Dr. Mary E. White - Curriculum Vitae
Mary E. White
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Southeastern Louisiana University
Office: Biology Building Room 235
Phone:(985) 549-3508
Email:mwhite@selu.edu
EDUCATION
B.S. (Zoology) University of Texas at Austin, 1982.
Ph.D. (Developmental Biology, Dr. W.R. Jeffery) University of Texas at Austin, 1989. Dissertation: Analysis of the Ascidian Cytoskeleton: Temporal and Spatial Expression of an Invertebrate Intermediate Filament Gene.
POSTDOCTORAL EXPERIENCE
Sept. 1989-Oct. 1990. University of Texas at Austin. Dr. James J. Bull and Dr. David M. Hillis. Using Bacteriophage T7 as an experimental system to study phylogenetic reconstruction methods.
Jan. 1991-August 1991. The Salk Institute; La Jolla, CA. Dr. Merl Hoekstra. Homologous recombination in yeast-- using a yeast artificial chromosome system to map large regions of DNA (i.e. Human chromosomes).
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
-
American Association for the Advancement of Science
-
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
-
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
-
Project Kaleidoscope Faculty for the 21st Century
-
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Group of Southeastern Louisiana
AWARDS
President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; Southeastern Louisiana University, 2002.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
General Biology I
Cell Biology
Animal Development Lecture and Lab
Biology Senior Seminar
Graduate Molecular Biology Techniques
Graduate Seminar--How to Be A Graduate Student
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Research projects on-going in the laboratory include:
Evolution of germ cell determination in vertebrates--This project is in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Johnson from the University of Nottingham. We have been studying mode of germ cell determination in vertebrates, and how it may affect macroevolution by release of a developmental constraint.
Physiological effects of saltwater intrusion on amphibians--This is a recent project in which we are studying the effects of salinity on the development of amphibians. This work currently focuses on the effects of varying concentrations of salt on the expression of “heat-shock” proteins in frog embryos.
Phylogenetic Relationships among snakes--this work includes a variety of projects including relationships of palm pitvipers of the genus Bothriechis and an investigation on foxsnakes.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
White, M.E. (in press). Oogenesis and Early Development. Chapter 4 in D.M. Sever and R. Aldridge, eds., Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Snakes.
Eckstudt, M.E., D.M. Sever, M.E. White and B.I. Crother. (2009). Phylogenetic Analysis of Sperm Storage in Female Squamates Chapter 5 in L.T. Dahnof (Ed.),Animal Reproduction: New Research Developments (pp. 185-218). NOVA Science Publishers, Inc., Happauge, New York.
Crother, B.I., M.E. White, D. Gardner and J. Warms (2009). Giant Canadian Snakes and Forensic Phylogenetics. Contemporary Herpetology 2009(2).
Crother, B. I., M. E. White and A.D. Johnson. (2007) Inferring Development Constraint and Constraint Release: Primordial Germ Cell Determination as Examples. J. of Theoretical Biology.
White, M.E., M. Kelly-Smith, and B.I. Crother. Higher level snake phylogeny as inferred from 28S ribosomal DNA and morphology. (2005). Book chapter IN Ecology and Evolution in the Tropics (eds., M. Donnelly, B. Crother, C. Guyer, M. Wake, M. White), University of Chicago Press
Johnson, A., R.F. Bacharova, B.I. Crother, M.E. White, R. Patient, M. Drum, and T. Masi (2003). Regulative Germ Cell Specification in Axolotl Embryos: A Primitive Trait Conserved in the Mammalian Lineage. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London:358:1371.
Johnson, A., M. Drum, R. Bachvarova, T. Masi, M. E. White, and B. Crother. (2003) Evolution of Pre-determined Germ Cells in Vertebrate Embryos. Implications for macroevolution. Evolution and Development 5: 414-431.
Taggart, T., B.I. Crother, and M.E. White (2002). Palm-pitviper (Bothriechis) phylogeny, mtDNA and consilience. Cladistics. 17,#4.
White M.E. and B.I. Crother. (2000). Gene conversions may obscure actin gene family relationships. J. Mol. Evol. 50:170-174.
BOOKS AND LAB MANUALS
Donnelly, M., B. I Crother, C. Guyer, M. Wake, and M.E. White.(2005). Editors. Ecology and Evolution in the Tropics. A Herpetological Perspective. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL.,
M.E. White and F.M. Campo. Investigations in Biology. I. Cellular and molecular biology and genetics. McGraw Hill Companies. Four Editions: 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2008.
M.E. White and F.M. Campo. Investigations in Biology. II. Evolution, Diversity and Ecology. McGraw Hill Companies. Three Editions: 1999, 2001 and 2004.
F. M. Campo and M.E. White (2008). Investigations in Biology: Evolution, Diversity and Ecology. Primis Custom Publishing.
RECENT PRESENTATIONS
Unusual Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbianus) Tadpole Phenotype May Indicate Hybrids With Brian Crother, Ronn Altig and James Austin, joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2009, Portland OR.
Phylogenetic Analysis of Sperm Storage in Female Squamates. Mallory Eckstudt, David Sever, Mary White, and Brian Crother, Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2009, Portland OR.
Do Snakes have Predetermined Germ Cells with B. Crother. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2008, Montreal, Canada.
A Re-examination of Relationships among the Palm Pit Vipers (Bothriechis) with B. Crother and J. Keeling. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2008, Montreal, Canada.
Phylogeography of Necturus beyeri (Amphibia; Proteidae) with R. Chabarria, B. Crother, H. Bart, K. Tenaglia and C. Guyer. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2008, Montreal, Canada.
Primordial Germ Cell Determination in Fish. With Brian Crother and Andrew Johnson.Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2006, New Orleans, LA.
Squamate Phylogeny. With Brian Crother, Frank Burbrink, and Alec Pyron. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, July 2006, New Orleans, LA.
Women: Mad Scientists, or Just A Little Annoyed? Southeastern Louisiana University Women’s History Month Presentation. March 2006.
GRANTS
NSF/ Louisiana Board of Regents P-Fund Grant 2009-2010. Biochemical Effects of Saltwater Intrusion on Amphibian Development (A Pilot Study).
Louisiana Board of Regents Enhancement Program. 2006-2007. Enhancement of instruction and research in the biological sciences through acquisition of a workgroup cluster. With Kyle Piller and Brian Crother.
NSF CAREER GRANT: Laboratory Evolution: Creating Known Phylogenies. 1996-2002.
NSF-RUI Determination of Higher Order Relationships Among Snakes Using Ribosomal DNA Sequences. With Brian I. Crother. 1992-1998,
Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund - Determination of Higher Order Relationships Among Snakes Using Ribosomal DNA Sequences. With Brian I. Crother. 1992.
Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund Instrumentation Program-- Science and the Future: Integrating Molecular Biology into a Classical Curriculum. With Brian I. Crother and Patricia L. Bounds. 1994-1995.
NSF Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement-- Science and the Future: Integrating Molecular Biology into a Classical Curriculum. With Brian I. Crother, Patricia L. Bounds, and Edward T. Nelson. 1994-96
Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund Instrumentation Grant-- A Perpetual Learning Laboratory for the Biological Sciences. With Gary Shaffer and Michael Greene. 1997-1998.
NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Supplement; with B. I. Crother. 1994.
NSF Research Opportunity Award Supplement, with B. I. Crother for Steven Werman. 1995.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Kelly Ryan 2010
Ryan Chabarria, M.S. 2008
Angel Reine, M.S. 2007
Damien Green, M.S. 2007
Maria Brown, M.S. 2004
David Gardner, M.S. 2003
Eric O’Neil, M.S. 2002
Lisa Aucoin, M.S. (posthumous) 2001
Maria Kelly Smith, M.S. 2000
Dorothy Scholl-Meeker, M.S. 1999
Brian Warren, M.S. 1999
Travis Taggart, M.S. 1998
Christie Watkins, M.S. 1996