Student studies bee ecology in Turkey

Corey Bower (pictured at left during his
2013 REU travels), a senior biology major at Bloomsburg University, is member of a team of undergraduate researchers in Greece and the Republic of Turkey.

After a three-day Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) mini-course in Oklahoma, students and faculty traveled to Istanbul to start an eight-week research expedition that studies the integrative biology of bees in Mediterranean habitats. Our team focuses on research significant to the recent phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has struck Europe and America. The team will be studying the taxonomy of potential alternate native pollinators and how environmental factors and stress affect foraging behavior of bees. Studies will take place in Canakkale (Turkey), Lesvos (Greece) and Bursa (Turkey).

Appreciating the Language and the Culture

Learning the language and culture of the people we will be collaborating with helps us broaden our understanding and perspective to be better team players. Immediately after disembarking from the plane, you know you’re not “in Kansas anymore”… or in our case, not in Oklahoma anymore. Our first night was in Istanbul, a city that is a true melting pot of cultures from the west and east and offers Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Turkish influences (Blue Mosque pictured).

Our second night was in Canakkale, a city at the Hellespont (Dardenelles), a place of strategic importance from the times of the Trojan War to the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I (Trojan Horse from the 2004 movie Troy pictured). On Sunday June 9th, we toured the archeological site of Troy in the morning and the Gallipoli Memorial in the afternoon. What an amazing amount of history and culture in a 60-minute radius!


— Corey Bower 

A field for those who love the outdoors

The term "networking" tends to be associated with strictly business fields. But it's just as important in other disciplines as well.

The College of Science and Technology hosts Career Day each spring. This year 70 science alumni came back to Bloomsburg to share their career insights.

Above, geologist Edward Banaszek '80, vice president of operations for Mogul Energy International, talks to a geology class on the Thursday before career day. Banaszek was featured in the spring 2007 issue of the Bloomsburg magazine and he's kept in touch with Bloomsburg ever since. His words of wisdom for the geoscience majors — there's jobs out there.

Field trips are a regular part of the curriculum in the Department of Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences. At right, are some photos taken by professors at various trips last fall.

The majors housed in the department lead to careers ranging from environmental protection, community planning, energy production and even space exploration.

Since the career often involves a lot of work in the field — it can be a fantastic career choice if you love the outdoors. If you own hiking boots, it's a definitely a major to check out. Click on any image to see them larger.

Lets get a good look at those atoms

If you look at them really closely, what do atoms look like?

Physics and engineering technology professors John Huckans and Ju Xin, along with a group of about a dozen students are working on a project to find out.

Working with the professors, the students are learning the techniques to bring rubidium atoms to an extremely low temperature (100 microKelvin), where quantum mechanical properties of the atoms are more easily observed. The atoms will be cooled and held in place by laser beams and magnetic coils within an ultra-high vacuum system. Absorption images of ultracold atom clouds will be captured with a digital camera at near-infrared wavelengths.

The top photo shows the instrument — machined metal, hoses and clamps — that the group is constructing to observe the rubidium atoms.

The second photo shows the plan of the project on the lab's blackboard. Below that Huckans talks to the team at a regular 8:30 am group meeting. The next two photos are details of the instrument.

When it's all finished, maybe we'll be able to post the absorption images here.

Science, old school style

When it comes to technology in the labs. Bloomsburg has tons. But there's nothing like the tactile coolness of old science stuff. A recent project for the STEM Magnet project took me into the physics department supply closets to photograph some objects for some sleek, high-key art.

Technical notes: These photos were taken fast with a Panasonic LX5 with just room and window light and a large white sheet of paper. Colors and exposure were shifted a lot to compensate for the mixed color temperature of the lighting. An advantage of small sensor pocket cameras is that that have a very large depth of field, which is very helpful when working close to objects like this. I've used both the Panasonic LX5 and the Olympus XZ-1 and personally, I give the edge to the Panasonic because the controls seem more intuitive to me. (Click on any image to make it larger.)

Map matters

Even in this age of pervasive computer, tablet and cell phone screens — if you put a bunch of geographers together and raise a question ... they'll still reach for a map. It's semester's end and students are about to discuss their research projects. But before the talks begin, students and faculty have a discussion, a question comes up. Technology abounds in the department. But there's something special about the traditional tools that you can hold, touch, feel. Out comes a map — a magnificent oversize document that measures in feet (yards even) rather than in inches. Here Jennifer Whisner, assistant professor of environmental, geographical and geological sciences, is flanked by students as they check the map. —EGF

Celebrating peak human performance

The summer Olympics will begin in London this July and the international press is already speculating about whether we'll see more records broken in track and field. Particularly because Usain Bolt of Jamaica in 2009 smashed his own world record in the 100-meter dash by over a tenth of a second with a time of 9.58 seconds. 

Japanese television station NHK recently sent a news crew to Bloomsburg to interview mathematics professor Reza Noubary about his formula for predicting the ultimate record in the 100 meters. Based on current data, Noubary pegs the ultimate 100 meter record at 9.40 seconds with a 90 percent confidence rate.

The news crew, which included a journalist, sound technician, camera operator and producer/director, had already interviewed Bolt in Jamaica. They spent hours with Noubary and went over the math in detail ... taping the professor explaining his work at a white board and in his office. For track and field aficionados, this is serious business.

I photographed discreetly, not wanting to interfere with their work. When the crew was finished, I asked, "Reza, what's your record for the 100 meter?"

"11. 3 seconds," he said, but shrugged it off ... it's unofficial and he was never able to duplicate it. His official best in 11.4.

What the news crew didn't know and what Dr. Noubary was too modest to mention is that he's an extraordinary athlete in his own right. He played professional soccer for a year before going to college. And he remains a exceptional athlete. (Just ask members and alumni of the Bloomsburg soccer team with whom he's played and scrimmaged over the years.) 

Science is helping us understand how to improve peak human performance, but athletics is still a very human endeavor. The human focus has been a consistent touchstone of Noubary's work. He was one of the first people I interviewed when I came to Bloomsburg 20 years ago as a writer. 

A native of Iran, Noubary was working on mathematical models to help engineers simulate earthquakes and design stronger buildings. The interview touched on the challenges of solving a problem, but the thing I recall after 20 years is that this was also personal. Iran often experiences earthquakes and they can be deadly. Noubary had a sense of urgency, passion, to use his knowledge to help make earthquakes less deadly.

PS. 

Noubary is also a beloved professor and teacher who often brings cookies to class on test days to help student performance. 

Science on my mind

Classroom and lab shoots can be a lot of a fun. A lot of times, you learn a lot just visiting the class.

A recent anatomy lab for speech pathology majors taught be John Hranitz from biology was a special treat. The lecture was fun to listen to and photographically there was a lot going on. A lecture, some microscope work, and exploring with plastic models. Almost three photo shoots in one.

Shooting was done with the Canon 7 and (primarily) Tokina 16-50 f/2.8. The Tokina is a nice lens, but difficult to find now. Sharpness is very good, though there's a fair bit of distortion at the wide end that will show up in ceiling lines. The last photo in this series was done with the Canon 50 f/1.4.

ISO was set at 1600 for the entire shoot. Aperture was generally in the f/4 to f/5.6 range.

The top photo has some subjective color in Dr. Hranitz's face because he's illuminated by a projector.

Canon color tends to run a little warm as well. The "auto color" option in Photoshop will typically cool it down. But often I leave the Canon warmth in altogether or a fade the auto color by about half to keep a portion of the warmth.

Sharing research

Catching up a little from the end of last semester. This shot was taken at the College of Science and Technology's student research symposium.  Kathleen Paiva, majoring in both education and geography, is discussing a project she did with faculty mentor Cynthia Venn to make a tactile map to teach visually impaired students about geology. Yarn, glue, pipe cleaners were all pressed into service. Biology major Taylor Ball took a real interest in the project and stuck around, paying no attention to me while I took photos.

In all, there were more than a dozen student research posters at the event and another 19 research talks.

Technical notes: Nothing remarkable. Canon 7, ISO 800 1/64th. Tokina 11mm at f/4.5. Though you'll see distortion at the edges, the lens is really useful. Click on any photo to make it larger.

Lab time

One of the most prominent researchers at Bloomsburg is chemistry professor Mark Tapsak, who has been granted two dozen patents, most for implantable medical devices. While he certainly could have continued  his career as a full-time researcher, he was drawn to teaching as well. He still researches, though now BU students and graduates get the benefit of his experience.

Chemistry labs are a lot of fun to photograph in general. Faculty are on hand to answer questions and moving from station to station, but students really have an opportunity to learn and explore on their own. There's often music playing during lab times, with different professors and groups of students bringing their own style. Metallica is a regular on the rotation for some labs.

Technical notes: The main photo was taken with the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 at 13mm. Exposure was ISO 1600, f4.5 at 1/64. The Tokina lens is fairly unique in it's constant fast aperture and sharpness across the frame.

Click on any image to see it larger.

A question of balance

The audiology program needed some new photos and they wanted to get some shots of their rotational chair, which is one of about a dozen in the U.S. outside of the military. The chair, used to test inner ear function and balance, is located in a completely darkened chamber. Here audiology faculty member Jorge Gonzalez demonstrates the setup of the chair with second-year Au.D. students Alicia Kittle (seated) and Brittany Arnold. While the instrument may seem esoteric (a full balance test takes about four hours) it's proven to be a godsend for community members with balance problems. Gonzalez estimates that he's seen about 200 patients for balance issues through the university's associated Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic.

Technical notes: This shot was taken with a Canon 7D, Tokina 11-16 at 11 mm. Exposure was manual, ISO 800, f4 at 1/30. The light is entirely from the open door to the chamber and dim red light overhead. Click on any of the photos to see them larger.