|
|||
 |
|||
|
|
ResearchFord-Knight Student-Faculty Collaborative ResearchA hallmark of biology at Earlham is the close working relationships students develop with professors. This collaboration is the key to much of the research and scholarly activity at Earlham. Biology faculty design Ford/Knight student/faculty collaborative research projects for which students earn up to four semester-hour credits. Current Ford-Knight opportunities: Fall 2007: Peter Blair. Refining the Annotations of the Malaria Genome. 3 Credits Malaria remains a global scourge to human life and is responsible for up to 500 million cases and 3 million deaths annually. The well-characterized and medically significant human, nonhuman primate, and rodent malarias are caused by unicellular protozoa of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted through the bite of a mosquito vector. Currently there is no feasible and effective vaccine against these parasites and the rise of drug resistance to numerous malaria chemotherapeutics has bolstered the need to establish and design novel malaria drug and vaccine strategies. An avenue for such discovery occurred in October 2002 with the landmark publication of the Plasmodium falciparum (3D7 clone) genome. This event marked a major milestone and evolution in modern malaria research and initiated the onset and application of several post-genomic technologies including genome-wide microarray analyses and mass spectroscopy-based proteomic studies. Given the vast and imminent wealth of information provided by such large-scale sequencing projects it is essential and a necessity that current annotations and predicted gene structures be accurate when presented to the to the malaria research community at large. Spring 2008: Leslie Bishop. Spider Diversity of Dominica. 3 credits The island of Dominica is very unique due to its diversity of pristine habitats. Dominica advertises itself as the nature island of the Caribbean, and yet little is known about its overall biodiversity. Basic knowledge about the biodiversity of organisms is critical information as decisions are made regarding management and development of this special island. Biodiversity on islands is particularly vulnerable to changes in habitat due to the small size, difficulties in recolonization, and higher risk of species extinctions with human disturbance. The diversity of organisms such as reptiles, mammals, birds, and plants is fairly well known on Dominica, but the diversity of these large organisms is dwarfed by the arthropods, the most diverse organisms on earth. There is growing evidence in the scientific literature that spiders, as a taxonomic group of arthropods, can serve as indicators of species diversity: they are first level predators in terrestrial food webs with their major prey being herbivorous insects. Spiders are abundant at the family, genus and species level, which allows for analysis at multiple taxonomic levels. They are also diverse in life styles, and they are found in every habitat imaginable. Habitat diversity will reflect the diversity of available insect prey and the diversity of mechanisms used to hunt those prey. Due to their size and abundance, spiders are relatively easy to sample and study. Since 2003, students have collaborated with Leslie by systematically collecting spiders in diverse habitats of Dominica (rainforest, montane forest, dry forest, riparian areas, and gardens) in order to compare spider diversity among habitats. In addition, we are developing a digital photo library of species (an estimated ½ of the collection are new species). Other recent projects include:
|
|
|
|||
|
Earlham College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |