Jeffrey Bell - 2018 Educator of the Year Portfolio by Northland Community & Technical College

DR. JEFFREY

BELL Biology Instructor

MINNESOTA STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO 2017 - 2018

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT January 26, 2018 Dr. Ron Anderson Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs 30 7th St E. Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101-7804 RE: Board of Trustees â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Educator of the Year Dear Vice Chancellor Anderson: It is truly a pleasure for me to endorse Dr. Jeffrey Bell, Biology faculty member, as Northland Community and Technical Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2018 nominee for the Board of Trustees Educator of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching. Jeffrey has been at Northland since 2003 in an Adjunct Faculty role and since 2008 as a full-time faculty member. He has always demonstrated what continuous improvement is all about while epitomizing the community college mission. Dr. Bell has been an exemplary faculty member, colleague, and community member. His work in the classroom is outstanding and clearly evident in the relationship he has with his students during and after his classes. He teaches not only first and second year students but is a key instructor for the Biology Department on the East Grand Forks campus. His dedication to students shows with their work because he understands their needs, working hard for all his students, at all levels. When they move upward in their academic and professional careers, they never forget the person he is and how his dedication made them the best possible person. Dr. Bell has demonstrated personal dedication to his profession through numerous publications, presentations to regional, national, and international groups, and active participation in research connected to Ornithology. In addition to his professional character, Dr. Bell also demonstrates tremendous community connections along with his commitment to the college. He has served as a Phi Theta Kappa co-advisor, president of his MSCF chapter, and similar roles for students through study nights and fundraisers. He continues to serve the college through participation in the Assessment and Program Review Committee, Service Learning Committee, and Transfer Advisory Group. While many employees are in the same company, few rise to the same level. Thank you for your consideration of Jeffrey Bell for this award. He truly exemplifies the qualities of Educator of the Year and is well deserving of this honor. Sincerely,

Dennis Bona, Ed.D DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO President

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CONTENTS Section 1: Teaching Philosophy................................................................................................................................. 1 Section 2: Teaching Strategies & Materials............................................................................................................... 3 Section 3: Content Expertise and Professional Growth...........................................................................................8 Section 4: Service to Students, Profession & Institution.......................................................................................10 Section 5: Standards For Assessment of Student Learning & Performance......................................................... 12 Section 6: Curriculum Vitae................................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix 1. Student Letters of Recommendation................................................................................................. 21 Appendix 2. Additional Student Quotes................................................................................................................24 Appendix 3. Formative Assessment Examples....................................................................................................... 27 Appendix 4. Summative Assessment Examples with Associated Rubrics........................................................... 41 Appendix 4. Publications........................................................................................................................................ 55

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S EC T I O N I

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY “Dr. Jeffrey Bell is a great teacher, the best for Anatomy and Physiology. He made it really easy to attend class and lab because he’s a really great lecturer.” - Anatomy and Physiology Student, Class of 2012

s a biology teacher, I believe my job is to not merely present facts, but rather to explain their importance and how they interconnect to explain complex life processes. It is very easy for students to become lost in memorizing facts, missing the big picture. Like an old graduate professor always said “We all too often miss the forest for the trees”. It is crucial to not just simply memorize facts, but to develop critical thinking skills. The ability to think critically and to understand the interconnectivity of information and ideas is essential for academic success, which I stress in my courses. In my courses, I ask my students to always be conscious of the big picture. Why is this information important? How are these structures connected? What is the significance? When we discuss the structure of the brain, we look at how damage to specific brain region affects the body. In this way I use dysfunction to teach both function and structure and better cement in the students’ minds the complexities of the brain. For example, the students will understand the function of the corpus callosum in relaying information between cerebral hemispheres because we watched and discussed a clip about a man who struggled due to a severed one. For the proper development of critical thinking skills it is essential to give the students an ability to assess these skills and the chance to improve on them. One of the ways I have found to do this is by asking thought provoking questions. My exams always include short answer and essay questions, which ask the students to use what they have learned in class and put it together in a novel way, to truly assess their ability to think critically. I find that the students’ skills grow throughout the semester and by the final exam they are really thinking in terms of big ideas and concepts, not just memorizing facts. Page 1

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Students also need opportunities to develop skills in an environment that is not directly tied to a large summative assessment, so they can do so without the fear of failure. In all of my Anatomy and Physiology labs the sole assessment for each lab is the completion of a lab quiz. Each lab quiz is really a skill check, where the students must successfully complete the skills associated with the lab. For example, when we cover the muscular system in Anatomy and Physiology 1, the students must successfully identify fifteen muscles of my choosing before they can successfully complete the lab. When a student is ready, I ask them a random list of the muscles they have been working on the lab. The activity is not simply pass or fail, if a student struggles with identifying the muscles I will help them, or tell them to work on them some more and I will come back to them. They can also use their materials as an aid in identification. This allows them to not only work on the material, but also to assess how well they are comprehending the material in real time and make the appropriate corrections. The labs quizzes also mirror what they will be doing later, when they take the large lab practical. I only recently started using these type of lab quizzes, and have seen a letter grade improvement in lab practical grades. This points to one of the most critical aspects of teaching, that it truly is a dynamic process. I am continuing changing not only how I present information, but also how I assess the mastery of that information, including best practices that I have learned from colleagues or professional development activities. The previous class example on teaching brain dysfunction also helps to illustrate another key component of my teaching, making learning interesting and exciting, which is essential in the sciences. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of just relaying facts, and to miss the exciting stories, processes, and explanations of the world around and inside of us. I am always trying to instill in my students that science is exciting and fun and we are all in fact scientists trying to unravel the mysteries around us. I find the best way to do this is to always relate topics to real world examples, to tell exciting and interesting stories, to present examples using available videos, animations, and virtual software, and to sprinkle in a sense of humor. I believe this makes the material more accessible to the students and makes it far easier for them to draw connections. When we discuss the skeleton and the role of Growth hormone (GH), I illustrate its importance with two widely recognized video clips, the Lollipop Guild from the Wizard of Oz (insufficient GH) and Andre the Giant (too much GH) from the Princess Bride. The students laugh, but more importantly they instantly make the connection to Growth hormone and its functions. These types of activities facilitate learning and critical thinking, and always make the process fun. This is essential, for if students find learning fun they are more apt to become life long learners, and this really is the ultimate goal of any teacher. I believe an open environment is the best way to harbor such learning experiences in the classroom, an environment that not only supports but encourages the diversity of ideas and the diversity of students. I create this environment by encouraging the asking of questions, discussing ideas, and sharing of information from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Questions are a great tool to begin discussions, and better hone those critical thinking skills. In biology I find that the students all have experiences or expertise to share and this is a great resource to facilitate learning. In sharing of this information, students build as sense of community within the classroom, realizing that they we are all pulling together for their success. This past semester, while covering the digestive system, a student with Crohnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease shared her experience with the class, including images from her small intestine. The students asked great, intuitive questions of her, and I could really see them start to put the pieces together. I believe that fostering such exchanges enriches the experience for all involved and makes biology real and tangible, not just words on a page. In all of my teaching that is my ultimate goal, to make the topics interesting, applicable, and entertaining for if I do all of that the students will learn, and if they learn they will succeed, and their success is my true purpose and best reward. DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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S EC T I O N I I

TEACHING STRATEGIES & MATERIALS

s a science teacher I teach two different sections, lecture and lab, within each of my courses. Although they cover often interrelated material, they require different organizational and teaching skills to be successful. Walking the balance between presenting information in lecture and coordinating hands on activities in lab can be difficult, but when done correctly the two nicely reinforce one another. To facilitate such a relationship in my courses I use labs to focus on identification and experimentation while presenting concepts and drawing connections during lecture. In lectures I present information by using projected outlines with associated figures and pictures and then use the board to further explain the material, using detailed diagrams and drawings. Even though technology offers many benefits I still find using the board as an extremely effective way to cover material, only relying on my PowerPoint® slides to help orientate students to the main points while setting the “agenda” for each topic and to present pictures and videos. I find drawing on the board as a great method to draw students into a topic, something that simply talking about or presenting text on a slide will never accomplish. During lectures I continually bring in pertinent information, either directing students to current advancements in a particular field, explaining how a specific disease can alter the biology and physiology of the body, or even brining in my own research experience. I foster student interaction by asking questions that require students to synthesis information, often leading to in class discussions on a specific topic. Labs are where I had my first teaching experience, as a teaching assistant (TA) in graduate school, and I still believe it is where I do some of my best teaching. Labs provide direct one on one interaction with students, allowing for not only direct instruction but also the ability to develop strong student/teacher relationships while helping students understand the material. When I was a TA our department head would hold a meeting with all teaching assistants each semester to go over his expectations. Always number one on his list was, “If you are sitting at the front during lab you are not teaching” and he would often walk around the building to check that we weren’t sitting in front of the lab while students worked. He wanted us to interact directly with students, to be an active participant in the lab. This is something I took to heart and continue to do to this day, never sitting during my labs, even on days where I teach six hours of lab straight. By continually moving around during lab students are more apt to ask me questions, I can quickly spot students struggling with the material, and I can offer a helpful push in the right direction when needed. This approach make my labs a true hands on experience for not only the students but also myself, and promote the idea that we are all in this together, all pulling in the same direction, towards their success. Page 3

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Technology plays an important role in lab instruction, for Anatomy and Physiology labs we have a virtual dissection table (80 inch touch screen table) that students can use to explore human anatomy. Students use BodyViz速, a cutting edge virtual human dissection software, which allows students to actually fly through the human body, make annotations, and create custom content. BodyViz速 uses human imagining to present a 3D model of the human body and is used by doctors and hospitals throughout the country. The virtual dissection table also runs a variety of other softwares, including Visible Body速 and Anatomy Revealed速. Students not only enjoy using this giant tablet, but also can connect activities in lab to real human anatomy. In both Anatomy and Physiology and Biological Principles labs we have microscope mounted cameras that connect to 60 inch high definition televisions. I use the microscope/camera set up to help students with their own microscopy work during lab. As we work through specific slides I put an example of the slide up for everyone to see, this helps them to develop a search image of what they are looking for under the microscope. During Biological Principles 2 labs we look at living organisms under both compound and dissection microscopes I used the camera system quite often to present these organisms to the students. The camera system allows students to more quickly develop microscopy skills, which eases their apprehension in using the microscope and reduces their frustration. I use the microscope cameras to take still pictures of all the slides we look at during labs, which I post in D2L/Brightspace for students to use for exam preparation. In designing all of my courses I have aligned learning objectives with both assessment methods and teaching and learning actives. I often provide this information to students within the course syllabus as shown for Advanced Physiology BIOL 2256 (Table 1). Learning Objectives 1) Understand mechanisms involved in body functioning 2) Define the interaction and integration of body processes 3) Predict or evaluate the outcome of biological situations 4) Utilize current events to generate responses regarding biological and ethical issues 5) Analyze data for interpretation (ILO 2)

Methods of Assessing Learning Exams/quizzes, minute papers

Teaching and Learning Activities Lecture and discussion

Helpful Resources

Exams/quizzes, minute papers, case studies

Lecture, discussion, case studies

Textbook, online resources

Exams/quizzes, case studies

Lecture, case studies

Textbook, online resources

Research paper, case studies

Practical examples, videos, case studies

Textbook, online resources, case studies

Research paper, case studies

Peer review, case studies

Videos, case studies, research paper examples

Textbook, online resources

For each of my courses I have provided explanation on course makeup, students served, and course design/materials that differ from the general model I follow in my all my courses Examples of both formative and summative assignments for the courses detailed below can be found in Appendices 3 and 4. I have provided detailed information for my land (face to face) courses only, since they constitute the vast majority of both my teaching load and experience. I have taught Advanced Physiology (2 occasions), Anatomy and Physiology 1 (3 occasions), Anatomy and Physiology 2 (1 occasion), Biological Principles 1 (1 occasion), and Environmental Sciences (1 occasion) online. In all of my online courses I provide students with detailed week by week assignment calendars, recorded lectures, virtual laboratory activities, and a variety of both formative and summative assessments. In constructing my online courses I have followed the Quality Matters standards and rubrics.

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Advanced Physiology (BIOL 2256) Advanced Physiology is a capstone type course that students take after completing Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2. Most of the students that take Advanced Physiology are nursing students pursing their Registered Nursing degree. The course meets twice a week for lecture, with a class capacity of forty students. Advanced Physiology focuses on several of the most complex physiological processes within the human body, often including complex biochemical pathways. For these reasons students find this course challenging so to aid students in comprehension and give opportunities to improve their mastery of the material, I provide case study activities for each of the course units. These case studies allow students to apply the material we learn in class to real world scenarios. For example, in the cardiology case study they need to interpret electrocardiograms and describe what is happening in a patient’s heart. We work on the case studies together in class, almost like a lab setting, students working in small groups as I walk around to answer questions or provide guidance. Although, the case studies are graded, they are only graded in terms of completion, if they are complete the student receives full credit. I correct any mistakes and hand them back to the student and they can then use them to prepare for the exam. Detailed keys are also posted in D2L/Brightspace for each case study. In this way the case study works as a formative assessment tool for them to gain mastery of the material they will see again on the exam (summative assessment). I have found the case studies to be a great tool in helping the students understand very complex physiological processes. An example of a case study is found in Appendix 3. Students also write a research paper on a disease of their choice. The paper focuses not only on the aspects of the disease, but also on how it alters normal human physiology. To aid students in writing their papers, students turn in a rough draft that is edited for content and grammar, and students also take part in peer review of another student’s paper. The research paper assignment and associated rubrics can be found in Appendix 4.

Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 (BIOL 2252, 2254) Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 cover human anatomy and physiology and are prerequisites for all of the health programs on campus. The vast majority of students in both courses are health program students, with students taking the courses in series. In each course lectures contain forty-eight students and meet twice a week. Each lecture section is split into two lab sections, each meeting once a week. In lectures we focus on the physiological processes of the body, whereas in lab we cover the anatomical structures. During lecture I continually stress the importance of “form equals function”, forming connections between the structures we have learned in lab with the physiological concepts we are covering in lecture.

“I just wanted say thank you so much, you have been the best professor I have had here at Northland. Your lectures are so informative and it’s so obvious that you sincerely want your students to learn and do well in your classes. I didn’t have to take Advanced Physiology this semester but I did just because I knew you were teaching it. Thank you.” - Advanced Physiology Student, 2012 We cover a lot of material during the semester in both courses and with only two days a week to do so, I do spend quite amount of time with classic lecture. However, we do a variety of different active learning and formative assessment assignments in class. I often use short five minute quizzes to check the understanding of the material. I write five short questions on the board, have students write down answers, and then we go through them. I also use a variety of short assignments/activities as well, for example in Anatomy and Physiology I use Tissue Bingo (see Appendix 3) to help with comprehension of the tissue types in the body, and in Anatomy and Physiology 2 I use a Digestion explanation sheet (see Appendix 3) to help with understanding of enzymatic function in digestion. Page 5

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

In labs for both courses I use weekly skill check quizzes to help students with identification of anatomical structures and to prepare them for eventual lab practicals. For each lab the student must be able to successfully demonstrate either the skills we are learning that lab or their mastery of the material. Students have as many attempts as necessary to complete the quiz, giving them a chance to both build understanding and to practice the material while getting direct feedback. Since I have implanted these quizzes in lab, I have found that students are not only more dedicated to the material during lab but also have significantly increased their comprehension of the material. For example, in Anatomy and Physiology 1 the average on the skeleton and muscle lab practical has increased from 62% to 74%, since using these lab quizzes. Using these quizzes has had the unanticipated, yet welcomed effect of increasing both student to student and student to instructor interaction in the labs. Examples of lab quizzes for both courses can be found in Appendix 3.

Biological Principles 1 and 2 (BIOL 1111, 1112) Biological Principles 1 and 2 serve as introductory courses to the biological sciences. Very few programs on campus required these courses so the majority of students are taking these are part of a liberals art associates degree or to transfer to another institution. Each course contains twenty-four students that meet three times a week for lecture and once a week for lab. For many students Biological Principles 1 is their first introduction to a college level science course, which for many students can be a challenge in simply keeping up with the amount of material we cover. Biological Principles 1 also covers some of the most difficult concepts in biology, including detailed biochemical pathways, cell processes, molecular biology, and evolution. I know that these topics can be difficult for students to understand so I break up lecture with a variety of different in class activities that give students amply opportunities to work through the material. For example, when we cover cellular respiration and photosynthesis, which include memorizing long biochemical pathways, I provide students with in class worksheets on the concepts and reactions of these two processes. We spend a full lecture period working on each worksheet, where I continually walk around the room providing feedback and answering

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff is an amazing instructor and is very understanding. I would recommend him for all Anatomy classes.â&#x20AC;? - Anatomy and Physiology I Student, 2016

questions. An example of one of these worksheets is found in Appendix 3. I use other such activities through the semester, including activities on cell division, evolution (see Appendix 3), and molecular biology. Biological Principles 1 labs use experimentation to help students conceptualize the material and processes we have covered in lecture. For every lab we either do a direct experiment or simulation, where students have to not only carry out the experiment/simulation but also explain how the results tie into the material we are covering. At the end of each of the lab students write their data on the board with each group giving a short synopsis of their results and their importance. I have found that this really helps students to draw connections between lab and lecture material and further demonstrates the importance of the scientific method and experimentation. Keeping labs topical can be an issue for any course, but by bringing in real world examples and using available scientific data my labs are continually connected to the current direction of the larger scientific field. In a lab covering phylogenetics students actually download available sequence data and construct phylogenetic trees using available software and present their results to each other, as they would if they were preparing a publication. This activity exposes students to the process of scientific data analysis and how real data can be used to answer scientific hypotheses.

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Biological Principles 2 covers both the diversity of life and aspects of physiology, ecology, biogeography, and behavior. The first half of the semester focuses on covering the many different taxonomic groups of living organisms. To further emphasize this material students also work on a semester long group project. Each group picks an organism of interest and then must find a current published scientific paper on this organism. The group then presents a 15 minute presentation to the class. The presentation includes both a background on the organism and then explains in detail all aspects of the scientific work and its merits, as they would do if presenting at a scientific meeting. The format of the presentations thus follows a scientific meeting with abstracts provided beforehand and strict timing rules during. Students not only enjoy presenting their work, but also ask informative questions during the presentations. A portion of the final exam comes from information that is presented during the two days of presentations. For the assignment and associated presentation grading rubric please see Appendix 4. When we finish the first half of the semester, haven finished covering all the different groups of organisms we have an in class debate, on whether birds or mammals present the pinnacle of animal evolution. The class is split in half and students use all of what they have learned to try to form the best arguments to support their side, there is really no correct answer just a fun thought exercise on what make makes a group of organisms evolutionary advanced. During the second half of the semester in Biological Principles 2 I use a variety of demonstrations and games to help explain complex aspects of ecology and behavior. For example when we cover evolutionary ecology I use the hawkdove game that was first describe by John Maynard Smith and George Price to help explain aggressive behavior in animals (see Appendix 3). Students interact with one another as either hawks (always attack) or doves (never attack) to understand the evolutionary cost of aggression. This is not only a fun activity, but students quickly learn a rather complex example of how evolutionary forces can govern behavior. Labs in Biological Principles 2 are structured to survey the diversity of life, with every week covering a different taxonomic group of organisms, beginning with prokaryotes and ending with mammals and birds. For each lab

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just wanted to thank you again for an exciting and fulfilling year. I love biology and I enjoyed everything about the two biology classes.â&#x20AC;? - Biological Principles II Student, 2011

students are provided with a list of organisms and associated structures they are responsible for identifying. We look at a variety of live and preserved specimens and perform several different dissections. To aid students in keeping track of all the material that we cover, students prepare a semester long lab notebook. In their notebook they make detailed stretched of everything they look at throughout the semester, including detailed notes and labeled diagrams. The students are really creating their own field guides during the semester while being exposed to a vast diversity of life forms and learning along the way. During the semester we have four different practical exams and the students can use their notebooks during the exam, which reinforces the effort they have put into creating them. Students hand in their notebooks at the end of each exam and I grade them for content, level of detail, and organization. Over the years students have created many exceptional notebooks, some that could easily be used to teach from. In our last lab we take a field trip to the area that I run a bird banding land in the summers and students get to help capture and band birds. In this way they get to participate in active scientific research while also having the opportunity to observe birds close up and even hold them. This field trip serves as a great capstone for the Biological Principles 2 course.

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CONTENT EXPERTISE AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH Educational Background Ever since early childhood I have been interested in science, in learning everything I could about the natural world around me. Whether it was learning about every different dinosaur or being able to identify all the different insects in my backyard, science has always been a part of my life. It was natural then that I pursued science throughout my academic career. Although chemistry and physics at times took sway over my thoughts, it was biology that was my true calling and love. After graduating high school, I attended the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay (UWGB) and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. While attended UWGB I took an Ornithology course, which changed the course of academic and professional career. I became engrossed in learning all I could about Ornithology and bird identification, quickly becoming involved in several research projects as an undergraduate including my own self-directed project. These research experiences drove me to continue my education and attend graduate school at North Dakota State University (NDSU), where I completed a Master’s degree in 2002 studying the acoustical behavior of Downy (Picoides pubescens) and Hairy (Picoides villosus) Woodpeckers. After completing my Master’s I worked in research for five years at the University of North Dakota (UND) and began my teaching career at Northland Community and Technical College in 2008. However, the quest to continue my academic career and further develop as a scientist pushed my back to higher education. I enrolled at the University of North Dakota in January of 2013 to pursue my Ph.D., studying avian malaria within the Brazilian Amazon. As I pursued my Ph.D. I continued to teach full time at Northland, yet I was still able to complete my degree in only three and a half years, graduating in the spring of 2016. Going back for my doctorate has really reinvigorated my teaching. First, it has reactivated my interests in research, which has directly improved my courses. I not only keep up on new research in my field I also maintain a RSS feed of current publications from over 40 journals covering various scientific disciplines. I infuse this new information into all of my classes, keeping up with current developments, while also demonstration the importance of science as a discipline for there are always new things to learn. Second, and most importantly it has given me a great lens into what it is to be a student. Too often as teachers we forget what it is be a student, falling into the trap of just teaching a specific way because we think it is effective, without trying to see it from the other side. As a student again I realized that some of the ways I was teaching weren’t really the best methods, for as I student I saw that they were either ineffective, frustrating, or confusing. I was also exposed to new teaching methods and strategies, many of which I found to be extremely effective. Both of these experiences DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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have thoroughly changed my teaching style, and I find myself a much different and much better teacher than I was before. I am ever adapting to new methods and strategies now, so to best serve my students, and since each class, each semester is a new experience, being willing to adapt on the fly, to teach things differently, always remembering what it was like when I was a student again.

Teaching Experience and Professional Development My first teaching experience was as a student in my high school Advanced Biology class, where I taught a lab on bacterial transformation. That opportunity sparked my interest in teaching and put me on the path to becoming a teacher. Throughout my Master’s degree I was a teaching assistant in Anatomy and Physiology and Chordate Morphology labs and taught field courses for elementary teachers as part of the Education Program at NDSU. My first experience running an entire course was when I served as a sabbatical replacement instructor in 2003 at Northland Community and Technical College. I left teaching for five years to work on West Nile virus at UND, returning to teaching in 2008 when I accepted a full time unlimited position back at Northland. I have loved my time teaching at Northland these past ten years, and cherish the many wonderful experiences I have had as teacher. I delight in my student’s success and feel that all I do in the classroom should aid in their success. To serve this end I am continually improving as a teacher, incorporating best practices, learning from the wealth of knowledge that my colleagues at Northland possess, and attending professional development workshops. The one lesson I learned long ago and still use every day is the importance of being kind, of always being there to help students in any capacity, this is really what I feel being a teacher is all about.

Scholarly and Research Activity I have been actively involved in research since I was an undergraduate student at UWGB, but my activity has greatly increased in the past several years. I help co-run a bird banding station outside of Crookston, Minnesota each summer. Our project is part of the national Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program. This projects allows me to stay active within Ornithology and bird monitoring and also exposed students at both the University of MinnesotaCrookston and Northland to aspects of scientific research. Over the years, we have trained ten students in aspects of bird banding. During my Ph.D. I worked on avian malaria within the Brazilian Amazon, sampling over four thousand birds for the presence of these parasites. I continue to work in this field, actively collaborating with colleagues both within the United States and in Brazil, presenting at scientific meetings, and publishing regularly. This past June I spent ten days in Brazil collecting additional samples. My active research program exposes my students to experiences that are similar to what they would find in a larger four year institution, yet with the benefit of a community college’s close student to teacher relationships. To date I have authored or coauthored 16 publications and have presented at various regional, national, and international meetings (see my curriculum vitae -Section 6 and Appendix 5). Just this past September I presented at the 3rd International Congress of Parasites of Wildlife in Kruger National Park, South Africa. I attend at least one scientific meeting each year, which not only allows me to interact with colleagues, but also to be exposed to the some of the most current advances in Parasitology and Ornithology. This information is then directly incorporated back into my classes. For example at the recent meeting in South Africa there was a symposium on human malaria, covering some of the most recent discoveries on the evolution of human malarial parasites. A month after returning from the meeting, we discussed the immune system in my Anatomy and Physiology I course and I spent half of a day’s lecture going over this material and how these new insights may help us in fighting malaria in humans. The role of education is to expose students to new information, to give them the opportunity to expand their knowledge and if I hadn’t attended that meeting, my students would not have had that opportunity.

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SERVICE TO STUDENTS, PROFESSION & INSTITUTION Service to students

he greatest service I can give students it to prepare them to be successful, successful not only in my courses, but also throughout their career. Whether they are completing a specific degree or transferring to another institution, by aiding students in developing quality critical thinking skills I am preparing them for future academic and professional success.

My service to students extends beyond helping them to succeed academically. I truly feel that it is my duty to help any Northland student succeed, whether it is something as simple as helping a lost student find the correct classroom, helping students track down the correct office in administration, or just offering a sympathetic ear when times are tough. Student life is an important part of a student’s experience at Northland and I’ve been involved in various student life activities over the years. I have served as the co-advisor of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) National Honor’s Society, continuing my support of this society even after stepping down as advisor, often speaking at PTK events. I have taken part in student life club sponsored study nights, where faculty are available to help students prepare for their final exams. I’ve offered my bowling talent to faculty versus student bowling fundraisers for student life clubs and have presented different topics at various student success days. I even gave the faculty address/speech at our graduation banquet on two separate occasions.

Service to profession As a discipline science only prospers if we continue to communicate our findings to the community, develop and train new scientists, and support the greater scientific community. Community outreach is an important aspect of science and is something I have been involved with since I was an undergraduate student. I have presented aspects of my research to public library groups, members of The Audubon Society, the Boy Scouts, and to elementary schools, to name a few. Currently I co-run a bird banding station in Crookston, and over the years we have offered community open houses, where anyone who would like to learn more about birds and bird monitoring are welcome to attend. I have directly trained almost thirty undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of different scientific techniques, being directly involved in the successful completion of five Master’s degrees and one Ph.D. degree. I have trained students locally at the University of North Dakota, the University of Minnesota-Crookston, and Grand Forks Mosquito Control, DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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nationally at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and internationally at the Universidad de Concepciรณn in Chillรกn, Chile and the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso in Cuiabรก, Brazil. I am a member of several international scientific organizations, including the American Ornithological Society, American Society of Parasitologists, Malaria Research Network, Minnesota Ornithologist Union, and the National Audubon Society. As an active member of these organizations I support their missions and scientific outreach as well as having a voice in their direction. In this way I have direct role in supporting the importance of scientific inquiry. I continually add to scientific knowledge in the field of Ornithology and avian parasitology by maintaining an active research program with regular publications (see Appendix 5) and presentations at scientific meetings. Since 2015 I have authored or co-authored nine publications and have presented aspects of my research at scientific conferences five times. I also regularly review scientific manuscripts for journal publication, having recently reviewed manuscripts for four different scientific journals. I also stay active in two different citizen science projects, The Christmas Bird Count (Audubon Society) and Project FeederWatch (Cornell).

Service to institution

I serve Northland Community and Technical College in several ways. First, I am an active member of several key committees in the college; Assessment and Program Review Committee, Service Learning Committee, and the Transfer Advisory Group. I have been a member of the Assessment and Program Review Committee since 2011. In my role on this committee I was one of those tasked with helping to develop and implement institutional learner outcome (ILO) assessment for the entire college. I have presented ILO assessment information and reviewed current data at several faculty inservices, provided direct aid to faculty in implementing ILO assessment in their courses, aided in development of several of the ILO assessment rubrics, and have helped facilitate several work sessions on ILO and program level assessment. I also analyze all the ILO data collected each year and summarize those results for college reporting, both internally and what will be organized for our upcoming Higher Learning Commission visit. As a member of this committee I also help review annual and five year program reviews for the many different college programs. The goal of the Service Learning Committee was to develop a service learning requirement for the college, which we have successfully implemented this year. As a faculty member of this committee I provided feedback on best practices for implementing such a requirement into the liberal arts program at our college. On the Transfer Advisory Group I provide a faculty voice in questions of course transfer and college wide articulation agreements. Second, I have previously served faculty and the college as the president of our local MSCF chapter. As union president I worked directly with faculty and administration on a variety of important contractual issues. As union president I was also the faculty lead on the Shared Governance Council within the college, providing input from faculty into the decision making process. Finally, I aid in the college in recruiting future students. I have been involved for the past eight years in the annual spring career expo on campus. During the expo myself and other liberal arts faculty create and present short demonstrations and activities to incoming high school students on the merits of the liberal arts program. I also represent the college in the greater community as one of its members, always explaining in detail what our college does to any that ask. This may seem like a small role, but since our college has changed names and missions many times in past, first starting as a vocational school, many in the community do not really understand what we do here. In this way I serve as a direct college recruiter, explaining the benefits of attending our college and presenting all we have to offer. Also, the hundreds of successful students that I have taught over the years are now members of our community, sharing our story and helping recruit new students to our college. Page 11

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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STANDARDS FOR ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING & PERFORMANCE “Jeff is an AMAZING teacher, probably the best I have had at the college. He explains things very well and draws out complicated subjects on the board to further explain. He is respectful and understanding” - Anatomy and Physiology II Student, 2017

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S EC T I O N V I

CURRICULUM VITAE JEFFREY A. BELL, Ph.D. Northland Community and Technical College 2022 Central Ave NE East Grand Forks, MN 56721 Email: jeffrey.bell@northlandcollege.edu Office Phone: (218) 793-2640 EDUCATION 2013-2016

University of North Dakota, Ph.D. Biology Dissertation Title: Avian haemosporidian parasites from the Brazilian Amazon

1999-2002

North Dakota State University, M.S. Zoology Thesis Title: Comparison of two acoustical signals in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers.

1995-1999

University of Wisconsin- Green Bay, B.S. Biology

TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2008-present Biology Instructor (tenured), Northland Community and Technical College Courses taught: BIOL 1111 – Biological Principles 1 (on campus/online) BIOL 1112 – Biological Principles 2 (on campus) BIOL 2252 – Anatomy and Physiology 1 (on campus/online) BIOL 2254 – Anatomy and Physiology 2 (on campus/online) BIOL 2256 – Advanced Physiology (on campus/online) NSCI 2203 – Environmental Science (online) 2008

Adjunct Professor, Math, Science, and Technology Department, University of Minnesota Crookston Course taught: BIOL 2012 – General Zoology

2003

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Temporary Instructor, Northland Community and Technical College Courses taught: BIOL 1111 – Biological Principles 1 BIOL 2252 – Anatomy and Physiology 1 DR. JEFFREY BELLBIOL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO 2254 – Anatomy and Physiology 2

2000-2007

Zoology Instructor (Field courses), Biological Sciences Education Department,

Course taught: BIOL 2012 – General Zoology 2003

Temporary Instructor, Northland Community and Technical College Courses taught: BIOL 1111 – Biological Principles 1 BIOL 2252 – Anatomy and Physiology 1 BIOL 2254 – Anatomy and Physiology 2

2000-2007

Zoology Instructor (Field courses), Biological Sciences Education Department, North Dakota State University Field Courses taught: BIO 695 – Natural History of the Dakotas (2000, 2004), Natural History of North Dakota (2002, 2003, 2005), Natural History of the North Shore (2007)

1999-2002

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Zoology Department, North Dakota State University Courses taught (TA): ZOO 410 – Comparative Chordate Morphology BIO 220 – Human Anatomy and Physiology

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2016-present Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, University of North Dakota

2013-2016

Ph.D. Dissertation Research, Department of Biology, University of North Dakota. Avian haemosporidian parasites from the Brazilian Amazon

2011-present

Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Bird Banding Station, Natural Resources Department, University of Minnesota Crookston

2007

Consultant, Grand Forks Mosquito Control Program

2005-2008

Research Specialist, Research Networks for Enhancing Science and Technology (RNEST), Department of Biology, University of North Dakota

2003-2005

Research Associate, Department of Biology, University of North Dakota

1999-2002

Master’s Thesis Research, Zoology Department, North Dakota State University. Comparison of two acoustical signals in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers.

1998-1999

Research Assistant, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

1998

Undergraduate Research Project, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. Tree species preferences for nesting and feeding by woodpecker species at Point Sauble.

1997-1999

Bird Surveyor, Nicolet National Forest Breeding Bird Survey

PUBLICATIONS 2018 Fecchio, A., Bell, J.A., Collins, M.D., Farias, I.P., Trisos, C.H., Tobias, J.A., Tkach, V.V., Weckstein, J.D., Ricklefs, R.E., and Batalha-Filho, H. Diversification by host-switching and dispersal shaped the diversity and distribution of avian malaria parasites in Amazonia. Oikos. In review. 2018

Fecchio, A., Silveria, P., Weckstein, J.D., Dispoto, J., Anciaes, M., Tkach, V.V, and Bell, J. A. First record of Leucocytozoon (Haemosporida: Leucocytozoidae) in Amazonia: evidence for rarity in Neotropical lowlands or lack of sampling for this parasite genus? Journal of Parasitology. In press.

2018

Bell, J.A., González-Acuña, D., and Tkach, V.V. 2018. First record of Gyrabascus (Digenea, Pleurogenidae) from Dromiciops bozinovici D’Elia et al., 2016 (Marsupialia:Microbiotheriidae) in Chile and its phylogenetic relationships. Comparative Parasitology 85(1): In press.

2017

Fecchio, A., Pinheiro, R., Felix, G., Faria, I.P., Pinho, J.B., Braga, E.M., Farias, I.P., Alexio, A., Tkach, V.V., Collins, M.D., Bell, J.A., and Weckstein, J.D. 2017. Host community similarity and geography shape the diversity and distribution of haemosporidian parasites in Amazonian birds. Ecography doi:10.1111/ecog.03058.

2017

Fecchio, A., Ellis, V.A. Bell, J.A., Andretti, C.B., d’Horta, F.M., da Silva, A.M., Tkach, V.V, BELL | EDUCATOR THEtraits YEARand PORTFOLIO Page 16 and Weckstein, DR. J.D.JEFFREY 2017. Avian malaria, host lifeOF history mosquito abundance in southeastern Amazonia. Parasitology 144(8):1117-1132. doi: 10.1017/S003118201700035X.

(Marsupialia:Microbiotheriidae) in Chile and its phylogenetic relationships. Comparative Parasitology 85(1): In press. 2017

2017

Fecchio, A., Ellis, V.A. Bell, J.A., Andretti, C.B., dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Horta, F.M., da Silva, A.M., Tkach, V.V, and Weckstein, J.D. 2017. Avian malaria, host life history traits and mosquito abundance in southeastern Amazonia. Parasitology 144(8):1117-1132. doi: 10.1017/S003118201700035X.

2017

Fecchio, A., Svensson-Coehlo, M., Bell, J., Vincenzo, E., Medeiros, M., Trisos, C., Blake, J., Loiselle, B., Tobias, J., Fanti, R., Coffey, E., Inubata, F., Joao, P., Gabriel, F., Braga, E., Anciaes, M., Tkach, V., Bates, J., Witt, C., Weckstein, J., Ricklefs, R., and Izeni, F. 2017. Host associations and turnover of haemosporidian parasites in manakins (Aves: Pipridae). Parasitology 144(7):984-993. doi:10.1017/S0031182017000208 .

2016

Diaz, R.I., Manica, L.T., Gressler, D., Bell, J.A., and Fecchio. A. 2016. Plumage coloration, body condition, and immunological status in yellow-billed cardinals (Paroaria capitata). Ethology, Ecology, Evolution 28(4):462-476. doi:10.1080/03949370.2015.1077892.

2015

Bell, J.A., Weckstein, J.D., Fecchio, A., and Tkach, V.V. 2015. A new real-time PCR protocol for detection of avian haemosporidians. Parasites and Vectors 8:383 doi:10.1186/s13071-0150993-0.

2015

Lutz, H.L., Hochachka, W.M., Engel, J.I, Bell, J.A., Tkach, V.V., Bates, J.M., Hackett, S.J., and Weckstein, J.D. 2015. Parasite prevalence corresponds to host life history in a diverse assemblage of afrotropical birds and haemosporidian parasites. PLOS ONE 10(4): e0121254 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121254.

2013

Tkach, V.V., Curran, S.S., Bell, J.A., and Overstreet, R.M. 2013. A new species of Crepidostomum (Digenea: Allocreadiidae) from Hiodon tergisus in Mississippi and molecular comparison with three congeners. Journal of Parasitology 99(6):1114-1121.

2012

Vaughan, J.A., Mehus, J.O., Brewer, C.M., Kvasager, D.K., Bauer, S.,Vaughan, J.L., Hassan, H.K., Unnasch, T.R., and Bell, J.A. 2012. Theoretical potential of passerine filariasis to enhance the enzootic transmission of West Nile virus. Journal of Medical Entomology 49(6):1430-1441.

2011

Kuzmin, Y., Tkach, V.V., Synder, S.D, and Bell, J.A. 2011. Camallanus Railliet et Henry, 1915 (Nematoda, Camallanidae) from Australian freshwater turtles with descriptions of two new species and molecular differentiation of known taxa. Acta Parasitologica 56:213-226.

2007

Bell, L.E. and Bell, J.A. 2007. Yellow-breasted Chat in Polk County. The Loon 79:118.

2007

Vaughan, J.A., Bell, J.A., Turell, M.J., and Chadee, D.D. 2007. Passage of ingested Mansonella ozzardi microfilariae through the midgut of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 44:111-16.

2006

Bell, J.A., Brewer, C.B., Mickelson, N.J., Garmin,G.W., and Vaughan, J.A. 2006. West Nile virus epizootiology, central Red River Valley, North Dakota and Minnesota, 2002â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2005. Emerging Infectious Diseases 12:1245-1247.

2006

Zollner, G.E., Ponsa, N., Garmin, G.W., Poudel,S., Bell, J.A., Sattabongkot, J. Sattabongkot, R.E. Coleman, R.E and Vaughan, J.A. 2006. Population dynamics of sporogony for Plasmodium vivax parasites from western Thailand developing within three species of colonized Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria Journal. 5:68.

2006

Bell, J.A., Mickelson, N.J., and Vaughan, J.A. 2005. West Nile virus in host-seeking mosquitoes within a residential neighborhood in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 5:373-382.

PRESENTATIONS 2017 Bell, J.A., Fecchio, A., Weckstein, J.D., and Tkach, V.V. Diversity and trends in prevalence of avian malaria in the Brazilian Amazon. Third International Congress on Parasites of Wildlife, Kruger National Park, South Africa, September 24th, 2017. 2017

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Bell, J.A., Braatan, D., Suckow, B., and Welke, K. Do you see me know? Student engagement (Faculty Panel). Northland Community and Technical College, Fall In-service, East Grand Forks, MN, August 17th, 2017.

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

2016

Bell, J.A., Fecchio, A., Weckstein, J.D., and Tkach, V.V. Host life history traits predict the probability of avian malaria infection in the Brazilian Amazon. American Society of Parasitologists 91st Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 11th, 2016.

2016

Bell, J.A. Avian haemosporidian parasites from the Brazilian Amazon (Dissertation defense). Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, April 22nd, 2016.

2015

Bell, J.A., Fecchio, A., Weckstein, J.D., and Tkach, V.V. Haemosporidians of Amazonian birds. American Society of Parasitologists 90th Conference, Omaha, NE, June 26th, 2015.

2015

Bell, J.A. Haemosporidians of Amazonian birds. 2015 Graduate Scholarly Forum, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, March 11th, 2015.

2014

Bell, J.A. Haematozoa of southern Amazonian birds. Third International Workshop on Malaria and Related Haemosporidian Parasites, Shepherdstown, WV, July 31st, 2014.

2014

Bell, J.A. Avian pathogens (invited lecture). Grand Forks Audubon Society, Grand Forks, ND, May 22nd, 2014. Community Outreach

2014

Bell, J.A. Communication in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (invited lecture). Grand Forks Public Library-STEM CafĂŠ, Grand Forks, ND, February 4th, 2014. Community Outreach

2007

Vaughan, J.V., Bell, J.A., Brewer, C.B., Tkach, V.V., Hassan, H.K., Unnash,T.R., and Turell,M.J. Passerine filariasis and the rapid spread of West Nile virus- a real life example of microfilarial enhancement of arboviral transmission by mosquitoes. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 56th annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA, November 4-8, 2007 (Poster).

2007

Vaughan, J.V., Bell, J.A., Poudel,S., and Zimmerman, R.H. Age-dependant mortality in laboratory reared Anopholes stephensi mosquitoes. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 56th annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA, November 4-8, 2007 (Poster).

2007

Bell, J.A., Poudel,S., Brewer, C.B., Mickelson, N.J., Garman, G.W., Hanson, T., and Vaughan, J.A. Epizootiology of West Nile virus in the central Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, USA 2002-2006. Northern Plains Biological Symposium meeting, Grand Forks, ND, April 12th, 2007 (Poster).

2006

Bell, J.A., Poudel,S. Brewer, C.B., Mickelson, N.J., Garman, G.W., Hanson, T. and Vaugahn, J.A. Epizootiology of West Nile virus in the central Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, USA 2002-2006. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 55th annual meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 12-16, 2006 (Poster).

2005

Brewer, C.B., Bell, J.A., Basting, A., Tkach, V.V., and Vaughan, J.A. Microfilaria from passerine birds penetrate the midguts of floodwater mosquitoes: Implications for microfilarial enhancement of early season West Nile virus transmission within the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. American Society of TropicalMedicine and Hygiene 54th annual meeting, Washington DC, November 8-12, 2005 (Poster).

2005

Bell, J.A. Acoustical communication in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (invited lecture). University of Minnesota at Crookston, Crookston, MN, March 8th, 2005. Community Outreach

2004

Bell, J.A., Mickelson, N.J., Byzewski, A., Mehus, J.O., Schroeder, J., and Vaughan, J.A. Occurrence of West Nile virus in Grand Forks, North Dakota. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 53rd annual meeting, Miami, FL, November 7-11, 2004 (Poster).

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2004

Bell, J.A., Turrel, M.J., Chadee, D.D., and Vaughan, J.A. Penetration of Aedes aegypti midgets by ingested microfilariae of Mansonella ozzardi. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 53rd annual meeting, Miami, FL, November 7-11, 2004 (Poster).

2004

Schroeder J., Bell, J.A. Byzewski, A., Tkach, V.V., and Vaughan, J.A. Occurrence of Neorickettsia in digenean parasites. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 53rd annual meeting, Miami, FL, November 7-11, 2004 (Poster).

2004

Bell, J.A. West Nile virus and avian filariasis- at the RNEST annual review meeting, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, March 17th, 2004.

2004

Bell, J.A, Mickelson, N.J., and Vaugahn, J.A. West Nile virus surveillance in a Grand Forks neighborhood Graduate Scholarly Forum, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, March 4th, 2004 (Poster).

2002

Bell, J.A. Acoustical communication in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (Thesis defense). Department of Zoology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, May 5th, 2002.

2001

Bell, J.A. Woodpecker biology and behavior (invited lecture).Minnesota State University Moorhead Science Center, as part of the Birds of the World summer program for elementary school students, Hawley, MN, July 25th, 2001. Community Outreach

2001

Bell, J.A. Comparison of two acoustical signals in Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (invited lecture).Minnesota State University at Moorhead Science Center, as part of the Migratory Bird Day program, Hawley, MN, May 12th, 2001. Community Outreach

MANUSCRIPT PEER REVIEW Acta Parasitologica, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Parasitological Research, PeerJ MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS American Ornithological Society, American Society of Parasitologists, Malaria Research Coordination Network, Minnesota Ornithologist Union, National Audubon Society SERVICE Northland Community and Technical College 2016-present Service Learning Committee 2012-2013

Shared Governance Council

2012-2013

Minnesota State College Faculty Union President, EGF chapter

2011-present

Assessment and Program Review Committee

2011-2012

Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society co-advisor, EGF campus

2010-present Transfer Advisory Group University of North Dakota 2016-present Graduate Committee Member for Ph.D. student Tyler Achatz HONORS 2016

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Outstanding Ph.D. Research Award, Department of Biology, University of North Dakota

2016

Faculty Excellence Award, National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development

2002

Outstanding Graduate Student Award, North Dakota Chapter of the Wildlife Society

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

2001

Mortar Board National Honor Society Preferred Professor Award

2001

Outstanding Master’s Student in Zoology Award, North Dakota State University

1999

Graduate Recruiting Stipend Enhancement Award, North Dakota State University Graduate School

1999

James E. Casperson Memorial Scholarship, University of WisconsinGreen Bay

1998

Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges

1998

Tri Beta National Biological Honor Society

1998

Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society

1995

Wisconsin Public Service Foundation Award

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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Appendix 1. Student Letters of Recommendation November 27, 2017 To the Minnesota State Board of Trustees: It is my pleasure to offer the strongest possible reference for Dr. Jeff Bell. In the fall of 2010, I began taking classes at Northland Community and Technical College, and had the pleasure of having Dr. Bell as one of my instructors. I was highly impressed with his knowledge, organization, and passion for teaching. While taking Principles of Biology I from Dr. Bell in the fall, I quickly planned to enroll in his Principles of Biology II class as an elective the following semester. Dr. Bell made classes and lab assignments enjoyable, interesting, as well as challenging. His use of technology in the classroom and online, enhanced the overall learning environment. Between his lectures, online quizzes and study guides, field trips, and group projects, Dr. Bell utilized an assortment of teaching and learning methods, which enriched my experience and helped me become a more successful student. Dr. Bell constantly demonstrated his dedication to the field of biology and interest in the students at Northland College. On several occasions, I met with him in his office, or in passing, to ask questions or get advice, and he was always approachable, friendly, and helpful. Dr. Bell also served as a Northland College faculty advisor for a student organization I was involved with, and was an invaluable resource to myself and the other students who served on the committee. After I graduated from Northland Community College, I transferred to the University of North Dakota where I went on to earn both my bachelor and master degrees. I believe many of the habits and skills that helped me further my education, I learned at Northland, and several of them I learned from Dr. Bell. I was excited to learn that Dr. Bell was also at the University of North Dakota working on his Ph. D, and we even got a chance to have lunch together and catch up once and a while. It was my privilege to have Dr. Bell as an instructor, and my honor to call him my friend! If there is any need for further information, please feel free to contact me at (701) 7413474. I would be delighted to share any additional insights with you regarding Dr. Bell. Sincerely, Matt Mutzenberger

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Good Afternoon Dr. Castle, Please allow this letter to serve as a letter of recommendation for Dr. Jeffery Bell who is nominated for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Teaching. I have known Dr. Bell for nearly six years now. I was a student at Northland Community & Technical College, and while our paths did cross in the classroom, Dr. Bell and I quickly became acquainted because he was one of the most adept, friendly, and competent teachers I have ever met – and needed! I also worked with him when he was co-advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa Beta Nu Chapter and I was our vice-president at the time. As a result it has been my privilege and honor to watch Dr. Bell’s techniques to motivate students to become better leaders in society and successful members of our student body. Dr. Bell is well-known throughout the College for not only his teaching methods, but also his willingness to help students, determination to solve any challenge presented to him, and also his ever-present smile and enthusiasm. Dr. Bell has proven himself to be a dedicated instructor. He also cares about “quality” and “integrity”! I believe all of Dr. Bell’s educational and life’s experiences demonstrate that he is an effective leader and an active participant in his students’ development. He actively seeks any answers his students’ need to understand a concept, or situation. In my nearly 20 years of learning from the secondary level to graduate-level, I have met only a few like Dr. Bell who have demonstrated such an eagerness and dedication and commitment to teaching. I believe Dr. Bell is one of people who influenced me to further my education and that is why I am currently involved in graduate school. I personally his excellence in teaching makes him an excellent candidate for your award based on. Throughout our shared time together, I have been very impressed with Dr. Bell’s communication, class presentation, and organizational skills. He also possesses a wonderful sense of humor coupled with a high degree of professionalism and a quick mind. He appears to be quite serious about becoming the best teacher so as to benefit his students. Dr. Bell cares about what he does and that loyalty and attention to detail shows in many of the experiences we have shared. I believe Dr. Bell’s knowledge, background, and teaching experiences, including his excellent people skills and willingness to teach will make him the best nominee for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees Award, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Hussein Abd, Former student at Northland Community and Technical College

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To the Minnesota Board of Trustees: The topics covered in Dr. Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classes are far beyond my comprehensionâ&#x20AC;Ś but thanks to Jeff I was able to understand them. I was fortunate enough to have him for anatomy and physiology I and II and also for advanced physiology. I was impressed by his down to earth demeanor and the fact that if I had any question about anything in the human body no matter how strange or obscure he was able to answer it, he knows all the answers. I find that to be a very valuable quality to have in an instructor. He has an impeccable way of making complicated things easy to understand. Educators like him are few and far between I am grateful to have had him be a part of my journey to becoming a nurse. With warmest regards Anna Rousseau

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Appendix 2. Additional Student Quotes Additional Student Quotes from Emails and Evaluations “One of the best teachers at Northland. He is there for any questions we may have and explains things very well. The notes are well put together, and the case studies he has us do helps a lot. Wouldn't change a thing about him and his teaching, he's awesome.” Advanced Physiology student - 2010 “I really like this course. Jeff is a great instructor - by far one of the best I have had! He explains everything really well and is very good at helping you learn!” Anatomy and Physiology I student – 2010 “I just wanted to say thank you for your help. You are an awesome teacher and I'm glad I had you again. Thanks for a great semester and answering my questions! Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2010 “I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your class this semester. I'm sad to say I won't be taking the first part next fall but I'm going back to UND for chemical engineering with a sustainable energy concentration, possibly going on to get my masters in environmental engineering. It was your enthusiasm that helped solidify this decision for me. So thanks again.” Biological Principles II student - 2010 “Hey Jeff I just wanted to say that I always have a great time in your class and you make it easy to ask questions and understand. I think you’re a great teacher because you actually want us to understand and know the material. Thanks for being a good teacher!!!!” Biological Principles II student - 2010 “Hey Jeff, I just wanted to thank you again for an exciting and fulfilling year. I love biology and I enjoyed everything about the two biology classes.” Biological Principles II student - 2011 "I just wanted say thank you so much, you have been the best professor I have had here at Northland. Your lectures are so informative and it's so obvious that you sincerely want your students to learn and do well in your classes. I didn't have to take Advanced Physiology this semester but I did just because I knew you were teaching it. Thank you.” Advanced Physiology student - 2012 “Thank you Jeff. You are truly an amazing person!” Anatomy and Physiology student - 2012 “He's a great teacher, the best for Anatomy and Physiology. He made it really easy to attend class and lab because he's a really great lecturer.” Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2012 “He is one of the best teachers at Northland.” Biological Principles I student - 2012 DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

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“Thanks again Jeff for helping me out this semester with everything that was going on with my dad. I really appreciate it. I just wanted to let you know that it means a lot to me. You are a really great teacher.” Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2013 “Jeff, I don't know if I could ever thank you enough! It seriously means so much to me! I have always struggled with school and now having my daughter I finally have the motivation to finish! I work full time, do 3 to 4 classes on campus and I'm a single mom so my life is very busy! You have made it possible to be that much closer to accomplishing my dream! You’re a great teacher and everyone who is lucky enough to be in your classes are blessed! Thank you again and god bless!! ” Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2014 “Thanks, Jeff! You’re a wonderful teacher... Probably see you again another semester. :)” Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2014 “Jeff is great! I wish I was taking my other science classes from him. I really appreciate his drawings on the board. I feel like I have learned a lot through this way. I like how he has all of the notes uploaded on D2L as well as the study guides.” Anatomy and Physiology I student – 2015 “Hello, I just wanted to let you know how much fun your class was. You're easily one of my favorite instructors at the college. Thank you, have a great summer.” Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2015 “I took Anat&Phys with him, and biology is definitely not my specialty but Jeff made it really easy. His lectures are short and fantastic. He clearly knows what he's talking about, unlike the other biology teachers. Great teacher!” Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2015 “Jeff was a really great teacher. He explained the material in ways that helped me understand it. This class was a good investment of my time, but was also very challenging.” Advanced Physiology student - 2016 “The instructor is very well organized and well prepared. He explains his content well and gives access to detailed notes. The course overall is very well set-up.” Advanced Physiology student – 2016 “I would like to recommend this course to the other immigrant students because Jeffrey Bell is a great instructor for this course. I liked the way he deal with the subject matters and he is kind and helpful to the students.” Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2016 “Thank you so much for being one of the best teachers I've had. I greatly appreciate you.” Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2016

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff is an amazing instructor and is very understanding. I would recommend him for all Anatomy classes.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff is a great guy, and a wonderful professor! I'm very happy that I ended up in his class. His lectures aren't awful to listen to, and he is very understanding and willing to make any reasonable accommodations. I highly recommend him!â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Science is my hard subject, but I am really thankful to professor Jeffrey for your support and help. Your awesome teacher who always love and care us. I like your teaching lesson plan which help us easy to understand.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didn't get a chance to tell you after class but just wanted to say thank you for everything. You're a great teacher and I learned so much from you in A&P1 and A&P2. Thanks for all that you do.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just wanted to say thank you for this semester. I very much enjoyed your class and I think I have a better grasp on physiology than I ever have. You're a wonderful teacher and it makes the biggest difference in the success of your students. So, thanks for an awesome semester and I hope you have a wonderful break!â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x153;He's the best teacher at Northland, hands down. Lectures are easy to follow and understand. You learn a ton from him. And he's a great dude.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no suggestions. I love having Jeff as my teacher. He helps us learn the material, and draws pictures on the board so we understand the subject better.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff is an amazing instructor. He always returns graded tests and other homework right away and helps students in any way that he can.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology I student - 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jeff is an AMAZING teacher, probably the best I have had at the college. He explains things very well and draws out complicated subjects on the board to further explain. He is respectful and understanding.â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2017 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you so much for this semester and the previous one. It was an honor having you as a teacher. I've also enjoyed and learned more than I've learned in all of my classes. đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x160;đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x160;â&#x20AC;? Anatomy and Physiology II student - 2017

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Appendix 3. Formative Assessment Examples Cellular Respiration Worksheet

BIOL 1111

Name:________________ 1) Write out the equation for the process of cellular respiration. 2) Explain what redox reaction is, and give an example. 3) These two molecules serve as electron carriers in cellular respiration? 4) What are the two ways ATP is produced in Cellular respiration and during which reaction(s) do they occur. (Hint: both are types of phosphorylation)

5) What are the three reactions of cellular respiration and where do they occur?

6) What are the inputs and outputs of Glycolysis?

7) After Glycolysis if Oxygen is not present, what happens? 8) After Glycolysis if Oxygen is present, what happens? 9) What are the two types of Fermentation, what are their products, and in what organisms do they occur?

10) What are the inputs and outputs of the Citric Acid Cycle?

11) What reaction forms Acetyl CoA? Page 27

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12) The majority of ATP is produced during this reaction of Cellular respiration. 13) This enzyme produces ATP during the process of Chemiosmosis. 14) During the electron transport chain, electrons from ____ and ____ are passed to ______ complexes within the inner membrane. 15) This ion is pumped across inner membrane during the electron transport chain, setting up a concentration gradient. 16) Explain how the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis work to produce ATP.

17) During the electron transport chain, 1 NADH will produce _____ ATP, and 1 FADH 2 will produce ____ ATP.

18) Glycolysis produces _____ ATP, ____ NADH, the Bridge step produces ____ NADH, and the Citric Acid cycle produces ___ ATP, ____ NADH, and _____ FADH2.

19) How many total ATP are produced by Cellular respiration, and of the total how many are produced by the Electron transport chain.

20) These molecules contain twice as much energy as a molecule of glucose.

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21) Come up with a useful memory aid to remember the steps Glycolysis and the Citric Acid Cycle. (Example: Citric Acid cycle – Can I keep smiling sweetly for my ox).

22) Fill in the missing steps Glycolysis: Input: Glucose, 2 _____ Ouput: 2 __________2 ATP, 2_______

Citric Acid Cycle: Input: 2 _________ Ouput: 2 ATP, 6_____, 2 ______

Glucose

__________ ATP ADP

__________________ ___________ Fructose – 6 phosphate ATP ADP

Malic acid

___________________

NAD NADH

_____

ADP ATP

Isocitric acid

_____ BPG

3 PGA

2 PGA

_______

________

ADP ATP

FAD FADH2

Succinic acid ADP ATP

ADP ATP

_________ ________

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NAD NADH

__________ NAD NADH

BPG

_________

NAD NADH

DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

α Ketoglutaric acid NAD NADH

___________

Practicing Phylogeny Activity Name:___________________________ Bio 1111 Fall 2015 The question below is an opportunity to practice some of the concepts we have been discussing about phylogeny. The activity is worth 15 points and is due on March 31st. Question: You discover a new island that is inhabited by six strange new species. You are interested in determining the relationships between them. Below are your drawings and descriptions of your new discoveries.

CrocoStimpy Lives in marshy areas Lays hard shelled eggs Eats fish and frogs Hard scaly skin

ThunderBird 20 foot wingspan Lays a clutch of 7 eggs Eats GuineaLions Males have feather curl on head

FrogPrince Ruler of all amphibians Lays 1000 soft, shell less eggs Can jump 4 feet high Does not turn into a human if kissed

Guinea-Lion Coyotaroo Rainbow Fish Gives bird to litters of 5 young Marsupial predator Brightly colored fish Eats seeds and berries Lives in herds Lays soft, shell less eggs Part 1: ocean For the six species pick fivetall characteristics that will be to roar Hassuitable a loud squeak 5 feet Lives in the Only males grow a mane Can hop 20 feet at a time Very friendly a cladogram to study construct the relationships between the species.

Part 1: For the six species pick five characteristics that will be suitable to construct a cladogram to study the relationships between the species. Construct a character matrix. Part 2: Use your character matrix to create a cladogram for these six new species. For your cladogram you will need to identify which one is the outgroup and root the cladogram correctly.

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Biology 1112: Biological Principles II Jeffrey Bell

Spring 2016

Modeling Agnostic Behavior In this activity we will be looking at how animals interact aggressively (agnostic behavior) with one another in competition for resources. To understand agnostic behavior we will be modeling agnostic behavior, with each of your acting as one of two behavioral extremes, Dove or Hawk. A Dove is an individual that only displays and never attacks. A Dove will display until the opponent flees or attacks. If the opponent attacked the Dove always flees. A Hawk will always fight and never displays. A Hawk fights until either the opponent is injured, killed, or flees, or the Hawk is injured itself. The rules for the game are below. Payoffs/costs Winning = 50 points Losing = 0 points Injured = -100 points Long display (2 doves) = -10 points Rules for interactions Hawk vs Dove = Hawk gets 50 points/ Dove gets 0 points Dove vs Dove = Winner gets 40 points/Loser gets -10 points Hawk vs Hawk = Winner gets 50 points/Loser gets -100 points Playing the game

50/50 chance determined by coin flip

1) Decide whether you will be a Hawk or Dove and write that choice on the front of the note card provided. 2) Interact with another student, you will both present your card and following the scoring rules above. If you are the same type, 2 Doves or 2 Hawks, flip a coin to determine the winner. 3) Write you score for this interaction on the back of the card. 4) Repeat with 9 other students and then write your score on the board along with your name and weather you were a Dove or Hawk. (If you have a negative score you are dead) 5) Now play the game again, interacting with another 10 students, you may change your status or stay the same, your choice.

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Anatomy and Physiology 1: Lab Quiz 5 Name:_______________________________________________ 1) Correctly identify eight parts of the skull (8 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________ 2) Correctly identify four parts of the vertebral column (4 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________ 3) Correctly identify three parts of the rib cage (3 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________

Anatomy and Physiology 1: Lab Quiz 7 Name:_______________________________________________ 1) Correctly identify 2 muscles of the face, neck, and head (2 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________ 2) Correctly identify 5 muscles of the arm, back, and chest (5 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________ 3) Correctly identify 5 muscles of the legs and hip (5 points) Instructor’s initials ______________________ 4) Write the origin, insertion, and action for any of the 10 muscles with an * (3 points)

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Tissue Bingo

Biol 2252

Reticular

Smooth Muscle

Pseudostratified Columnar

Holocrine gland

Stratified Columnar

Dense Irregular Connective

Bone

Lymph

Blood

Elastic Connective

Adipose

Areolar

Merocrine gland

Epithelial Tissue

Apocrine gland

Fibrocartilage

Simple Columnar

Stratified Squamous

Muscle Tissue

Dense Regular Connective

Hyaline Cartilage

Transitional

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Simple Squamous Connective Tissue Stratified Cuboidal

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Anatomy and Physiology 2: Lab Quiz 1 Name:_______________________________________________ 1) Draw the following slides; (1) Motor neuron, (2) Dorsal root ganglion, (3) Cerebral cortex, (4) Cerebellum cortex, (5) Peripheral nerve (5pts) Instructor’s initials_________________________________________________ 2) Identify five parts of a neuron (5 pts) Instructor’s initials _________________________________________________ 3) Identify five parts of a peripheral nerve (5 pts) Instructor’s initials _________________________________________________

Anatomy and Physiology 2: Lab Quiz 9 Name:_______________________________________________ 1) Identify five structures of the female reproductive system (5 points) Instructor’s initials_________________________________________________ 2) Identify five structures of the male reproductive system (5 points) Instructor’s initials _________________________________________________ 3) Define the following terms; (1) allele, (2) genotype, (3) homozygous, (4) heterozygous, (5) incomplete dominance.

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Biol 2254

What Happens in Digestion Name:

Protein

Lipid

Carbohydrate

Mouth

Stomach

Small Intestine Digestion

Absorption By Villi

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Nucleic Acid Mechanical - Chewing

Mechanical only Churning

Pancreatic juiceNucleases – break RNA, DNA into nucleotides Brush border enzymesNucleosidases, Phosphatases – break down nucleotides into sugars, phosphate groups, nitrogenous bases As ribose or deoxyribose, phosphate groups, and nitrogenous bases

Bio 2256

Spring 2018

Name:____________________________________________

Case Study 1 Below are four (4) narratives about heart physiology, answer the questions associated with each. You may work in small groups, but make sure that each team member turns in a sheet with their name on it. Feel free to ask questions to clarify any of the information below. 1:

Frank an otherwise healthy young man of 24 goes into his doctor’s office complaining of experiencing periods of rapid heartbeat accompanied by extra strong (thumping) beats. At the time of the visit his ECG is normal and his blood pressure is 115/75. The doctor asks Frank some general history questions and finds out that he does not drink or smoke, has no history of heart disease in his family, but for the past few months has been under a lot of stress (new baby, new job) and hasn’t been sleeping and has been drinking more coffee than normal. The doctor asks Frank to come in tomorrow for a stress test to try to determine what is going on. Question 1: What do you think the doctor suspects is affecting Frank’s heart? Defend your answer?

Frank comes back the next morning and undergoes a stress test, which produces the phenomenon that Frank was complaining about. After looking at the results of the ECG and the stress test, the doctor tells Frank that his heart overall looks healthy, but his ECG showed several PVC’s, due to a ventricular ectopic focus. Question 2: What is an ectopic focus and why is it producing the increased heart rate and thumping heart beat? What is a PVC and how is it caused by an ectopic focus?

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Question 3: Draw an ECG that would represent what is going on in Frank’s heart.

Question 4: What do you think is causing Frank’s problems; do you think it is anything serious? If you were Frank’s doctor what advice would give him?

Mary a 55 year old mother of 6 is taken to the emergency room complaining of heart palpitations, chest pain, and an overall feeling of being light headed. In the ER her heart rate is highly elevated, but her pulse is both weak and does not match her heart rate. Question 1: With the information provided, what do you think might be ailing Mary? What could be causing her weak pulse, what is the term given when pulse and heart rate do not match?

Mary is hooked up to the ECG, which shows both a rapid heart (155 b/min) and irregular heart rate. The incoming cardiologist looks at the lack of true P waves on the ECG and immediately knows what is causing Mary’s symptoms. Question 2: What does the P wave on an ECG represent? What would the lack of true P waves represent; what is afflicting Mary?

Question 3: How would your diagnosis cause the symptoms Mary is experiencing, be sure to explain the rapid heart rate, light headedness, and miss matched pulse and heart rate.

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Question 4: Draw and ECG that would represent what is going on in Mary’s heart.

Mark a 82 year old man retired teacher is rushed to the hospital complaining of chest pain, pain radiating down his left arm, shortness of breath, and nausea. Question 1: What do think is causing Mark’s symptoms.

Below is Mark’s ECG taken at the hospital.

Question 2: Does this ECG support your diagnosis above? What is abnormal about this ECG?

Soon after entering the hospital Mark regresses into ventricular fibrillation, but fortunately heart defibrillation is able to restore a sinus rhythm. After several days in the hospital Mark is able to return home. Question 3: What causes ventricular fibrillation and why is it so dangerous? How does heart defibrillation restore normal heart rhythm?

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Question 4: Draw and ECG that would represent what was going on in Mark’s heart during ventricular fibrillation.

Sally a 35 year old sky diver goes to the doctor complaining of periods of light headiness and a slower than normal pulse. During a stress test the doctor notices some abnormalities with her ECG. The doctor tells Sally she has a 2:1 AV nodal block. Question 1: What is the function of the AV node in the heart, and where on an ECG is the activity of the AV node seen?

Question 2: What abnormalities would a 2:1 AV nodal block cause on an ECG? What does 2:1 mean? Why is her pulse rate slowed? What is the name given to a slower than normal heart rate?

Question 3: Draw an ECG representing what is happening in Sally’s heart.

After consulting with Sally the doctor decides that an internal pacemaker is probably the best treatment for her condition. The procedure is scheduled for next month. Question 4: Why is the doctor suggesting implanting a pacemaker? How will this help Sally’s condition?

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

Bio 2256

Spring 2017

Name:____________________________________________ Electrocardiogram Physiology: Memory Matrix Fill in the table below; please be as detailed as possible. Part of EGC P Wave

What does this represent?

What part of conduction system produces this?

What occurs in the heart after this?

QRS Complex

T Wave

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Appendix 4. Summative Assessment Examples with Associated Rubrics Biological Principles 1: Project/Presentation This is an opportunity to explore your interest in a particular taxon of plants or animals, many of which we just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the time to cover well, or at all. The purpose of this exercise is both for you to learn more about a specific taxon and for the class to be exposed to a greater diversity of organisms. Working in groups of 2 to 3 you will pick a taxon of interest, and find a relevant scientific article (must be published in a peer-reviewed journal). Your taxon can be a single species, genus, family, or order. You will need to get prior approval of your taxon of interest and journal article with me. Upon approval you will need to either send or give me a copy of your paper. You will then do some background research on your taxon, and use that information to better present the findings of research article to the class. Your background research should include several sources, additional journal articles, textbooks, online resources. It should not only include information from one source, ie. Wikipedia. You will be responsible for a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation, in which you will present a general introduction to the taxon, and the go over the findings of the research article. An outline of what your presentation should include is below. Format of Presentation: 15 minutes (5 minutes for questions at the end) 1. Introduce the taxon and general subject of the paper a. general background on taxon (phylogeny, ecology, anatomy/physiology as it relates to article). Use the literature cited in the article as a guide. b. explain any specialized concepts or terms that are important to the article 2. Summarize the chosen paper â&#x20AC;&#x201C; methods, results as presented (include tables and figures), and conclusions the authors reach. 3. Provide your opinion of the research and outcomes, both positive and negative. What does the research add to our knowledge? Your presentation should incorporate any multimedia that you can locate, pictures, videos, sounds, the more the better. Your PowerPoint slides should be more of Page 41

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a slide show, with only enough text to make major points, this is not a lecture or book report, but a presentation, it should be entertaining and insightful. These presentations are meant to spark discussions and the members of the class who are not presenting are expected to ask thoughtful questions of the presenters. I will present an example so everyone gets an idea of what Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking for. The following are to be prepared and turned on the day of the presentations. 1. A copy of either an outline or the notes for your presentation; these may be rough notes, hand-written. 2. An annotated bibliography of your references, see example below, must be typed. 3. Three questions about your presentation that can be included on the final, can be in any format. Provide the answers as well, must be typed. 4. A breakdown of what each person was responsible for, must be typed and signed by each of the group members.

Examples of annotated bibliography: Brown, J. L. 1964. The evolution of diversity in avian territorial systems. Wilson Bull. 76:160-169. Detailed discussion of territorial systems and presents the idea of economic defendability for the first time. Davies, M. S. 1987. Acoustically mediated neighbor recognition in the North American bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 21:185-190. Discusses dear enemy phenomenon in bullfrogs as seen in the difference in response to different vocalizations. Fischer, J. 1958. Evolution and bird sociality. In J. Huxley, A. C. Hardy, and E. B. Ford (eds), Evolution as a Process, pp. 71-83. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London. Detailied discussion on the different aspects of bird sociality and first to introduce concept of neighbor recognition and the dear enemy phenomenon.

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Bio 1112 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Project Evaluation Each group will need to turn the attached evaluation sheet in on the day of their presentation, along with their presentation notes, annotated bibliography, test questions, and group duties (signed by each member). Each aspect of your presentation will be graded on a scale from 1 to 5. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of this system as a typical grading system for it is not. The breakdown is below; a score of 3 will be the most common. 12345-

far below expectations just below expectations meets expectations exceeds expectations far exceeds expectations

Your total score will then be converted to a percentage score out of a 100. I will hand back these score sheets along with the material turned in on the day of the final.

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Group members:_____________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Title:_____________________________________________________ Introduction: General background: x2 _______ Phylogeny: _______ Define important terms: _______ Comments:__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Summary of paper: Methods: _______ Results(include tables,figures): x2 _______ Discussion/Conclusions: x2 _______ Comments:__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Opinion of paper: x2 _______ Overall presentation: Effective use of Powerpoint: _______ Presentation of information: _______ Comments:__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Material to be turned in: Approved topic paper (due 2/8): ________ Notes or outline for presentation: ________ Annotated Bibliography: ________ Test questions (3): ________ List of duties: ________ Comments:__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Overall Total: ________ Comments:__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

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BIO 2 STUDY GUIDE

EXAM 3

This is to only serve as a study aid for the exam, do not rely solely on this guide to prepare for the exam.

Chapter 41

Know the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction, the different types of each, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Know the basic structures and functions of the male reproductive system, including how sperm is produced and its structure. Know the basic structures and functions of the female reproductive system, including how ova are produced.

Chapter 42

Understand the differences between spermatogenesis and oogenesis Understand the process of fertilization, how the sperm penetrates the egg, and how polyspermy is prevented. Know the three (3) stages of embryonic development, and know what happens in each. For the following stages know the following terms. Cleavage: blastomeres, morula, blastula, blastocoels Gastrulation: Gastrula, blastopore, endoderm (structures produced), mesoderm (structures produced), and ectoderm (structures produced) Organ formation: Notochord, neural tube, somites, coelum

Chapter 24

Know the differences between monocotyledons (monocots) and dicotyledons (dicots) and know some examples of each. Know the three organs in plants; roots, stems, and leaves (together = shoot system). For each organ know the roles it plays in the plant, its structures, and the modifications we see in many plants (tubers for example). Know the three tissue systems in plants; dermal tissue system, ground tissue system, vascular tissue system. For each tissue system know its composition, its function, and how it is organized in the different organs of plants. Know the unique structures found in a plant cell and how they differ from animal cells.

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Know the five (5) types of plants cells; parenchyma cells, collenchymas cells, sclerenchyma, water conducting cells, and food conducting cells. For each cell type know its properties, where it is found, and its role in a plant. For sclerenchyma, water conducting cells, and food conducting cells know the different types. Understand the process of primary growth in plants, including where it occurs, what it does (increase in length), the structures involved, and how it differs in roots and stems. Understand the process of secondary growth in plants, including where it occurs, the structures involved, what it does (increase in girth), and the structures it forms. Understand the structure of wood including the importance of growth rings and the differences between heartwood and sapwood.

Chapter 25

Understand how plants take up water the soil, including the two different routes soil solution (water + minerals) can take to enter a root. Understand the physical properties of soil, the importance of particle size, the different layers (horizons) and what is found in each. Understand how plants take up minerals from the soil, including the difference in uptake of positive ions (cations) and negative ions (anions). Know the essential nutrients that plants need to survive, know all of the major nutrients (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium) and the role each plays in a plant. For the minor nutrients you only have to know Iron, Chloride, Copper, and Zinc, and know that they mostly function as enzyme cofactors. Understand the unique ways the plants have to use to obtain Nitrogen from the soil, be sure to know the roles of nitrogen fixing, ammonifying, and nitrifying bacteria. Understand the symbiotic relationship some plants have with nitrogen fixing bacteria (Nitrogen fixing plants, like legumes). Understand how xylem sap moves in xylem, be sure to understand how root pressure and the transpiration cohension tension mechanism works. Know the role that guard cells and stomata play in transpiration and how guard cells regulate stomata size. Understand how phloem sap moves in phloem, be sure to understand how the pressure flow mechanism works (source to sink). Know the unique adaptations some plants have to obtain nutrients and examples for each.

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Biology 2252: Anatomy and Physiology 1 Jeffrey Bell, Ph.D.

Fall 2017

Lab Report Requirements You will be writing a lab report based on the diffusion/osmosis experiment (dialysis bags – Activity 3) we conducted in lab today. The lab report will detail the experiment you conducted, its results, and your interpretation of those results. The report must be 1-2 pages typed, double space, font size no larger than 12 point. The lab report is due two weeks from today, to be turned in at the beginning of lab. Remember you are expected to do your own work, and plagiarism in any form is not acceptable, and will result in a zero on the lab report. The lab report is worth 30 points. The lab report will include the following areas: A grading rubric is found at the end, please staple it to your lab report when you turn it in. Purpose: Statement of why the experiment was conducted. What are the expected results? Introduction: Give background information on the subject, including explanations of the following terms; diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, membrane permeability, solvent, and solute. Methods: State how the experiment was conducted. Should be detailed enough that someone could easily repeat the experiment and in the first person, “I weighed the dialysis bag”. Do not copy the procedures from the lab book. Results: What did the experiment show, what was found. A table or figure should be used to summarize your results Discussion: Give your interpretation of the results. The discussion section should include explanations on why there were differences in the movement of different solutes. You should also explain how this experiment helps us to understand how our body cells transport substances.

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Bibliography:

You need use at least two (2) outside sources for your lab report. For each source that you use you will need to cite them according to APA style, within the bibliography section of your lab report. Below are examples of how to sight sources and some helpful resources.

Examples of how to cite material in your bibliography: Journal Article Brown, J. L. 1964. The evolution of diversity in avian territorial systems. Wilson Bull. 76:160-169. Books Martini, F.H., Ober, W.C., and Nath J.L. 2011. Visual anatomy and physiology. Benjamin Cummings. Boston.

Resources: APA style guidelines: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/ Northland Library database website: http://www.northlandcollege.edu/library/databases/

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Criteria General Format

Purpose

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Mechanics & Style

Bibliography (APA)

Includes all sections, typed double spaced, 12 pt font, Purpose is clearly defined, well written, and includes expected results Concise well written, excellent introduction to topic and defines all terms

Missing bibliography typed double spaced, 12 pt font, Purpose clearly defined, only lacking expected results

Well written and clearly explains how to conduct the experiment with detailed steps. Well written, sums up finding well, includes a figure or table Clearly interprets results, well written, shows clear understanding of experiment, and relates results to cell function Excellent grammar and style, paper is easy to read and enjoyable, no typo/misspellings Bibliography contains two sources and correctly formatted

Presents how to carry out the experiment, but lacking some details

Missing multiple sections, typed double spaced, 12 pt font Difficult to follow or understand, does not define purpose of experiments Difficult to follow or understand, does not introduce topic well, missing definition of some terms Greatly lacking of details, difficult to follow or repeat experiment

Good introduction of topic, easy to follow and defines all terms

Scores

Paper not complete, not typed Lacking or very poorly written

Lacking or very poorly written

Very poorly written, impossible to repeat experiment using these methods Lacking or very poorly written

Good presentation of results, easy to follow, lacking a figure or graph Very good interpretation of results, good understanding of experiment

Difficult to follow or understand, does not sum up findings well Weak interpretation of results, does not show understanding

Very good grammar, overall good flow of paper, 1-3 typos/misspellings

Descent grammer, multiple examples of issues with flow, >3 typos/misspellings

Poor grammar style is disjointed, hard to follow, many typos/misspellings

Bibliography complete, 1 or 2 format mistakes

Bibliography only contains one source, multiple format mistakes

No Bibliography

Lacking or very poorly, does not interpret or explain results

Total

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Biology 2256: Advanced Physiology Jeffrey Bell

Fall 2016

Research Paper Instructions/Requirements This is an opportunity to explore your interest in a particular human disease or disorder that affects any of the physiological processes we will cover in class. The purpose of this exercise is for you to learn more about a specific disease/disorder and further emphasis the importance of human physiology in maintaining homeostasis You will pick a human disease/disorder of your choice, and then do background research to construct a well written research paper. You will need to get prior approval of your disease/disorder with me before beginning your research. Send me an email with your topic along with at least one source you are considering. I will not accept a draft unless your topic has been approved. Your background research will include several sources, journal articles, textbooks, online resources, and you are required to include at least 3 sources, one of which can be your textbook. You will be expected to cite your sources both within the paper and in a work cited section, according to APA style, examples of both are below. We will be going over this more in detail in class as well. Even though you are using outside sources you are expected to do your own work. Material from outside sources should either be put in your own words or if that is not possible placed in quotations, see examples below. Plagiarism whether intended or not is not tolerated in any academic setting and will result in a zero on the assignment. Your paper will cover all the major aspects of the disease/disorder, including its cause, its effect on physiological processes, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and current/future research. Since you will eventually become an expert on your disease/disorder I would suggest picking something you are interested in or wish to learn more about. The paper will need to be 3-5 pages in length, double spaced, 12 point font you will find more detailed format guidelines below. Research Paper Format: 1) Your research paper should include the following, a title page (1 page, with your name, and your topic), research paper itself (3-5 pages, double spaced, 12 point font),

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and a work cited section (1 page with all the sources you used in the paper cited correctly). 2) The research paper itself should include an introduction (1 paragraph, introduce audience to disease), body (several paragraphs, this is where all the information you found will go), and conclusion (1 paragraph, summing up your research and some insight on future directions/research). Remember you need to cite any information from outside sources in the paper, see below for examples. 3) The work cited section will include all of the sources you used, in alphabetical order, with hanging indents, see below. All sources must be from published material, you cannot just cite information from any website, eg. Wikipedia. One of your sources can be your textbook. I have included a website below with additional information on how to cite different types of sources. 4) You will be expected to turn in both a rough draft (due 11/1) and the final draft (due 12/13) of your paper. Remember you must get approval of your topic. Unapproved or late papers will not be accepted, and I will not accept a final paper if you did not turn in a rough draft. The total assignment is worth 100 points, 10 points coming from turning in your rough draft and 90 coming from the final paper. A grading rubric is provided below. Examples of citations: Single Author The frequency of the peek call in Downy Woodpeckers has been shown to vary significantly between the sexes (Bell, 2002). Multiple Authors The main vector of West Nile virus in Grand Forks, North Dakota is Culex tarsalis (Bell, Mickelson, and Vaughan, 2003). Examples of quotations: Use sparingly and only when paraphrasing authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work would change or alter its meaning. Short Quotation (within text with quotation marks)

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According to Klatt (1995), â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eastern Screech-owls form long term pair bonds that last longer than a single breeding seasonâ&#x20AC;? (pg. 123). It is not known how this may relate to other owl species. Long Quotation (as free standing block, no quotation marks) Although many studies have looked at periodicity in human filarial nematodes, few have studied if it exists in other host species. According to Vaughan and Tkach (2006): The lack of knowledge on non-human filarial nematodes is both puzzling and troubling since they are extremely common in almost all taxa and may play a role in vector-borne diseases. Our work with Mansonella ozardi and Dengue virus shows the potential for these parasites to alter transmission ecology of a vector- borne virus. To better understand this phenomenon a better understanding of the periodicity of these parasites is needed. (pg 245) Examples of work cited: Journal Brown, J. L. 1964. The evolution of diversity in avian territorial systems. Wilson Bull. 76:160169. Book Mader, S.S. 2007. Essentials of biology. Boston: McGraw Hill. Resources: APA style guidelines: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/ Northland Library database website: http://www.northlandcollege.edu/library/databases/

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Research Paper Grading Rubric:

Criteria

4 Rough Draft

Rough Draft due 11/1

Includes all sections, neat and typed

Only missing title page, typed

General Format

Includes all sections, typed double spaced, 12 pt font, Concise well written, excellent introduction to topic Well written, explains current knowledge, logical progression, interesting Well written, sums up finding well, presents information on new directions Excellent grammar and style, paper is easy to read and enjoyable, no typo/misspellings Shows strong knowledge of topic, presents insight and critical thinking All citations and works cited included and correctly formatted

Missing only title page, typed double spaced, 12 pt font, Good introduction of topic, easy to follow

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Mechanics & Style

Understand Topic

Citation & Works cited (APA)

3 Missing title page and work cited, typed

Final Paper

Scores

Paper not complete, not typed

Missing work cited/title page, typed double spaced, 12 pt font Difficult to follow or understand, does not introduce topic well Lacking of information, problems with progression of information

Paper not complete, not typed

Good conclusion, sums up material and topic well

Difficult to follow or understand, does not sum up material well

Lacking or very poorly written

Very good grammar, overall good flow of paper, 1-3 typos/misspellings

Descent grammer, multiple examples of issues with flow, >3 typos/misspellings

Poor grammar style is disjointed, hard to follow, many typos/misspellings

Very good understanding of topic beyond just reciting information All citations and works cited included, 1 or 2 format mistakes

Weak understanding of topic, just presents information Missing citations or works cited, does not follow APA

Knowledge of subject not presented or evident

Presents current knowledge and information, well laid out

Lacking or very poorly written Very poorly written, devoid of information, no real progression

No citations or work cited

Total

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Biol 2256

Rubric for Research Paper Peer Review Criteria

Exceptional

Good

Introduction/ Background

Excellent, interesting introduction. Well written, explains current knowledge, logical progression.

Good introduction, easy to follow. Presents current knowledge, well organized.

Objectives Topic Proposal mostly

Clearly explained, well organized and closely match presented methods. Clearly explained with excellent detail. Shows foresight and clear grasp of experimental design. Well defined analysis plan, effectively analyzes data, clearly meets objectives Well written, presents data clearly, concisely. Logical, well designed figures/tables.

Good explanation of objectives, attainable with presented methods. Good explanation of methods, well organized, and developed. Analysis plan is appropriate for objectives/goals

Discussion Thesis, Manuscript only

Poor

Deficient

Poorly written, does not introduce topic well. Lacking information, problems with progression. Objectives are vague, poorly organized, difficult to attain.

Difficult to follow or understand, devoid of information, no real progression of information.

Design is poorly constructed, lacking key details, not concise or organized. Analysis is not appropriate objectives.

Severely lacking information, design is incomplete or illogical, difficult to understand or follow. Analysis is incomplete and does not meet objectives

Data presentation is clear, tables and figures are appropriate for presented data.

Data poorly presented, figures/tables poorly designed or misused.

Data presentation is difficult to follow, disjointed and incomplete. Lacking figures/tables.

Excellent interpretation of results, offers new insights, adds to scientific knowledge.

Good interpretation of results, clearly articulates keys points, draws valid conclusions.

Poorly written, does not interpret results effectively, or draw valid conclusions.

Difficult to follow or understand, interpretations weak, draws illogical conclusions.

Citation/ Literature Cited

All citations and lit. cited included and correctly formatted.

All citations and lit. cited included, 1 or 2 format mistakes.

Missing a 1- 2 citations or lit cited, >2 format mistakes.

Missing >3 citations or lit cited, format not appropriate.

Mechanics/ Style

Excellent grammar and style, paper is easy to read and enjoyable, 2 or fewer typos/ misspellings. Arguments are well developed and easy to follow. Key points are logical arranged and well supported. Shows strong knowledge of topic, presents insight and critical thinking.

Good grammar, overall good flow of paper, 2-4 typos/ misspellings.

Poor grammar, multiple examples of issues with flow, >4 typos/ misspellings.

Very poor grammar, style is disjointed, hard to follow, many typos/ misspellings.

Good presentation of arguments, clear of explanation of key points.

Poor organizations of arguments, key points are difficult to follow and are not support.

Arguments are difficult or impossible to follow, key points missing. Logic is not clear or defined.

Very good understanding of topic beyond just reciting information.

Poor understanding of topic, just presents information.

Knowledge of subject not presented or evident.

Methods/ Analysis

Results Thesis, Manuscript Prelim. Result Topic proposal if included

Clarity

Understand Topic

Incomplete objectives, not appropriate for study.

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Appendix 4. Publications 6023_08_p373-382

12/29/05

11:28 AM

Page 373

Research Paper West Nile Virus in Host-Seeking Mosquitoes within a Residential Neighborhood in Grand Forks, North Dakota JEFFREY A. BELL, NATHAN J. MICKELSON, and JEFFERSON A. VAUGHAN

ABSTRACT West Nile virus (WNV) was first recovered in North Dakota near the city of Grand Forks in June 2002. During 2002, 2003, and 2004, we collected mosquitoes from Grand Forks using Mosquito Magnet™ traps and tested them for WNV. The seasonal abundance, species composition, and reproductive status of female mosquitoes were correlated with local environmental temperature and state surveillance data on WNV to determine the factors affecting local transmission of WNV. Over 90% of the mosquitoes collected were Aedes vexans, Ochlerotatus dorsalis, and Culex tarsalis, but WNV was detected only in Cx. tarsalis. Average summertime temperatures and relative abundance of mosquitoes were highest in 2002 but no WNV-positive mosquitoes were detected until the following summer. In 2003, nulliparous Cx. tarsalis appeared in mid-June (first summer brood), and parous Cx. tarsalis appeared in mid-July. The first WNV-positive pool occurred 21 July, and minimum daily infections rates increased thereafter until 27 August. The minimum infection rate (MIR) for Cx. tarsalis during the season was 5.7 infected mosquitoes per 1,000 tested, with the highest infection rates occurring at the end of the season as Cx. tarsalis populations started to decline. Mid-to-late August was identified as the period of highest risk for being bitten by a WNV-infected mosquito in Grand Forks during 2003. In 2004, viral activity in Grand Forks was low, due to very cool temperatures throughout the summer. To examine the genetic diversity of the 2003 WNV isolates from Grand Forks, we sequenced a 366-nucleotide region of the capsid and premembrane gene. Thirteen (46%) of the 28 WNV isolates contained at least one nucleotide substitution when compared to the homologous region of the progenitor WN NY-99 strain, and seven of these 13 substitutions coded for amino acid changes. Thus, WNV is established in North Dakota, it appears to be evolving and it is vectored primarily by Cx. tarsalis. Key Words: West Nile virus—Culex tarsalis—Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction—VecTest™—Mosquito Magnet™—North Dakota. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis. 5, 373–382.

INTRODUCTION

RAND FORKS, North Dakota (latitude 47.93N; longitude 97.03W) is located on the Red River of the North that forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota. The river lies within a wide basin, the Red River Valley, formed by the prehistoric, glacial Lake Agassiz. The topography is flat and the dense soil formed from the ancient lakebed is fertile

but does not drain well. As a result, there is a considerable amount of standing water throughout the valley in the form of ditches and marshes, creating enormous breeding habitat for mosquitoes. Each summer, the valley produces high numbers of mosquitoes, primarily inland floodwater species (e.g., Aedes vexans and Ochlerotatus dorsalis) and Culex tarsalis (Deckart 1995). Mosquito nuisance within this region can hinder human enjoy-

Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota.

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Malaria Journal

BioMed Central

Open Access

Research

Population dynamics of sporogony for Plasmodium vivax parasites from western Thailand developing within three species of colonized Anopheles mosquitoes Gabriela E Zollner1, Narong Ponsa2, Gabriel W Garman3, Shreekanta Poudel3, Jeffrey A Bell2, Jetsumon Sattabongkot2, Russell E Coleman1 and Jefferson A Vaughan*3 Address: 1Department of Entomology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910-7500, USA, 2Department of Entomology, USAMC-AFRIMS, Bangkok, Thailand and 3Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-9019, USA Email: Gabriela E Zollner - Gabriela.Zollner@na.amedd.army.mil; Narong Ponsa - NarongP@AFRIMS.ORG; Gabriel W Garman - Gabriel.Garman@und.nodak.edu; Shreekanta Poudel - Shreekanta.Poudel@und.nodak.edu; Jeffrey A Bell - piciformes@yahoo.com; Jetsumon Sattabongkot - JetsumonP@afrims.org; Russell E Coleman - Russell.Coleman@NA.AMEDD.ARMY.MIL; Jefferson A Vaughan* - jefferson_vaughan@und.nodak.edu * Corresponding author

Published: 03 August 2006 Malaria Journal 2006, 5:68

doi:10.1186/1475-2875-5-68

Received: 05 October 2005 Accepted: 03 August 2006

This article is available from: http://www.malariajournal.com/content/5/1/68 ÂŠ 2006 Zollner et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract Background: The population dynamics of Plasmodium sporogony within mosquitoes consists of an early phase where parasite abundance decreases during the transition from gametocyte to oocyst, an intermediate phase where parasite abundance remains static as oocysts, and a later phase where parasite abundance increases during the release of progeny sporozoites from oocysts. Sporogonic development is complete when sporozoites invade the mosquito salivary glands. The dynamics and efficiency of this developmental sequence were determined in laboratory strains of Anopheles dirus, Anopheles minimus and Anopheles sawadwongporni mosquitoes for Plasmodium vivax parasites circulating naturally in western Thailand. Methods: Mosquitoes were fed blood from 20 symptomatic Thai adults via membrane feeders. Absolute densities were estimated for macrogametocytes, round stages (= female gametes/zygotes), ookinetes, oocysts, haemolymph sporozoites and salivary gland sporozoites. From these census data, five aspects of population dynamics were analysed; 1) changes in life-stage prevalence during early sporogony, 2) kinetics of life-stage formation, 3) efficiency of life-stage transitions, 4) density relationships between successive life-stages, and 5) parasite aggregation patterns. Results: There was no difference among the three mosquito species tested in total losses incurred by P. vivax populations during early sporogony. Averaged across all infections, parasite populations incurred a 68-fold loss in abundance, with losses of ca. 19-fold, 2-fold and 2-fold at the first (= gametogenesis/fertilization), second (= round stage transformation), and third (= ookinete migration) life-stage transitions, respectively. However, total losses varied widely among infections, ranging from 6-fold to over 2,000-fold loss. Losses during gametogenesis/ fertilization accounted for most of this variability, indicating that gametocytes originating from some volunteers were more fertile than those from other volunteers. Although reasons for such variability were not determined, gametocyte fertility was not correlated with blood haematocrit, asexual parasitaemia, gametocyte density or gametocyte sex ratio. Round stages and ookinetes were present in mosquito midguts for up to 48 hours and development was asynchronous. Parasite losses during fertilization and round stage differentiation were more Page 1 of 17 (page number not for citation purposes)

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West Nile Virus Epizootiology, Central Red River Valley, North Dakota and Minnesota, 2002–2005 Jeffrey A. Bell,* Christina M. Brewer,* Nathan J. Mickelson,* Gabriel W. Garman,* and Jefferson A. Vaughan* West Nile virus (WNV) epizootiology was monitored from 2002 through 2005 in the area surrounding Grand Forks, North Dakota. Mosquitoes were tested for infection, and birds were surveyed for antibodies. In 2003, WNV was epidemic; in 2004, cool temperatures precluded WNV amplification; and in 2005, immunity in passerines decreased, but did not preclude, WNV amplification.

est Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus with an enzootic cycle that involves primarily mosquitoes and birds in the order Passeriformes. Since its introduction into the northern prairies of the United States in 2002, WNV has flourished. In 2003 and 2005, the prairie states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska recorded the highest incidence of cases in humans (per 100,000 county residents) for the entire United States (1). Although WNV is still new to the region, the ecology of the northern prairie seems to offer favorable conditions for its continued enzootic transmission. This report chronicles the initial establishment of WNV within the central Red River Valley of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota (Figure). The Study Host-seeking mosquitoes were collected in and around Grand Forks, North Dakota, by using Mosquito Magnet traps (American Biophysics Corp., North Kingston, RI, USA) for 4 transmission seasons, from early summer 2002 through fall 2005. Mosquitoes were sorted by species and tested for WNV by using reverse transcriptase PCR assays. WNV was detected only in Culex tarsalis (2). Passerine birds in and around Grand Forks were surveyed for antibodies to WNV for 3 transmission seasons: *University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA

June 24–October 27, 2003, April 4–July 7, 2004, and May 17–August 11, 2005. In 2003 and early 2004, birds were captured by using mist nets, blood (<0.1 mL) was obtained by brachial venipuncture, and birds were released. Later in 2004 and in 2005, necropsies were performed on dead birds. Blood spots were placed on filter paper and later eluted in 250 µL saline. Samples were tested for anti-WNV antibodies by using a qualitative epitope-blocking ELISA (3). This is the first report of seroprevalence of WNV in passerines in the northern prairies. A total of 277 birds (11 species) were tested (Table 1). In 2003, seroprevalence was relatively low (17%). The first seropositive bird was captured July 24, 2003, 4 days after the first WNV-positive pool of Cx. tarsalis was detected (2). Most seropositive birds (11 of 14) were collected in September, when migratory species were leaving and vector populations were waning. Thus, a lag occurred between peak abundance of infected vectors in mid- to late August 2003 (2) and seroconversion of passerines. Seroprevalence rates were significantly higher in 2004 and 2005 than in 2003 (Table 1, Fisher exact tests, p<0.0001) and were higher than most seroprevalences reported for passerines in the eastern and southeastern regions of the United States (4–6). All passerine species sampled in 2004 and 2005 contained seropositive birds, which indicated that all these species were preyed on by vectors regardless of differences in their nesting habitats (e.g., cattail marshes, peridomestic). American robins, common grackles, and red-winged blackbirds showed increased seroprevalence from 2003 to 2004. High seroprevalence was maintained in passerines in 2005 despite low WNV activity (i.e., low natural boosting) during 2004 (2), which suggests that passerine immunity to WNV may last longer than a single season (7,8). Surprisingly, American crows had a high seroprevalence to WNV. Previous laboratory and field studies have indicated that most American crows die so quickly from WNV infection that they never have time to seroconvert (9–11). Why crows in the Red River Valley survive WNV infection is not known. One possibility is that WNV has undergone genetic changes with a concurrent loss in virulence as it spread westward from forest ecosystems with

Figure. Red River Valley of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba.

Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 12, No. 8, August 2006

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1245

VECTOR/PATHOGEN/HOST INTERACTION, TRANSMISSION

Passage of Ingested Mansonella ozzardi (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) Microfilariae Through the Midgut of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) JEFFERSON A. VAUGHAN,1,2 JEFFREY A. BELL,1 MICHAEL J. TURELL,3

AND

DAVE D. CHADEE4

J. Med. Entomol. 44(1): 111Ð116 (2007)

ABSTRACT When virus and microÞlariae are ingested concurrently by a mosquito, microÞlariae (mf) may penetrate the mosquito midgut and introduce virus directly into the mosquito hemocoel, allowing mosquitoes to become infectious much sooner than normal and enhancing transmission of viruses by mosquitoes. Mansonella ozzardi (Manson) is a benign Þlarial nematode parasite of humans in Latin America and is transmitted by black ßies (Diptera: Simuliidae) and biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Because M. ozzardi and dengue are sympatric, we wanted to know whether M. ozzardi mf had the ability to penetrate the midgut of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) and thus play a potential role in the enhancement of dengue transmission. To test this, the F1 progeny from locally collected Ae. aegypti were fed on M. ozzardi-infected human males in an endemic village in northern Trinidad. Mosquitoes were dissected at various times after feeding and examined for mf in the midguts and thoraces. MicroÞlariae penetrated the midguts of 43% of 63 mosquitoes that ingested mf. Overall, 11% of mf penetrated the midgut by 17 h after being ingested. The intensity of midgut penetration was positively correlated to the numbers of mf ingested. Because midgut penetration is a key requirement for mf enhancement to occur, the potential exists that M. ozzardi could be involved in the enhancement of dengue virus transmission. KEY WORDS Mansonella ozzardi, Aedes aegypti, dengue, microÞlaria, transmission

Concurrent ingestion of microÞlariae (mf) and arboviruses by vector arthropods has been shown to result in signiÞcantly more efÞcient transmission of the virus than when the same dose of virus was ingested alone (Mellor and Boorman 1980; Turell et al. 1984, 1987; Zytoon et al. 1993; Vaughan and Turell 1996; Vaughan et al. 1999). This has been referred to as microÞlarial enhancement of arboviral transmission. As part of their normal developmental cycle in a vector, most mf species penetrate the vector midgut after being ingested and migrate to a preferred site of development (e.g., ßight muscle and fat body). If a microÞlaremic host is also viremic when fed upon by a vector, then there is the possibility that penetration of the midgut by mf will allow some of the ingested virus to enter directly into the vector hemocoel. The facilitated movement of virus directly into the hemocoel can have two important epidemiological consequences. The opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Army. 1 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202Ð9019. 2 Corresponding author, e-mail: jefferson_vaughan@und.nodak. edu. 3 Virology Division, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD 21702. 4 Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.

First, it can increase vector competence by allowing virus to bypass both midgut infection and midgut escape barriers (Chamberlain and Sudia 1961, Kramer et al. 1981), transforming otherwise incompetent vector species into competent vector species and thus increasing the number of vector species involved in an arbovirus transmission cycle. Second, mf enhancement can accelerate arboviral development within a vector and shorten the time required for a virus-exposed mosquito to become infectious (i.e., shorten the extrinsic incubation period [EIP]). Because the EIP affects transmission exponentially (MacDonald 1952), small reductions in EIP can lead to large increases in vectorial capacity, even within natural arbovirusÐvector systems. Most laboratory studies of mf enhancement have used various arboviruses with Brugia spp. mf and Aedes/Ochlerotatus spp. mosquitoes as experimental model systems (Turell et al. 1984, 1987; Vaughan and Turell 1996; Vaughan et al. 1999). But the concept of mf enhancement could apply, in theory, to almost any ÞlarialÐvector system (Mellor and Boorman 1980) where Þlarial and arboviral infections are sympatric. An important consideration is whether the mf can penetrate the midgut and enter the hemocoel and thus allow the virus to bypass the midgut. Further development of the parasite is irrelevant, i.e., a mosquito species does not have to be a competent vector of

0022-2585/07/0111Ð0116$04.00/0 2007 Entomological Society of America

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grayish-brown upper secondary wing-coverts producing a triangular pattern on the inner wing, and white isoceles triangle along the trailing edge of its wing, including the inner primaries and secondaries. Sabineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gull appears to be increasing as a fall migrant and it may eventually be designated rare but Regular; I have personally seen and documented this species in ten different Minnesota counties. Peder H. Svingen, 2602 East 4th St., Duluth, MN 55812. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT IN POLK COUNTY â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Red River Valley Natural History area sits quietly nestled amongst land owned by the Northwest Research and Outreach Center and is used as an outdoor classroom and lab by the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC). This educational and interpretive site lies west of campus and hosts abandoned gravel pits, tracts of restored prairie, and aspen stands. Laura Bell, UMC Natural Resources Technician and Naturalist monitors various biological aspects of the 85-acre tract. On Sunday 20 May 2007, Laura and her husband Jeff, an ornithologist at the University of North Dakota, were mist-netting birds as part of a yearly inventory of the migratory birds that use the area as important stopover habitat. That morning they caught a variety of neotropical migrants typical of the area during spring migration. At approximately 8:50 A.M. when checking the second of the four mist nets, Jeff encountered an uncommon bird for this area, a Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens). The male chat, (determined by cloacal protuberance), was in excellent condition and after a quick extraction and a few photos it was released. The presence of this Yellow-breasted Chat marks the first record for Crookston and only the second record for Polk County, the first record occurring in Fosston in May 1921 (Janssen, R. B., 1987. Birds in Minnesota). Mist netting inventory studies such as this can serve as a good indicator of the vagrancy of certain migratory species during both spring and fall migrations. Laura E. Bell, University of Minnesota, Crookston, MN 56716, and Jeffrey A. Bell, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202.

Yellow-breasted Chat, 20 May 2007, near Crookston, Polk County. Photo by Laura E. Bell.

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The Loon Volume 79

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DOI: 10.2478/s11686-011-0015-0 © W. Stefański Institute of Parasitology, PAS Acta Parasitologica, 2011, 56(2), 213–226; ISSN 1230-2821

Camallanus Railliet et Henry, 1915 (Nematoda, Camallanidae) from Australian freshwater turtles with descriptions of two new species and molecular differentiation of known taxa Yuriy Kuzmin1*, Vasyl V. Tkach2,3, Scott D. Snyder4 and Jeffrey A. Bell2 Department of Parasitology, Institute of Zoology, 15 Bogdan Khmelnytsky Street, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine; Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell Street, Grand Forks, ND 58202, U.S.A.; 3 Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51/55 Twarda Street, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland; 4 Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, U.S.A.

Abstract

Two new species of Camallanus are described from Australian freshwater turtles. Camallanus beveridgei sp. nov. is reported from Elseya dentata in Northern Territory. It differs from other species of the genus parasitic in turtles by several characters including the shape of the median ridge in the buccal capsule and the position of the anterior pair of caudal papillae in males. Camallanus sprenti sp. nov. is reported from Elseya latisternum (type host) and Emydura krefftii in northern Queensland. It is closely related to Camallanus tuckeri, and differs from the latter species in possessing a shorter oesophagus. We summarize data on morphology, distribution and specificity of 5 known Camallanus spp. from Australian turtles and provide a key for their identification. Sequence comparison of more than 500 base pairs at the 5’ end of the nuclear 28S rDNA gene confirms the status of C. sprenti and C. beveridgei as new species. Camallanus sprenti differs from the other 4 species of Camallanus from Australian turtles by 16–59 bases (3.1–11.5%) while C. beveridgei differed from the other 4 species by 23–60 bases (4.5–11.6%). Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates close interrelationships among C. tuckeri, C. sprenti and C. beveridgei, the three species with most similar buccal capsules.

Keywords

Nematoda, Camallanus, Australia, turtles, rDNA, molecular differentiation

Introduction Camallanidae Railliet et Henry, 1915 is a globally distributed nematode family consisting primarily of parasites of fishes. Some species are known from amphibians and reptiles, including turtles (Ivashkin et al. 1971, Petter 1979). Yeh (1960) erected the genus Serpinema Yeh, 1960 which includes turtle parasites with characteristic buccal capsules that possess a gap between the dorsal and ventral groups of ridges on each of the buccal capsule valves. Baker (1983) described Camallanus chelonius Baker, 1983 from the South-African side-necked turtle Pelusios sinuatus (Pleurodira, Pelomedusidae). This parasite lacked such a buccal capsule gap and was, therefore, allocated into Camallanus Railliet et Henry, 1915. Camallanus chelonius was later reported from the Australian side-necked turtles El. latisternum and Emydura macquarii in Queensland (Ferguson and Smales 1998). However, Rigby et al. (2008) determined that this report was the result of misidenti-

fication and described two Camallanus species, C. nithoggi Rigby et Sharma, 2008 and C. waelhreow Rigby et Sharma, 2008, parasitizing El. latisternum, Emydura krefftii and Em. macquarii in Queensland. Recently, Kuzmin et al. (2009) described C. tuckeri Kuzmin, Tkach et Snyder, 2009 from Emydura australis and Chelodina burrungandjii in Western Australia. As part of a survey of the parasite fauna of Australian freshwater turtles we have identified two previously undescribed Camallanus species, one from El. dentata in Northern Australia, and another from El. latisternum and Em. krefftii in Queensland. In addition, we have found C. waelhreow and C. nithoggi from previously unreported hosts and localities. The present work includes descriptions of the new species as well as a survey of known records of all 5 species of Camallanus from Australian freshwater turtles and a key to their identification. Molecular differentiation of all Camallanus species from Australian turtles and phylogenetic analysis of

*Corresponding author: rhabdias@voliacable.com

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VECTOR/PATHOGEN/HOST INTERACTION, TRANSMISSION

Theoretical Potential of Passerine Filariasis to Enhance the Enzootic Transmission of West Nile Virus JEFFERSON A. VAUGHAN,1,2 JOSEPH O. MEHUS,1 CHRISTINA M. BREWER,1 DANIELLE K. KVASAGER,1 SARINA BAUER,1 JESSICA L. VAUGHAN,1 HASSAN K. HASSAN,3 THOMAS R. UNNASCH,3 AND JEFFREY A. BELL1

J. Med. Entomol. 49(6): 1430Ð1441 (2012); DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/ME12103

ABSTRACT Vertebrate reservoirs of arboviruses are often infected with microÞlariae (MF). Laboratory studies have shown that MF can enhance the infectivity of arboviruses to mosquitoes. Soon after being ingested, MF penetrate the mosquito midgut. If the host blood also contains virus (i.e., vertebrate is dually infected), penetrating MF may introduce virus into the hemocoel. This can transform otherwise virus-incompetent mosquito species into virus-competent species and simultaneously accelerate viral development, allowing mosquitoes to transmit virus sooner than normal. This phenomenon is termed microÞlarial enhancement of arboviral transmission. The prevalence of MF is very high in many passerine populations in North America. Therefore, we investigated if microÞlarial enhancement could have facilitated the establishment and rapid spread of West Nile virus (WNV) across the mid-western United States. Our investigations revealed that mosquitoes, WNV, and passerine MF do interact in nature because; 1) 17% of 54 common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula L.), 8% of 26 American robins (Turdus migratorius L.), and 33% of three eastern kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus L.) were concurrently microÞlaremic and seropositive to WNV; 2) feeding activities of mosquitoes overlapped temporally with the appearance of MF in the blood of common grackles; 3) mosquitoes fed on common grackles and American robins in nature; and 4) mosquito ingestion of two taxonomically distant species of passerine MF (i.e., Chandlerella quiscali and Eufilaria spp.) resulted in penetration of mosquito midguts. To estimate the theoretical effect that MF enhancement could have on WNV transmission in areas of high MF prevalence, vectorial capacity values were calculated for Culex mosquitoes feeding on common grackles, whereby MF enhancement was either invoked or ignored. For Cx. pipiens, vectorial capacity increased over three-fold when potential effects of MF were included in the calculations. For Cx. tarsalis, the effect was less (i.e., 1.4-fold increase). Closer attention should be paid to the potential of MF to enhance mosquito transmission of arboviruses. KEY WORDS microÞlarial enhancement of arboviral transmission, microÞlariae, West Nile virus, mosquito, Culex

DeÞning vector competence is fundamental to understanding arboviral transmission cycles. Not every arthropod species can transmit every arboviral species, meaning there can be barriers to the infection process. The most important is the “midgut barrier” (Chamberlain and Sudia 1961). Ingested virus may either be unable to enter the arthropod midgut cells because of a receptor-ligand incompatibility ( midgut infection barrier) or, once inside, virus may be unable to disseminate from the midgut to the hemocoel ( midgut escape barrier) (Kramer et al., 1981, Hardy et al., 1983). In many cases, once the midgut barrier is overcome, viral infection of the salivary glands and subsequent transmission ensues. Thus, any mechanism 1 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell St., Grand Forks, ND 58202-9019. 2 Corresponding author, e-mail: jefferson.vaughan@email.und.edu. 3 Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612.

that effectively bypasses midgut barriers will greatly increase the potential transmission of arboviruses by vectors. The standard way to identify midgut barriers is to feed suspected vectors on viremic blood. Individuals are then sampled at various time intervals and their extremities (e.g., legs) are excised and assayed for virus to determine if ingested virus disseminated from the gut into the hemocoel. Vectors are fed using in vitro methods (e.g., membrane feeder) or by allowing them to feed on anesthetized or restrained vertebrates purposefully infected with the virus in question. Almost always, the vertebrates used are “clean,” laboratory-raised species (e.g., rodents, poultry). However, neither method accounts for the fact that the actual vertebrate reservoirs involved in arboviral transmission cycles are often infected with other blood-borne parasites. Particularly important are the Þlarioid nematodes.

0022-2585/12/1430Ð1441$04.00/0 2012 Entomological Society of America

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J. Parasitol., 99(6), 2013, pp. 1114–1121 American Society of Parasitologists 2013

A NEW SPECIES OF CREPIDOSTOMUM (DIGENEA: ALLOCREADIIDAE) FROM HIODON TERGISUS IN MISSISSIPPI AND MOLECULAR COMPARISON WITH THREE CONGENERS Vasyl V. Tkach*, Stephen S. Curran†, Jeffrey A. Bell, and Robin M. Overstreet† University of North Dakota, Department of Biology, Starcher Hall Box 9019, 10 Cornell St., Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202. Correspondence should be sent to: vasyl.tkach@email.und.edu ABSTRACT: A new species, Crepidostomum affine n. sp., is described from Hiodon tergisus in Mississippi, and morphological data are provided for Crepidostomum auritum from Aplodinotus grunniens in Mississippi and for Crepidostomum illinoiense from Hiodon alosoides in Minnesota. The new species is most similar morphologically to C. illinoiense, but has a shorter intertesticular space, measuring 0–74 lm (mean ¼ 19.3 6 23.1 SD in 73 specimens) compared with 0–229 lm (mean ¼ 57.3 6 56.7 SD in 34 specimens), and the distance between the ovary and the anterior testis is relatively shorter in the new species, representing 2.6–7.9% of overall body length compared with 4.1–12.4% in C. illinoiense. Fragments of nuclear ribosomal as well as mitochondrial DNA are compared among C. affine n. sp., C. illinoiense, C. auritum and Crepidostomum cornutum. Crepidostomum affine n. sp. and C. illinoiense are most similar, having between 19 and 20 variable bases (1.29–1.36%) in the amplified nuclear ribosomal RNA fragment comprising the complete ITS2 spacer and partial 28S gene, and between 35 and 39 variable bases (8.62–9.61%) in the amplified fragment of the COI region. Specimens of C. illinoiense from the Missouri River in North Dakota and Red Lake River in Minnesota differed by 1 base (0.07%) in the rRNA fragment and 4 bases (0.95%) in COI fragment. Crepidostomum cornutum and C. auritum also have 19 (1.29%) variable bases in the amplified ITS2 and partial 28S regions and 50 (12.32%) variable bases in the amplified COI region. Both C. cornutum and C. auritum demonstrated much greater levels of differences compared to C. affine n. sp. These results add to previously published data reporting species of fish digeneans that might be endemic to the Pearl and Pascagoula river basins in Mississippi.

During parasite surveys of rivers in North America, we found that 2 populations of digeneans consistent with the diagnosis and description for Crepidostomum illinoiense Faust, 1918, were clearly genetically distinct. Examination of whole-mounted specimens revealed slight morphological differences between the 2 populations. One of these populations (from the Upper Mississippi River Basin) corresponded to C. illinoiense, while the other (from the Pearl and Pascagoula River Basins in Mississippi) is described as a new species. Herein, we provide a morphological description of this new species from Hiodon tergisus in the Pearl River and morphological data for C. illinoiense. Additionally, 2 other species belonging in Crepidostomum Braun, 1900, were found in the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers: Crepidostomum auritum (MacCallum, 1919) Hopkins, 1934, from the Pearl River, and Crepidostomum cornutum (Osborn, 1903) Stafford, 1904, from the Pascagoula River. Hopkins (1934) stated that C. auritum was likely a synonym of C. cornutum, but Caira (1989) demonstrated that C. auritum was a distinct species based on morphological comparison. Our data support Caira’s (1989) opinion. Morphological data are provided for C. auritum because of the paucity of reports of that species. Sequences of nuclear large ribosomal subunit DNA (28S) gene and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene are compared among C. illinoiense, the new species, C. auritum, and C. cornutum. MATERIALS AND METHODS Digeneans resembling C. illinoiense and considered herein to represent a new species were collected from Hiodon tergisus Lesueur, 1818, electroﬁshed from the Pearl River, Pearl River County, Mississippi on 21 October 2004 (n ¼ 2) and 11 May 2005 (n ¼ 1) and from the Pascagoula River Basin, Green County, Mississippi, on 4 October 2011 (n ¼ 1). Specimens of C. illinoiense were collected from Hiodon alosoides (Raﬁnesque, 1819) angled from Red Lake River in East Grand Forks, Received 20 April 2013; revised 31 July 2013; accepted 2 August 2013. * Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51/55 Twarda Street, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland. † University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Coastal Sciences, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564. DOI: 10.1645/13-279.1

Minnesota, on 27 June 2005 (n ¼ 4) and from Missouri River (Lake Sakakawea) on 19 June 2007 (n ¼ 2). Specimens of C. auritum were collected from Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819 (n ¼ 1) electrofished from the Pearl River, Hancock County, Mississippi, on 27 May 2005. Specimens of C. cornutum were collected from Lepomis gulosus (Cuvier, 1829) (n ¼ 2) from the Pascagoula River, George County, Mississippi, on 10 April 2003. Digeneans were removed from the intestine of the hosts, rinsed in 0.85% saline solution, and either placed in 95% ethanol and stored cold or killed with near boiling hot tap water. Those killed in tap water were immediately placed in 10% neutral phosphate buffered formalin solution or 70% ethanol and stored. Whole mounts were made from digeneans stored in formalin solution or 70% ethanol following the procedure in Curran et al. (2006). Some terms used to describe morphological features are from Manter (1970). Drawings were made with the aid of a drawing tube. Measurements are given as ranges in micrometers (lm) in the descriptions. Museum specimens were examined at the United States National Parasite Collection, Beltsville, Maryland (USNPC), and at the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska (HWML) (Table I). Genomic DNA was extracted from individual ethanol fixed specimens following the protocol of Tkach and Pawlowski (1999). The approximately 2,500 bp long nuclear ribosomal fragment encompassing 3 0 end of the 18S nuclear rRNA gene, ITS region (ITS1þ5.8SþITS2), and 5 0 end of the 28S rRNA gene (including variable domains D1-D3) was targeted for amplification by PCR from 4 individual specimens of the new species, 9 specimens of C. illinoiense, 2 specimens of C. auritum, and 2 specimens of C. cornutum. Approximately 410 base pair fragment of cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) was targeted for amplification by PCR from 3 individual specimens of the new species, 7 specimens of C. illinoiense, 1 specimen of C. auritum, and 1 specimen of C. cornutum. All were amplified on an Eppendorf Master Gradient thermal cycler. The PCR reactions were performed according to protocols described in Tkach et al. (2003). Products were purified using Qiagen Qiaquicke columns (Qiagen, Germantown, Maryland), sequenced using ABI BigDyee chemistry, alcohol-precipitated, and run on an ABI Prism 3,100e automated capillary sequencer (Life Technologies, Grand Island, New York). For the rRNA fragment, sequencing and PCR primers are listed in Curran et al. (2006, 2013) while for the COI fragment the forward primer JB3 (5 0 TTTTTTGGGCATCCTGAGGTTTAT-3 0 ) published by Hu et al. (2002) and reverse primer JB5 (5 0 -AGCACCTAAACTTAAAACATAAT GAAAATG-3 0 ) published by Derycke et al. (2005) were used for both PCR and sequencing reactions. Contiguous sequences were assembled and edited using Sequenchere software (GeneCodes Corp., ver. 4.1.4; Ann Arbor, Michigan). Sequences were aligned and compared using BioEdit software, version 7.0.1 (Hall, 1999). The sequences used in the comparative pairwise analysis are deposited in GenBank (Table II), and associated vouchers are deposited in the USNPC and HWML (Table I). Since most of the ITS1 region of the new species could not be sequenced

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Parasite Prevalence Corresponds to Host Life History in a Diverse Assemblage of Afrotropical Birds and Haemosporidian Parasites Holly L. Lutz1,2,3,4*, Wesley M. Hochachka3, Joshua I. Engel4, Jeffrey A. Bell5, Vasyl V. Tkach5, John M. Bates4, Shannon J. Hackett4, Jason D. Weckstein6 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America, 2 Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America, 3 Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America, 4 Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 5 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States of America, 6 Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Ornithology Department and Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America OPEN ACCESS Citation: Lutz HL, Hochachka WM, Engel JI, Bell JA, Tkach VV, Bates JM, et al. (2015) Parasite Prevalence Corresponds to Host Life History in a Diverse Assemblage of Afrotropical Birds and Haemosporidian Parasites. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0121254. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121254 Academic Editor: Tobias Spielmann, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, GERMANY Received: September 20, 2014 Accepted: January 29, 2015 Published: April 8, 2015 Copyright: ÂŠ 2015 Lutz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All parasite sequence data are available via NCBI, GenBank accession numbers KM056404â&#x20AC;&#x201C;056650. All parasite sequences, host-parasite assocation and geographic assocation data are available via the MalAvi database (http://mbio-serv2.mbioekol.lu.se/Malavi/). All other data are available within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: This research was supported by the Field Museum of Natural History's Emerging Pathogens Project, funded by the Davee Foundation and Dr. Ralph and Mariam Faulk Medical Research Trust.

* hll47@cornell.edu

Abstract Avian host life history traits have been hypothesized to predict rates of infection by haemosporidian parasites. Using molecular techniques, we tested this hypothesis for parasites from three haemosporidian genera (Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon) collected from a diverse sampling of birds in northern Malawi. We found that host life history traits were significantly associated with parasitism rates by all three parasite genera. Nest type and nest location predicted infection probability for all three parasite genera, whereas flocking behavior is an important predictor of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus infection and habitat is an important predictor of Leucocytozoon infection. Parasite prevalence was 79.1% across all individuals sampled, higher than that reported for comparable studies from any other region of the world. Parasite diversity was also exceptionally high, with 248 parasite cytochrome b lineages identified from 152 host species. A large proportion of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon parasite DNA sequences identified in this study represent new, previously undocumented lineages (n = 201; 81% of total identified) based on BLAST queries against the avian malaria database, MalAvi.

Introduction Vector-borne pathogens are responsible for a vast number of diseases that negatively impact animal and human health. Many of these pathogens can infect multiple hosts, and prevalence varies among susceptible host species [1, 2]. Although factors contributing to variation in host

PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0121254 April 8, 2015

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Bell et al. Parasites & Vectors (2015) 8:383 DOI 10.1186/s13071-015-0993-0

RESEARCH

Open Access

A new real-time PCR protocol for detection of avian haemosporidians Jeffrey A. Bell1*, Jason D. Weckstein2, Alan Fecchio2 and Vasyl V. Tkach1 Abstract Background: Birds possess the most diverse assemblage of haemosporidian parasites; including three genera, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon. Currently there are over 200 morphologically identified avian haemosporidian species, although true species richness is unknown due to great genetic diversity and insufficient sampling in highly diverse regions. Studies aimed at surveying haemosporidian diversity involve collecting and screening samples from hundreds to thousands of individuals. Currently, screening relies on microscopy and/or single or nested standard PCR. Although effective, these methods are time and resource consuming, and in the case of microscopy require substantial expertise. Here we report a newly developed real-time PCR protocol designed to quickly and reliably detect all three genera of avian haemosporidians in a single biochemical reaction. Methods: Using available DNA sequences from avian haemosporidians we designed primers R330F and R480RL, which flank a 182 base pair fragment of mitochondrial conserved rDNA. These primers were initially tested using real-time PCR on samples from Malawi, Africa, previously screened for avian haemosporidians using traditional nested PCR. Our real time protocol was further tested on 94 samples from the Cerrado biome of Brazil, previously screened using a single PCR assay for haemosporidian parasites. These samples were also amplified using modified nested PCR protocols, allowing for comparisons between the three different screening methods (single PCR, nested PCR, real-time PCR). Results: The real-time PCR protocol successfully identified all three genera of avian haemosporidians from both single and mixed infections previously detected from Malawi. There was no significant difference between the three different screening protocols used for the 94 samples from the Brazilian Cerrado (Ď&#x2021;2 = 0.3429, df = 2, P = 0.842). After proving effective, the real-time protocol was used to screen 2113 Brazilian samples, identifying 693 positive samples. Conclusions: Our real-time PCR assay proved as effective as two widely used molecular screening techniques, single PCR and nested PCR. However, the real-time protocol has the distinct advantage of detecting all three genera in a single reaction, which significantly increases efficiency by greatly decreasing screening time and cost. Our real-time PCR protocol is therefore a valuable tool in the quickly expanding field of avian haemosporidian research. Keywords: Avian haemosporidians, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Real-time PCR

* Correspondence: jeffrey.bell@my.und.edu 1 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell Street STOP 9019, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article ÂŠ 2015 Bell et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

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Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2015.1077892

Plumage coloration, body condition and immunological status inYellow-billed Cardinals (Paroaria capitata) R.I. DIAS 1,2,7, L.T. MANICA 1,3, D. GRESSLER 1, J.A. BELL 4 and A. FECCHIO 5,6

Downloaded by [134.29.227.95] at 09:50 21 September 2015

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 70910-900, Brazil 2 Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde, Centro Universitário de Brasília, Brasília, 70790-075, Brazil 3 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, 81531-980, Brazil 4 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA 5 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 70910-900, Brazil 6 Ornithology Department, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA Received 18 March 2015, accepted 19 July 2015

Plumage coloration deriving from carotenoid and melanin pigments can be a quality signal in birds, and can be under conspecific inspection in social interactions. For example, parasite load and immune system status can be inferred through plumage color intensity, and can influence the choice of sexual partners. Here, we evaluated two plumage ornaments in the Yellow-billed Cardinal [Paroaria capitata (d’Orbigny & Lafresnaye 1837)]: the carotenoid-based coloration of the cap and the melanin-based coloration of the bib. We evaluated whether these ornaments were related to blood parasite burden, immunological status and body condition, and whether they could reveal individual sex and age. Cardinals were mist-netted in a Brazilian wetland, and 12 individuals were infected with malaria parasites. Both carotenoid and melanin colorations were related to age, but only carotenoids reflected immunological status. Adult cardinals presented redder caps and darker bibs in comparison to juveniles, and redder caps were associated with low values of heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (H/L, indicating lower stress level). Plumage coloration did not indicate individual sex or parasite infection. Taken together, these results demonstrated that both melanin- and carotenoid-based coloration in cardinals can potentially reflect significant information for social interactions, such as individual age and experience, but apparently only carotenoid coloration is condition-dependent and could reliably indicate quality. KEY WORDS :

neotropics, ornaments, Pantanal, sexual signaling, WBC, avian malaria, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus.

Corresponding author: Raphael I. Dias, Centro Universitário de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde, Brasília, DF, 70790-075, Brazil (E‑mail: raphael.dias@uniceub.br). © 2015 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Italia

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Host associations and turnover of haemosporidian parasites in manakins (Aves: Pipridae) ALAN FECCHIO 1 *, MARIA SVENSSON-COELHO 2 , JEFFREY BELL 3 , VINCENZO A. ELLIS 4 , MATTHEW C. MEDEIROS 5 , CHRISTOPHER H. TRISOS 6 , JOHN G. BLAKE 7 , BETTE A. LOISELLE 8 , JOSEPH A. TOBIAS 9 , REBEKA FANTI 1 0 , ELYSE D. COFFEY 1 0 , IUBATÃ P. DE FARIA 1 1 , JOÃO B. PINHO 1 2 , GABRIEL FELIX 1 3 , ERIKA M. BRAGA 1 3 , MARINA ANCIÃES 1 4 , VASYL TKACH 3 , JOHN BATES 1 5 , CHRISTOPHER WITT 1 6 , JASON D. WECKSTEIN 1 ,1 7 , ROBERT E. RICKLEFS 1 0 and IZENI P. FARIAS 1 8 1

Department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA Department of Science, Federal University of São Paulo, Diadema, SP 09972-270, Brazil Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA 4 Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 5 Paciﬁc Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA 6 National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 1 Park Place, Suite 300, Annapolis, MD 21401, USA 7 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 8 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 9 Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK. 10 Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, MO 63121, USA 11 Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil 12 Laboratório de Ecologia de Aves, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil 13 Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 14 Laboratório de Evolução e Comportamento Animal, Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM 69011-970, Brazil 15 Integrative Research Center, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA 16 Museum of Southwestern Biology and Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA 17 Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA 18 Laboratório de Evolução e Genética Animal, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, AM 69077-000, Brazil 2 3

(Received 15 November 2016; revised 19 January 2017; accepted 24 January 2017) SUMMARY

Parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) are a diverse group of pathogens that infect birds nearly worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the ecological and evolutionary factors that shape the diversity and distribution of these protozoan parasites among avian communities and geographic regions are poorly understood. Based on a survey throughout the Neotropics of the haemosporidian parasites infecting manakins (Pipridae), a family of Passerine birds endemic to this region, we asked whether host relatedness, ecological similarity and geographic proximity structure parasite turnover between manakin species and local manakin assemblages. We used molecular methods to screen 1343 individuals of 30 manakin species for the presence of parasites. We found no signiﬁcant correlations between manakin parasite lineage turnover and both manakin species turnover and geographic distance. Climate diﬀerences, species turnover in the larger bird community and parasite lineage turnover in non-manakin hosts did not correlate with manakin parasite lineage turnover. We also found no evidence that manakin parasite lineage turnover among host species correlates with range overlap and genetic divergence among hosts. Our analyses indicate that host switching (turnover among host species) and dispersal (turnover among locations) of haemosporidian parasites in manakins are not constrained at this scale. Key words: Avian malaria, community assembly, host switching, host turnover, parasite community, parasite diversity.

INTRODUCTION

Parasite assemblage structure can change through local colonization and extinction of individual * Corresponding author: Laboratório de Evolução e Biogeograﬁa, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, 147, Salvador, BA 40170115, Brazil. E-mail: alanfecchio@gmail.com

lineages, which depend on several attributes of hosts (Poulin, 1997). For example, the geographic range of the host has been shown to positively inﬂuence parasite richness: host species with larger ranges would presumably be exposed to, and colonized by, more parasite species over evolutionary time (Poulin, 1997, 2007). Indeed, this pattern has been found among several types of parasites and

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Avian malaria, ecological host traits and mosquito abundance in southeastern Amazonia ALAN FECCHIO 1 *, VINCENZO A. ELLIS 2 , JEFFREY A. BELL 3 , CHRISTIAN B. ANDRETTI 4 , FERNANDO M. D’HORTA 5 , ALLAN M. SILVA 6 , VASYL V. TKACH 3 and JASON D. WECKSTEIN 7 1

Department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil 3 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58201, USA 4 Curso de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 5 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM 69060-001, Brazil 6 Seção de Entomologia, Laboratório Central, Secretaria de Estado da Saúde do Paraná, São José dos Pinhais, PR 83060500, Brazil 7 Department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences and Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA 2

(Received 7 November 2016; revised 16 February 2017; accepted 17 February 2017) SUMMARY

Avian malaria is a vector transmitted disease caused by Plasmodium and recent studies suggest that variation in its prevalence across avian hosts is correlated with a variety of ecological traits. Here we examine the relationship between prevalence and diversity of Plasmodium lineages in southeastern Amazonia and: (1) host ecological traits (nest location, nest type, ﬂocking behaviour and diet); (2) density and diversity of avian hosts; (3) abundance and diversity of mosquitoes; and (4) season. We used molecular methods to detect Plasmodium in blood samples from 675 individual birds of 120 species. Based on cytochrome b sequences, we recovered 89 lineages of Plasmodium from 136 infected individuals sampled across seven localities. Plasmodium prevalence was homogeneous over time (dry season and ﬂooding season) and space, but heterogeneous among 51 avian host species. Variation in prevalence among bird species was not explained by avian ecological traits, density of avian hosts, or mosquito abundance. However, Plasmodium lineage diversity was positively correlated with mosquito abundance. Interestingly, our results suggest that avian host traits are less important determinants of Plasmodium prevalence and diversity in southeastern Amazonia than in other regions in which they have been investigated. Key words: Culicidae, Haemosporidian parasites, mosquito diversity, parasite diversity, Plasmodium, vectors.

INTRODUCTION

Many factors have been proposed to explain parasite diversity (Poulin, 1997). For example, previous studies have shown that species richness increases towards the equator for some groups of parasitic organisms (Rohde and Heap, 1998; Guernier et al. 2004; Nunn et al. 2005). However, a recent meta-analysis of 62 studies involving animal, plant and fungal hosts showed that there was no strong evidence for an eﬀect of latitude on parasite species richness (Kamiya et al. 2014). Parasite diversity might be determined by characteristics of hosts rather than those of the environment. For example, host body size, population density and geographic range have all been suggested as universal predictors of variation in parasite species richness (Kamiya et al. 2014). Nevertheless, the meta-analysis of Kamiya et al. (2014) did not include vector-transmitted parasites. Host density * Corresponding author: Laboratório de Evolução e Biogeograﬁa, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, 147, Salvador, BA 40170115, Brazil. E-mail: alanfecchio@gmail.com

can be especially important for parasites, which depend on hematophagous insects for reproduction because the concentration of hosts in a given area potentially affects the prevalence and transmission of vector-borne pathogens by influencing encounter rates between vectors and susceptible hosts (Nunn and Heymann, 2005). Avian malaria is a worldwide, vector-transmitted disease caused by haemosporidian parasites in the genus Plasmodium (Valkiūnas, 2005). These parasites reproduce sexually in female mosquito vectors from the genera Culex, Aedes, Culiseta, Anopheles, Mansonia, Aedeomyia and Coquillettidia (Diptera: Culicidae) (Valkiūnas, 2005; Njabo et al. 2009; Santiago-Alarcon et al. 2012). Environmental factors, especially temperature, can play a role in the distribution, prevalence and transmission of these parasites (Gonzalez-Quevedo et al. 2014; Oakgrove et al. 2014). Temperature constrains not only parasite sporogonic development (LaPointe et al. 2010), but also influences the activity and development of the mosquito vectors, which are important determinants of the prevalence and transmission of avian malaria.

Parasitology, Page 1 of 16. © Cambridge University Press 2017 doi:10.1017/S003118201700035X Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Florida, on 29 Mar 2017 at 06:28:21, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003118201700035X

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Host community similarity and geography shape the diversity and distribution of haemosporidian parasites in Amazonian birds A. Fecchio, R. Pinheiro, G. Felix, I. P. Faria, J. B. Pinho, G. A. Lacorte, E. M. Braga, I. P. Farias, A. Aleixo, V. V. Tkach, M. D. Collins, J. A. Bell and J. D. Weckstein A. Fecchio (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7319-0234) (alanfecchio@gmail.com), Laboratório de Evolução e Biogeograﬁa, Univ. Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil. – R. Pinheiro and G. Felix, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre, Univ. Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. – I. P. Faria, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Univ. Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. – J. B. Pinho, Laboratório de Ecologia de Aves, Univ. Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil. – G. A. Lacorte, Molecular Biology Lab, Federal Inst. of Minas Gerais, Bambuí Campus, Bambuí, MG, Brazil. – E. M. Braga, Depto de Parasitologia, Univ. Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. – I. P. Farias, Laboratório de Evolução e Genética Animal, Univ. Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, AM, Brazil. – A. Aleixo, Dept of Zoology, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, PA, Brazil. – V. V. Tkach and J. A. Bell, Dept of Biology, Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA. – M. D. Collins, Dept of Biology, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, USA. – J. D. Weckstein, Dept of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences and Dept of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Identifying the mechanisms driving the distribution and diversity of parasitic organisms and characterizing the structure of parasite assemblages are critical to understanding host–parasite evolution, community dynamics, and disease transmission risk. Haemosporidian parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus are a diverse and cosmopolitan group of bird pathogens. Despite their global distribution, the ecological and historical factors shaping the diversity and distribution of these protozoan parasites across avian communities and geographic regions remain unclear. Here we used a region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to characterize the diversity, biogeographical patterns, and phylogenetic relationships of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus infecting Amazonian birds. Specifically, we asked whether, and how, host community similarity and geography (latitude and area of endemism) structure parasite assemblages across 15 avian communities in the Amazon Basin. We identified 265 lineages of haemosporidians recovered from 2661 sampled birds from 330 species. Infection prevalence varied widely among host species, avian communities, areas of endemism, and latitude. Composition analysis demonstrated that both malarial parasites and host communities differed across areas of endemism and as a function of latitude. Thus, areas with similar avian community composition were similar in their parasite communities. Our analyses, within a regional biogeographic context, imply that host switching is the main event promoting diversification in malarial parasites. Although dispersal of haemosporidian parasites was constrained across six areas of endemism, these pathogens are not dispersal-limited among communities within the same area of endemism. Our findings indicate that the distribution of malarial parasites in Amazonian birds is largely dependent on local ecological conditions and host evolutionary relationships.

Parasites and pathogens can play an important role in structuring biological communities and maintaining biodiversity (Daszak et al. 2000, Ricklefs 2010). For instance, parasites can influence interactions among competitors and predators (Hatcher et al. 2006), impact the host extinction dynamics (McCallum and Dobson 1995), affect ecosystem functioning and productivity (Hudson et al. 2006), and the success of introduced host species in their non-native range (Torchin et al. 2003). However, the processes structuring these often-hidden communities of parasites and pathogens remain poorly understood, especially when the parasite community is highly diverse and its taxonomic composition is not well established. Therefore, characterizing the structure of parasite associations is the first step in understanding

host–parasite evolution, community dynamics, and disease transmission risk. Ecological factors may shape parasite assemblage structure because of their potential inﬂuence on colonization and extinction of these organisms (Poulin 1997, 2007, Clayton et al. 2016). For example, for free-living organisms, similarity in species composition among communities decreases with increasing geographic distance (Nekola and White 1999), and this ecological pattern has also been demonstrated for parasites (Poulin 2003). This increasing dissimilarity in parasite assemblages with increased geographic distance could be caused by two mechanisms: 1) a decrease in environmental similarity with distance (e.g. gradients in temperature and precipitation, turnover of host species, genetic diﬀerences Early View (EV): 1-EV

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RH: BELL ET AL. – GYRABASCUS FROM DROMICIOPS BOZINOVICI

2 3

First record of Gyrabascus (Digenea, Pleurogenidae) from Dromiciops bozinovici D'Elia et al.,

2016 (Marsupialia: Microbiotheriidae) in Chile and its phylogenetic relationships

5 6

JEFFREY A. BELL1,3, DANIEL GONZÁLEZ-ACUÑA2, VASYL V. TKACH1

7 8

1Department

of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell Street, Grand Forks, North Dakota

58202, U.S.A. (email: jeffrey.bell@und.edu)

2Department

of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad de Concepciόn, Box

537, Chillán, Chile (email: danigonz@udec.cl)

3Corresponding

author

13 14

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DR. JEFFREY BELL | EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR PORTFOLIO

RH: SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

First Record of Leucocytozoon (Haemosporida: Leucocytozoidae) in Amazonia: Evidence

for Rarity in Neotropical Lowlands or Lack of Sampling for this Parasite Genus?

A. Fecchio, P. Silveira*, J. D. Weckstein†, J. Dispoto†, M. Anciães‡, M. Bosholn‡, V. V.

Tkach§, and J. A. Bell§

Laboratório de Evolução e Biogeografia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia,

40170115, Brazil. Correspondence should be sent to A. Fecchio at: alanfecchio@gmail.com

Abstract: Birds harbor an astonishing diversity of haemosporidian parasites belonging to the

genera Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Plasmodium. Currently there are over 250

morphologically described avian haemosporidian species and 2,828 unique lineages infecting

virtually all avian clades and zoogeographic regions, except for Antarctica. Our report is based

on PCR and microscopic screening of 1,302 individual avian samples from Brazil to detect the

underrepresented genus Leucocytozoon. This survey primarily focuses on passerine birds

collected from Amazonia, Atlantic Rain Forest, and Pantanal. We also summarize studies

conducted in Brazil that report haemosporidian prevalence using both microscopy and molecular

tools and present for the first time a record of Leucocytozoon infecting an avian host population

in Amazonia. Based on our finding, we suggest that high average temperatures may be

constraining both the distribution and diversity of Leucocytozoon in lowland tropical South

America.

Avian haemosporidians are a widely distributed group of parasites in terms of both avian

host associations and geography, infecting nearly all avian orders and inhabiting all continents

except for Antarctica (Valkiūnas, 2005). Currently there are more than 250 named species of

avian haemosporidians from the genera Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Plasmodium, all

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