College of Arts and Sciences Newsletter

Volume 2, Number 1, January 2014

Biology professor Kathryn Kavanagh's cutting-edge article, "Developmental bias in the evolution of phalanges," was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a leading scientific journal. Her research, which began six years ago at Harvard, explores the developmental patterns of fingers and toes and considers evolutionary changes over time. Kavanagh hypothesizes that sizes of phalanges - fingers and toes - are patterned according to predictable developmental rules, and these rules bias the evolution of these bones.

"Our research discovers the rules of building a body," Kavanagh said. "We are trying to piece together a story of how skeletons evolve."

The results are stunning. Kavanagh and her research team - including UMass Dartmouth biology professor Benjamin Winslow and biology student Brian Leary, BS '10, MS '13  - determined that phalanges develop based on highly predictable internal developmental patterns and constraints. Such amazing predictability in the skeleton shows that it has evolved to be an efficient, flexible system that can easily adapt to suit different functional needs. Further, by understanding how skeletal development varies normally in nature, we can gain insight into abnormal development such as birth defects of the hands and feet. Studying these fundamental rules of development and variation has broad implications for other biological research.

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Promising Partnership

UMass Dartmouth recently rekindled an old friendship with New Bedford's Buttonwood Park Zoo. The zoo's new director, Keith Lovett, contacted the university and offered the zoo as an educational resource for professors and students. "Initially, I reached out to a few departments," Lovett said. "But the idea has developed into a multidisciplinary initiative."

Realizing the zoo's potential, Prof. Stephen Witzig from the STEM Education and Teacher Development department, established the Zoo Teacher Network. The network connects area teachers (K-12) with faculty and offers opportunities to collectively analyze teaching methods and curriculums. "The Zoo Teacher Network provides an outlet for higher education faculty to be in the same room as K-12 teachers," Witzig said. "The zoo is the common denominator."

The Buttonwood Park Zoo, a 12-acre natural resource, offers several areas of interest. Biology focuses on the elephants, bison, and black bears; marine biology studies the seals and marine life; psychology utilizes animal training, while those interested in horticulture can channel their efforts into Buttonwood's historic greenhouse.

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UMass Dartmouth alumna Kelsey Craveiro and Dr. Viviane Saleh-Hanna.

UMass Dartmouth alumna Kelsey Craveiro recently received a Kingston-Mann Student Achievement Award for Student Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion. The awards focus on student research that connects new ideas and experiences with traditional disciplines.  

Craveiro's research paper, "From Revolutionary to Mainstream: Hip Hop's Cooptation by White Corporate America," was completed as a requirement for her senior seminar class in Crime & Justice Studies. "This award was a wonderful validation of all my hard work my senior year at UMass Dartmouth," said Craveiro. "It was gratifying to work on something the entire semester and subsequently receive recognition for it."

Dr. Viviane Saleh-Hanna, associate professor in the Crime & Justice Studies department, attended the awards ceremony as one of Craveiro's guests. Craveiro, currently a second-year law student at Quinnipiac University School of Law, recognized Dr. Saleh-Hanna as an influential mentor throughout her collegiate career. "The classes that I took with Prof. Saleh-Hanna helped me come to the realization that the criminal justice system is a broken one and will continue to be broken unless someone takes a stand," Craveiro said.