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NEW BOARD MEMBERS FOR 2005

Welcome to our new Board members!

The following people have been nominated to serve on the Board beginning in February 2005.

Naomi Cooper

Naomi Cooper is currently a Research Assistant in the Ecotoxicology and Water Quality Research Laboratory at Oklahoma State University. She has worked on a variety of research projects including the genetic effects of heavy metals on marine invertebrates, pesticide and ammonia effects on freshwater bivalves and endocrine disrupter effects on amphibians and reptiles. She also performs standardized toxicity bioassays for clients of the Water Quality Lab. Naomi has a Bachelor of Science from Flinders University in South Australia (1997), a Bachelor of Environmental Toxicology (Honors) from the University of South Australia (2001), and a Masters degree in Natural Science from Southeast Missouri State University (2002). Naomi has been an OP-SETAC and National SETAC member for 2 years and is looking forward to serving OP-SETAC in an administrative capacity.

Kelsey Prihoda

Currently, Kelsey Prihoda is a M.S. student in Toxicology at Iowa State University. She began her undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) in September 2000. She was a biology major with a concentration in aquatic ecology, and a minor in chemistry. At the end of her first year, she was hired by the Lake Superior Research Institute (LSRI), located on the UWS campus. LSRI conducts research in aquatic ecology and toxicology, and also provides educational resources for teachers in the sciences. At LSRI, Kelsey was responsible for culturing various aquatic organisms used in sediment toxicity tests; she was also involved in preparation, maintenance, and data collection for these tests. It was this first exposure to the field of toxicology that influenced her decision to pursue a graduate degree in toxicology. After graduating in May 2004, she spent the summer as a biological science technician with the EPA in Duluth, MN. She assisted a group of researchers in the Ecotoxicology Branch with work on the phototoxicity of PAHs in the aquatic environment. She also helped to setup, maintain, and obtain data for sediment toxicity tests that were designed to test the ability of several resins to remove metals from contaminated sediment. She was accepted to the Interdepartmental Toxicology Program at Iowa State University, and joined Joel Coats’ lab in August 2004. Her M.S. research will focus on the fate and effects of Bt protein toxins (from transgenic crops) in soil and aquatic environments. Specifically, she will develop methods to evaluate the potential input of the proteins into aquatic systems, and to determine nontarget effects of the proteins on aquatic invertebrates. In addition to learning how to conduct research in toxicology, Kelsey believes one of the most important outcomes of her graduate degree will be experience in effectively communicating her research results at scientific meetings. Kelsey joined SETAC and the Ozark-Prairie region in 2005. She would like to become a Student Board member for the Ozark-Prairie region because she believes student input is imperative in planning scientific meetings, since graduate students make up a large number of those attending the meetings. Successful collaboration with Student Board members ensures that regional meetings will be valuable for everyone participating.

Catherine Richter

Dr. Richter is a Research Molecular Biologist with the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, MO. She has a diverse background in environmental and molecular toxicology, beginning with an undergraduate research project on humic substances and copper toxicity at Miami University, Ohio. She developed a rainbow trout cell bioassay for PCBs and dioxins for her MS in Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University, with John Giesy. Cathy completed a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Missouri with Mark Hannink and Don Tillitt, studying mechanisms of subcellular transport of the dioxin receptor. As a postdoctoral fellow at Missouri, she studied developmental effects of estrogenic endocrine disruptors with Fred vom Saal and Wade Welshons. In her current position as Research Molecular Biologist at the Columbia Environmental Research Center, she applies molecular methods to problems in environmental toxicology, including biomarker development and investigation of mechanisms of toxicity. Regional SETAC meetings were an important component of her education, in learning to present research results, meeting established scientists, and absorbing a diversity of current toxicology research. Cathy would like to join the OP-SETAC board in order to contribute to the chapter’s vital functions in educating students and fostering communication among toxicologists.