News & Updates Blog

Got some students out sampling for zooplankton today they sure did great. Check out this organism.

Recently some undergrads have had the chance to gain valuable field experience. This is a picture of one student who went nightime electrofishing with myself and the local DNR official. We were assesing the strength of the spring walleye spawning run near Red Lake.

Dr. Andrew Hafs

Great day out on the water. Pike were very busy spawning but should be finishing soon. Our fyke nets were full of nice large healthy females like this one. Walleye should be going strong now as well.

Hopefully this picture gets you excited about the fast approaching fishing opener.

Best wishes,

Dr. Andrew W. Hafs

The Ornithology class went on an evening field trip last night to locate owls.  It was cold and snowing but still a beautiful night.  We saw a pair of barred owls, who stayed near us and called for about 30 minutes.  We also heard trumpeter swans, Canada geese, and goldeneyes.  Spring is getting close!

Tomorrow (April 10) is the annual Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference.  This is a venue where students across campus present the results of their research, give performances, showcase their artwork, etc.  We are very excited about it as this year we have some amazing students presenting fantastic work!  To learn more about the conference and what students in Biology are presenting, visit the conference website.

Hi all,

I just got back from a great American Fisheries Society meeting in St. Cloud. NINE undergraduate students attended the meeting with me and we all had the opportunity to meet many of the great MN fisheries professionals. Hopefully the contacts we made help these students land permanent jobs in the near future.  To top it all off we came home with some nice door prizes to get us excited about spring (see picture below of the nice Fenwick HMX fly rod). Come and see me if you are interested in attending similar activities. Go BSU fisheries!

Thanks,

Andrew W. Hafs, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Aquatic Biology

Congratulations to BSU’s wildlife students, who recently formed a new student chapter of The Wildlife Society.  Members participated in the annual meeting of the MN chapter of TWS in Walker Feb. 5-7.

Hi everyone,

Summer is hanging around here in Bemidji and we are LOVING it! Especially those field classes that are still out every week tracking, collecting specimens, flagging trees, etc.

It’s hard to believe that the semester is flying by so fast; the second round of exams are coming next week. Dr. Hamann’s class is doing Elisa plates in Immunology, Dr. Ketel’s genetics class is doing DNA transcription, Diane Morris has students working on optimal weight and energetics in Human Biology. Acorns are falling, chokecherries are ripe, and Dr. Fulton’s Forest Ecology class is studying tree reproduction.

We hope you are doing well!

Hi everyone! Well the semester is in full swing (already!) and this week is full of exams for Introductory Biology I, Entomology and Freshwater Invertebrates among many others. The lake is cooling down and with a low of 20 degrees tonight, Dr. Guelda’s class will be a bit chilly lake sampling tomorrow.

Dr. Rave’s mammalogy class will be out bright and early looking at mammal tracks. Dr. Ketel’s class will be learning asceptic techniques this week.

Hang tight for more info!

And you can just feel the energy in the air! We here in Biology are overwhelmed, thrilled (and a little frightened) with our incredible enrollment this semester. Almost all of our courses, lower and upper division, are full! This says something about the excitement about Biology! Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated as the semester progresses!

Hi everyone. Wow, it has been a busy few weeks here in the Biology department. The Student Achievement Conference was a huge success where many, many students presented their senior research projects. We are especially proud of the Biology students who did wonderfully during this day!

This week is the last full week of classes and exams begin next Friday. We are happy to celebrate with about 20 students in Biology who will receive scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year. There is an award ceremony and luncheon held on Reading Day (April 28th). We encourage you to attend!

So the end of the semester truly is right around the corner and it’s lots of studying, exam taking and (for us faculty) grading from here on out. So, this may be the last note for this academic year. We wish you a wonderful summer break and we hope to see you in the fall!