Biology students' work displayed at State Museum

Nov. 7, 2006

Anyone who has spent time in the Presbyterian College biology department knows that biology majors do a great deal of tedious work for labs. However, something that is less well known is that some students are doing real paleontological research on campus for the State Museum in Columbia.

In fact, part of a fossil pollen profile created by these students is currently displayed in the museum's Carolina Natural exhibit, as well as some plant fossils collected by professor of biology Dr. Michael Rischbieter that are in the dinosaur hall.

However, the work displayed in these exhibits is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the extremely time-consuming research that has been coordinated between PC's biology department and the museum.

Students have worked with museum since 2004

Through Rischbieter, students Laurel Delaney and Mary Douglass Hayne began working on honors projects with the State Museum in 2004. They pioneered this kind of research at PC in that they were the first students to take a matrix from the museum and break it down through mechanical and chemical processes for the isolation of pollen and spores.

The idea of looking for pollen samples occurred to Dr. Rischbieter while reviewing some of the findings from the Camelot site in Harleyville, S.C.

"I noticed that a lot of work had been done with animals, but not with plants, and knew that the conditions of one of the sites were perfect for preserving pollen," he said. "Since then, we've discovered that there really is a lot of pollen at the site that needs to be profiled."

Following the success of this initial venture, other students have participated in projects with the State Museum: James Stetson, Melissa Claire Beaty, and Anna Stevenson in 2005; Margaret Sams, Katy Becker, and Anna Sheppard in 2006; and, this coming year, both Danielle Gill and Sarah Cash.

In fact, the honors work done over two consecutive years by Melissa Claire and Anna Sheppard was a direct continuation of the research done in 2004, though with a more narrowed focus on the taxonomy of the samples and what they revealed in terms of a paeloenvironment.

Walrus Ditch Local Fauna and Camelot

The two primary sites with which these students have been involved are the Walrus Ditch Local Fauna in Summerville, S.C., and the Camelot site. The Walrus Ditch Local Fauna, which was the focus for senior Anna Stevenson's project in 2005, is the only middle Pleistocene site north of Florida and east of the Mississippi River that contains an entire fauna. The main type of research that these students do involves isolating and removing microfossils and fossil fragments, cataloguing all information relevant to any fossils, and photographing their findings. In short, they are doing the base line grunt work that is essential to any paleontological study.

Dr. Jim Knight, the director of paleontological studies at the State Museum, applauded PC's students for their commitment to such a cumbersome job.

"The students we get from PC do really strong, high caliber work for this type of research," he said.

Knight added that the quality of the work done by PC students is all the more exceptional considering that they are undergraduates at a small college. Interestingly, students who participate in these independent studies can customize a project that appeals to them, and the result is a finished product of their own hands-on research. Knight said he is "tickled to death to provide the raw material" for these projects.

Alumna in doctoral program continues her PC research

However, PC's relationship with the State Museum goes beyond independent student projects. Alumna Melissa Claire Beaty, who worked on a project with the State Museum in 2005, is currently continuing the same research through a doctoral program at the University of South Carolina.

Rischbieter, who serves as PC's liaison to the museum, takes his paleontology, biogeography, and evolution classes to the State Museum to learn about the important evolutionary history of South Carolina and experience behind-the-scenes tours with Knight. By doing so, Rischbieter exposes students to ways in which classroom information practically relates to an understanding of the planet's, and particularly South Carolina's, natural history.

Rischbieter and Knight also have collaborated at many fossil sites within the state. They will be attending the 2007 Tate Conference at the Tate Museum of Casper College in Wyoming, a meeting through which academics exchange research relevant to the Pleistocene Epoch. Another member of PC's biology faculty, Dr. Jim Wetzel, helped Knight on one occasion with some personal research by taking and framing several pictures for him with PC's electron microscope.

PC's relationship with the State Museum

The relationship between Presbyterian College and the State Museum of South Carolina, while not well known, is productive and unique. By contacting Knight each semester, Rischbieter allows students direct access to paleontological research, and the State Museum gets some of its more tedious work accomplished. Beaty's project with the museum inspired her to pursue graduate studies in pollen paleontology, rather than attend medical school. Also, correspondence and joint work efforts between the college and the museum continue to create opportunities for both faculty and student research and education beyond PC's campus.

The addition of these off-campus opportunities only further highlights the college's dedication to creating an environment focused on personal educational opportunities for its students. This dedication, as well as the caliber of PC's students, has already gained recognition through the museum relationship, especially from Knight

"My compliments go to the people at PC for attracting the kind of undergraduates that they do, because they are clearly doing something right," he said.

Learn more about PC's Biology program