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Biology programs are featured Giving Day 2024 campaigns

Apr 2, 2024

SPU's annual Giving Day will be Wednesday, April 3, 2024, and features two core Biology programs. The BioCORE Scholars Program supports students who are underrepresented in STEM and health care fields by providing academic enrichment, research experience, networking and scholarships. If at least ten donors give to the BioCORE Scholars Program, we will receive an additional $100, thanks to a generous donor. Please donate via the !

Blakely Island Field Station in the San Juan Islands is a beloved site for research and fellowship for both students and faculty. Funds raised will go to restoring aging infrastructure around the field station and to support student research. Please donate via the !

The campaign with the greatest number of donors will receive an additional $1500, with $1000 going to the campaign with the second-highest number of donors. Giving Day is an important source of financial support for our programs, and we greatly appreciate any contributions!

Biology Department is represented at the 2024 American Association of Biological Anthropologists meeting

Apr 2, 2024

Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Professor of Biology, along with current student Eloisa Nguyen (BS Physiology, 2024) and alumna Yu-Jin Youn (BS Physiology, 2023), presented research at the 2024 American Association of Biological Anthropologists conference in Los Angeles. Dr. Wall-Scheffler served as a member of the conference planning committee and symposium organizer, as well.

Biology faculty and alumnus publish new deer research study

Feb 27, 2024

Professors of Biology Eric Long and Ryan Ferrer, along with alumnus Enoch Tham (BS Ecology, 2019) co-authored a new research article in PLoS ONE (). The article, “Succession and climatic stochasticity induce long-term decline of a forest browser”, examined the long-term effects of forest regrowth and maturation on the density of black-tailed deer on Blakely Island. Long, Tham and Ferrer found that as timber harvests decreased and forests matured on Blakely Island, black-tailed deer populations decreased. These results are among the first to quantify deer population declines in response to forest regrowth and increased canopy cover, and have long-term implications for island ecosystem recovery and population survival in response to significant events such as climate change and disease.

Gum Nau presents research at SICB Conference

Jan 1, 2024

Gum Nau (BS Physiology, 2024) will give an oral presentation at the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) conference in ɬ�﷬ on Friday, January 5. His talk, titled "", will report work Nau did in collaboration with biology students Hannah McSwain (BS Ecology, 2024) and Kenzie Garrett (BS Physiology, 2024), and supervised by Professors Ryan Ferrer (Biology), Eric Long (Biology) and Baine Craft (Psychology). It is unusual for undergraduates to be selected for oral presentations at a national conference like SICB - congratulations, Gum!

Three Biology students present at the 2023 SACNAS conference

Nov 11, 2023

SPU was represented by three current and former Biology students at the 2023 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference, held October 26 - 28 in Portland, Oregon. (BS Physiology 2025) presented her project, "DNA barcoding reveals Salmon mislabeling rates in ɬ�﷬ sushi restaurants", in collaboration with student Angelique Djekoundade and Dr. Tracie Delgado, Associate Professor of Biology. (BS Ecology 2024) presented her project, "DNA barcoding of marine and freshwater goby fish, Negros Oriental and Palawan, Philippines", based on research she conducted as part of the Philippines International Research Experience for Students (Ph-IRES) in Summer 2023. Finally, Abhi Kancherla (BS Cellular and Molecular Biology 2023) presented "5-Nitroimidazole-resistance in Mycoplasma genitalium strains is associated with mutations in an NAD(P)H-dependent FMN reductase gene", which was work he did in collaboration with students Alessandro Rizzi and Cameron Weller, and Dr. Derek Wood, Professor of Biology.

Biology students represent SPU at annual Murdock Conference

Nov 11, 2023

14 students from the Departments of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry represented SPU at the annual Murdock College Science Research Conference, November 10 - 11, 2023 in Vancouver, WA. Students' presentations represented a broad spectrum of disciplines, including human physiology, genetics, neurobiology, chemical ecology, microbiology and organic chemistry. The Murdock Charitable Trust is one of the largest private funders of undergraduate research in the Pacific Northwest, and the annual conference attracts students from over 30 participating universities.

Dr. Delgado co-authors Commentary in Cell

Nov 10, 2023

Dr. Tracie Delgado, Associate Professor of Biology, co-authored a Commentary in the November 9, 2023 issue of the top-tier journal Cell.  The Commentary, "", identifies factors contributing to the underrepresentation of Latina scientists in STEM fields, and proposes solutions to increase their representation and retention.

New study uncovers unexpected link between type II diabetes and obesity

Aug 15, 2023

Dr. John Douglass, Assistant Professor of Biology, is lead author on a new research study in the journal that uncovers an unexpected connection between obesity and type II diabetes. The study, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington and University of California, San Francisco, was a follow-up to previous work from Douglass's team demonstrating that fattening diets lead to activation of resident immune cells in the brain and overconsumption of calories. The new study examined glucose intolerance as an early marker of developing diabetes, expecting to show that brain inflammation would exacerbate the progression of diabetes. Instead, the new study shows that immune cell activation in the brain caused by high fat diet actually prevents hyperglycemia, which is very different than what occurs in peripheral tissues such as adipose and liver. This discovery has important implications for identifying drugs to treat both obesity and diabetes, particularly given the current media attention around brain-targeting medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

New study shows that hunting was not restricted to men

Jul 6, 2023

In studies of human foraging populations, a persistent belief has been that hunting activities were carried out by men, while women were gatherers who stayed close to the home. In a new study in , Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Professor of Biology, and a team of four alumni student authors, provide evidence that historically, women in many foraging cultures played an active role in hunting. The alumni authors include Abbie Anderson (BS Physiology 2022), Sophia Chilczuk (BS Applied Human Biology 2021), Kaylie Nelson (BS Applied Human Biology 2021) and Roxy Ruther (BS Applied Human Biology 2021). An about this research features an interview with Dr. Wall-Scheffler, and this study has been featured by other media sites, including and .

Biology student is lead author on research study

Jul 6, 2023

Eloisa Nguyen (BS Physiology 2024) is the lead author on a new study published in the journal AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceeding.  The study, ", was a collaboration among multiple institutions and focused on establishing a standardized framework for defining concepts such as culture, race, ethnicity, and nationality in health data.  This research was part of Eloisa's internship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.