Department of Biology - Undergraduate Student Research 

CONTENTS
- 1. WHY DO RESEARCH?
- 2. AMPHIBIAN RESEARCH - Dr. Brodman
- 3. FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY RESEARCH - Dr. Haskell
- 4. OTHER PROJECTS - Dr. Wistrom and Rev, Dr. Stang

WHY DO RESEARCH IN COLLEGE?

A. Employers and graduate schools look for laboratory, field method and scientific writing skills.  Research teaches you all three.   Nearly all of our recent graduates who were accepted to medical schools, physical therapy schools and graduate programs in the sciences gained experience by doing research here at Saint Joseph's College. Most of the graduate schools are mainly looking to see if you have learned the methods and disciplines of research. For example, medical schools have happily accepted that our students did research in Amphibian Ecology.

B. 15% higher graduation rates are seen in students who do research or internships compared to students who do not.

Overall opportunities for student research at Saint Joseph's College include: Vertebrate Anatomy, Microbiology, Entomology (insects), Forensic Science, Biochemistry, Water Quality, Geochemistry, Environmental geology, Habitat restoration, Amphibian ecology & conservation.  Students may do research as independent study projects worth from 1-3 credit hours.

MAJOR AREAS FOR RESEARCH AT SAINT JOSEPH’S COLLEGE: The two main areas of ongoing research at Saint Joseph's College are in Amphibian Ecology and Forensic Entomology, both supervised by nationally recognized PhD professors here.  Other research projects may be organized in biochemistry or in comparative vertebrate anatomy.

1. Amphibian Ecology and Conservation with Dr. Robert Brodman PhD.

Dr. Brodman's focus is ecology, evolution and zoology.  His research focuses on the ecology and conservation of amphibians in the Midwest.  Many students become part of this research.  In preparation, students take a course on using field surveys and monitoring amphibian populations.  Students then participate in one or several of the following areas of study:
 -long-term studies monitoring  population fluctuations in amphibian species in our 5 county area
 -studying the relationship between water & habitat quality of wetlands and amphibian abundance
 -determining how behavioral ecology such as predator avoidance and shifts in habitat use allow species to coexist
 -documenting the affect of predation by amphibians on pest control
 -performing wetland delineation and habitat restoration.

Several of our students have become coauthors of scientific papers that were published in state and national scientific journals.

- For More information on Student involvement in Dr. Brodman’s Amphibian Research, click here.
- For More information on Dr. Brodman’s Amphibian Research, click here.
- Click the name to contact Professor Robert Brodman.

2. Forensic Entomology: with Dr. Neal Haskell PhD

Dr. Neal Haskell has been doing ongoing research at his farm seven miles from Saint Joseph's College.  Dr. Haskell discovered that a pig carcass decomposes and has insect infestations at the same rate as a human body.  He proved this in his work at the “Body Farm” at the University of Tennessee. There Dr. Haskell placed pigs alongside human bodies to demonstrate the rate similarities. Here in Indiana Dr. Haskell obtains pigs from Purdue University and then sets them out in his field in a variety of conditions and situations.  If a murder victim is discovered in a car trunk in the summer, Dr. Haskell puts a pig in a car trunk in the summer and monitors the insect infestations, life cycle rates and other decomposition data.  The data is then used in the investigation to help determine the time of death or when the body was placed inside the car. Here is a link to one article on such pig research.

Saint Joseph's College undergraduate students have participated in Dr. Haskell's research.  They help in collecting and analyzing data, attending conferences and accompanying him to sites in other parts of the US and the world.  Students may become coauthors of scientific articles. The data is used in criminal investigations and trials throughout the United States.  For more information, click here.   Dr. Haskell can be contacted here.

3. Other Projects

3. Biochemistry & Genetics with Dr. Cheryl Wistrom PhD. Dr. WEistrom often sponsors student research or independent studies in biochemistry and Genetics.  Most recently, several of her students extracted potential anti-tumor chemicals from the bark of the Paw-Paw tree.  They then assayed the potency of these chemicals against plant tumors.  Another of her students is studying tablet dissolution rates to better predict the rate at which tablets release medicines.  Dr. Wistrom can be contacted here,

4. Vertebrate Anatomy with Fr. Stang M.D. Several Saint Joseph's College students, with interest in animals, have researched and then assembled vertebrate skeletons.  The research includes visits to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. Students learn the characteristics of the various bones and how the bones come together in the integrated skeletal structure. They learn not only the names of the bones but also the names of the various tubercles, foramina, fossa and other structures that provide joints, tendon and ligament attachment, nerve and neuro-vascular penetration points. Study may include methods of cleaning, preserving and mounting bones. The final project is the assembly of the full skeleton. With Fr. Stang, students have assembled the whitetail deer and red fox skeletons shown below.  Our latest was a group collaboration that produced an adult horse skeleton (below right). We have the bones and research material for an adult pig.  For more information on this contact Fr. William Stang M.D.
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