Professor Werth’s Biology 343 Marine Biology class took a trip to Gwynn’s Island, Virginia, for a tour of an oyster hatchery. Hampden-Sydney alumnus Rick Godsey ’85 met the students at the Oyster Seed Holdings facility (http://www.oysterseedholdings.com/) and, along with hatchery manager Michael Cosgrove, led the group on a tour of the operation, showing how water is taken from the bay and purified to remove all particulates, warmed or cooled (with a countercurrent exchanger) to a precise temperature, and then seeded with cultured oyster larvae that settle on finely ground shells. The facility raises mainly triploid oysters, which (because they are sterile) put their energy toward bodily growth rather than reproduction.

Growing algae to feed oysters

Perhaps the most interesting and remarkable part of the tour was the production of “clean” algae bred and produced solely to feed the young oysters. Four species of diverse algae are grown under precisely controlled conditions to ensure the health and rapid growth of the oysters. A full time algologist controls this portion of the hatchery, and many tanks are used to grow large populations of the algae.

Oyster aquaculture with Rick Godsey '85

The tour group also saw adult oyster brood stock that are used to breed new oysters year-round (by tricking them via water temperature), observed microscopic larvae and dissected adults, and were led through all aspects of the oyster life cycle and the hatchery operation, including sorting and cleaning for sale (at 1 or 2 mm size). Buyers then grow the oysters to market size.

After the hatchery tour the group went to Rick Godsey’s nearby waterfront home to see how he raises adult oysters, in cages hanging off his dock, in the later stages of the aquaculture process. Mr. Godsey graciously explained how his setup works and also shared fresh oysters with the students, who were glad to partake of this fresh treat. Another batch of oysters was brought back to Hampden-Sydney for further study and dissection.

Oyster seed holdings facility

On Thursday, March 29 Dr. Timothy Bullock, Associate Professor of Pathology and Human Immune Therapy Center Investigator at the University of Virginia, spoke to Hampden-Sydney Biology students and faculty as a part of the Biology Department Seminar Series.  Dr. Bullock’s talk entitled “Invigorating T Cell Immunity to Cancer” focused on current challenges faced by researchers in eliciting T cell immunity to cancer as well as cutting-edge strategies for improving anti-tumor T cell immune responses.  Dr. Bullock is an expert in this area of research and has received funding and numerous awards from foundations that include the National Cancer Institute, the Cancer Research Institute, the Melanoma Research Alliance, the Dana Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Bullock’s seminar was enthusiastic, informative, and engaging, and H-SC is lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from such a leader in the field of tumor immunology!

Dr. Timothy Bullock discussing the role of T cell dysfunction in tumor immune escape

Dr. Timothy Bullock discussing novel strategies for improving immunity to cancer

Springtime brings to Virginia the annual Phage Phest, a celebration of undergraduate research work on bacteriophage, or viruses that infect bacteria.  H-SC sent 7 students from the Molecular Biology and Genomics courses who have worked on the bacteriophage project to the College of William and Mary to participate in Phage Phest, along with students and faculty from Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, the University of Mary Washington, and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.  Also attending was Dr. Sarah Fortune of the Harvard School of Public Health, who delivered the keynote address on the new challenges of tuberculosis research.

The H-SC Phage Phest team

Jonathan Park ’12 and Greg Robertson ’12 presented the class’ project from this semester, a characterization of bacteriophage Arturo, discovered at H-SC by Duncan Oliphant ’12.

The Phage Phest presentation

The meeting allowed the H-SC students to interact with and discuss the research progress they have made this year with students at other schools working on similar projects.  The bacteriophage initiative, a part of H-SC association with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance, will continue next year with the isolation of a fresh round of bacteriophages for analysis.  The current class will finish characterization of Arturo and place the information in GenBank, a repository of the United States National Library of Medicine for genetic sequence material.

Greetings from Pharmville: The official H-SC Phage Phest 2012 T-shirt

As part of the continuing affiliation of Hampden-Sydney with the other 70 schools nationwide taking part in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance, the department was pleased to welcome Dr. Steve Cresawn of James Madison University to H-SC to talk about his work in the rapidly developing field of bioinformatics. Advances in molecular biology like the Human Genome Project have created mountains and mountains of data to be explored……the problem lies in trying to find an efficient way to sift through all the data. Bioinformatics combines biology and computer science to develop ways to analyze large quantities of data and compare the entire genetic content, or genomes, of organisms to answer scientific questions involving evolution, medicine, and other subjects.

Dr. Cresawn presented his development of Phamerator, a tool designed for the comparison of whole viral genomes with the goal of understanding their evolution.

comparison of 6 viral genomes using Phamerator (click the image for a closer look)

With Phamerator, students around the world are able to compare the viruses that they have isolated, including Arturo, isolated by Duncan Oliphant ’12 at Sagebrook Apartments at H-SC.  The program has made possible the understanding of the amazing level of viral diversity that exists in the natural environment and the evolutionary strategies used by viruses to adapt to changing environments.

Dr. Mike Wolyniak has joined a pair of national committees charged with developing ways that teachers from all varieties of educational institutions can share their resources and innovations for teaching biology and develop coursework tailored to their specific needs.  The first is called CourseSource and is a joint effort between the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the biological professional societies, including the American Society for Cell Biology and the Genetics Society of America, to develop a series of learning objectives that can be built into courses that rely less on lectures and more on discussion and activities.  The second initiative is called CUREnet and focuses on CURES, or Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences.  This site, when complete, will allow teachers with research-based classroom projects to network with others and build collaborations to make research experiences more accessible to undergraduates.  Both sites will come online later in the year and will rely on the experiences of institutions like Hampden-Sydney that have been actively experimenting with the ideas of incorporating research-like experiences into coursework.

Yonathan Tarekegne Ararso ’13 will spend his summer working in one of the top stem cell research labs in the country after being admitted into the Exceptional Research Opportunities (EXROP) Program of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).  The EXROP program was created by HHMI in 2003 with the goal of increasing the diversity of the science professoriate.  EXROP matches undergraduates from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences with HHMI scientists to participate in summer-long research experiences. Applications to the EXROP program are by invitation only from HHMI professors.  Yonathan’s application was made possible by Dr. Sally Elgin of Washington University of St. Louis and her Genomics Education Partnership which works with faculty across the country to provide genomics education and research opprtunities to undergraduate institutions, including Dr. Mike Wolyniak at Hampden-Sydney.

Yonathan will work this summer with HHMI professor Shahin Rafii (http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/rafii_bio.html) at Cornell’s Weill Medical College in New York City.  Dr. Rafii’s work seeks to create stable embryonic stem cell lines for use in a variety of therapeutic techniques and to understand the biological factors that determine how mammalian cells develop into specific differentiated cell types.

The unPAK consortium (Undergraduate Phenotyping of Arabidopsis Knockouts) has started a public website at http://arabidopsisunpak.org . This National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored collaborative project of the College of Charleston, Hampden-Sydney College, Barnard College, and the University of Georgia, seeks to build an undergraduate network to further study the genetic basis of phenotypes found in the model plant Arabisopsis thaliana. The work encourages scientific discussion between undergraduates at different schools while providing invaluable scientific data for the genetics research community.  The Hampden-Sydney branch of the project is focusing on molecular characterization and currently consists of Dr. Mike Wolyniak, Jonathan Park ’12, Henry Loehr ’13, and James Hughes ’14.

The current issue of the research journal Cellular Immunology features an article authored by Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Kristian Hargadon and undergraduates Osric Forrest ’12 and Pranay Reddy ’11.  The article entitled “Suppression of the Maturation and Activation of the Dendritic Cell Line DC2.4 by Melanoma-derived Factors” describes work conducted by Dr. Hargadon and his students over the past two years.  This study demonstrates that melanoma tumors are capable of suppressing dendritic cells, an immune cell that is critical for the induction of anti-tumor immune responses.  Importantly, Dr. Hargadon and his students demonstrated that the extent to which dendritic cells are suppressed by melanomas is dependent on how agressive the particular tumor is.  These findings therefore suggest that the interactions that take place between melanoma tumor cells and dendritic cells may ultimately dictate the success of the overall immune response to the tumor.  Dr. Hargadon and other undergraduate students working in his lab are continuing to investigating how melanomas suppress dendritic cell functionality and how such melanoma-altered dendritic cells shape the response of other anti-tumor immune cells.  It is hoped that these studies will improve our understanding of tumor immune escape and identify strategies for interfering with tumor immune suppression and improving the quality of anti-tumor immune responses.   

The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) recently gave its 2011 H. Hiter Harris, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching to Hampden-Sydney’s Dr. Alex Werth.  The award is endowed by the family of the late Hiter Harris, Jr., a leading Virginia banker who was a member of the VFIC’s Board from 1973 – 1998.  His son, H. Hiter Harris III, is a current VFIC board member, having joined the board in 2000.

Dr. Alex Werth joined by VFIC Chairman Robert Woltz (left) and Hiter Harris III (right) following the presentation of the 2011 Harris Award.

The Harris Award includes a stipend to support Dr. Werth’s research on the physiology of feeding and thermoregulation in whales and reflects his strong, clear, and abiding commitment to excellence in classroom teaching within the undergraduate liberal arts and sciences.  Dr. Werth has taught classes across the spectrum of the biology curriculum at Hampden-Sydney as well as interdisciplinary seminars and courses in the Western Culture program.

As part of the culmination of the semester-long study by H-SC Molecular Biology students into the diversity and genetics of bacteriophages, the class recently took a field trip to the University of Mary Washington to utilize their electron microscope facility.  Mary Washington, like H-SC, is a member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Alliance, and UMW’s Dr. Kathy Loesser and Dr. Lynn Lewis generously shared their resources with the H-SC Molecular Biology class.

UMW's Dr. Loesser gives the class a tour of the electron microscope facility

Electron microscopy can provide over 100,000-fold magnification, allowing for visualization of the viral participles that students isolated and purified over the course of the semester.

Carter Mavromatis '12 and Dr. Loesser observe "Fhageblaster", a phage isolated by Carter from Virginia Beach, VA

The electron microscope pictures provide valuable clues about the evolution of each individual phage and how they relate to phages isolated around the world by scientists at dozens of other colleges and universities.

"Arturo", isolated by Duncan Oliphant '12 near the Sagebrook apartments just off the H-SC campus

"VenaBlue", isolated by Sam Smith '13 near Venable Hall on the H-SC campus