Category: Academics

Extinct dire wolves split off from other wolves nearly six million years ago and were only a distant relative of today’s wolves, according to new research published in Nature (January, 2021). Dire wolves, made famous in the TV show Game of Thrones, were common across North America until around 13,000 years ago, after which they went extinct.

The study shows that dire wolves were so different from other canine species like coyotes and grey wolves that they were not able to breed with each other. Previous analyses, based on morphology alone, had led scientists to believe that dire wolves were closely related to grey wolves.

Halmos College biology faculty member Andrew Ozga, Ph.D. was one of the 49 researchers across nine countries who analyzed the genomes of dire wolves alongside those of many different wolf-like canid species. Their analyses suggest that unlike many canid species who apparently migrated repeatedly between North America and Eurasia over time, dire wolves evolved solely in North America for millions of years.

Although dire wolves overlapped with coyotes and grey wolves in North America for at least 10,000 years before their extinction, they found no evidence that they interbred with these species. The researchers suggest that their deep evolutionary differences meant that they were likely ill equipped to adapt to changing conditions at the end of the ice age.

The dire wolf is one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores from Pleistocene America which became extinct around 13,000 years ago. Known scientifically as Canis dirus, meaning ’fearsome dog’, they preyed on large mammals like bison. The team suggests the dire wolves’ stark evolutionary divergence from grey wolves places them in an entirely different genus – Aenocyon dirus (‘terrible wolf’)- as first proposed by paleontologist John Campbell Merriam over 100 years ago.

Ismael Muvingi, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) participated in a virtual seminar for the Caribbean region, hosted by the University of West Indies. The seminar was entitled, “Toward Conflict Transformation and Peace Building in the Caribbean Region”. Muvingi’s presentation was “Defining Conflict Transformation and Peace Building.” The other seminar presenters were; Talia Esnard, Ph.D., (Head of Department, Behavioral Sciences, UWI) , Hon. Elizabeth C. Solomon (Judge, Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago), Hon. Donna Parchment Brown (Office of Political Ombudsman, Jamaica), Terry Savage, Ph.D., (Researcher and Practitioner, University of Leuven, Switzerland) and Mr. Srdan Deric (RCO Team Leader, United Nations, Trinidad & Tobago).

The seminar was moderated by Ann Diaz, MSW, the head of the Mediation Unit at UWI, and DCRS Ph.D. student.  The event had about 55 attendees. The organizers have indicated follow up sessions and a desire to collaborate on development of conflict transformation programs in the Caribbean soon.

Muvingi’s academic interests include human rights, African politics, and transitional justice. His classes include Negotiation Theory and Practice, Violence Prevention and Intervention, Conflict and Crisis Management, and Qualitative Research Methods. He is the faculty advisor to the African Working Group.

In December of 2020, Halmos College faculty member Aarti Raja, Ph.D., co-organized the annual Tiny Earth symposium with researchers from around the U.S. The event had 212 attendees, representing 32 academic institutions from the US and around the world. Faculty members Aarti Raja, Ph.D. and Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D., attended the virtual Tiny Earth International Conference, which was run from the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery, Madison, WI. Raja moderated several sessions at the conference. Raja’s students Aysha Patel and Vijay Patel collaborated with NSU University school and presented a poster and talk along with a 11th grade USchool student Dhruv Krishna titled “Bacteria Unearthed”. Garcia mentored Chloe Barreto-Massad, a 9th grade student at the American Heritage School, in her research project entitled, “Using antiSMASH to Compare Antimicrobial Genes of Commensal E. coli (Normal Flora) to Pathogenic E. coli”, which was also presented at the symposium.

Tiny Earth was launched in 2018, however it began six years earlier when Jo Handelsman (former Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama) founded a course—then called “Microbes to Molecules”—at Yale University with the goal of addressing both the antibiotic crisis and the shortage of science trainees. In short order, the course grew and became a part of a larger initiative until Handelsman returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and launched Tiny Earth in collaboration with its hundreds of partners worldwide.

Richard H. Perry, Ph.D.

Recently, Halmos College faculty member Richard H. Perry, Ph.D. authored a research article entitled, “Theoretical study of the adsorption of analgesic environmental pollutants on pristine and nitrogen-doped graphene nanosheets”. A member of the Department of Chemistry and Physics,  his article was published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

The article’s abstract states: “Interactions of the analgesic medications dextropropoxyphene (DPP, opioid), paracetamol (PCL, nonnarcotic), tramadol (TDL, nonnarcotic), ibuprofen (IBN, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)), and naproxen (NPX, NSAID) with pristine graphene (GN) and nitrogen-doped GN (NGN; containing only graphitic N atoms) nanosheets were explored using density functional theory (DFT) in the gas and aqueous phases. Calculations in the aqueous phase were performed using the integral equation formalism polarized continuum model (IEFPCM). Calculated geometry-optimized structures, partial atomic charges (determined using Natural Bond Orbital analysis), highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy gaps, work functions (determined using time-dependent DFT), and molecular electrostatic potential plots showed that the adsorption process is physical in nature (viz. physisorption), primarily due to noncovalent π–π and van der Waals interactions. In addition, calculated adsorption energies (ΔE_ad) were exergonic, indicating that formation of the analgesic/GN and analgesic/NGN complexes is thermodynamically favorable in the gas (ΔE_ad values for analgesic/GN and analgesic/NGN were in the range of −66.56 kJ mol⁻¹ to −106.78 kJ mol⁻¹) and aqueous phases (ΔE_ad values for analgesic/GN and analgesic/NGN complexes were in the range of −58.75 kJ mol⁻¹ to −100.46 kJ mol⁻¹). Generally, for GN and NGN, adsorption was more endergonic in the aqueous phase by as much as +10.41 kJ mol⁻¹. Calculated solvation energies (ΔE_solvation) were exergonic for all analgesic/GN complexes (ΔE_solvation values were in the range of −56.50 kJ mol⁻¹ to −66.17 kJ mol⁻¹) and analgesic/NGN complexes (ΔE_solvation values were in the range of −77.26 kJ mol⁻¹ to −87.96 kJ mol⁻¹), with analgesic/NGN complexes exhibiting greater stability in aqueous solutions (∼20 kJ mol⁻¹ more stable). In summary, the results of this theoretical study demonstrate that the adsorption and solvation of analgesics on GN and NGN nanosheets is thermodynamically favorable. In addition, generally, analgesic/NGN complexes exhibit higher adsorption affinities and solvation energies in the gas and aqueous phases. Therefore, GN and NGN nanosheets are potential adsorbents for extracting analgesic contaminants from aqueous environments such as aquatic ecosystems.”

 Citation: Richard H. Perry *, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CP05543C

This winter, Halmos College faculty member Bernhard Riegl, Ph.D. published a book entitled, “Population Dynamics of the Reef Crisis”. The ongoing coral reef crisis is beyond debate and is evidenced in an extensive body of research studies. Severe declines of biodiversity, along with fears of a sixth mass extinction, have not only occurred in coral reefs during the past few decades, but also in virtually all major ecosystems on Planet Earth.

The book is dedicated to Halmos Dean emeritus Richard E. Dodge, Ph.D. in recognition of his impact on coral reef research as scientist, teacher, mentor, administrator and friend.

The chair of the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Riegl edited this book which includes NSU alumni contributors Brandon Brule; David Gilliam, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Goergen, Ph.D.; Matthew Johnston, Ph.D. and fellow Halmos faculty member Joshua Feingold, Ph.D. The book is published by Academic Press, an Elsevier Imprint, under its series Advances in Marine Biology.

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D.

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) gave a presentation at the 2020 Florida Dispute Resolution Center Annual Conference. The conference was held virtually, and the theme was “Promoting Problem Solving.”

McKay’s presentation was entitled, ““Intimate Partner and Family Violence: Research and Impact on Mediation.”

McKay is the faculty advisor to the Social Justice Roundtable and works with students in the community through Community Resolution Services, a practicum and volunteer site for DCRS. CRS hosts Story Café, We Love our Families series, The Women’s Roundtable, and is involved in offering workshops and other events for community groups and organizations. Her scholarly interests include conflict coaching, mediation, strategic community planning, and prevention and intervention in family violence.