The following students were/are graduate students pursuing Master of Science degrees under my direction, and conducting their thesis research in my laboratory.
Dora Mitchell 1990 THESIS: Seasonal energetics of the cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) from southwest Missouri |
Dora has been teaching for many years at Jefferson College in Hillsboro MO, and is now hoping to also start a Ph.D. program part-time. | ||
Drew Shoemaker 1990 THESIS: Photoperiodic control of reproduction in male hispid cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus |
Drew has completed medical school at the University of Missouri and a residency in Family Practice, and is currently working as a physician in Bolivar, MO, where he lives with wife Sherry and three children. | ||
Lisa Walker 1992 THESIS: Changes in thyroid function associated with pregnancy in golden hamsters |
Lisa is currently employed as a Criminalist in the toxicology section of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory in Jefferson City. She analyzes blood & urine samples for alcohol & drugs, and is qualified as an expert court witness. She and her husband, Frank, live in Holts Summit. | ||
Melissa Carden 1993 THESIS: Progesterone and prolactin profiles of the female asian elephant (Elephas maximus) |
Melissa has retained her job as an elephant keeper at Dickerson Park Zoo, continues to study elephant reproductive endocrinology, and has now completed a Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University. Her Master's thesis played a role in the first-ever successful artificial insemination in elephants. | ||
Ellen Wolfe 1998 THESIS: Evaluation of LH and FSH assays in the female asian elephant (Elephas maximus), with serum LH profiles |
Ellen's M.S. degree was actually awarded from Bloomsburg State University (PA), but she did her research/thesis in my lab. She is currently employed as a medical technologist in Columbia MO where she lives with husband Tom. | ||
Although Tammy's thesis research was in another lab, she helped conduct this study, which resulted in its publication in Gen. & Comp. Endocrinology (1998) | Tammy Tucker 1995 RESEARCH: Thyroid hormone concentrations in black bears (Ursus americanus): Hibernation and pregnancy |
Tammy (and husband Don, shown at left) has completed medical school (Kansas City), and is practicing in ???? | |
Andy Stribling 1996 THESIS: Thyroid hormones and the onset of hibernation in the 13-lined ground squirrel, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus |
Andy currently works as a Quality Assurance & Development Specialist for a pharmaceutical company in Birmingham, AL. He and wife Jennifer have two daughters, Paige (born on 1/2/99) and Natalie (2/11/03). | ||
Karla Rues 1997 THESIS: Determination of an estrous cycle in female giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) by radioimmunoassay of fecal hormones |
Karla is still living in Springfield with husband Andrew, and now has a full-time job teaching Biology at Ozark Technical College. | ||
Ginny has completed a Doctorate in Education, and now teaches advanced biology classes in a high school in Atlanta. [Pictures show her with a class on a recent trip to Costa Rica] | Ginny Hew 1997 THESIS: The ontogeny of thermoregulatory abilities in neonatal cotton rats and montane voles |
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John Ashcraft 1999 THESIS: Metabolic and Thyroidal effects of Vinclozolin on Cotton Rats |
John has completed medical school at Univ. of Health Sci. (Kansas City), and a residency at the KU Medical School. He is now an assistant professor of surgery at the KU medical school. | ||
Connie Duer 2004 THESIS: Changes in reproductive hormones and behavior during musth in an Asian elephant |
Connie has now completed a Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University on elephant vocal behavior | ||
Barbara (Wooldridge) Hannah 2004 THESIS: The effect of a fungicide on reproduction in cotton rats |
Barbara and husband Jeff live outside Bolivar, and she teaches at Hillcrest High School in Springfield. |
Science Fair participants from her class - April 1999 |
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Peta Elsken-Lacy PENDING
THESIS: The effects of a thyroid-disrupting pesticide on the thermoregulatory ability and energetics of white-footed mice
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Peta lives with her husband Scott Lacy in Van Buren, AR where she is completing the final phase of her degree, writing her thesis. | ||
Jean Perry
2004 THESIS: The Effects of Pesticides on Ground Squirrel Hibernation
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Jean spend the summer of 2003 radiotracking bears in Arkansas, and the summer of 2005 as a field assistant on a vegetation study here in Missouri. She now lives in Wyoming. | ||
Separate from his thesis, during the summer, Scott studied bats that sometimes roost in tree cavities. As any good scientist would do, he tried this out to see what it was like. He has now completed a PhD at the University of California in Riverside, and is doing a post-doc. |
Scott Kelly
2003 THESIS: The effect of cave temperature on the hibernation energetics of bats |
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Shelley Eckert
THESIS: |
Shelley will be comparing the liver enzymes used to detoxify pesticides in lab rats and cotton rats. | ||
Kelly Wolfe
THESIS:
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Kelly is investigation whether the hormone leptin plays a role in the reproductive shut-down seen in females whose body fat percentage is too low. | ||
Miranda (Milam)
Dunbar 2005 THESIS: Winter energetics & ecophysiology of red bats |
Miranda has completed a PhD and post-doc at the University of Regina (Canada) with Dr. Mark Brigham, again on bat ecology, and is teaching at Southern Connecticut State University. |
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Corinne Schoppet 2006 THESIS: Acorn contribution to mammalian energetics |
Corinne is working as an intern with the Missouri Department of Conservation, primarily with projects involving oak tree and acorn production. | ||
Christin Dzurick 2007 THESIS: Hibernation energetics of male Indiana bats |
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Lara Johnson 2006 THESIS: The effects of bisphenol-A on adipose tissue in mice.
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Lara is now teaching Biology at Buffalo HS, which is also where she lives with her husband and two sons. | |
Katie works for Bat Conservation & Management Inc, based in PA, but does fieldwork across many states in the northeast and midwest. |
Katie Day 2008 THESIS: Hibernation energetics of male Indiana bats |
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Amanda Janicki THESIS: Winter energetics of little brown bats with white-nose syndrome |
Besides working on this project in the winter, Amanda spend the summer in Washington DC, on a Smithsonian Graduate Fellowship. He project involved searching through hundreds of bat specimens looking for wing scars. This could be an indication of a previous WNS outbreak, or provide us with information about the background level of wing scarring, to which data from WNS-country can be compared. | ||
Risa Wright THESIS: |
Risa completed her undergraduate studies at Bucknell University in PA, and then worked for Bat Conservation & Management before coming to Missouri State University | ||
Ruth Seeliger THESIS: |
Ruth completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas, and then worked as a zookeeper in Kansas City prior to starting her Masters work here. |