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A Message from the Department Head
Here we are finalizing our Fall 2020 semester, still in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic!
The good news is that the Department of Biology adapted remarkably well by following very strong mitigation techniques in the Eberhart and Sullivan building. Our team of faculty and staff prepared the buildings, research laboratories, and classrooms to maintain social distancing and very responsible use of PPE and sanitary conditions.
As a result we have been able to maintain our courses through a combination of online and face-to-face delivery, continue our research, and conduct our business, albeit at a slower pace than in normal times.
I want to tell you that I am very proud of our team. Adapting was an effort that they undertook with remarkably good nature and adaptability. Spring 2021 will remain the same as Fall 2020 with many of our courses taught as hybrid or online offerings. Summer classes will also be online.
I can also tell you that our faculty and graduate students have been enormously productive since I last wrote. Research has continued and productivity has been excellent. We lead the university in research grants in the past fiscal year, and our faculty have continued to publish cutting-edge research results.
In this issue of Symbiosis, we feature our newest faculty member, one of our current faculty members, and a faculty member who is retiring and transitioning to an emeritus status. I also have a message for our December 2020 graduates who have accomplished a great feat of finishing their degrees during a challenging year.
I wish you all the very best for the holiday season and hope your families are happy and healthy.
Malcolm Schug, Ph.D.
Department Head
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Welcome to our newest faculty member
Dr. Jim Coleman, Provost, Executive Vice Chancellor, and Professor of Biology
Provost Coleman joined the UNCG Department of Biology in July 2020 while he simultaneously assumed the leadership position of Provost of UNCG. Jim has a strong research record in biology and, as we have come to know him, we understand that he also has a fondness for his pet dogs. He is shown here with Annie.
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| Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Sally Koerner
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Photo taken prior to COVID-19
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| As campus assumed a highly modified occupancy in response to the pandemic, research laboratories were also required to reduce the density of students in labs and maintain very strict guidelines to mitigate the potential transmission of COVID-19.
Dr. Koerner’s laboratory was no exception. Because of the adherence to these strict protocols, research did in fact proceed, albeit in a modified fashion. Dr. Koerner and her students were exceptional at working through the details of these mitigation efforts and indeed were able to accomplish a remarkable amount of research under these circumstances.
Dr. Koerner is a 2019 Bernard Glickman Dean’s Professor, an honor bestowed on an assistant professor in recognition of outstanding research and teaching with promise of continued great success. Her research in biodiversity spans the globe, from South Africa to Montana and Wyoming, to the eastern North Carolina.
In only her fourth year at UNCG, she has been awarded $1.73 million in federal funding for her work and has produced 37 research publications, many co-authored with her graduate students. On top of her prolific research program, she has introduced a research module to our core laboratory course for undergraduate majors, BIO 315 Ecology/Evolution lab. This past semester she took nearly 125 undergraduate biology majors to the to see their class research results presented in a professional venue!
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In her own words ...
Ask a question and design a test to find the answer – experiments are so simple and yet so empowering.
Most experiments are done in the sterile setting of a laboratory, complete with running water and electricity. But I remember the first time I realized that experiments were not limited to the indoors. I was an undergraduate studying abroad in South Africa. As a class assignment, I was conducting research on how herbivores like zebra impact plant diversity around man-made watering holes in Kruger National Park. The sun was setting over the African savanna, and I could see giraffes and elephants in the distance. I remember thinking, “This is so much better than the lab.”
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What's it like to be a graduate student in Dr. Koerner's Lab?
For many in STEM fields, scientific research consists of lab coats, sterile conditions, and hot plates under a fume hood. However, for the graduate students of the Koerner lab, research looks quite different.
Our experiments start with traveling hundreds to thousands of miles away, and they require us to endure sweltering heat, rain, and even snow occasionally. We build our experiments without power and carry everything by hand so as not to crush the plants we study.
We must be expert planners, outlining every contingency and back-up plan, while maintaining a high level of flexibility, as even the most well thought out plans will, without a doubt, need to be altered.
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| Celebrating Ms. Ann Somers
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This fall we are celebrating the retirement of Ms. Ann Somers after 31 years of service to UNCG. Ann will be joining the ranks of emeritus faculty in the Department of Biology, will continue her research in conservation, environmental biology, and herpetology, while also working in the Department Geography, Environment, and Sustainability.
Ann’s accomplishments are enormous. She has established herself as a true leader in conservation of our natural environment and in educating tens of thousands of students from kindergarten through graduate school on environmental conservation.
Among her many accomplishments, Ann has received the Governor’s Award for Public Service, the Thomas L. Quay Wildlife Diversity Award in Raleigh, the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research (NCBAR) Distinguished Teaching Award in STEM Education, and has received the UNCG’s nomination for the Holhauser Award.
Fitting with her retirement, in 2020 she was inducted into the North Carolina Herpetology Hall of Fame, the first woman to receive this honor from an organization of which she was a founding member and served as president for several years.
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Ann Somers: An educator, a scientist, an inspiration
Ann Somer’s true passion is environmental education. She has worked with many students during her career. One of Ann’s colleagues who has worked with her since she was a student is Ms. Ashley LaVere, a UNCG Biology Bachelor of Science, and University of Georgia MS graduate, and currently lecturer at UNCG. Ashley has collaborated on a publication with Ann called The Box Turtle Connection.
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| Congratulations, graduates!
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A graduation message from Dr. Malcolm Schug, Department Head
Dear Biology Graduates,
On behalf of the faculty and staff in the Department of Biology, I would like to offer a heartfelt congratulations to all of our December 2020 Biology Majors, Biology M.S. and Environmental Health Science Ph.D. graduates!
We are especially impressed that you completed your degree in the year 2020, one of the most challenging times our country has encountered in many years. We are so proud of you!
We also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank those that have supported you throughout your education too. We know that your degree has been the product of many years of very hard work, and for many of you the support you received from your family, friends, and your teachers at UNCG. We are truly grateful for everyone who has helped support you along the way.
We also want you to know that you will forever be part of our family here in the Department of Biology. As you continue into careers, graduate school, or professional school, please remember to touch base with us. Follow us on social media and drop us an email. We love to hear from you and will forever be so very proud to have as a member of our family.
Our very best wishes to you and your family as you embark on the next chapter of your life.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Schug
Head, Department of Biology
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Gifts of any size help enrich our department's student research, travel, conference participation, and research supplies.
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