Summer 2005 Highlights
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Project 1: Heavy Metal Contamination of North Georgia Waters |
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Students Samantha Adkins and Allison Arrendale were chosen to work with faculty advisors Dr. Deborah Freile (geology) and Dr. Chris Babb (chemistry). The focus of this project has been to look at the effect human populations have on bodies of water and the sediments found in those bodies. Research was conducted on the Berry College Reservoir and Lake Allatoona. |
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As part of a labor-intensive study, the students collected, sorted, and prepared the samples for chemical analysis during the summer research time. During fall 2005, the students completed the chemical analysis on the samples and presented their data at the Geological Society of America national meeting in Salt Lake City in October, 2005. The students were accompanied to the meeting by Dr. Babb. |
Project 2: Arthropod Fauna of Sensitive Development Sites |
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Risa Hiroshima's project allowed her to have a detailed study in the scientific areas of entomology and ecology. Risa collected soil and leaf litter arthropods from various sites on the Berry College campus to better understand how commercial development may influence normal biota. |
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Project 3: NSF-REU Projects |
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| Berry student Jessica Christian and Carnegie-Mellon student Kenneth Bagwell worked with Dr. Renee Carleton on issues involving eastern bluebird conservation. |  |
Jessica studied the effect of nest box placement on internal box temperature and the effect this temperature had on the growth rate of the birds. Kenneth developed an alternative method for collecting ectoparasties from living birds and studied the effects of these parasites on nestlings. |
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Dr. Martin Cipollini mentored two students in their work relating to the Longleaf Pine Project. Amy Huber of Miami of Ohio corrected current methods of estimating biomass in order to estimate carbon reserves in five mountain longleaf stands at Berry College. Cipollini also assisted Kate Currie of Rose-Hulman in monitoring the progress of the Longleaf Pine Project through surveying the herbaceous vegetation in seven long-term study stands. |
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Amy Anderson worked under the supervision of Dr. Chris Hall in research with T. cruzi. Her research focused on determining the molecular weight of these antigens recognized by raccoons and mice. |
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Gretel Spitzer of Montgomery College assisted Amy by supplying her with sera from infected raccoons. Gretel's research with T. cruzi was focused on the prevalence of infection among Berry College raccoons. She trapped and performed necropsies on 17 Berry raccoons. |
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Dr. Bill Davin and student Sunny Ferrero of Rensselaer Polytechnic investigated the efficacy of isoeugenol as an anesthetic for various species of fish. This new anesthetic has no withdrawal period. Maya Strahl worked with Dr. Cipollini to determine the species composition and cover values of the vegetation at Martha's Meadow. In turn, they seeked to discover what type of limestone habitiat the Meadow most closely resembles. |
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