Ashland Biology grad earns Ph.D.

Congratulations to Dr. Jason Dahlman '03 on his successful Ph.D. defense from the Integrated Biomedical Science Program at The Ohio State University.  Jason also recently published a portion of his dissertation work in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and is off to start a post-doctoral position with Dr. Yingzi Yang at the National Institutes of Health where he will be researching the roles of cell signaling pathways in stem cell differentiation.

Jason was initially a pre-med student, but discovered his love for scientific research while doing an undergraduate research study with Dr. Mason Posner.  That work was published in 2003.

Here are a few opportunities for those of you interested in the physical sciences:

The American Chemical Society offers an international research experiences in the summer for undergraduates.

The American Chemical Society also offers opportunities for students to complete a six week, all expenses paid summer course in Nuclear and Radiochemistry. Students receive college credit and a stipend of $3800. The deadline for applications is February 1st.

The Keck Geology Consortium offers summer research opportunities in the Geosciences at locations ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Adirondacks to Panama and Mongolia. Students should be seniors next year, and the application deadline is February 5th.

Summer research opportunities for physics students are posted on the Nucleus website.

The Center for Nanoscale Systems at Cornell University is recruiting students for its summer REU program. The application deadline is February 8th.

Summer field biology experiences

Here are three opportunities for those of you interested in field biology:

• The Ohio Wildlife Center in Columbus is hiring summer interns to work at their pre-release animal rehabilitation center.  The applications for the first internships are due January 30th.  This is an unpaid position, but great experience if you want to explore a career in animal care work.  
• Camp Whitewood in Windsor, Ohio is hiring a summer naturalist.  
• The Appalachian Forest School is offering several courses in 2010, including a forestry course in Southern Ohio in June.

Ashland science student first ever AU football player to win GLIAC McAvoy award

Congratulations to AU's own Nick Bellanco, a Biochemistry and Mathematics double major, for being the first Ashland University student to ever win the Jack H. McAvoy award.  This Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honor is given annually to the football player "who best combines outstanding character and leadership on the field, in the classroom, and in the community."
In addition to being an outstanding athlete in both football and track, Nick has conducted research during the past two years with Drs. Becky Corbin and Steve Fenster, including work in Kettering over the past two summers.  This work in the laboratory has already led to Nick being a co-author on one published paper. Nick is a senior and is currently applying to medical school.

Free coffee, tea and treats

are waiting for you in the Biology faculty office suite pantry.  Please come by and take a break during your finals.

Provided by Tri-Beta

REU program in microbiology

I received a notice from Laurie Voelker, the Microbiology Coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Her contact info is 402-472-1106 and lvoelker2@unl.edu.
She wants to promote their microbiology graduate training opportunities and research facilities.
Here is a link: : http://microbiology.unl.edu/

Starting Dec. 8 they will be accepting applications for next summer's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program: Integrated Development of Bioenergy Systems.

• ten weeks each summer
• hands-on research experience
  
• participate in seminars, workshops, and fun social activities
• stipends + room and board provided to all students
• http://www.unl.edu/summerprogram/program_bioenergy.shtml

Graduate scholarship in Bioinformatics

The University of Toledo is offering full scholarships for their Masters Degree in Bioinformatics and Proteomics/Genomics.  These scholarship funds come from the State's Choose Ohio First program, and are open to residents from the State of Ohio.

Applicants should have a background in computer science and biology or biochemistry.

What can you do with a degree in Biology?

As some of you finish your first semester at Ashland, and others prepare for graduation in six months, and yet others are somewhere in between, I thought you would find this resource from the American Institute of Biological Sciences helpful.  This is a great summary of the diverse careers you can do with your Biology degree.

You might also like this information from the U.S. Department of Labor on career outlooks in biological sciences.

Summer internship opportunities with DOE and DHS

Scholarships and summer internships with the Department of Homeland Security: http://www.orau.gov/dhseducationprograms/

Department of Energy Global Change program (Dec 31 deadline):
http://www.atmos.anl.gov/GCEP/

Post-graduate internships in environmental science

Application deadlines are approaching for two great internship opportunities in environmental science:

• The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado hosts summer research internships for graduates, as well as rising seniors, juniors and sophomores. Applications are due February 15th.
• The Chicago Botanic Garden is taking applications for their Conservation and Land Management Interns, which work with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), or U.S. Forest Service (USFS). These 5 month internships in botany and wildlife related fields are open to those with degrees in biology and can lead to careers at government agencies. Applications are being accepted now and positions are filled until April 1st.

Summer research opportunities

Thanksgiving and winter break are perfect times to scout out research internship opportunities for the summer of 2010.  In general, rising juniors and seniors are most likely to get into these types of programs, which place you in a research laboratory and give you experience in designing, performing and analyzing experiments and communicating your findings.

Here are some local Ohio health-related opportunities that may interest you:

• The Chester Summer Scholars Program at MetroHealth and Case Western University provides opportunities to work in clinical labs at MetroHealth Medical Center.  You must be a resident of Ohio and have finished your sophomore year.  This pays a $2,000 stipend and last 10 weeks.
• The SURF program at the University of Toledo - a ten week program with $3,500 stipend in various areas of biomedical research.

You may also want to search through the list of National Science Foundation funded summer research opportunities.  Many science disciplines are covered, and many of the application deadlines are in February.

We will also be announcing summer science research opportunities here in our own Kettering Science Center early next year.

Welcome to our new science blog

Check this space occasionally for news about Ashland University science programs and information on internships, research opportunities, graduate and professional schools, scholarships and jobs.  You can use the email update link at the top right of the page to sign up for email notifications of new posts.