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.
lisa93.jpg (57530 bytes) Lisa Walker
1992
THESIS:  Changes in thyroid function associated with pregnancy in golden hamsters
Mvc-005x.jpg (31751 bytes) 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)
elephant.jpg (21286 bytes) melissa.jpg (8359 bytes) 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) don_tam_small.jpg (3315 bytes) 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.jpg (10497 bytes) 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). striblings.jpg (40523 bytes)
karla.jpg (7377 bytes) 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
John Ashcraft
1999
THESIS: Metabolic and Thyroidal effects of Vinclozolin on Cotton Rats
john.jpg (10914 bytes) 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.
baby elephant.jpg (14290 bytes) Connie Duer
2004
THESIS: Changes in reproductive hormones and behavior during musth in an Asian elephant
connie.jpg (18555 bytes) Connie has now completed a Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University on elephant vocal behavior
barbara.jpg (15947 bytes) 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. Barb's class.jpg (41617 bytes)
Science Fair participants from her class - April 1999
Peta Elsken-Lacy
PENDING
THESIS: The effects of a thyroid-disrupting pesticide on the thermoregulatory ability and energetics of white-footed mice
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

 

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 

Shelley Eckert

THESIS:

  Shelley will be comparing the liver enzymes used to detoxify pesticides in lab rats and cotton rats.
Kelly Wolfe

THESIS:

 

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.

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

Lara Johnson

Lara Johnson
2006
THESIS: The effects of bisphenol-A on adipose tissue in mice.


BIOLOGY AWARD FOR TOP THESIS IN 2006

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
Amanda Janicki 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 Risa Wright  
Ruth Seeliger 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.