Scholarly Activities

Faculty are members of a number of national and international professional societies, including such groups as:

• Alpha Zeta Agricultural and Natural Resources Honor Society
• American Association of University Women
• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
• American Society of Plant Biologists
  • American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
• American Society for Microbiology
  • Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
• Association of Southeastern Biologists
• Botanical Society of America
  • International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA)
  • National Association for Biology Teachers (NABT)
• North American Lake Management Society (NALMS)
  • North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS)
• North Carolina Health Professions Advisers
• North Carolina Native Plant Society
• Omicron Delta Kappa Society
• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
  • Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society
• Southeastern Regional Network of Expertise and Collections – Education and Outreach Committee
• The Wildlife Society
  • Xi Sigma Phi Forestry and Natural Resources Honor Society

Members of the Biology Department faculty include:
Recently selected member of the board of directors and President-elect of the North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS)

Members of the Campbell University Biology faculty have attended and presented talks at recent professional meetings to include the following:

• American Society of Plant Biologists Meeting, Honolulu, HI. Poster session (2009)
• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Workshop, NC A&T University, Greensboro, NC (2009)
• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory RNA inference Workshop, NC A&T University, Greensboro, NC (2009)
• Workshop presented at the Professional Development Conference - National Association of Biology Teachers in Memphis, TN. The workshop was titled: Using the Process of Biological Research to Develop Critical Thinking and Presentation Skills (2008).
• Ecological Society of America Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. Contributed paper (2008)
• Botanical Society of America Meeting, Vancouver. Contributed paper (2008)
• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) summer meetings in St. John’s, Newfoundland (Canada), including visits to research facilities and workshops at the Memorial University of Newfoundland (NFLD) Ocean Science Center (OSC) in St. John’s and Bonne Bay Marine Research Station in Gros Morne National Park at Rocky Harbor, NFLD. ASLO, the Society of Canadian Limnologists, and the North American Benthological Society jointly sponsored these meetings (2008).

Student & Faculty Collaborative Research Projects:

In the summer of 2008, one of our students (Heidi Shallow - Biology Class of 2009) worked on a microbiology project titled: “Characterization of three newly identified bacterial isolates acquired from the tubeworm Nereis succinea”. Three different isolates of bacteria were determined to be new organisms belonging to a completely new genus & species. The student worked on phenotypically characterizing each isolate through standard biochemical testing.

In the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semesters another student (Diana Norden – Biochemistry major) further characterized these strains in an attempt to determine the carbon sources that the organism utilizes, as well as other testing. Diana completed a summer internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico) working on a project similar to the one initiated here at Campbell.

Results of this research conducted by our students and faculty mentors were presented at the 2009 North Carolina Academy of Science meeting in Ashville, NC in April, 2009.

• Current Campbell University student Diana Norden (Biochemistry, Class of 2010) received a recent grant from the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) to study three unidentified microorganisms. The research (entitled “Characterization of novel surfactant resistant bacteria with possible use in bioremediation”) is part of a project that Campbell University is participating in with Dr. Christopher Ellis of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park (RTP), NC.

One of our faculty members participated in a sabbatical at the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill during the period August through December 2008. Her research focus was on regulation of the vision signaling pathway in cones. Specifically, she studied the kinase, GRK-7 – both its regulation by recoverin and PKA, and its ability to phosphorylate and regulate rhodopsin.

Another faculty member serves as the chair of the American Bloodhound Club health committee and participates in the Canine Epilepsy Research Consortium research project. The goal of this project is to complete the genetic mapping of epilepsy and develop a blood/tissue test for the genetic detection of epilepsy, using DNA markers. They also work as a liaison for the Canine Health Foundation (CHF), a nonprofit organization which funds veterinary research and develops resources for applied health programs, with an emphasis on canine genetics.