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Event Descriptions in Chronological Order
General Sessions, Symposiums, Field Trips
Oral and Poster Sessions

133rd IAS Annual Meeting

April 21- 22, 2023
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Scroll down the list of IAS and IJAS events in chronological order.

Friday - Registration Desk Opens
IJAS - IAS Check-in

Friday, April 21, 2023
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa

IJAS Poster and Oral Presentations & Judging

Friday, April 21, 2023
9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center, and assigned rooms in Maucker Union
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Lunch
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center

Pre-purchase with registration, CC/Debit on accepted on site- No Cash

Friday, April 21, 2023
11:00 a.m. - Noon
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center, Buffet Style all-you-care-to-eat
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Pre-purchase lunch with registration, CC/Debit card on site - no cash.

General Session I: Astrobiology Underground

Friday, April 21, 2023
Noon - 12:55 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Dr. Joshua Sebree
Associate Professor - Astrochemistry, Astrobiology
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Description

In contrast, river caves, such as Coldwater Cave in Iowa, flow with waters that are rich in surface runoff nutrients directing cave evolution along different directions.

For the past four years, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Northern Iowa has been leading undergraduate students on spectroscopic expeditions into the depths of Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota and Coldwater Cave in Iowa. This collaborative project has many benefits for the student participants. They are able to explore new areas of chemistry, biology and field experiences, apply their classroom knowledge to real world questions, and gain unique hands-on experiences outside the typical laboratory setting.

Friday Afternoon Sessions

IJAS Award Ceremony - Open to all Attendees

Friday, April 21, 2023
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

IAS Business Meeting - Open to all attendees

Friday, April 21, 2023
1:30 p.m - 2:15 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
Friday, April 21, 2023
Cedar Falls

Symposium A: Working toward Sustainable Campuses

Friday, April 21, 2023
2:30-4:00 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Speakers

Alicia Rosburg - UNI Associate Prof. of Economics
Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi - UNI Professor of Interior Design
Eric O'Brien - UNI Sustainability Coordinator
Chad Heinzel - Speaker and Coordinator

Session Description

Universities and communities across our planet are working to address sustainability concerns while continuing to maximize our civilization’s potential. Sustainability is a comprehensive word representing how interdisciplinary complex systems react to one another. This symposium provides an opportunity to engage our community’s evolving efforts toward sustainability. We will begin with short talks that provide historical, economic, social, environmental, design and infrastructure perspectives. The second half of the symposium will launch into a collaborative/best-practices discussion for an effective pathway forward.

Symposium B: Simulation in Higher Education

Friday, April 21, 2023
2:30-4:00 p.m.
Seerley Hall 115
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

The use of Syndavers in A&P Labs at UNI

Presentations

Dr. Nathan Bird
Associate Professor, Department of Biology
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

In this presentation, I will discuss the history and use of Syndavers at UNI Biology. Our Syndavers are a cutting-edge addition that bridges the needs for hands-on learning, realism, ease of maintenance, and limited waste. Since their arrival in 2015, we have embraced our Syndavers as a critical and indispensable component to both how we structure Anatomy and Physiology 1 (BIOL 3101) laboratories and how we approach teaching anatomy to our students. In the past, we, like many institutions, have relied on animal models (cats) for active learning. This presented a number of challenges to our students, including size differences, unique structures and anatomical arrangements in both cats and humans, and natural variation in the anatomy of individual cats. Reliance on cats created a barrier to learning for our students, who often struggled with connecting cat anatomy to human anatomy. Syndavers provide a very accurate representation of the human body, both visual and tactile, are size appropriate, and can be reused and maintained indefinitely with little waste. Optimal for undergraduate-level anatomy across many majors, Syndavers have helped us maintain hands-on learning without the drawbacks or complications of virtual or cadaver-based alternative approaches. Assessment scores have increased relative to cat-based dissection, and the students love using them to learn!

Biographies

Dr. Nathan Bird

I am currently an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at UNI. I joined the faculty in 2014. I have a B.S. and M.S. in Biology from the University of South Dakota (where I am from), and a Ph.D. from the Department of Biological Sciences at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After earning my doctorate, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Wesleyan University and the University of Rhode Island before coming to UNI. In addition to my role teaching AP1 and AP2 labs, I also teach Vertebrate Anatomy and Developmental Biology of Animals courses for our department.

Dr. William Henninger
UNI Directory of the School of Applied Human Sciences
Associate Professor of Family Studies
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Dr. Bill Henninger is an associate professor of Family Service and the Director of the School of Applied Human Sciences within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UNI. Working in tandem with Drs. Eshbaugh and Hanke he has assisted in conceptualizing, creating, and running the one of a kind Dementia Simulation House at the University of Northern Iowa.

Dr. Laura Pitts
Associate Professor,
Speech-Language Pathology Education
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Dr. Pitts is an associate professor at UNI, a licensed speech-language pathologist, a board-certified swallowing specialist, and a certified lactation counselor who specializes in the clinical management of feeding and swallowing disorders for babies, children, and adults. She teaches clinical neuroscience, neurological disorders, and feeding/swallowing courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at UNI. Her research regarding swallowing disorders related to stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or injury to the brain or spinal cord have been funded by the ASHFoundation, American Heart Association, and the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. She collaborates with the Shirley RyanAbility Lab and serves as an adjunct associate professor with PM&R at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Senior Poster Session Set Up

Friday, April 21, 2023
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
East Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Senior Poster Session & Social

Friday, April 21, 2023
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
East Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Session Description

Faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students present research posters during the social time on Friday afternoon of the conference. View and discuss research poster presentations with presenters and colleagues. Beverages provided. Presentations are encouraged from faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students. Oral presentations are on Saturday.

Dinner
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center

Friday, April 21, 2023
5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center, Buffet Style all-you-care-to-eat
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

The University of Northern Iowa Rialto award-winning, all-you-care-to-eat dining center is located at the Towers Center. Enjoy dinner with your colleagues before the evening sessions.

Meals much be purchased in advance online when you advance register.
We cannot guarantee lunch without preregistration.

UNI Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture

General Session II : Tending Iowa's Land - An Evening of Discussion About Iowa's Lost Biodiversity 

Friday, April 21, 2023
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Speakers:
Pauline Drobney, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - retired, Dr. Beth Lynch, Luther College, Dr. James Pease, Emeritus, Iowa State University, Dr. Thomas Rosburg, Drake University

Session Description

Among the four environmental themes addressed in Tending Iowa’s Land, the devastation of biodiversity is perhaps the most visible and important to the citizens of Iowa. Considering the extensive loss of its native landscapes – at least 99.5% of prairie, 92% of wetlands, and 75% of forest and woodlands – it’s amazing Iowa has any semblance of its once rich legacy of biodiversity left. There is good evidence that Earth is in the midst of the 6th great extinction. This is alarming for many reasons, one being the direct effect it has already had and will continue to have on impaired ecosystem function and processes. It's our native biodiversity that provides ecosystem services, those intangible outcomes of nature that benefit the lives of humans in so many ways. It's biodiversity that can mitigate and restore the damage done to our soil, water and air. The biodiversity authors in Tending Iowa’s Land will offer short readings and discussion that reviews the complexities of biodiversity and its role in ecosystems, the history of Iowa’s amazing biodiversity seen in the prairies and wildlife that made Iowa one of the most productive and diverse places on earth, and what we can do to return to a time when Iowa’s native biodiversity and its people could both call Iowa home. 

Introduction

In fewer than 200 years, Iowa’s expansive prairies have been transformed into vast agricultural fields. This massive landscape conversion has provided us with food and fuel, but also has created today’s intensifying environmental problems: massive soil degradation, polluted waters, increasing floods, compromised native biological systems, and now climate change.

Biographies

Pauline Drobney has spent much of her life becoming intimate with the natural world. Her love affair began as a teenager growing up in north-central Iowa, where her grandfather “planted the (prairie) seed in her” – the seed of seeing the complex and sacred in remnant prairies.  With BAs in biology and art and a MA in Biology from UNI, she has traveled a 40-year career path of learning to read, study, tend, and reconstruct prairies and savannas. That career led to her guiding the ecological restoration of the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Des Moines, serving nationally as the Prairie and Savanna Land Management and Research Demonstration Biologist and eventually becoming the Prairie and Savanna Zone Biologist for the Midwest Region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  She has authored three invited book chapters, led development of national monitoring protocols for prairie and savanna, and has authored or co-authored numerous scientific and technical publications. A few things have remained constant throughout her prairie and job wanders: her passionate love for things wild and native to Iowa, and her creative interpretations of our complex native systems. Pauline’s passion and dedication are reflected in her chapter, “Knitting it back together, Iowa’s tallgrass  prairie.” 

Dr. Elizabeth Lynch, associate professor of Biology at Luther College, enjoys teaching and engaging undergraduate students in research. She earned her BSc Honors from Trent University and a PhD in Ecology with a minor in Quaternary Paleoecology from the University of Minnesota, then worked as the botanist for Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission before moving to Iowa to take a position at Loras College. Her research has focused on how fire and past climatic changes have shaped pine and oak forests of the western Great Lakes region. Her curiosity about plant communities of northeastern Iowa has resulted in publications concerning the conservation of rare plants and plant communities closer to home. In 2015, she received the Lawrence and Eula Hagie Heritage Award given by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for outstanding service to Iowa’s natural heritage.

Dr. Jim Pease, Emeritus Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University

Jim Pease grew up along the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa exploring the rivers, woods, and other wild areas with his brothers. He has nearly half a century of experience as a front-line naturalist, extension wildlife specialist, and professor of interpretation at Iowa State University. Since retiring from ISU, he has continued to teach, write, and speak widely and has led natural history trips to Central and South America, Africa, and other wildlife-rich areas.  He has paddled and reported on over 2,200 miles of Iowa rivers and written water trail brochures for the public.  He continues to hold leadership positions in several conservation organizations.

Dr. Thomas Rosburg is a Professor of Biology at Drake University and teaches courses in ecology, botany, statistics, and Iowa natural history. During his 27 years he has served as the Chair of the Department of Biology and the Director of Environmental Science and Policy. His research addresses topics in plant ecology that investigate the factors that affect the species composition and structure of plant communities in prairie, forest and wetland ecosystems. Dr.

Rosburg has a Collaborator Faculty appointment with Iowa State University and has provided his expertise in prairie and plant ecology to several ISU graduate students. He has served as a mentor for over 60 students completing undergraduate thesis research or independent studies, and has acquired over $1.77 million in grant awards for over 130 different research projects. He has contributed his expertise to 4 books and has produced over 350 scientific papers, reports, articles and presentations. He has made over 400 presentations in public settings on a wide range of nature topics and published over 540 photographs in books, magazines, calendars and reports.

Tom has served the Iowa Academy of Science as a Board member (8 years) and its President (2011). He was given the Distinguished Iowa Scientist Award from the Iowa Academy of Science in 2018. Dr. Rosburg received a B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Biology, a M.S. in Plant Ecology, and his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Iowa State University. He lives on a small farm in Story County.

Get the book by clicking the button below.

ESTA Awards

Friday, April 21, 2023
8:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Session Description

The Iowa Academy of Science awarded the first Excellence in Science Teaching Awards in 1969. Outstanding teachers of all grade levels and areas of science have been recognized for their work and innovations in science education. Nominations are encouraged from administrators, colleagues, or a teacher may self-nominate. Selections are made by the Awards and Recognition Committee. Winners are honored at the Iowa Academy of Science Annual Meeting. Awardees receive a plaque and a $100 award.

Saturday Sessions

Section Meetings

Saturday, April 22, 2023
Section Business Meetings: All IAS Sections
Oral Research Presentations
8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. & 12:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. if needed
Room Locations to be announced here and in the Proceedings
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Oral Presentation Room Assignments

Community College Biologists: McCollum Science Hall (MSH) 112

Ecology and Conservation: McCollum Science Hall (MSH) 201

Mixed Abstracts: McCollum Science Hall (MSH) 103

Cellular, Molecular, & Microbiology: McCollum Science Hall (MSH) 101

Optional Activity

Field Trip A: UNI Dementia Simulation House Experience

From the outside, the small house on the side of the UNI campus may look completely ordinary. But on the inside, forces of UNI’s gerontology program and the Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging have united to bring the community an educational experience on what it’s like to live with dementia. 
A limited number of Annual Meeting Attendees will be able to participate in the Dementia Simulation House Experience at 9:00 am or 10:00 am on Saturday morning. 

Section Meetings Break

10:45 a.m: Section Meetings Break for General Session III and Lunch

General Session III: SANTOS and SOPHIA the Virtual Soldiers

Dr. Karim Abdel-Malek

Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences
Director, Iowa Technology Institute
University of Iowa, Iowa City

Saturday, April 22, 2023
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
West Towers Lounge, Towers Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Description

A human simulator developed at the University of Iowa, aids in the reduction of load for the US Marines, tests new gear for the US Army, and helps design new vehicles for the auto manufacturing industry.

SANTOS and SOPHIA are digital twins developed over the past 15 years. An integrated virtual human including biomechanics, physiology, and AI models have been developed to work inside SANTOS. The underlying formulation for predicting human motion while considering the biomechanics will be presented. Predictive Dynamics (PD) is a term coined to characterize a new methodology for predicting human motion while considering dynamics of the human and the environment.

While Multi-body dynamics typically attempts to use numerical integration to determine the motion of a system of rigid bodies that has been subjected to external forces or is in motion, PD uses optimization and human performance measures to predict the motion. Physiology modeling including heat strain, work rest, extended load carriage, hydration, and many other parameters have been implemented into the model. The SANTOS platform provides a unique comprehensive system for simulating human motion, predicting what a human can do, and conducting trade-off analysis, leading to significant cost reductions. Virtual experimentation for new equipment and sending SANTOS to test new designs is at the heart of its capabilities.

Geology Field Trip

The Geology and Natural History of Morgan Quarry, Black Hawk County Iowa

Saturday, April 22, 2023
11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Limited to 18 attendees
Preregistration Required - Registration closes on Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Field Trip Guides

Chad Heinzel, Geologist, UNI Earth and Environmental Sciences Department
Sherman Lundy, Geologist, Basic Materials Corporation, Inc.

We will discuss the geologic history and importance sediment and rock exposures at Morgan Quarry. It will not be possible for field participants to take take sediment or rock samples at this time, but questions photographs are encouraged. Proper field and weather attire will be required: close-toed shoes and pants. Hard hats and safety glasses will be provided if participants do not have their own.

Session Description

The emphasis of this year’s field trip to the Morgan Quarry is to examine exposures provided by the recent expansion of quarry operations toward the south, as well as downward. Current efforts to expand the quarry have exposed Quaternary deposits not previously seen and will be the focus of study to build on the current understanding of the formational history of the Iowan Erosional Surface landform region. The recent decision by BMC to deepen the Morgan quarry in order to exploit the Silurian bedrock for aggregate resources has led to a new pit that will allow us to access the Hopkinton Formation for the first time at this location. Information in this guidebook regarding Devonian stratigraphy was gleaned from GSI Guidebook No. 75, which remains pertinent.

Lunch
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center

Saturday, April 22, 2023
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Rialto Dining Center - Towers Center, Buffet Style all-you-care-to-eat
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls

Meals much be purchased in advance online when you advance register.
We cannot guarantee lunch without preregistration.

Section Meetings Resume

Saturday, April 22, 2023
12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
See the Proceedings for section room assignments and presentation schedules.
The conference ends after lunch or when section meeting activities are completed.

Sections may continue their section meetings during the afternoon. The time may be used to continue oral research presentations or conduct a section business meeting or other activities as determined by the section. The conference ends for sections when their section meeting concludes. The Geology Field Trip concludes at 2:30 p.m.

Conference Ends