December 18, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Blood Relative’s Injury Spurred Red Cross Club President

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Senior Cindy Ramirez plans to pursue a career in internal medicine, but the Mary Washington biology major is already putting her studies to work as an EMT and president of UMW’s Red Cross club.

Senior Cindy Ramirez plans to pursue a career in internal medicine, but the Mary Washington biology major is already putting her studies to work as an EMT and president of UMW’s Red Cross club.

Cindy Ramirez was 8 years old when her sister was injured in a sledding accident that broke her sacrum, a pelvic bone that supports the weight of the upper body.

“I was really nervous, but all I could think about in that moment was how I could help her,” said Ramirez, now a senior at the University of Mary Washington. “That was when I realized I wanted to pursue a career in medicine.”

This future physician is on her way to earning her white coat and stethoscope. An honors student majoring in biology, Ramirez has spent countless days and pulled all-nighters in the Jepson Science Center, memorizing organs, muscles and bones – like the one her sister broke – which will be essential when she attends medical school.

But Ramirez is already applying this critical knowledge. Her four-month training as an EMT wraps up in January, which happens to be National Blood Donor Month. Between rides with the Fredericksburg Rescue Squad, she heads UMW’s Red Cross club, an organization she’s been involved with since her early days at Mary Washington. Read more.

Wild Encounters Prepared Alumna for Zoo Job

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Nikki Maticic ’14 earned her stripes – and a UMW biology degree – after impactful study abroad trips to South Africa and the Galápagos Islands. She’s now an animal keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Photo courtesy of Nikki Maticic.

Nikki Maticic ’14 earned her stripes – and a UMW biology degree – after impactful study abroad trips to South Africa and the Galápagos Islands. She’s now an animal keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Photo courtesy of Nikki Maticic.

Cage diving with great white sharks. Swimming alongside humpback whales. Getting close to lions and leopards on an African safari.

It sounds like a nature TV show, but it’s not. It’s how Nikki Maticic ’14 spent one summer break as a Mary Washington student.

Now she cares for lions, tigers and Andean bears – oh, my! – as well as farm animals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Her dream job as an animal keeper became a reality thanks to a UMW biology degree and study abroad trips to South Africa and the Galápagos Islands. Read more.

In celebration of International Education Week 2019, Nov. 18 to 22, UMW shares stories of students who have studied abroad. One in three Mary Washington students volunteers, interns, conducts research, or joins a faculty-led trip or other UMW-approved experience outside the United States, according to Center for International Education (CIE) Director Jose Sainz. Visit CIE or call (540) 654-1434 for more information.

Nikki Maticic swam with giant tortoises during her study abroad trip to the Galápagos Islands. Photo by Nikki Maticic.

Nikki Maticic swam with giant tortoises during her study abroad trip to the Galápagos Islands. Photo by Nikki Maticic.

Smithsonian Partnership Lets Students Explore Endangered Species

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Thanks to a new partnership with the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, Mary Washington students will soon have the opportunity to study clouded leopards and other endangered species with Smithsonian scientists. Photo by Evan Cantwell/George Mason University.

Thanks to a new partnership with the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, Mary Washington students will soon have the opportunity to study clouded leopards and other endangered species with Smithsonian scientists. Photo by Evan Cantwell/George Mason University.

Imagine getting up close and personal with the world’s most endangered species – and then having the chance to save them.

Thanks to a partnership with the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC), Mary Washington students will soon have that experience. They’ll spend a semester working directly with these animals and learning from Smithsonian scientists and George Mason University professors at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, nestled at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The agreement comes just as UMW’s biology department introduces a new major in conservation biology. Read more. 

Waters Featured in Inside Higher Ed on Technology-Enabled Learning

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Assistant Professor Biology Parrish Waters

Assistant Professor Biology Parrish Waters

Assistant Professor of Biology Parrish Waters was featured in an article in Inside Higher Ed entitled “Looking Back on this Year’s Classroom Experiments.” In a previous article from last fall, professors across the country shared the technologies they were planning on testing in the classroom; now they reflect on their successes and shortcomings. According to the recent article, Waters said that he tried “encouraging student engagement with help from a formative assessment tool, which he’d used in the classroom previously, but without a cohesive strategy.” Read more. 

Biology Professors Publish Paper in Virginia Journal of Science

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Deborah O’Dell, associate professor of biological sciences, and Andrew Dolby, professor of biological sciences, have had their paper, “A Comparison of Techniques Measuring Stress in Birds,” published in the Virginia Journal of Science.

This paper was co-authored with  former UMW Biology students Michael A. Carlo, Abigail Kimmitt, Ellen Bikowski and Katherine R. Morris

Michael Killian and Dianne Baker Present at ABLE Conference and Publish Paper

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Michael Killian, senior lecturer in Biological Sciences, and Dianne Baker, associate professor of Biological Sciences, had their paper “Corralling Wiggling Worms- Collecting Data for a Multi-Week Laboratory on the Effect of  Various Treatments on the Pulsation Rate of the Dorsal Vessel of California Blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus)” published in Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching, Proceedings of the 34th WorkShop/Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). This peer-reviewed paper was written in support of an invited presentation (workshop) given at the annual ABLE conference at UNC-Chapel Hill, June 21, 2012.

Dianne Baker

Dianne Baker

Michael Killian

Michael Killian