Earn biology credits in Europe this summer Dr. Brian Patrick, biology department chairman, will partner with Wade Druin, business department chairman, to take students on an educational and cultural trip through Europe this May. Students can sign up to earn up to six upper level credits in business, biology and/or general education. The trip includes Prague and Brno, Czech Republic; Vienna, Austria; and Venice and Rome, Italy. Dates for the trip are May 16-June 1. For more information, contact Druin at wadruin@dwu.edu or Patrick at brpatric@dwu.edu.

DWU’s ‘spiderman’ discovers three new species Brian Patrick, assistant professor of biology at DWU, and his summer intern, Dan Sitzmann, 22, Walnut Creek, Calif., discovered three new species of spider this summer during their grant-funded research study of spiders at the Fort Pierre National Grasslands (FPNG). The grant was funded by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks’ Wildlife Diversity Small Grants Program to continue Patrick’s research project, “The Spiders of the Fort Pierre National Grassland: Making a Guide to the Common and Unusual Spiders for the General Public.”

Why BIO at DWU?

If you are interested in pursuing careers that our graduates have found rewarding, we can help you achieve that goal. Our graduates are enjoying careers as:

Optometrists Physicians Occupational Therapists Cytotechnicians Podiatrists

College Professors Foresters Fisheries Technicians Surgeons Physical Therapists

Nurse Anesthetists Chiropractors University Researchers High School Teachers Lab Technicians

Our dedicated, experienced, teaching/research-oriented faculty are concerned about the academic well being of each student. Not only do we interact with students who are biology majors in class, we also serve as the academic advisers for these students.

We are continually updating our classrooms and laboratories with the latest in teaching and research instrumentation. We use these to promote thinking about concepts and problems in science and to develop explanations of data that these instruments provide.

Examples of our latest data acquisition/computer technology include Biopac Data Acquisition and Analysis Systems for animal physiology experiments and cuvette-infra red spectrophotometry for plant physiology experiments.

We support research experiences and other academic enhancements by annually providing money to students on a competitive basis through our Hughes Grant-in-Aid Program.

Since the inception of this program students have used this money to study the tropical rain forests in Belize, the marine ecosystems in the Bahamas, chimpanzee behavior at the University of Nevada, as well as other activities.

In the News

For more information about biology at Dakota Wesleyan University, contact Brian Patrick at (605) 995-2712 (brpatric@dwu.edu).