News & Events

This is your first stop for updates and news about the John Carroll University Department of Biology.

• Study Abroad opportunities in Costa Rica:
  
  Spring Break 2010: Spend a week in the rainforest studying Tropical Field Biology as a part of a spring semester course (BL 479). Program cost is $1,500. Informational meetings will be held Wednesday, October 21 at 4:45 pm in AD 25 and Thursday, October 22 at 4:45 pm in AD 25. For more information, contact Dr. Andreas Sobisch (sobisch@jcu.edu or x4183) or Dr. Andy Jones (ajones@cmnh.org or 231-4600 x3332).
  
  Fall Semester 2010: Spend the semester in Costa Rica, satisfying JCU Core requirements while exploring two distinct areas of the country. During this experience, students will satisfy two semesters of Spanish in one semester. Part of the semester will be spent living with a Costa Rican family and part of the semester will be spent at a educational preserve in the rainforest. All JCU financial aid can be applied to program costs. For further information, please contact the Center for Global Education (x4320).

• Advising information for Cell and Molecular Biology majors: The following upper division Biology courses applicable to the Cell and Molecular Biology major will be offered Spring 2010: Genetics (BL 213), Introduction to Biotechnology (BL 215/215L), Microbiology (BL 310/310L), Infection and Immunity (BL 410), Molecular Genetics (BL 465), and Molecular Methods Laboratory (BL 470). The Chemistry Department will be offering Biochemistry Laboratory (CH 437).

• Advising information for Environmental Science majors: The following upper division Biology courses applicable to the Environmental Science major will be offered Spring 2010: General Ecology (BL 222), Global Climate Change (BL 331), Herpetology (BL 421/421L), and Special Topics in Tropical Biology (BL 479). In addition to the Biology Department course listings, both Environmental Sociology (SC 290) and Environmental Politics and Policy (PO 361) will be offered during Spring 2010. Earth Science II (PH 102/102L) also will be offered.

• Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships at JCU: Two undergraduate research fellowships are available to John Carroll students majoring in biology, environmental science, or cell and molecular biology.  Dr. Johansen has NSF funding to study cyanobacterial taxonomy and biodiversity in Hawaii and in the Atacama Desert of Chile.  We likely will have field trips to these places in summer of 2010 and winter break 2010.  The laboratory work will consist of isolating and culturing cyanobacteria from the natural material, microscopic analysis and characterization, and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and associated 16S-23S ITS region in selected cyanobacteria.  An effort will be made to take each undergraduate intern on a field trip to these places, although the trip for one student likely will be during the winter break following the summer fellowship.  The fellowships are $3800 for 12 weeks of activity.  Housing on campus without board is included on request.

  An application form is available from Dr. Johansen.  Applications are due January 22, 2010.  Award decisions will be made February 15th.   Only students who will be enrolled at JCU in Fall 2010 are eligible.