Tag: Department of Biological Sciences
A memorial service will be held for Thomas Sims, a veteran professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Biological Sciences, at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, at Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building. Sims, 64, succumbed Nov. 20 to cancer, a disease he battled for more than two years while...
NIU biology professor Karen Samonds has spent more than two decades piecing together a mystery. Samonds’ field research aims to shed light on the origin and evolutionary history of Madagascar’s modern fauna – and to close a gap in the fossil record. In more than 20 years of researching Malagasy vertebrate species, she has discovered...
Most of the Midwestern tall grass prairie vanished in the 19th century with the rise of the steel plow, but researchers say that prairie restoration is essential for maintaining native plant and animal habitats, improving water and soil quality and reducing erosion. Here in Illinois, NIU professors are fighting to save the prairie ecosystem at...
Why have we not cured the diseases we call cancer after decades of intensive research? How much progress have we made? What is “precision” or “personalized” medicine, and how does it apply to the underpinnings of cancer biology? These are some of the important questions that will be addressed by Barrie Bode at the next...
Cancer is something we hear about every day, and nearly everyone has had a family member or friend affected by it – but what exactly is it? Why have we not cured the disease after decades of intensive research? These are some of the important questions that will be addressed by Barrie Bode at the...
The American Cancer Society predicts that the United States will have 1,658,370 new cancer cases diagnosed and 589,430 cancer deaths in this year alone. Experts agree that the best way to fight cancer is to stay healthy and active and to get recommended screening tests, but early detection can be difficult because of expensive, outdated...
The fieldwork of an NIU professor will be showcased in a documentary slated to air later this year on the Discovery Channel. In June of 2013, Karen Samonds, assistant professor of biological sciences, was filmed for a documentary series titled “Voyage of the Continents,” depicting how, over many millennia, geology and evolution have interacted to...
Students in biological sciences and psychology have won the NIU Graduate Council best thesis and ...
As the deadly Ebola virus races through West Africa, its grip on the collective United States attention is reaching a fever pitch. President Obama speaks almost daily on the outbreak, proclaiming it a “top national security priority” Oct. 6 and calling the next day for ramped-up airport screening procedures. Journalists staged across Dallas to report...
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...
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...
