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College of Arts and Sciences

Aug 18
0

Koehler honored with retrospective exhibit

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“Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture” opens at the Fielding Wright Art Center on Aug. 31.

 

Delta State University’s Fielding Wright Art Center opens its 2017-18 season on Aug. 31 with “Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture,” an exhibition celebrating the career of the former Department of Art chair.

An opening reception will be held Aug. 31 from 5- 7 p.m.

Koehler taught at Delta State University for 35 years and served as chair of the department for more than a decade. He retired this summer as professor and chair emeritus.

During his long and distinguished career, Koehler participated in over 500 regional, national and international exhibitions, received countless awards, and saw his work enter the permanent collections of museums and galleries across the nation.

The retrospective offers a rare opportunity to absorb the astonishing breadth of Koehler’s artistic pursuits, the subject matter that has occupied him, and the variety of media he has employed.

Koehler said that a casual visitor to the exhibit might get the impression that the work was created by more than one artist, but what connects his wide variety of work is his interest in exploration.

“Exploration of shape, form, media, color, texture, concept and genre,” said Koehler. “Exploration of technique, movement, scale, iconography, purpose and activism. Exploration of personal goals. Exploration of time and place. Exploration of fear, and exploration of the absurd.”

His explorations of a subject matter, or the possibilities of a medium, often lead him to work in a series. Another common element in Koehler’s works is his ever-present sense of humor, as seen in the “Balanced Diet” series, which consists of an assortment of cholesterol heavy food items. Examples from his famous “Brush” series, which numbers in the hundreds, will also be included in the exhibit.

“I’m not sure if I made the choice to devote my life to creating art, or if the choice was made for me long before I was born by some cosmic combustion I was never privy to,” said Koehler, looking back on his career. “What I can say for absolute certain is that art and the creation of it has defined my life in immeasurable ways. This exhibition, I hope, will document the trip thus far.”

“Ron Koehler Retrospective: 45 Years of Sculpture” will run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 21. Koehler will generously donate all proceeds from exhibit sales to the foundation of the Salley/Koehler Community College Scholarship Fund at Delta State University.

Regular gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on weekends, holidays and during semester breaks.

For more information, visit the DSU Art Department’s website at http://www.deltastate.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/art/ or contact 662-846-4720. For updates and announcements of upcoming events, follow Delta State Art Department on Facebook or join our email list.

Aug 09
0

Delta State represented at Botanical Society of America conference

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Delta State University’s Dr. Nina Baghai-Riding, professor of biology and environmental science, recently attended the annual Botanical Society of America conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Botanical Society of America is one of the world’s largest scientific societies dedicated to the study of plants and serves as an umbrella organization that covers all plant specialties including conservation and ecology, historical botany, microbiological interactions, paleobotany, physiology, teaching plant science and more.

During the conference, Baghai-Riding served as a senior mentor in the Plants Grant program that is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. This year, she mentored Jocelyn Navarro, an undergraduate botany student from Connecticut College.

Baghai-Riding presented a professional poster on her research titled “Implications of a palynological sample from Bowie River.” She co-authored the research with Delta State students Kendal Davis and Raven Allison, along with Dr. Brian Axsmith from the University of Southern Alabama.

Also presented was “An elemental study of regional variation in noncommercial jams and jellies,”‘ a poster co-authored by Delta State students Callie Masterson, Raven Allison, Dana Rico, William Whittington, Breana Randle, Gregory Peacock and Dr. Chuck Smithhart, and “Stomatal density and carbon dioxide leaf peel study of four woody plant species in the Mississippi Delta,” which was co-authored by Hannah Taylor, Wilsonya Mitchell, Jon’ Ayo Farquharson and Madison Zoeller.

To learn more about the environmental science program at Delta State, email Baghai-Riding at nbaghai@deltastate.edu.

Jul 26
1

Chemistry student researching at Montana’s Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience

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Pain is something we have come to accept as part of life. We even give pain its own motto — no pain, no gain. While we may not be able to eliminate pain, we can develop methods to cope with it, and Delta State student Tyler Daniels is researching the effects of a possible pain reliever.

Daniels, a senior chemistry and biology major from Hattiesburg, is working on a medical chemistry research project at the University of Montana’s Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience. For his research project, he is working on the synthesis of a Cytochrome P450 inhibitor with potential as a natural pain reliever, as well as the synthesis of a T-type calcium channel blocker with potential as a neuropathy-related pain reliever.

“I began the project in mid-June,” Daniels said. “My responsibilities include reviewing previously published research, the synthesis of a series of compounds and the purification of these compounds. The end goal is that the final products will be sent off for both in-vitro and in-vivo testing as potential pain relievers.”

Daniels began searching for internships in the spring and came across the project in Montana online.

“Because I had no prior research experience, I thought working on a project in my field of study with a potential medical application would be a great learning opportunity,” Daniels said. “This research experience has allowed me to expand my knowledge of the medicinal chemistry field and has given me a lot of insight on graduate study as a whole.”

Dr. Sharon Hamilton, assistant professor of chemistry at Delta State, has been keeping up with Daniels’ progress over the summer. She knew he had applied to several summer research experiences for undergraduate programs and is thrilled for the opportunity Daniels’ received with the University of Montana.

“We have corresponded this summer, and he’s expressed how much he enjoys his research project,” Hamilton said. “Based on these experiences, I feel confident that Tyler will excel working in my lab this fall on a new synthesis project. I’m very happy Tyler earned this opportunity. He is a wonderful student and very hardworking, effectively balancing football and chemistry courses, as well as his obligations to the Rural Physicians Program and spearheading the formation of a chapter of the Mississippi Rural Health Association on campus.”

For more information about the chemistry program at Delta State, contact Hamilton at 662-846-4479 or shamilton@deltastate.edu.

Jul 26
3

MS School for Math and Science students complete summer research

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Pictured (left to right): Student John Tierce, Dr. Sharon K. Hamilton, Dr. Adam Johanson and student Stormy Gale.

Two visiting students from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science recently wrapped up a two-week research experience at Delta State under the direction of the Department of Chemistry and Physics.

Rising seniors participating in the program were Stormy Gale (Columbus, Mississippi) and John Tierce (Cleveland, Mississippi).

“The Department of Chemistry and Physics is been proud to once again host summer research students from the Mississippi School for Math and Science,” said Dr. Joe Bentley, chair of the department. “When students come to Delta State for a summer research experience like this, it’s great all the way around. The MSMS students get a taste for doing research in an academic lab, it will help them with their applications to college, and the professor gets to work with highly qualified high school students.”2017 math science interns-1

Tierce worked closely with Dr. Sharon K. Hamilton, assistant professor of chemistry.

“John has been working with other students in my lab determining the optimal formulations for drug-loaded natural polymer fibers,” said Hamilton. “These fibers can be used for drug delivery and wound healing purposes. John is gaining valuable research experience that will help him as he pursues his college degree next year. It is my hope that our high school chemistry and physics research program can continue to grow in the years to come, especially with such great student recommendations from Dr. Elizabeth Morgan at MSMS.”

Tierce also partnered on research with current Delta State students Katie Penton (Southaven, Mississippi), a graduate student in chemistry, and Zachary Kinler (Pascagoula, Mississippi), an undergraduate student.

Gale worked with Dr. Adam Johanson, planetarium director and assistant professor of physics.

“Stormy Gale spent two weeks developing an original planetarium presentation entitled ‘History of Astronomy,’” said Johanson. “She not only outlined the show, but wrote over 1,000 lines of computer code to program the planetarium to display videos, pictures and animations to complement the narration.”

The presentation of Gale’s hard work was given to the public on July 21 in the Wiley Planetarium.

Hamilton’s research is supported by the Mississippi IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, and funded by an Institutional Development Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number P20GM103476.

Learn more about Delta State’s Department of Chemistry and Physics at http://www.deltastate.edu/artsandsciences/chemistry-and-physics.

Jul 20
0

Delta State’s herbarium collection to be used by Smithsonian

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It’s a common saying that food brings people together, and one bean once linked an entire region of the United States.

Phaseolus polystachios, more commonly known as the Native American wild kidney bean, or thicket bean, is the only native bean species that was once widespread across the eastern United States, according to research by Ashley Egan, a research botanist and assistant curator at the U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. It is a member of the legume family and typically grows perennially. But despite its once widespread growth, Egan reported that few seed collections of Phaseolus polystachios are located in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System.

Egan is studying the genes of the thicket bean in relation to crop improvement and is trying to collect as many samples of the bean as possible from across the county. She contacted Dr. Nina Baghai-Riding, professor of biology and environmental science at Delta State, about locations of the thicket bean in Mississippi —one of the native states of the Phaseolus polystachios.

Thanks to Delta State’s collection of five specimens, Egan will be able to more closely study the genes of the wild kidney bean.

“The Delta State University Herbarium has over 17,000 specimens,” Riding said. “More than 10,300 are documented in the database, which Dr. John Tiftickjian and I have worked on for the past 10 years.”

Delta State’s Herbarium, located in Caylor Hall room 242, contains specimens from 37 states, but its main focus is centered on plants in the Mississippi Delta. It houses four specimens classified as Phaseolus polystachios that were collected by Ronald Weiland, John MacDonald, Randy Warren, Charles Bryson, Paige Goodlett and Wanda Ingersoll. These specimens were collected in Hinds, Lee, Leflore and Grenada counties.

“The Delta State University herbarium is used extensively in teaching and research projects at DSU and around the local region as well,” Riding said. “The Department of Biological Sciences is excited for the Smithsonian to utilize the herbarium as well.”

Riding said several other institutions have utilized the herbarium in the recent past, including Wayne Morris from Troy University, Lisa Wallace from Mississippi State University, and several doctoral students from North Carolina State University.

“Teressa Oakes from NRCS also showed off the herbarium last summer during a workshop, and Dr. Tiftickjian plans to incorporate it into the Master Gardeners conference program in 2019,” Riding added.

For more information about the Smithsonian’s project, contact Egan at egana@si.edu or 202-633-0902. For more information about Delta State’s environmental science program, contact Baghai-Riding at 662-846-4797 or nbaghai@deltastate.edu.

 

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