The Summer Systematics Institute (SSI) of the California Academy of Sciences is an NSF- funded program (DBI-9531307) that brings undergraduate students from around the United States to San Francisco for a 10-week program to learn about systematics, natural history museums, and conducting scientific research. Each student is matched with one or more Academy curators to carry out a research project. To learn more about the Academy's SSI program, consult the program description on the Academy's WWW page.
It is a pleasure to introduce this summer's SSI interns. They include:
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"I am a senior at San Francisco State, majoring in marine biology. I was interested in the SSI so I could learn more about systematic biology and also to learn about the research that is currently being conducted at the California Academy of Sciences."
"My project is a revision of the suborder Laganina (Order: Clypeasteroida). I am revising the Laganids by performing a phylogenetic analysis on them. I have run my analysis, produced a cladogram, and am currently reviewing it to see if I need more information."
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"I have worked at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at U.C. Davis for the past three years curating their spider collection and helping out with ants. I enjoy working with mygalomorphe spiders (tarantula-like spiders) and will be working with an African group of trapdoor spiders this summer with Charles Griswold. I also keep and breed about 30 different tarantula species currently."
Poecilomigas pulchripes (Migidae)
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"I am a Biology major with a concentration in Environmental Studies at Bowdoin College in Maine, but I am originally from St.Louis, Missouri. I found out about the program from a friend from California and I'm interested in field marine biology as a career."
"I am working with Dr. Gary Williams to redescribe a genus of soft coral found off the coast of South Africa. We are revising the genus Eleutherobia, endemic to the eastern coast and southern tip of Africa, Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This includes the description of a new species E. rubrodigitata (the colonies look like wine red fingers)."
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"I applied for the SSI program in the hopes that it would help to guide me toward a more specific career path, systematics or not. I have always had a broad interest in ecology and botany. Since I have done field work in the past, I wanted to experience another dimension of these fields of study. I am originally from Grass Valley, California, but I attend college in San Rafael, California, as a Biology major (ecology emphasis)."
"Dr. Peter Fritsch and I are trying to solidify the taxonomy of the genus Halesia within the United States. This understory tree, commonly called "silverbell," has white, bell-shaped flowers and drooping 2 or 4 winged fruits, and occurs in the Southeastern U.S. There have been several inconclusive studies of this genus done in the past, so we are attempting to determine the exact number of species within the genus using detailed measurements from specimens, geographic mapping of the specimens, and statistical analysis. Our preliminary results show a trend toward recognizing fewer species than we had originally anticipated."
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"I am majoring in biology at St.Mary's College of Maryland. I came to this program to try something new and to learn about an area of biology with which I was unfamiliar."
"I am describing four South American species in the diatom genus Actinella. So far, I have measured specimens, taken a lot of pictures, done some work on the scanning electron microscope (SEM), and started working on a cladogram. We want to see how the species fall out geographically in comparison with North American and African Actinellas."
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"I'm from Minnesota. I'm a Biology major at Harvard University in Massachussets. I plan to go to graduate school for biology (organismic and evolutionary) and I love research, which is why I decided to do the SSI. San Francisco is also just about the coolest city in the world, which is another reason why I'm here."
"For my project in Ichthyology, after endless character coding and wrangling with the computer, I generated a cladogram for about half a genus of Rattail fish. I realize systematics is no pocket science - in order to determine what characters are significant and how to accurately describe the character states with coding, a researcher has to REALLY know their group inside and out. In Herpetology, by doing acoustical analysis on the calls of the subspecies of African Tree Frogs (Hyperolius viridiflavus), I'm pretty sure that at this point there isn't enough detectable call variation to split them into separate species. Even though nothing came of that particular analysis, it was really interesting to think about all these new (acoustical) parameters which could be acted upon by evolution."
"This summer has been fabulous. All the interns have become great friends, and we've had great times - from everyday lunches in the park to an amazing camping trip at Pepperwood nature preserve. If anyone out there is thinking about doing this program, go for it! It's been the best summer of my life."
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"I attend Sonoma State University, where I am majoring in aquatic biology, with plans to get a single subject teaching credential for middle and high school biology. When I heard about the SSI from Doug Bell, my professor in comparative vertebrate anatomy who is also an Academy research fellow, I knew that I just had to be a part of this program! I am working with Terry Gosliner on the systematics of nudibranchs, and I'm having a great time learning about these fascinating and beautiful creatures, as well as picking up a wealth of information from the other scientists in the Invertebrate Zoology and Geology department."
"My project is a study of Melibe, a genus of unusual dendronotid nudibranchs of the family Tethyidae. While most nudibranchs employ a radula to scrape or tear bits of sponge, cnidarian, or bryozooan prey, Melibe traps small crustaceans in an expanded oral hood, and has no radula. We are working on describing 4 new species from the Philippines, Hawaii, and Okinawa, and on reviewing the rest of the 15 described species in the genera. Click here to view a great picture of one of these undescribed animals."
In addition to the 7 Summer Systematics Institute interns, the Academy is pleased to host 3 researchers from the Philippines who will participate in the SSI program to receive training in systematics. All 3 are staff members from the Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Agriculture, and are working in the Academy's Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology.
They are:
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"I'm Ludivina Landrito - Labe, "Luvi" to colleagues & friends. I was born and raised in the Philippines. I work as Marine Biologist at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in my country. In BFAR, I am assigned at the Fisheries Resources Research Division (FRRD), Invertebrate Resources Section and in charge of mollusc resources. My official activities include: taxonomic work on molluscs, invertebrate resource assessment surveys all over the Philippines, conduct of training/workshop on CITES implementation, taxonomy of CITES and non-CITES aquatic species in key areas of the country. I am also the Vice-Chairperson for Scientific Affairs of the BFAR CITES Committee and serve as resource person of the Sub-Committees on Fishery Industry & Ecology, Congress of the Philippines. I am also a NAUI-certified SCUBA diver."
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"I am an employee of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Philippines (and a PADI SCUBA diver). I finished a Bachelor of Science in Zoology at the University of Santo Tomas. I worked for one and a half years at International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) on the San Miguel Bay Project. I participated in the assessment of 10 kms of coral reefs at the Seribu Islands in Indonesia in 1995 under UNESCO. My main interest is resource assessment, resource mapping of corals, hard bottom reefs and associated fauna and flora. I do corals. I am a member of the InterAgency Committee on Biological and Genetic Resources in the Philippines, and a member of the BFAR-CITES committee which handles cases on banned and regulated marine species and conducts training on scleractinian taxonomy for non-technical personnel nationwide."
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"I am an employee of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Research Division(BFAR) Invertebrate Section holding a position of an Aquaculturist II. I finished a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries at Apacible School of Fisheries in Batangas, Philippines. I'm activively involved in the regular project at the Bureau doing surveys and resource assessment, resource mapping of corals, hard-bottom reefs and associated fauna and flora. I am a member of the BFAR-CITES Sub-Committee Scientific Authority. I'm also working on the taxonomy of sponges and I'm a NAUI-certified SCUBA diver."
These three researchers from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) in the Philippines are making a resource map of commercially valuable coral reef organisms that are found in the Philippines. Philippine reefs have been estimated to be twenty-seven thousand square kilometers in extent and form part of the famed Indo-Pacific Reef Triangle. Each researcher worked on a marine resource that needed identification (i.e., unidentified, uncatalogued specimens in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology), which benefitted both the Department and the researchers. Luvi worked on gastropods, Leony tackled the sponges, and Rene engaged in identifying sea cucumbers. These organisms are heavily exploited in the Philippines for decoration, souvenirs, health care, and food purposes. Valuable methods for identifying these organisms were developed from spicule analysis for sponges and sea cucumbers. These methods will be transferred to the Philippines by the researchers through the national fisheries stock assessment program.
The Robert T. Wallace Research Internship is awarded each year to one undergraduate student, who is matched with an Academy curator to learn more about a specific group of organisms, to become involved in original scientific research, and to learn more about the role of natural history museums in research and education. To learn more about this internship, please go to the program description.
This year's Wallace Intern is:
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"I am a biology and environmental studies major at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I was interested in the Wallace Internship because of the opportunity to work at a respected institution and to see how I liked doing research. I was born in Mill Valley, nearby to San Francisco, so the California Academy of Sciences is a familiar place to me and I'm happy to be interning here."
"I am interested in the effects of Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) invasion on a population of Coast Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma coronatum) at the Fort Ord UC Natural Reserve in Monterey Co., CA. I am looking at stomach contents of Horned Lizard museum specimens from San Benito and Monterey Counties to get basic background information on diet composition (ants vs. other prey, and identification of ants to genera) in order to better understand changes in diet that may be occuring with the influx of the ants."
The Fellows' Internship in Biological Illustration is awarded to a student interested in developing illustration techniques related to biological specimens. The intern works with one or more scientists to develop a series of illustrations for use in scientific publications. Consult the program description to learn more.
For 1997, the Biological Illustration Intern is:
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"Born in Madison and raised in the surrounding Wisconsin countryside, I learned long ago of my love for art and insects, but not until recently did I discover my ability to combine the two. This summer I'm illustrating various insects and spiders for the Entomology Department, and in the upcoming school year, I'll be a graduate student in the UC Santa Cruz Science Illustration program. After that, I plan to build upon my entomology background (B.S., 1994, UW-Madison) and complete my M.S. in taxonomy and systematics of, most likely, coleoptera."
The A. Crawford Cooley Undergraduate Internship in California Botany is open to students interested in participating in taxonomic revisions being worked on in the Academy's Botany Department. Currently underway is a revision of the Marin Flora. The intern works with an Academy scientist to revise text, rewrite taxonomic keys, identify relevant collections, and develop a computerized database of the vascular flora of Marin County.
This year's Cooley Intern is:
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"This summer I have helped revise the Caryophyllaceae, the Orchidaceae, and the Fabaceae for the Marin Flora. That entailed checking all species descriptions to make sure they were current and correct, rewriting the dichotomous keys for genus and species, making sure all of the names were correct and incorporating new species that have been found for Marin County. I dealt with, in the three families above, about 140 species."
"I have learned so much more in coming out here though. Living here this summer has broadened my mind to living in new places, helped me to search out all of the possibilities in the field of Botany, given me a focus to what I would like to do in graduate school, and given me a greater sense of independence"
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