ADDITIONAL CHAPTER SUPPORTED ACTIVITIES

The Department of Biology and Earth Science Seminar support by funds from Sigma Xi. Title of presentation "Truffles: Food for Gods, Kings, and Pigs: A New Crop for Missouri" Presented by Grechen Pruett, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Friday September 14, 2007, 4:00 PM in WCM Room 322.


MEMBER ACTIVITIES

Smoky Mountains Treetop Exploration airs on "Wild Chronicles" PBS Television Harold Keller and Courtney Kilgore
A University of Central Missouri research team from the Department of Biology was featured on the PBS program “Wild Chronicles,” broadcast in February as Episode #318 on PBS television stations nationwide. Entitled “Smoky Mountains Treetop Exploration,” the 5-7 minute segment was taken from footage filmed by National Geographic Society television producer Jason Orfanon during July 2007 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Boyd Matson served as the host and narrator.
The storyline documents the exploration of the tree canopy using the double rope climbing technique by the UCM research team. Two graduate student climbers, Sydney E. Everhart and Courtney M. Kilgore, demonstrate how to access, climb, and gather samples (myxomycetes, macrofungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and ferns) from the tree canopy. Dr. Harold W. Keller, visiting professor of biology at UCM, coordinates the ground crew and serves as the principal investigator for the research project titled “RUI: Biodiversity and Ecology of Tree Canopy Biota in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” This project was financially supported in part by the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration Grant, National Science Foundation, Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories Award, Division of Environmental Biology, and Discover Life in America Award.
Wild Chronicles looks at the human relationship with nature, highlighting breakthrough science that offers real hope for the future. This television series airs on public television stations supported by National Geographic Society Mission Programs—the arm of the Society that supports pioneering research and field expeditions through programs such as the Committee for Research and Exploration, the Expeditions Council, the Conservation Trust, and the Explorers-in-Residence Program. "Season three of Wild Chronicles continues to build on the strong success of reporting directly from the field, as the story happens," said Boyd Matson, host of Wild Chronicles. "Visiting the field sites of the scientists and adventurers that we work with every day and becoming part of the story helps this series transport viewers into an otherwise unseen world of exploration."
Boyd Matson also conducted a 20-minute interview with Kilgore and Keller about their adventures, which aired on National Geographic Weekend. This is a new radio program hosted by Boyd Matson that highlights stories of “exploration to the far corners of the planet and the hidden corners of your own backyard”. It airs on radio stations on Saturdays and Sundays.
Attribution: Quotations from “Wild Chronicles” web site.

The Mycological Society of America (MSA) will hold their annual meeting at Pennsylvania State University (PSU), August 10-13, 2008. This is an International Society of approximately 1,400 members. Each year there is a t-shirt design contest open to all MSA members. The winner will have their design featured on the official conference t-shirt, posted on the MSA website, and included in the next issue of the national newsletter, Inoculum. Preference was given to designs that represented the region of the host institution. Pennsylvania is the leading producer of cultivated mushrooms and much of the research on the practice was done at PSU. Kennett Square, located in southeastern Pennsylvania, is known as the “Mushroom Capital of the World”.

Four edible mushroom cultivars were included in the winning design, Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa), button mushroom and Portabella white and brown variety (Agaricus bisporus), and the velvet foot mushroom (Flammulina velutipes), the latter three are native to the United States of America. The design style was reminiscent of early taxonomical drawings and scientific illustration, with a classic art nouveau border to frame the design. Courtney M. Kilgore, a graduate student in the UCM Department of Biology, submitted a pencil sketch design in black and white that was selected as the contest winner. Courtney will also present her thesis research as a poster and oral paper presentation.

For additional details please contact Harold W. Keller at 660-543-4823 or haroldkeller@hotmail.com