August, it must have seemed to Burke like she was on another planet – or...
How do breweries produce the same beer, batch after batch, pint after pint, without variations in flavor and color? Flavor is both an art and a science, and it turns out that there’s a highly trained biologist behind every bottle of your favorite beer. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, NIU’s STEM Café...
Could something as simple as aspirin be the key to controlling harmful insects? That’s the question NIU Biological Sciences Professor Jon Miller asked when he began his research on insect cellular immunity. His discoveries could eventually lead to safer, greener pest-control practices for agriculture. Miller will be the guest speaker at the next STEM Café,...
The Phi Sigma Biological Honors Society of the NIU Department of Biological Sciences hosted its 20th annual Student Research Symposium April 12. Approximately 50 students, both graduate and undergraduate, presented posters of their research and were judged by a panel from the department faculty. Gunisha Arora, Bode Lab, was awarded the Phi Sigma Outstanding Graduate...
Ana Calvo’s research on fungal genetics could have huge benefits to human health and agriculture. She is recognized worldwide as a groundbreaking researcher in the field of fungal genetics and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. These organic compounds are routinely used in medicine to fight infections (penicillin is a secondary metabolite). However, these natural products are...
NIU students fared quite well, thank you very much, in the recent poster competitions held during the prestigious annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago. Lauren Grabstanowicz, who is pursuing her pursuing Ph.D. in nanochemistry, and Robert Rickard, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, won...
On a bitter cold day this past January, professor Tom Sims is surrounded by signs of spring – hundreds of delicate blossoms in shades of purple and pink and white sprouting in an old greenhouse on campus at NIU’s Montgomery Hall. This is petunia central, and the spadework done here could help usher in a...
NIU this semester is launching a new Center for Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, aimed at strengthening the university’s support of science and mathematics education throughout the region. The Illinois Board of Higher Education recently approved center status for a duration of five years, after which it could become permanent. The center will be housed...
Using parasitic wasps to fight the fly population might sound like something out of the latest sci-fi film, but entomologists are actually researching this bug battle to find environmentally friendly solutions for pest control. At the next STEM Café, NIU professor Bethia King and Ph.D. candidate Ted Burgess from NIU’s Department of Biological Sciences will...
What won’t Mitch Irwin do in the name of science? Irwin, a Northern Illinois University anthropologist, went to great lengths to collect data in Madagascar for a fascinating new study that sheds light on why primates live long lives. An international team of scientists working with primates in zoos, sanctuaries and in the wild examined...
Sarah Stuebing can walk from her childhood home to her college campus in a matter of minutes. The path she chose at Northern Illinois University put the world at her feet. Since enrolling at NIU in 2010, she has been the model of the engaged student. She has conducted original scholarly research, cultivated a series...
Anthropology professor Mitch Irwin, who led his first Northern Illinois University study abroad trip to Madagascar this past June, now is planning for a 2014 adventure to the island country off the southeastern coast of Africa. Judging from the experience of students this past summer, he won’t have a problem drumming up interest. But it’s...
