July 1, 2010

DWU professor returns from spider conference

Dr. Brian Patrick

MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan assistant professor of biology, Dr. Brian Patrick, presented and moderated a session during the American Arachnological Society annual meeting earlier in June.

The meeting took place in Greenville, N.C., and was hosted by the department of biology at East Carolina University in Greenville.

Patrick’s presentation, “Establishing a Faunistic Survey of the Spiders of South Dakota: Current Knowledge and Goals,” outlined the establishment of the South Dakota Spider Survey (SDSS).

“I gave an overview of the number of known spider species from the state in the scientific literature, then I presented the framework for the SDSS, including the goals of increasing community participation through citizen scientists, expanding the scientific knowledge of spiders in our state, and documenting the biodiversity of the upper Midwest,” he said.

He also moderated a session of talks on spider ecology, his talk being one of the six in that session, and judged the student oral presentation competition.

There were 44 oral presentations, 11 of which in the student competition, and 20 poster presentations. Approximately 100 people attended this year’s meeting.