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Patricia Freeman, curator of zoology at the NU State Museum is one of only a few hundred bat scientists in the world. For more, see story on page 4. (Photo by Richard Wright) |
While most people make the workday trek to an ordinary office stocked with routine computers, copiers and paperclips, Patricia Freeman heads for what some might call a little shop of horrors.
Lining the halls to her office on the University of Nebraska's City Campus are the mounted heads of dozens of wild sheep, deer, goats, antelopes and other hoofstock from around the world. In her office, the imposing heads of a black rhino, two walruses, an eagle and five African hogs adorn the walls with a preschool painting Freeman's daughter made. The skeletons of 160 mice lie in a compartmentalized unit a few feet from her desk. A couple of stuffed bats or other preserved critters may join the piles of papers and fish teeth and mole hands strewn across her desk.
It's an odd workplace setting, to be sure, but as curator of zoology at the University of Nebraska State Museum, it's an atmosphere in which Freeman thrives. Her job is not for the squeamish - it's kind of like working in a "dead zoo," as she describes it. On any given day, a walk around the "unseen state museum" - the fourth and fifth floors of Nebraska Hall - might reveal some downright ghoulish goings-on.
Museum researchers may be extracting muscles from mice, examining insects inside and out, or throwing a hawk carcass into a tank of meat-eating carpet beetles.
And then there's the museum zoology collection itself. More than 15,000 mammals, 12,000 birds and 10,000 amphibians and reptiles have been painstakingly preserved and cataloged in perpetuity for the public. The inventory runs the gamut from A to Z, and the animals are stored in a variety of ways. It has all the makings of a Dr. Seuss book - ducks in drawers, camels in cabinets, mice on mats, bats in boxes . . . Whatever the case, that many dead and stuffed animals is bound to give some folks the willies.
But what might provoke nightmares in a faint-hearted few, often inspires new interpretations in evolution and ecology for the likes of Freeman and her fellow museum scientists. The museum, founded in 1871, is a library of Nebraska's plants and animals and offers insight into the state's changing ecology.
"We preserve the state's natural history, and it's very important," Freeman says. For example, she says, changes in water use and land burning have led to differences in wildlife distributions across Nebraska.
"The waterways are much more wooded than they ever used to be," she says. "Now we have eastern animals going west that never have been west before. We've got whitetail deer and cardinals going all the way out to Denver and that never used to be. And the whitetail deer have taken over the mule deer (in parts of Nebraska)."
The research is ongoing, and the collection of specimens grows along with the data.
"We're always adding to the museum," Freeman says. "We're always trying to do surveys and compare them with what happened back when. We're always trying to get more information about things."
The Cornhusker State is a goldmine of fossil mammals, Freeman says, and the museum boasts an impressive collection. "If you were going to study fossil mammals anywhere in the world, you would have to come to Nebraska, because all the different strata that are represented in the state are the strata that are important for fossil members," she says.
Only 1 percent of the collection is displayed in the state museum's well-known Morrill Hall location. The rest of the more than 4 million specimens are housed in Nebraska Hall and rarely open to the public. Wildlife lovers and curiosity-seekers interested in seeing these "hidden" natural history treasures will have a chance at the Friends of the Museum Annual Open House from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 14 in Nebraska Hall. For more information on attending, call Sally Hawkins at (402) 472-6365.
- Amy Cyphers
The university campus was not spared the havoc of the weekend's snowstorm. Dozens of trees and other plantings were damaged, many beyond salvage.
UNL Garden Friends are spearheading a fund drive to help restore the acres of forest lost on both campuses. The Friends have set up a challenge fund, seeding the drive with $5,000. They hope that members of the university community - the people who work and live on the campus - and those who treasure the campus landscape, will donate to the fund.
Donations can be sent to the NU Foundation earmarked for the UNL Garden Friends' account.
Kim Todd, assistant to the chancellor for community affairs and campus planning, had a major role in developing the university's landscape. Todd said the devastation is greater than she expected in some areas, and less in others.
"Unfortunately, this gives Landscape Services and campus planners the opportunity to rethink how the campus is shaped," she said. "We have learned a lot about how trees respond to heavy snow stress, which is useful information."
Chancellor James Moeser said the entire campus is grieving the loss of the trees as well as the familiar beauty and feel of the campus.
"There is a deep and tremendous sense of loss of the aesthetic envelope in which we live," he said.
"Landscape Services' crews have been heroic in their attack of the problems. These people have a special attachment to our grounds and landscape, and their professionalism has shone throughout. We thank them for their ongoing work in what is an emotionally difficult time.
"We recognize they have months of work ahead. We need to think of this as an opportunity to recreate our vision of an aesthetically beautiful environment."
The chancellor also thanked the many university employees who worked during the snow days to maintain the safety of the campus as well as serving the needs of campus residents. Those who worked long hours include but are not limited to employees in University Police, Telecommunications, Housing and Facilities Management.
"Many, many people have gone above and beyond their usual roles and duties. I speak for the entire campus in thanking them for their devotion and loyalty to the university, particularly when we know that many of them returned home to houses without electricity and damage to their own properties that matched what they were seeing here."
Diane Wilson, spokesperson for Landscape Services, urged people to call Landscape Services if they notice dangerous areas where tree limbs are overhanging sidewalks or parking areas. Landscape Services has made a preliminary visual inspection and tried to clear away dangerous branches but, she said, they may have missed some or others may have occurred since the first inspections.
Call Landscape Services at 472-2679 to report problem areas.
- Kim Hachiya
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| Omtvedt | Bateman |
The appointment of two long-time educational leaders means new opportunities for the University of Nebraska in the growing field of extended education.
Irv Omtvedt, vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, was approved for the additional title and duties of vice chancellor for extended education by the NU Regents in September. In addition, Arnold Bateman, formerly coordinator of the Panhandle Extension Center in Scottsbluff, has moved to Lincoln with a new assignment as assistant vice chancellor for extended education and director of the Learning Coordination Division of Continuing Studies and Cooperative Extension Division.
Chancellor James Moeser in his Aug. 22 State of the University Address, announced his intention to appoint Omtvedt to the position because of a need for coordination and strategy.
"Nebraska is a leader in the field of extended education," Moeser said. "However, without a clear strategy for the future, we may not be able to maintain that lead. We desperately need a vision for what we want to be five years from now and a plan of how to get there. We need someone to provide coordination and leadership in this important new field."
Omtvedt said the goal and vision for the university is to maintain and expand its traditional leadership in extended education by assessing the needs of students seeking lifelong learning. By defining its market niche, the university will offer accessible, affordable customer-driven education in an enlightened, future-oriented fashion.
Bateman said students face critical, skills-oriented employers. "People must continue to learn in order to remain employable. The thing that's changing here is a lot more emphasis is being placed on assessing the needs of learners across the state and using the resources of the university and other institutions of higher learning to meet those needs."
Historically, the university's responsibility has been to provide education for those within the state's boundaries. But, Bateman notes, "Many other institutions are getting into extended education. That's why it is really important that we find our niche and strengths and be proactive in addressing those."
The University of Nebraska has enrolled students in correspondence college courses since 1909 and began offering high school diplomas by correspondence in 1929. "Extended education" includes those traditional programs known as distance education and incorporates new online computer technologies using moving imagery, graphics and sound, satellite and other technologies.
Bateman formerly served 10 years at the Panhandle Education Center in Scottsbluff before coming to Lincoln this fall. He said the university will gather input from personnel at extension learning centers such as those in Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Norfolk and another being opened in North Platte to assess education needs for credit and noncredit extended education programs. He said a statewide needs assessment will be conducted to determine priorities for the university's extended education "niche."
Omtvedt said the university intends to maintain and expand its leadership position in the increasingly competitive field of distance education by further defining that market niche-probably through increased graduate program offerings-and building on traditional strengths of the past.
"Society in general is increasing emphasis on the need for more education and more opportunities to grow professionally. Our land-grant institutions need to change to ensure we are meeting the needs of the people we serve in the 21st century. Many of the old ways were very effective, but as we see the changing needs of people we need to change our way of doing business as well," Omtvedt said.
Omtvedt noted the increasing numbers of students who are non-traditional students and "lifelong learners," who want to update skills but who live some distance from the university. They are, he said, ideal candidates for extended education. "I cannot over emphasize the importance of this being need-driven and customer oriented," Omtvedt said of the university's strategy to define its extended education market.
Graduate programs are a likely area of continued emphasis, according to Omtvedt, who also is NU vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
"We need to look at where UNL is unique. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be opportunities for undergraduate programs. But probably in areas not duplicated by other institutions across the state. If there is a strong demand, we will seriously look at it and determine whether it is something we should be offering. We have a very good base to build on," he said.
- Peg Strain
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Patricia Freeman is taking a break from bat research to study the muscles and bones of generations of mice bred for increased speed by a Wisconsin researcher. Here she compares a mouse thigh bone with the same bone from a cow. (Photo by Richard Wright) |
Why anyone would want to breed a faster mouse may be beyond comprehension for most of us, but to University of Nebraska researcher Patricia Freeman and her colleagues, a more rapid rodent could shed important new light on an old evolutionary theory.
Although bats are Freeman's first love when it comes to research, she embarked on an exciting new study of this other much-maligned creature after hearing about biologist Ted Garland's work at the University of Wisconsin.
Supported by a federal grant, Garland has spent the last few years training mice to run faster using a complicated setup in his Wisconsin lab. After breeding and training 11 generations of mice, he presented his findings at a University of Nebraska seminar last year. Those data were startling - the 11th generation of mice was running 84 percent faster than the first generation.
Freeman, curator of zoology at the University of Nebraska State Museum, attended the seminar and was so intrigued by Garland's study that she wondered what happened to the muscles and bones. Garland had explored some of the physiology and endocrinology of these real-life Speedy Gonzalezes, but Freeman was curious to examine the muscles and bones to see how much the mice had evolved - if at all. Fortunately, Garland had saved the dead mice.
"There's a hypothesis in evolutionary biology that behavioral changes occur before morphological changes occur - the behavior of an organism must change somehow before its bones start changing," she says. "It takes generations, but I want to know how quickly the form of the bones change to accommodate that faster running behavior; how soon does form follow function?"
Garland invited Freeman to collaborate on the project, so last spring he shipped 160 frozen mice via Federal Express to her at the museum. In a carefully regulated process, research assistant Russ Benedict thawed the mice, extracted and measured the major leg muscles and weighed them on a digital scale to the 1/10,000 of a gram.
The mice carcasses, missing only the leg muscles, were then dropped into the Fort Knox Bug Box down the hall from Freeman's office. There, a colony of hungry carpet beetles devoured the flesh and internal tissue right down to the bone, leaving an intact skeleton behind for Freeman to study.
"The nice thing about the beetles is that the skeletons will still be articulated," she says. If the mice had been cleaned any other way, say boiling, for example, a pile of discombobulated bones would have been left behind and valuable data would be lost. Using the "professional eaters," Freeman was able to discover disease in the knee bones in many of the mice. "I never would have found the bone disease without the bugs. That's why they're so neat," she says.
Working several hours a week beginning in July, Freeman used forceps and miniature tools to remove any remaining tissue - such as tendons or ligaments - that the beetles didn't eat. She weighed each bone. Cleaning was a tedious process done under a microscope and took about 12 weeks.
Now that the time-consuming part is over, Freeman hopes to measure the bones, analyze the data and have some answers by spring. Working with some of the most studied mice in scientific history has been exciting, she says, "and a vacation from the bats."
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DeHann |
Krivosha |
McCombs |
McIntire |
Qualset |
Five distinguished alumni will return to campus Nov. 12-14 for Master's Week, an annual event that honors successful University of Nebraska graduates and exposes current students to the expertise and intellect of alumni.
This year's Masters are: John David DeHaan, associate professor of voice at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.; Norman Krivosha, executive vice president, secretary and corporate general counsel at Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. in Lincoln; Harriet McCombs, public health adviser for the Mental Health Services Administration in Rockville, Md.; Lee McIntire, president of Bechtel National, Inc. in San Francisco; and Calvin O. Qualset, director of the Genetic Resources Conservation Program at the University of California, Davis, Calif.
DeHaan is an internationally acclaimed tenor who has performed with opera companies all over the world. In addition to managing his performance schedule, he also teaches voice at the University of the Pacific. He is a winner of the Eleanor Steber Music Foundation Mozart Award and a former Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. A native of Kansas, he earned his bachelor's degree from Union College and his master's degree from the university in 1983.
Krivosha is one of Nebraska's outstanding public servants. Before joining Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., he was chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court. An active volunteer, Krivosha is a member of the board of governors for Nebraska Wesleyan University, the ABA Commission on Opportunity for Minorities in the Profession and the board of directors for St. Elizabeth Health Center. Krivosha was Lincoln's city attorney, general counsel for Lincoln General Hospital and for Lincoln Electric System, and an attorney in general practice before being named to the state's highest court. Krivosha earned his bachelor of science in law in 1956 and his juris doctorate in 1958 from the University of Nebraska.
McCombs is a nationally recognized expert on public health and policy concerning the homeless and mentally ill, ethnic minorities, people living in rural and frontier areas, and faith communities. She is a researcher, teacher and program evaluator who has worked with representatives from every federal agency to develop and coordinate homeless policies. She is also an assistant pastor at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C. McCombs was raised in Columbia, S.C., and earned her bachelor of science degree in psychology in 1974 from the University of South Carolina. She earned her master of arts in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1978, both from the University of Nebraska.
McIntire is president of Bechtel National, Inc., a high technology engineering, construction and environmental subsidiary of the Bechtel Group of Companies. The company specializes in project management, design to build and environmental services for the U.S. government, aerospace, commercial and foreign governments. Bechtel National, Inc. also operates the nation's largest outdoor laboratory, the Nevada Test Site. He earned his bachelor of science degree from the University of Nebraska in 1975. McIntire is the son of Leonard and Millie McIntire of Kearney.
Qualset is a world-renowned geneticist and plant breeder who has released more than 12 varieties of wheat, triticale, and oats that are widely grown in California and Mexico. He is a pioneer in worldwide efforts to conserve the biological diversity of major crop plants, and he conducts research on the use of biodiversity for crop improvement. During Master's Week he will discuss issues related to genetic diversity, intellectual property rights and career opportunities in the agricultural sciences. He earned his bachelor of science degree in agriculture in 1958 from the University of Nebraska. He earned his master of science in agronomy in 1960 and his Ph.D. in genetics in 1964, both from the University of California, Davis. Qualset was reared in Newman Grove and his mother now lives in Wayne.
Master's Week was founded in 1964 by then-Chancellor Clifford Hardin. Sponsored by the Chancellor's Office, the Student Alumni Association, Innocents Society and the Black Masque Chapter of Mortar Board, the program brings successful alumni in contact with students through class visitations, tours of campus facilities and meetings with clubs and organizations. More than 170 alumni have returned to campus as masters since the program's inception.
Faculty nominate alumni each winter for the next year's program. Masters are then selected by a committee appointed by the chancellor.
- Karen Underwood
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