This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Funds are provided to renovate the Multi-User Animal Research Facility (MARF) at Hofstra University, a Primarily Undergraduate Institution. Renovation of the MARF will create a state-of-the-art research facility supporting a rich research and research training environment for organismal biology. Areas of the MARF will be renovated that directly increase the number, scope and range of research experiments that can be performed. The renovations will provide research rooms that have precise climate control which to date has been impossible in the MARF. The renovations will provide experimental rooms with precise temperature control, improved lighting with reliable light:dark cycles, and appropriate electrical supply to support modern scientific equipment. The modernized facility will bring together in a single location an increased number of research groups spanning multiple disciplines and educational levels. It will increase research dialog and collaborations between Hofstra and other institutions. The research programs of all individuals using the renovated MARF will be greatly enhanced and projects that would otherwise be unfeasible will be conducted. Experiments proposed in the renovated facility include studies of physiological and functional performance in lizards, hydrodynamics of feeding in fishes, and chemoreception in echinoderms. The facility will be a platform to stimulate progressive thought and conduct new studies, such as those that focus on the role of temperature in physiological and biomechanical phenomena. This will stimulate interest in, and desire to conduct research in the modernized MARF from a broader range of individuals particularly from underrepresented groups. Increased dissemination of results will come from researchers and students that use the renovated MARF and present their research at national and international meetings.
(MARF), producing a state-of-the-art environment in which to conduct cutting-edge research at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution. It has significantly improved our ability to recruit students into the excitement of scientific discovery; it has increased the number of faculty and students engaged in research using this Animal Facility; and it has significantly increased the number and range of projects available to students. The facility now provides temperature and light control for housing animals that was not available prior to the renovations as well as an increase in the number of rooms. The improved research facilities have directly resulted in 16 presentations and three publications, with many more to come. The research now being conducted in the renovated Facility and associated research areas, including a greenhouse, that were also renovated, includes research on fishes, reptiles, birds, marine worms, and plants. The photos show room 056, the largest laboratory in the Facility, before and after the renovations. Presentations: C. J. DeMauro, E. Faircloth, K. Moran, P. C. Daniel. Decision-making in the absence of a brain? Righting behavior in the starfish, Asterias forbesi, following autotomy. 14th International Echinoderm Conference, Brussels, Belgium. August 20–24, 2012. K. Jagnandan, C. P. J. Sanford. Ribbon-fin Locomotion in the Bowfin, Amia calva. Southwest Regional Meeting for the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biologists. California State University, San Bernardino, CA. October 2012. C. M. Rade, C. P. J. Sanford, L. P. Hernandez. Using sonomicrometry to compare pharyngeal jaw kinematics in cypriniform fishes. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meetings, San Francisco, CA. January 3–7, 2013. Burke. Spatial & temporal changes in the Jamaica Bay diamondback terrapin population reproduction patterns. 33rd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Baltimore, MD. February 2013. Burke. Strange Times for Jamaica Bay Terrapins. Long Island Natural History Conference Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY. February 2013. A. Cox, M. Calderon, C. P. J. Sanford. The relationship between suction pressure and fluid speed during station holding in the armored catfish, Hypostomus plecostomus. Northeast Regional Symposium on Evolutionary Vertebrate Morphology, NYIT, NY. March 22, 2013. P. C. Daniel. Adopt-A-Trout: Citizen Science and Radiotelemetry. Northeast Natural History Conference (NENHC), Springfield, MA. April 13–15, 2013. C. P. J. Sanford. Symposium Organizer, Interdisciplinary and Novel Approaches to Vertebrate Locomotion. 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM-10). Barcelona, Spain. July 8-12, 2013. C. P. J. Sanford. New Approaches to the Study of Hydrodynamics in Animals: V3V or volumetric PIV. 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM-10). Barcelona, Spain. July 8–12, 2013. C. M. Rade, C. P. J. Sanford, L. P. Hernandez. Using sonomicrometry to compare pharyngeal jaw kinematics in cypriniform fishes. 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM-10). Barcelona, Spain. July 8–12, 2013. Calichio, Burke, Hazard. Analysis of Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Hatchling Adaptations to Marine and Terrestrial Habitats. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ, July 2013. Chodkowski, Burke, Williams. The Natural History of the Parasitic Trematode Pleurogonius malaclemys in Diamondback Terrapins Malaclemys terrapin. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ, July 2013. Duchak, Burke. Long-term Demography, Movements, Nesting Ecology, Nest Site Enhancement, and Phenological Behavior of Wood Turtles, Glyptemys insculpta, in Northern New Jersey. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ, July 2013. Figueras, Burke, Green, Simon. Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina, Home Ranges at Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ, July 2013. Orridge, Erazmus, Kanonik, Burke. Diet Differences within a Single Bay: Diamondback Terrapins Diets in Eastern and Central Jamaica Bay, New York. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. New Jersey School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ, July 2013. C. M. Rade, C. P. J. Sanford, L. P. Hernandez. The multi-functional properties of a cypriniform feeding novelty. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meetings. Austin, TX. January 3–7, 2014. Publications: Two publications based on research conducted in the renovated MARF have appeared so far and another is in preparation: N. Konow, B. Krijestorac, C. P. J. Sanford, R. Boistel, A. Herrel (2013) Prey processing in the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). Journal of Comparative Physiology. A. 199(7):641-651. Jagnandan, K & C.P.J. Sanford (2013) Kinematics of Ribbon-fin Locomotion in the bowfin, Amia calva. Journal of Experimental Zoology. A. (9999A: 1–16). Sanford, C.P.J., S. Day & N. Konow. The Role of Mouth Shape on the Hydrodynamics of Suction Feeding in Fishes. Journal of Experimental Biology (In preparation).
