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March 25, 2009
 Dr. Fred Janzen, a professor in the department of ecology, evolution and organismal biology at Iowa State University in Ames, will be the keynote speaker when Morningside College holds its sixth annual Palmer Student Research Symposium on Wednesday, April 1, in the Walker Science Center, 1707 Morningside Ave., and the Olsen Student Center, 3609 Peters Ave.
Janzen will speak at 12:45 p.m. in the Yockey Family Community Room of the Olsen Student Center. He will provide insight into some of the social and biological ramifications of climate change and rapid loss of biodiversity by highlighting their current and future impact on turtles.
The public is invited to the free event, which is sponsored by Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).
The Palmer Student Research Symposium will open at 7:45 a.m. in the Walker Science Center with remarks by Morningside College President John Reynders and William Deeds, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college. More than 75 different student research projects in the academic areas of biology, business, chemistry, English, history, mathematical sciences, modern languages, music, nursing, philosophy, physics, psychology, and religious studies will be presented throughout the day until about 4:30 p.m. The presentations include empirical and non-empirical independent or classroom research projects presented in oral, poster or panel format.
Janzen has been at Iowa State University since 1994. He has received multiple teaching and mentoring awards there, and he now runs the Janzen Lab of Ecological and Evolutionary Herpetology at Iowa State. Earlier in his career, he taught or conducted research at the Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica; the University of California-Davis; the University of California-Irvine; and the University of Oregon.
Janzen has been published in numerous academic journals, including the “Journal of Evolutionary Biology” and “Nature.” He also has been a featured expert on programs for the general public, such as the Discovery Channel’s news service. Among other activities, he works with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as a member of the Climate Change Working Group and the Wildlife Working Group.
Janzen has a bachelor’s degree in biology from North Central College in Naperville, Ill.; a master’s degree in zoology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins; and a doctorate in ecology and evolution from the University of Chicago. In 1993, he won the University of Chicago’s Marc Perry Galler Prize for Best Ph.D. Dissertation.
The Palmer Student Research Symposium is coordinated by students Jeremy Bauer, Chad Clancy, Autumn Collier, Lauren Deichmann, Emily Heuertz, Sabrina Higgins, Amy Salton, Chelsea Swanson and Maureen Weinmeister, and by faculty advisors Dr. Jackie Barber, associate professor of nursing education; Dr. Kim Christopherson, assistant professor of psychology; and Dr. John Pinto, professor of psychology.
The Palmer Student Research Symposium is supported by an endowed gift from the Palmer family in honor of Edward C. and William E. Palmer.
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