In 2004, Joel E. Cohen published an essay in PLoS Biology titled “Mathematics is biology’s next microscope, only better; biology is mathematics’ next physics, only better.” (PLoS Biology 2(12); e439) The essay, as the title suggests, describes the growing importance of mathematical ideas and techniques in modern biology. With advances in technology, biologists are able to collect large and detailed sets of data from the molecular scale to the scale of whole ecosystems. Mathematics, statistics, and computer science provide the tools necessary to organize and analyze these data and place them into a coherent conceptual framework. Conversely, the complexity of biological data spanning large spatial and temporal scales has stimulated the development of mathematical and computational tools needed to address fundamental questions in biology just as physics stimulated progress in mathematics and continues to do so to this day.

Go to: http://mathbio.truman.edu to learn about the mathematical biology research program, colloquia, and the mathematical biology minor. The 2012 Program Applications are due November 30 at 5pm. Please contact Dr. Pam Ryan (pjryan@truman.edu) with questions.

If you love all things outdoors, environmental, ecological, and if you want to learn more about how animals interact and survive in different environments such as high altitudes, deep ocean depths, desert environments, as well as northeast Missouri, take a good look at BIOL 511 – Comparative Animal Physiology taught by Dr. George Schulte in Spring 2012.

Alicia Arredondo (Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment) will be here Friday, 1-3 pm in the lobby of Magruder Hall to recruit for UMKC medical school and graduate programs.

Professor Laura Fielden from Truman’s Biology Department will be conducting an informational session and mathematical biology colloquium on the Professional Science Masters program in Bioinformatics that Truman will begin offering in Fall 2012. The session will be held in VH1224 on Thursday, October 6 at 3:30 p.m.

The School of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is hosting an open house on Friday, September 23, for students interested in pursuing a Master’s or Ph.D. degrees in biological sciences. If you have students who may be interested, please encourage them to contact us at sbsgradrecruit@umkc.edu for more information.
Thank you, Barbara Smith, Executive Assistant, Dean’s Office, School of Biological Sciences, UMKC, lachsmithb@umkc.edu

Please add your name and most immediate (or long range) goal to our Alumni data base. We want to know what happens after you leave Truman. Please tell us!! Click the Alumni link to your left.

You are cordially invited to the
Biology Senior Awards
Friday
April 29, 2011
Magruder 1000
12:30 P.M.
Light refreshments will be served

Dr. Chad Montgomery has been named as Educator of the Year for 2011.

Dr. Theodore Morgan, Kansas State University, “The Genetics and Evolution of Thermotolerance in Drosophila” HOST: Dr. Stephen Hudman

Scott Biggerstaff
Jill Hampton
Hazar Khidir
Jessica Kneib
Veronica LaCombe
Kevin Robb
Tanya Sylvester
Aimee Vander Wal
Danielle West
Kevyn Wiskirchen
Yajie Yu
Were all elected into the 2011 class of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious
liberal arts and sciences honorary society. Truman has housed a chapter (Delta of Missouri) since 2000.