The winners for the best posters are: First Yolanda Braun; Second Geoff Ower; Third Christine Hodges. The winners for the best oral presentations are: First Jen Breaux; Second (tie) Brian Grebliunas and Keith Bowers.

We are an organization committed to enhancing your biological experience here at ISU. From field trips and community service to special events, we aim to provide for many different interests.  Please join us at our meetings to learn more about our club!  Please email  Megan Lawler (President) at mllawle@ilstu.edu with any questions!  We look forward to meeting you!

Barbara L. Cox and Mark Vegter

Barbara L. Cox and Mark Vegter received Distinguished Service Awards at the 2013 Founder’s Day Convocation. Cox’s award was bestowed by the Civil Service Council, while Vegter’s award was presented by Illinois State’s A/P (Academic/Professional) Council. Both awards are intended to encourage professional development and improve morale by honoring sustained contributions made by selected individuals and are the highest non-faculty awards given by the University.

Cox, Office Manager in the School of Biological Sciences, graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.S. in Human Resource Management. She was nominated for the award because of her exemplary job performance, campus involvement, and community service. Her bright demeanor serves to make the School Office both efficient and welcoming. She is well-liked by the faculty, students, and staff, who know her as reliable, hardworking, and cheerful. Cox also loves to serve her ISU family and the Bloomington-Normal community through volunteer service at events such as the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon, Back to School Supply Drive, and Humane Society fundraisers.

Vegter, Assistant to the Chair and Academic Advisor in the Department of English, earned his B.S. in English at Illinois State University with a minor in writing. He has been an Academic Advisor at Illinois State for over 19 years. As part of the 2011 Annual Awards Program for Academic Advising, he won an advising award from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). In addition to his awards in Diversity, Golden Key and Faculty Appreciation, he is the 2009 recipient of the Herb Sanders Award for Outstanding Academic Advising. He is also the former chair of the Academic Advisor Advisory Council of Illinois State University. He is currently teaching ENG 102.0, Introduction to English Studies Proseminar and will complete a Master of Science in Academic Advising in the summer of 2014.

James Hanken
Photo: Harvard University Center for the Environment

Comparative biology is more productive today than ever before with the rate of new species discovery higher than it’s ever been. Yet, at the same time, the rate of species extinction is increasing dramatically due to human-mediated environmental degradation on a global scale.

Harvard University Professor James Hanken will give a talk titled “Biodiversity Science 2013: Crisis and Opportunity” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University.

Hanken will address the crisis for the future of biological diversity and the increasing focus both on the inventory and conservation of species and their habitats and on the major drivers of extinction.

The event, sponsored by the School of Biological Sciences, is free and open to the public, and is part of the R. Omar and Evelyn Rilett Family Life Sciences Lecture Series.

The curator in herpetology and director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Hanken holds the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard, where he studies the evolution of morphology and developmental biology.

His extensive research has been honored with numerous grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Studies. Hanken is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Along with his works appearing in scholarly journals, Hanken has edited publications such as the Journal of Morphology, Zoological Science, Evolution and Development and the Journal of Experimental Zoology: Molecular and Developmental Evolution.

The R. Omar and Evelyn Rilett Family Life Sciences Lecture Series was established in April 2007. It recognizes Rilett’s vision and leadership, which built a Department of Biological Sciences at Illinois State University that advanced education in the natural sciences, fostered scholarly endeavors and nurtured the development of research to the benefit of all who chose to teach and learn at this institution. The purpose is to bring outstanding life scientists and lectures to Illinois State University to benefit academic and local communities.

For additional information, contact the School of Biological Sciences at (309) 438-3664.