Labstracts Notes

New Editor Takes Over In July
Doreen Schroeder

My editorial duties will end with this issue of Labstracts. The past three years has been a wonderful learning experience, about other members, about the organization, about teaching, and last, but not least, about software!

I wish to sincerely thank all the members who have assisted me with advice (especially Corey Goldman and Ed Andrews) or by contributing articles, whether they volunteered, or were asked. I also wish to thank all the readers. After all, a publication is nothing is nothing without an audience!

Mariëlle Hoefnagels, from the University of Oklahoma, will be taking over editorial duties after the conference at UNLV. I know that she will continue to keep up the tradition of communication begun by Roberta Williams, the first editor, and continued by Leigh Callan and Ed Andrews.

Developmental Biology Teaching Workshop
Leland Johnson

Leland Johnson, a long-time ABLE member, will be conducting a workshop on the Developmental Biology Teaching Laboratory, at the Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, June 20-23, 2001. This workshop, which has been offered regularly since 1992, is designed to provide college and university faculty, postdocs, and graduate students with basic hands-on experience in working with organisms commonly studied in developmental biology teaching laboratories. The course will be useful both for experienced developmental biology teachers who wish to diversify their laboratory work and for new faculty whose training is outside the field, but who are assigned to teach developmental biology. Work will include teaching lab applications on sea urchins and sand dollars, chick embryos, protists, Hydra, planaria, fresh water oligochaetes, ferns, and flowering plants. The sea urchin/sand dollar work will include a newly developed and simplified lab experience on localized enzyme differentiation in developing larvae. We also expect that Eric Cole from St. Olaf College (MN) who was a past workshop participant will lead a half-day session on fluorescence microscopy techniques in the Developmental Biology teaching lab, with particular applications to study of sea urchin and sand dollar development. We intend as well to spend time exploring a few of the many Web sites, videos, and CD-ROMs that are helpful in teaching Developmental Biology.

In addition to the organized lab sessions, there will be time for sharing of techniques and ideas among the participants and some time for informal socializing, including a traditional New England lobster picnic dinner. While the workshop focus is on Developmental Biology, there would be many potential applications of this material for general biology labs, and instructors in other courses are very welcome as participants. A number of ABLE members have been included among the approximately ninety-five colleagues from across the U.S. and Canada who have participated in past workshop sessions.

The Darling Marine Center, a marine laboratory of the University of Maine, is located in a beautiful setting on the scenic Damariscotta River estuary on midcoastal Maine, about 60 miles northeast of Portland. The Center is approximately six miles from exposed, open-ocean habitats of the Gulf of Maine. It is close to major shopping areas (e.g. Freeport), and is two hours from Acadia National Park. Workshop participants will be using the Darling Center's beautiful waterfront conference facilities.

For further information contact:

Tim Miller, Course Coordinator,
Darling Marine Center
University of Maine
193 Clark's Cove Road,
Walpole, ME 04573.

Phone 207-563-3146
e-mail: temiller@maine.edu
website: HTTP://server.DMC.Maine.edu

Or contact:
Lee Johnson (605) 274-4714
email: leland_johnson@augie.edu

A Short List of Upcoming Meetings
Doreen Schroeder

AIBS annual meeting in Washington, DC on March 21-23, 2003 "Bioethics in a Changing World"

ACUBE (Association of College and University Biology Educators) annual meeting to be announced

NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) national convention October 8-11 in Portland OR

NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) national convention to be held in Philadelphia PA on March 22-20, 2003.

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)
This web site is newly launched and still under construction. Click on the "Events" tab for information about meetings.

National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2003 conference at University of Utah on March 13-15

Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) (Clicking on the link will take you to the events calendar.)