South Dakota Academy of Science July 2024 Newsletter

Fall 2025 Newsletter

Tim Mullican — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 19:39:50 GMT

Click on the link below to view our 2025 fall newsletter:

Fall 2025 Newsletter

Summer 2025 Newsletter

Tim Mullican — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 01:00:58 GMT

by Robert Tatina

Dr. Schulte is featured in this Newsletter as the 2025 recipient of The SDAS New Researcher Grant. We welcome him into membership and congratulate him on being one of our grant recipients. To learn more about this newest member of the Academy, read on.

Dr. Zachary Schulte is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. Dr. Schulte studied chemistry and physics at the University of South Dakota and earned his B.S. in chemistry in 2016. While there, Dr. Schulte conducted research with Dr. Stanley May investigating and tuning NaYF₄:Ln³⁺ upconversion nanocrystals for anticounterfeiting applications. Dr. Schulte then went on to join Dr. Nathaniel Rosi’s group at the University of Pittsburgh studying metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and hybrid MOF materials for a wide range of applications, including sensor technologies, gas separations, gas capture and sequestration, drug delivery, and energy technologies. Receiving his PhD in 2022, Dr. Schulte published six papers, co-authored a book chapter, and presented his research at regional and national symposia over his tenure at Pitt.

Dr. Schulte joined the faculty at Augustana as a visiting assistant professor of chemistry in the fall of 2021 before earning a full-time, tenure track position as the department’s physical chemist. In this role, Dr. Schulte exercises his passions of teaching and research with undergraduate students. He has instructed courses in general, inorganic, and physical chemistry and emphasizes a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CUREs) model for labs in his advanced courses. His current research interests focus oninvestigating the photophysical properties of lanthanide MOFs (Ln-MOFs) for their potential use in bioimaging or sensor applications. He is specifically interested in how additional functionalization of the bridging ligands affects the energy transfer processes between the ligand and the metal ion within Ln-MOFs. Besides the South Dakota Academy of Science’s New Researcher Grant, Dr. Schulte has been awarded research funds through the Augustana Froiland Research Fellowship Program and South Dakota INBRE. Dr. Schulte further supports undergraduate students as a faculty mentor for the Student Members of the American Chemical Society at Augustana and serves as department leader for tutoring and supplemental instruction. Dr. Schulte also proactively organizes and participates in scientific outreach opportunities in the Sioux Falls area. When not in the classroom or in the lab, Dr. Schulte enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, biking or playing team sports and spending time with his wife and children.

At its annual meeting in April, the Academy elected the following:

President: Paula Mazzer (DWU)

Vice President: Paul Johnson (SDSU)

Treasurer: Adam Sturlaugson (USF)

Secretary: Abigail Martens (SDSU)

Fellow of the Academy: Tim Mullican (DWU)

Paula Mazzer accepted the gavel from Tom Montoya (SDSM&T) who becomes a Past President. Adam Sturlaugson replaces Jeff Palmer (DSU) who adroitly handled Academy financial transactions since 2011. Abigal Martens follows in the footsteps of Secretary Donna Hazelwood (DSU) who served the Academy as it Secretary and its memory for 25 years. Yes, a quarter of a century! Tom, Jeff and Donna, your past service to the Academy is greatly appreciated.

The following are the award-winning oral presentations and posters from the 2025 meetings. Each presenter receives a monetary award. Congratulations to these young scientists.

First place: Graduate Oral Paper

Gram-positive bacteria are primed for surviving lethal doses of antibiotics and chemical stress. Manisha Guha¹, Abhyudai Singh², and Nicholas C. Butzin^1,3. ¹Department of Biology and Microbiology; South Dakota State University; Brookings, SD; ²Electrical & Computer Engineering; University of Delaware; Newark, NJ; ³Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; South Dakota State University; Brookings, SD.

Second place: Graduate Oral Paper

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Short Chain PFAS from Granular Activated carbon. Joseph T. Hilsendeger, Dakota A. Remington (UG), Kenneth M. Benjamin, Lori J. Groven, Travis W. Walker. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City. SD.

First place: Undergraduate Oral Paper

ACTIVE CHITOSAN FILMS WITH MINT EXTRACT FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD PACKAGING. Laura Jensen (UG), Tania Martinex Castillo, Kelsey Gilcrease, and Tsvetanka Filipova. Chemistry, Biology, and Health Sciences, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD.

First place: Graduate Poster

ALIX Plays a Role in Modulating Pyroptotic Cell Death by Controlling Gasdermin-D Function in Human Cells. Sylvia Otchere and Gergely Imre. South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD.

Second place: Graduate Poster
ENZYME CATALYZED SYNTHESIS OF BIOMATERIAL PRECURSORS: A GREEN BIOTECHNOLOGY ALTERNATIVE TO FOSSIL DERIVED PLASTICS Kritika Thakur¹, Yash Sharma², and Rajesh K. Sani^1,2, Tanvi Govil¹. ¹Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, ²Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Health Sciences, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD.
First place: Undergraduate Poster

MITIGATING PLASTIC POLLUTION IN AGRICULTURE THROUGH BIODEGRADABLE MULCH FILMS. Antonia Gibbs¹, Jasmeet Kaur², Chirag Abrol², Heidi Sieverding³, Dr. Tanvi Govil¹, Dr. Rajesh Sani^1,2. ¹Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, ²Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Health Sciences, ³Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City, SD 57701, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD.

Second place: Undergraduate Poster

The complete mitochondrial genome of Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 (Araneae, Sicariidae). Ariene Nicole Underhile and L. Brian Patrick. Department of Biological Sciences, Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, SD.

Appearing in your email every January, April, July and October is a copy of this Newsletter. But something is missing…It’s news from you.

The major purpose of this Newsletter is to share information about the Academy and its members. To facilitate this, I need your help in the form of short essays about your research, about developments in your field, about science in the news, and about your vision for the Academy. Send those essays to me at Robert.Tatina@dwu.edu.

The South Dakota Academy of Science Newsletter is published quarterly by the South Dakota Academy of Science. Submissions, and comments about content should be addressed to Robert Tatina, Editor (Robert.tatina@dwu.edu).

Fall 2024 Newsletter

Tim Mullican — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 01:35:36 GMT

South Dakota Academy of Science Newsletter

Volume 3 Number 3 Autumn 2024

Academy Website https://southdakotaacademyofscience.wildapricot.org

I am a behavioral ecologist interested in the ecology and reproduction of invertebrates and birds, as well as the social and environmental conditions under which related behaviors occur. I am also dedicated to understanding and documenting the biodiversity and natural heritage of the Great Plains.

I am currently an assistant professor at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. Prior to my current position, I served as an assistant professor at Cameron University in my home state of Oklahoma. I was fortunate enough to get that position directly out of grad school and there developed a deep love of teaching and involving students in research. After leaving OK, I spent a short time as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Illinois and South Dakota State University.

Some of my past research addresses: 1) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) paternity and how morphology, population characteristics, habitat, and weather correlate to extra-pair paternity, 2) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher habitat use and nest success across urbanization gradients, 3) impacts of temperature on foraging behavior of Pogonomyrmex barbatus harvester ants, 4) timing of foraging and competition between ant species sharing the same habitat, 5) ant diversity and habitat associations both in natural and urban areas, 6) demography of long-lived perennial herbs in relation to the environment, and 7) coevolution between long-lived perennial herbs and their pollinators.

My current work focuses on: 1) ant and other ground-dwelling invertebrate diversity in restored and remnant prairie patches in MN, 2) thermal tolerance and desiccation resistance of ants and how these are related to habitat use, 3) resource use by Hymenoptera across an urbanization gradient, and 4) ant diversity across South Dakota.

The 110^th Annual Meeting in 2025 will be hosted by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, April 11-12. Watch for further information and the Call for Papers in January Newsletter.

This announcement is open from 9/24/24 to 10/3/24 through both Merit Promotion and Public/Career Transition recruitment pathways.

The Supervisory Vegetation Ecologist is duty stationed in Rapid City, South Dakota, in the Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN), which serves 13 National Park Service units in the Northern Great Plains region. This position designs, develops, coordinates, and administers a vegetation ecology program developed for use by the National Park Service and other scientists to understand the status and trends of plant communities. Plant monitoring data help characterize park-wide ecosystem health and responses to environmental drivers, including weather and climate, land cover changes, invasive/exotic plants, and habitat conditions for species of interest, such as prairie dogs, bison, and deer. The Supervisory Vegetation Ecologist leads protocol implementation by hiring and supervising permanent and seasonal vegetation program staff, conducting statistical analysis, and interpreting and synthesizing results for written and oral presentations to park and scientific communities. They work closely with the Invasive Plant Monitoring Team (IPMT) Liaison, fire ecologist, park resource managers, scientists, geographic information system (GIS) specialists, and cooperating personnel to evaluate data, and ensure that relevant and useful data are acquired and integrated into decision support tools used to help parks make informed treatment choices. Project management responsibilities include project coordination, writing and overseeing contracts and agreements, developing work plans, schedules, and cost estimates, and tracking budgets.

Merit Promotion: USA JOBS - Job Announcement

Public/Career Transition: USA JOBS - Job Announcement

All applications must be received through USAJOBS.

Please reach out to me with any questions about NGPN or this position. Shauna Marquardt (she/her)

Regional Inventory & Monitoring Program Manager

National Park Service - Midwest Region - Interior Regions 3, 4 & 5

St. Paul, Minnesota

402-378-2058

shauna_marquardt@nps.gov

We were meeting in Spearfish when Dr. Ken Higgins, SDSU, was honored as the first Fellow of the South Dakota Academy of Science. Since then, 30 members have been so honored. Is there a member of the Academy that you feel deserves this honor? If so, the process is easy to get started. Send me (robert.tatina@dwu.edu) the name of that person and I will get the ball rolling.

Appearing in your email every January, April, July and October is a copy of this Newsletter. But something is missing…It’s news from you.

The South Dakota Academy of Science Newsletter is published quarterly by the South Dakota Academy of Science. Submissions, and

comments about content should be addressed to Robert Tatina, Editor (Robert.tatina@dwu.edu).

July 2024 Newsletter

Tim Mullican — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 02:09:07 GMT

South Dakota Academy of Science Newsletter

Volume 2 Number 3 Summer 2024

by Dr. Robert Tatina

In the January issue of the Newsletter, Dr. Eric Pulis introduced himself as one of the newer members of the SD Academy of Science. In this issue, I have the honor of introducing Dr. Kenneth Higgins based on some notes he sent me. Ken is a Professor Emeritus of SDSU, having retired as a research biologist with the US Department of the Interior. During his 40-year career he conducted waterfowl, land use and wetlands research within the Central and Mississippi Flyways in Canada, at the Northern Plain Wildlife Research Center in North Dakota and with the USGS-South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at SDSU in Brookings. He has authored or co-authored over 180 scientific publications and 300 presentations at scientific meetings and workshops.

I called Ken to find out what prompted him to join the Academy. Ken who is a member of a number of professional organizations, indicated that the Academy seemed like an excellent place to share his research and that of his students. And he did just that: Ken joined the SD Academy of Science in 1989, presenting and then publishing the first of over 40 talks about waterfowl, hunting, grazing, non-game mammals, upland birds, arthropods, fossil fishes, and water chemistry. Ken also served the Academy as Editor and Co-editor of the Proceedings from 1998-2004. In 1998 Ken was elected the first Fellow of the South Dakota Academy of Science and in 2015 he was elected Fellow of the Wildlife Society.

The following description of the new Academy website was written by Tim Mullican, Webmaster.

As the Academy webmaster, I am excited to share some important news with you. Earlier this year, our former web host informed us that due to a major career advancement, he no longer has the time to maintain our website. Therefore, after much discussion by our Executive Committee, we have decided to switch our web hosting to Wild Apricot, a platform known for its comprehensive services tailored specifically for non-profit organizations like ours. Over the past 1.5 months, I have put together a website complete with a membership application, a slideshow with photos taken by some of our members, news articles, the Proceedings, and a list of Executive Committee members (https://southdakotaacademyofscience.wildapricot.org).

Why Wild Apricot?

Wild Apricot allows organizations like ours to build and maintain a professional-looking website without the help of a paid website manager. Wild Apricot provides a variety of customizable templates that allow the creation of a professional and visually appealing website without needing advanced technical skills. This ensures that our online presence accurately reflects the professionalism and dedication of our organization.

Membership Management Made Easy

One of the additional features of Wild Apricot is its robust membership management system. This platform allows us to automate many of the tasks that previously required manual effort, such as membership renewal reminders, emails and event registrations. With Wild Apricot, members can easily update their information, renew their memberships, and register for events through a user-friendly online portal. One nice feature of the website is that it keeps track of contacts and allows users to control how much and what kind of information is made public or available to other members. If a member wishes, they can opt out of allowing any member of the public to see their contact information, allow only members access, or only allow fellow members of the Executive Committee to see their email and phone numbers. This should make communication much easier than it has been in the past.

But what about the cost?

Yes, there is a cost for using the services of Wild Apricot. However, with automated membership renewal reminders and event management services, I believe that the net cost of the service will end up being less than what we were paying for maintenance of our old website and will pay for itself in the long run. Over 26,000 non-profit organizations use the services of Wild Apricot, and many of them report increases in memberships following implementation.

Transitioning

Transitioning to a new web hosting platform can be challenging, so there probably will be bugs to be worked out, so please be patient. Wild Apricot does offer extensive support and they have been very helpful thus far. One of the most difficult challenges will be putting the volumes of the Proceedings on the new website. Thus far, I have uploaded the issues for 2021-2023 and 2017, and will be continuing to add more throughout the summer. In addition, our Executive Committee is investigating the archive of the Proceedings on Open Prairie. This should give the Proceedings more exposure through its presence on more than one website.

In conclusion, our switch to Wild Apricot marks a significant step forward for the South Dakota Academy of Science. This platform offers the comprehensive services we need to enhance our online presence, streamline our operations, and better serve our members. I am confident that this change will bring numerous benefits to our organization and help us continue to grow and thrive.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me. Tim.Mullican@dwu.edu

Jewett Regional Science Education Center-NSU

If you did not attend the Annual Meeting in April, here is a summary of some of the interesting presentations.

Dr. John Long, NSU, tracked changes in plant community structure after the 1988 Fan Fire in Yellowstone National Park. Models of secondary succession describe these changes as slow and proceeding through a number of stages that replace one another. His research has shown that for the fire adapted coniferous forests in Yellowstone, secondary succession bypasses the early stages and instead is self-replacing.

Bibek Adhikari, SDSU, described how he is using nuclear and chloroplast DNA to study hybridization in red and white mulberry and reports that the native red mulberry may become extinct through introgressive hybridization with white mulberry. Using nuclear and chloroplast DNA, Bibek and his team have found that the hybrids have red mulberry nuclear DNA and white mulberry chloroplast DNA.

Using zebrafish as a model organism to study obesity, Samantha St. Clair, NSU, fattened them and then treated them with estradiol, which is known to inhibit a gene in the liver involved in fat metabolism. She and her fellow researchers found that estradiol was effective in preventing obesity, but only in males.

Khang Huynh, along with Bharath Maddipudi (Rajesh Shende lab at SDSMT), described how waste cardboard can be processed into capacitors. As Khang described it, the process involves the hydrothermal conversion of carboard to a hyrochar which is activated to produce a porous carbon. That product is then used as the anode in a capacitor.

Paula Mazzer, DWU biochemist, has created a game to help students learn organic chemical reactions and their products. The card game, called React, is competitive (as one aspiring organic chemist turned arsonist can play a card that torches the reaction products of her opponent) and fun while it has improved comprehension.

And who could forget Abigail Martens’ (SDSU) description of the “fart in the face” defensive behavior of the beaded lacewing larva as it attacks termites. She reported the flatulent species as new to the insect fauna of SD, a specimen of which she collected at the bombing range in Lakota County. For lacewing larva “shoot from the hip” expands the meaning of “hip.”

The Nature Conservancy is hiring a Southern Black Hills Land Steward. This position will be stationed at the Conservancy’s Whitney Preserve near Hot Springs, SD.

See this link for more information.

Congratulations to the following winners of the poster and oral paper competitions held at the 2024 Annual Meeting. Besides recognition, each received a cash award.

Poster Judging committee: Adam Sturlaugson, Eric Pulis, George Nora:

Poster Award: Jessica Splichal. Science & Mathematics, NSU “Transcription Analysis of miRNA’s within CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem Cells”

Oral Presentation judging committee: Tom Montoya, Adam Sturlaugson

Oral Presentation awards

Undergraduate Oral Presentation Award: Zoe Boughton and Eric Pulis. Science & Mathematics, NSU “MOLECULAR SCREENING AND IDENTIFICATION OF BLOOD PARASITES FROM SOME UPLAND GAMEBIRDS (PHASIANIDAE)”

Graduate awards-

First Place Graduate Student Oral Paper Award: Sanam Parajuli, Bibek Adhikari, and Madhav P. Nepal. Biology & Microbiology, SDSU “GENOME-WIDE IDENTIFICATION OF MADS-BOX TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR GENES IN RED MULBERRY (MORUS RUBRA L.)”

Second Place Graduate Student Oral Paper Award: Bharathkiran Maddipudi, Khang Huynh, Anuradha Shende, and Rajesh Shende. Chemical & Biological Engineering. SDSM&T. “CATALYTIC HYDROTHERMAL LIQUEFACTION OF AGRICULTURE RESIDUE FOR VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS”

Appearing in your email every January, April, July and October is a copy of this Newsletter. But something is missing…It’s news from you.