Hello, I am Joan Magnusen, Professor of Biology at Keuka College. I usually teach an introductory survey course about animal anatomy, physiology, behavior and evolution, courses in cell, development and molecular biology, and a course in animal diversity. During the spring semester of 2008 I am on sabbatical. That means that the College still pays me a salary but I do not have any teaching responsibilities. It feels a little bit like playing hooking from being an adult with responsibilities but I hope I’ll convince you that I am working! I am obligated to put the time “off” to good use; to learn new things and to bring that knowledge back to Keuka, particularly to Keuka students.
When I applied for a sabbatical – yeah had to convince those in charge that I would use the cost of covering my teaching load well – I proposed that I would directly experience, in the laboratory, with my own hands and eyes the methods used by working research scientists to characterize genes, proteins and other molecules and to answer questions about how cells work. Three colleagues, two Keuka grads and friends, one a former student of mine, invited me to visit their labs “anytime.” An added enticement that this was the year and semester to do a sabbatical was that Dr. Cynthia Shannon Weickert, Keuka 1986 and 1987, has a five year appointment in Australia. Yes! Where the koalas and kangaroos come from; where its summer in January and February. (More about the lab in later installments).
So I spent about a week in California, I’m spending about a month in Australia, then going to New Zealand for about two weeks, then going to Hawaii for a few days, then back to Keuka Park for a week or so, then to Louisville Kentucky and finally to U of R during summer 2008. I hope to not only experience the techniques but also determine which of these sophisticated and potentially very expensive techniques might be reasonably importable to Keuka. Also, with the help of my colleagues, I hope to write grants that will bring new authentic research experiences to Keuka students and provide more formal links between Keuka students and these colleague scientists for Field Periods, research internships, jobs and graduate school opportunities via networking.
Ok, I officially planned the sabbatical to develop my lab scientist persona but I’m also a zoologist and naturalist interested in animals their forms and interactions with their environment. Thus going to Australia (as well as New Zealand and Hawaii) provides opportunity to feed the scholar-naturalist persona within me as well. These messages are likely to include as much about the animals (plants) and environment as they do about genes, proteins, RNA and techniques.
Oh and I am accompanied on my travels by Professor Emeritus Mary Schleiermacher, a talented scholar naturalist who also helps me plan my time away from the lab.
So I’m already in Australia. I will back-date some items from before my arrival. I hope you enjoy peeking over my shoulder!
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