Students study Tunisian bones for archaeological excavation

Olivia Reed ’16 carefully removed a handful of 1,300 year-old human bones from a dusty plastic bag. Sifting through them one by one, she analyzed and identified them. Reed knew the names of some bones almost immediately, but she consulted a nearby skeleton to identify others.

One bone fragment puzzled her, so she asked Igor Bayder ’14 to give his thoughts. “I wonder if it goes with my skull,” said Bayder, who had started assembling a cranium nearby.

Reed and Bayder are among a group of students helping to piece together life from an a Roman-era church in Carthage, Tunisia. Susan Stevens, a Randolph classics professor and the Catherine E. and William E. Thoresen Chair in Humanities, has led the excavation and study of that site since the early 1990s.

Stevens began working on the church because of her interest in burial practices during the time when Christianity grew in the Roman Empire. “It’s one way of looking at a transformation from the ancient period to the medieval period,” she said.

Many of Stevens’ students have gained hands-on experience with archaeology and anthropology while helping study artifacts from the site. Earlier this year, she solicited the assistance of a group of students who help with Randolph’s Natural History Collection.

Read more...

Analyzing Tunisian bones is one of several opportunities for students on the Randolph College Natural History Collections team.

Read a Randolph magazine story about a behind-the-scenes tour they got at the Smithsonian earlier this year.

Reed, Bayder, and others are classifying and measuring the bones excavated from the crypt. Their data will help determine the minimum number of people who were buried there, which will help Stevens gauge the size of the community that worshipped there.

“It’s kind of a detective story,” said Stevens.

The students also are looking at the bones for signs of disease and injuries that will reveal what the community’s health was like, Stevens said. For example, Bayder pointed out a bone that had deformed areas that could signal cancer.

The students have enjoyed getting to work with real archeological material that also relates to their other academic interests. “I can basically identify the entire skeleton now,” said Reed, who plans to practice medicine someday.

Next spring, the team will work on extracting DNA from the bones for analysis that would provide further insight into the number of people there.

Emily Patton Smith ’12, Randolph’s Natural History Collections manager, said Stevens’ project is helping students set themselves apart from those they will compete against for jobs or graduate school admissions. “There’s a lot of crossover between the archeological disciplines and the sciences that I think is underutilized,” she said. “It’s something that not every biology major is going to have on their resumes.”

Students and biology professor aim to rid compost of deadly bacteria

A group of Randolph researchers hope to save lives by fighting bad cheese bacteria with good cheese bacteria.

The bad cheese microorganism is Listeria monocytogenes, which is dangerous and potentially deadly to the elderly, children, and pregnant women, and is sometimes found in soft cheeses. The good cheese bacterium is Lactococcus lactis, which is used to make cheddar cheese. They are studying whether putting Lactococcus lactis in compost will kill any Listeria and make the fertilizer safer to use.

Meron Demeki ’15 probes the temperature of compost.

“Municipalities and commercial entities are starting to get into mass composting,” said Adam Houlihan, a Randolph College biology professor. “If that compost becomes contaminated with some sort of food-born pathogens, those could possibly contaminate produce grown with the compost.” That contamination could result in more illness and death.

Houlihan asked Elizabeth Delery ’14 and Meron Demeke ’15 to work with him on this research project.

They turned four trash cans into composting bins and filled each with compost. One bin contains only the compost, while another contains the compost and Listeria (although a non-deadly form). The other two contain compost, Listeria, and different forms of Lactococcus lactis. Their theory is that the lactic acid and nicin produced by the Lactococcus lactis will help kill the Listeria.

Each day, the research team takes the temperature of each batch of compost. They also take samples to test for acidity and bacteria levels. Within a couple of weeks, the data should show hints about the validity of their theory, but Houlihan said the research will continue throughout the summer.

Elizabeth Delery ’14 prepares to streak a petri dish.

Delery has already started another research project with Houlihan to investigate a cancer treatment idea that she had. She said the compost research has helped her to develop laboratory skills that would be useful in her desired career as a medical doctor or in other careers she may choose. “I enjoy the research and the hands-on experience with lab techniques,” she said.

Demeke, who is weighing the options of attending medical school or pursuing a Ph.D., looks forward to finding out whether their method of killing Listeria works. “If we succeed in what we’re doing, we’ll be saving lives, which is the ultimate goal,” she said.

Randolph College adds new equine studies minor

When Chris Mitchell left Cornell University to become Randolph College’s director of riding, he called a talented rider he knew and encouraged her to attend Randolph. Meaghan Hynes ’16 listened to his invitation, toured campus and the Riding Center, and decided Randolph was the perfect fit. During the process, she told Mitchell about her desire to prepare for a career in the equine industry.

“I have found a home with horses. They are how I want to spend the rest of my life,” said Hynes, who has been riding for 15 years. “I plan on working with horses as a career.”

Meaghan Hynes '16 in competition

Hynes was excited to learn that a new program at Randolph College will help her meet that goal. The College will add a minor in equine studies in the fall of 2013. As soon as she learned, Hynes called Mitchell to find out how to add the minor, one of few equine studies programs in Virginia.

“It’s going to give me a step up,” said Hynes, who plans to double major in biology and sport and exercise studies. “This is going to give me a solid educational foundation.”

The new minor was created in response to an increase in requests by prospective students and current Randolph students and riders like Hynes. In 2011, several staff and faculty members began to design the program. Mitchell added his perspective when he joined the college in the fall of 2012. Randolph faculty members officially approved the program last week.

The program offers new classes on equine studies and veterinary care and also includes existing classes in biology, zoology, business, and economics. Students minoring in equine studies will be required to complete internships related to their particular interests. The equine studies minor will serve students interested in becoming veterinarians, horse trainers, barn managers, or other equine professionals—or even those who want to develop skills helpful in horse ownership and care.

This addition of the program will give new opportunities to students in the College’s strong pre-veterinary program, said Doug Shedd, the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen `23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Biology. “Randolph College trains students for vet schools around the world, and many of those students also are riders,” he said. “The new equine studies minor will give these students the opportunity to greatly enhance their pre-vet experience and to develop skills that will be of use should they choose to go into equine-related areas of veterinary medicine, research, or business.”

“It’s going to give me a step up. This is going to give me a solid educational foundation.”

— Meaghan Hynes ’16

Amanda Rumore, biology professor will lead the new minor. In addition to recently earning a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Virginia Tech, Rumore is a lifelong equestrian who has competed in the hunter/jumper class.

“Horses are a passion not only for me, but also for many of my students,” Rumore said. “I am just delighted to be able to help them integrate this passion into their academic and career pursuits.”

The equine studies minor is one of several recent additions to the College’s academic program, which offers students more opportunities than ever before. “We see this as one of the profoundly positive outcomes of a strong strategic planning process that seeks to assure the continued success of the College,” said Carl Girelli, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “This new minor honors a long tradition of equestrian programming at Randolph College and provides students an interdisciplinary academic program that will enrich their lives.”

Randolph already has seen interest in the new program from prospective students. “There are lots of students who have a lifelong interest in horses, and who will welcome being able to add it to their studies,” said Michael Quinn, vice president of enrollment management. “The new equine studies minor will enable students to deepen their interest in the equine field.”

Hynes looks forward not only to minoring in equine studies, but meeting new students who will join the program. “The riders coming in are interested in furthering their education in any way about horses. This is going to help them with whatever they want to do,” Hynes said.

Natural history collection work on display in Lipscomb Library

Back in the fall, we told you about students who have been working to expand and document the College’s natural history collection. Now you can see their work, including insect, bird, mammal, and plant specimens that have been preserved for study, in Lipscomb Library.

Emily Patton Smith ’12 and Will Guzman ’15 have installed a display outlining the history of the collection and illustrating the work being done to improve the collection. The display also includes information about Smith’s research on the source of Randolph’s natural history collection, including its connections with famous collectors and the Smithsonian.

Be sure to take a few minutes to stop by the display, in four cases on either side of the circulation desk on the fourth floor of Lipscomb Library, to learn more about the College’s expansive natural history collection.

Randolph students teach science at local elementary school

A group of fifth graders leaned over their tables and listened to Treasa Bryant ’13. She held up one of the petri dishes the students had started experimenting with the day before and pointed out how bacteria had grown on the dish overnight.

Maddy Carmain ’13 teaches fifth-grade students about micro-
organisms at Dearington Elementary School in Lynchburg.

“Are they eating now?” one student asked.

“Yes, they are eating now, like this,” Bryant said, drawing smiles from the students by mimicking chomping sounds.

In another classroom a few feet away, another elementary student asked Maddy Carmain ’13 numerous questions about microbiology. “What was the first bacteria on earth?” he asked.

“I don’t think scientists know,” Carmain answered.

Fifth graders at Dearington Elementary School in Lynchburg learned about the microscopic world last week with the help of Randolph College students like Bryant and Carmain.

“I saw some natural-born teachers emerge,” said Lisa Stewart, a teacher at Dearington. “My kids have understood everything they said, and every student is engaged.”

Adam Houlihan, a Randolph biology professor, brings his microbiology students to the school once each year. On the first day, the Randolph students taught the fifth graders about bacteria and showed them how to collect bacterial samples from their environment. On the second day of the project, the students analyzed the amount of bacteria that had grown.

Sergio Rodriguez ’14 points out bacteria for a Dearington Elementary student.

The hands-on lesson helped the elementary students picture themselves working in science later on. “We had one student yesterday saying, ‘This makes me want to be a doctor,’” said Tawanda Johnson ’90, an alumna who now teaches science at Dearington.

Johnson was happy to see Randolph students helping younger students gain an interest in science. “Randolph was where I first got motivated to go into science,” Johnson said. “It’s good to see them still sending scientists out into the field.”

The annual project was featured on a news segment by WSET, a Lynchburg-based ABC Affiliate, Monday morning. Watch the report here: http://www.wset.com/story/20302622/college-students-teach-fifth-graders-about-germs

For more pictures of the project, browse this Facebook photo album.

Karen Patterson '73 brings a variety of experiences and a deep love of the College to Randolph's Board of Trustees

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of stories featuring the five new members of Randolph College's Board of Trustees.

One of Karen Patterson’s ’73 favorite things about her alma mater is the instant affinity she feels when she meets anyone associated with the College, including random alumnae and alumni she meets at airports.

But after a recent meeting of the Randolph College Board of Trustees, she learned she has a new favorite part of the school. “Right now, I am most enamored with the panoramic view of the Peaks of Otter from the back of the new Student Center,” she said.

As president of the R-MWC Alumnae and Randolph College Alumni Association, Patterson also serves on the Randolph College Board of Trustees. She is one of five new members named to the Board this year.

“The College is in much better shape, by every measure, than it was even before the transition to coeducation, but the economy is not,” she said. “I am totally committed to ensuring the College thrives in a difficult environment.”

A long-time volunteer for the College, Patterson has also served as a chapter officer, alumnae admissions representative, and a career network member, among other roles.

A biology major at R-MWC, Patterson went on to earn her M.A. in biology from Wake Forest University and a Master’s of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. She now lives in Aiken, South Carolina, where she works as the environmental sciences group manager and a project manager at the environmental consulting and engineering firm, Tetra Tech. She chairs the South Carolina Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council, and is on the executive boards of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (a non-profit dedicated to educating the public about the safety and value of nuclear energy), and the SRS Heritage Foundation.

She is excited about her new role on the Board of Trustees for Randolph. “The past members of the Board of Trustees, President Klein and other College leaders, faculty, and staff have built a strong foundation,” she said. “The current trustees, and particularly the College’s leadership, including faculty and students, are enthusiastic and energized and understand what we have to do to continue the momentum. I can actually feel the difference when I am on campus.”

Giving back to her alma mater is important to Patterson. “This is where I learned to love challenges,” she said. “That learning is life-long.”

She believes the skills she developed at R-MWC will serve her well in her new role. “I thrive on challenges and hope I can contribute to strengthening Randolph’s future.”

Students get experience with natural history collection

Our students this semester are getting more opportunities to work hands-on with the Randolph College collection of natural history and zoological artifacts. It is an opportunity to study birds and other animals—including some rare species—up close for scientific or artistic purposes.

Last year, Emily Smith ’12 worked to catalogue the collection, uncovering the history of the artifacts in the collection and determining the correct scientific classification for each. (For more on her work with the collection, see this article in Randolph magazine.)

Several students are working to photograph
the collection to help create the online catalog.

This opened the door to several other opportunities for students to study the collection, and help it grow, too.

Smith helped start a group of students who met occasionally this spring to help prepare new specimens, which had been in freezer storage for years, so they could be added to the collection. The work will continue with several meetings this semester, said Doug Shedd, the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Biology.

This summer, Smith and Shedd won a $1,250 grant from the Virginia Academy of Science to purchase photography equipment and create an online catalog of the collection. Several students have started working to take pictures of each specimen in the collection. Once the catalog is online, Randolph students—as well as researchers at other institutions—could make better use of the information Smith documented.

Smith and Shedd also have started a group that gathers every other week to draw items from the collection. The first meeting was two weeks ago, and the drawing group will meet again on Friday, Sept. 21, to draw again. The group meets in Martin 309 at 2 p.m., and all are welcome to attend.

See More Photos
For more photos of the natural history collection projects, view this photo album on the Randolph College Facebook page.

Randolph College Research Team Featured on Local News Broadcast

A Randolph College professor and two students shared their thoughts on organic farming during a story on WDBJ 7's evening broadcast September 4.

Adam Houlihan, a biology professor, Laura Word ’13, and Michael Taylor ’13 conducted research this summer (http://randolphcollege.blogspot.com/2012/07/grass-and-free-range-chicken-diets.html) exploring the best practices for raising healthy chickens that produce high-quality eggs. Using the chickens in Randolph’s Organic Garden, Word and Taylor placed one group of chickens in an area without grass and another in an area with grass. They then tracked the health and egg quality of the hens from each group.

Their research, which compared the benefits of two types of organic methods, is similar to research conducted by Stanford University published September 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The Stanford scientists studied the health benefits of organic and conventional foods. That study found that organic food is not necessarily healthier than non-organic food. The Randolph team, however, found there was a difference in the egg quality in free range chickens.

Houlihan, Word, and Taylor talked with Tim Saunders, a reporter from WDBJ 7. Randolph’s chickens and Einstein the rooster even got in on the action. The story aired Tuesday evening. Check it out at http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-no-health-benefit-to-organic-food-lynchburg-researcher-reacts-to-new-study-20120904,0,1947395.story.

Laura Word '13 explains the differences in eggs.

Tim Saunders of WDBJ 7 gets up close and personal with one of Randolph's hens.

Adam Houlihan, a Randolph biology professor, talks about organic gardening and farming with Tim Saunders.

(Left) Michael Taylor '13 works in the Organic Garden while Tim Saunders (center) shoots video with Laura Word '13 (right).

New biology professor enjoys traveling, riding, remodeling, and teaching

For the past three years, Amanda Rumore and her husband have been restoring a 1920s farm house not far from Randolph College while she finished her Ph.D. This fall, she joined the Randolph faculty teaching biology.

Her first week of teaching here brought a pleasant surprise. "Half of my students turned their homework in early, which has never happened for me before,” said Rumore, who received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in May.

Amanda Rumore and her husband Michael hiked across a high-altitude glacier
in Europe this summer. She recently began teaching biology at Randolph.

“So far, I have been impressed with how engaged the students have been in the classroom,” she said. “They seem interested in the material.”

Rumore started college wanting to study interior design but later switched her focus to biology. Microbiology courses drew her interest towards biomedical research while an undergraduate at Virginia Tech.

While working towards her Ph.D.,  she researched the interactions between humans and fungi. “I specifically study fungi that cause allergies and asthma,” she said. “My focus is on understanding the mechanism by which the fungi can cause an allergic reaction in humans.”

She and her advisor worked on a minimal budget as they began that line of work. Eventually, their research attracted two grants worth a total of about $1.3 million.

Rumore was offered a position teaching at Randolph this year while Kathy Schaeffer is on sabbatical.

When she is not teaching or researching, Rumore enjoys traveling. This summer, she and her husband traveled to Europe and took a train to the highest point on the continent—Jungfraujoch, at 12,000 feet. They hiked 2.5 miles across the Aletsch Glacier, which took more than two hours due to the thin air present at that altitude.

She also enjoys riding horses (she competed against Randolph when she was an undergraduate) and working on her home remodel, which is the topic of her personal blog.

Philadelphia Zoo internship proves ‘priceless experience’ for Randolph student

Sara Graul ’13 nurtured her love for animals during trips to The Philadelphia Zoo while she was growing up. So when she was given the opportunity to work there, it was too good to pass up.

This summer, Graul interned for the Philadelphia Zoo, the oldest chartered zoo in America. She ran educational stations where she taught zoo guests about conservation while also studying the animals and their habitats.

Sara Graul ’13 worked in education and research programs
in the Philadelphia Zoo this summer.

“This internship was a truly priceless experience that has affected me in a very powerful and positive way,” Graul said. “I have learned how challenging and rewarding it is to be on the front lines of educating people on matters of science and conservation.”

She applied for the position after Doug Shedd, a Randolph biology professor, gave her a list of websites where she could search for summer internships. “I knew that working at a zoo would give me a unique experience getting to work with animals and also closely working with people of all ages in education,” Graul said. “It also would expose me to the entire array of people that make a zoo function.”

She visited Randolph’s Experiential Learning Center for guidance in drafting her resume and application. Shedd provided a recommendation letter, and then Graul snagged the job after a phone interview.

Graul’s responsibilities included education and research. She helped run “exploration stations,” where visitors looked at artifacts and participated in games that taught lessons on conservation. One of the zoo’s major themes this summer was orangutan conservation, so many of her presentations focused on the importance of trees and the effects of palm oil plantations on orangutan habitats.

For the research portion of the internship, Graul was assigned to observe various animals and events to help with ongoing research projects. She also designed her own research, which investigated interactions between the zoo’s male and female rhinoceros hornbills, “Bob” and “Nancy.” She concluded that project with a research paper and three presentations to the public.

Graul said her college studies helped prepare her to get the most out of the internship. “The material that I’ve learned at Randolph allowed me to field questions that many others could not,” Graul said. “I was able to engage in thoughtful discussions with staff concerning important issues facing science today. I also had a solid foundation to start with, allowing me to really take advantage of the knowledge that was given to me at the zoo and also to be confident in teaching others the principles of biology and conservation.”

Lynchburg Bird Club donates money to Randolph biology department for growing bird and mammal collection

Randolph College is fortunate to have a growing collection of bird and mammal specimens that students can examine to learn more about animal biology and evolution. Thanks to the Lynchburg Bird Club, that collection of skins will have a new home.

Last week, the club presented a $1,000 donation to the College. The money will help pay for a new museum cabinet for the expanding collection of avian study specimens, said Doug Shedd, The Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Biology.

A group of three students and an alumna recently began working with Shedd to prepare bird specimens to be added to the collection. The students have been learning how to perform taxidermy to preserve the birds and repair any damage they have. “For the first time in many years, we’re adding new specimens to the collection,” Shedd said.

Angelina Haines '12 (left), Will Guzman '15, professor Doug Shedd, Emily
Smith '11, and Aaron McRorie '13 have been working to expand the
College's collections of animal study skins. Photo by Barbara Shedd.

Emily Smith ’11, who graduated in December, organized the project after spending last year cataloging the College’s natural history collection and updating the tags on each animal specimen. Aaron McRorie ’13, Angelina Haines ’12, and Will Guzman ’15 have been working with her to preserve the new specimens.

Shedd said this project is helping to expand an important resource at the College. “Natural history collections play an important role in ecological and evolutionary studies and in teaching,” he said, pointing out that biology students study the specimens to learn about evolution, while art students use the collection to draw animals with great detail.

“We are excited about the progress we've made with the Collection Project and look forward to important additional advances soon,” Shedd said.

2006 Alumna Profiled by the University of California, Berkeley after receiving an American Association of University Women's American Fellowship

Naomi Hollifield Ondrasek, a 2006 alumna, was recently profiled by the University of California, Berkeley after earning an American Association of University Women’s American Fellowship. The fellowship will provide funding while she completes her dissertation.

Ondrasek is an integrative biology doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley.

While at Randolph College, Ondrasek also earned the prestigious Udall Scholarship. She graduated with a biology major.
To see the piece, which was written by Richard Corten, a senior writer and editor for the University's graduate division, please go to http://grad.berkeley.edu/news/headlines/honors-awards/fellowship-winners/.

Photo by Thomas Ondrasek

Read another article about Ondrasek in Randolph magazine here http://www.randolphcollege.edu/x17438.xml