涩里番

Biology News Archive

  • Congratulations to the Biology Class of 2025

    May 23, 2025

    The Biology department is very proud of our students who have, or will be completing their degrees during the 2025 calendar year. A celebration of their accomplishments has been compiled on our website, and we look forward to honoring all of them at Ivy Cutting on Friday, June 6, 2025 in Tiffany Loop! Congratulations to the Class of 2025!

  • Biology students win again at the GNAC Track and Field Championships

    May 12, 2025

    Two Biology students excelled at the GNAC Women's Track and Field Championships in Bellingham, Washington on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Annika Esvelt (BS Applied Human Biology, 2025) won in the 5000m race, setting a new GNAC Championship record. Annika also took 3rd place in the 1500m race. Hannah Chang (BS Physiology, 2026) won in the 100m hurdles. Hannah was also a member of the 4x400 relay team which took 3rd place in the finals. Congratulations to Annika and Hannah!

  • Biology faculty honored at Celebration of Service

    May 9, 2025

    At SPU's annual Celebration of Service on May 8, four Biology faculty were recognized. Dr. Charlotte Pratt, Associate Professor of Biology, was honored for 20 years of service to SPU, while Dr. Tim Nelson, Professor of Biology, was honored for 30 years of service to SPU. Dr. Jenny Tenlen, Associate Professor of Biology, earned the Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Tracie Delgado, Professor of Biology, earned the Scholar of the Year Award for her outstanding student-centered research focused on identifying antiviral therapies to treat gammaherpesviruses-mediated cancer. Congratulations to these Biology faculty for their achievements!

  • Ben Sheirbon earns Top Poster honors at AAAS Conference

    Mar 5, 2025

    Ben Sheirbon (BS Physiology 2025) was awarded first place in the undergraduate poster competition at the 2025 AAAS Annual Meeting in the “Developmental Biology, Genetics, and Immunology” category. AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) is the publisher of the top-tier journal Science, which will publish the full list of award winners, including Ben, in their April 18 issue. Ben's research, "Treating gammaherpesvirus infections with nucleotide metabolism inhibitors", was mentored by Dr. Tracie Delgado. The Delgado lab was recently awarded a prestigious NIH R15 grant to test FDA-approved drugs for their ability to treat viral infections. Congratulations to Ben!

  • Dr. Wall-Scheffler is quoted in article about women hunters

    Feb 19, 2025

    A recent National Geographic article, "", included expert commentary from Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Professor of Biology. The National Geographic article focused on a recent research paper that described an ancient Hungarian burial site in which a woman was buried with a bow and arrowhead. Dr. Wall-Scheffler, who has documented evidence that prehistoric women were hunters, provided perspective on the roles of women as hunters and possibly warriors.

  • Biology students win at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

    Feb 19, 2025

    Two Biology students excelled at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Spokane, Washington. Hannah Chang (BS Physiology, 2026) won in the 60m hurdles race, and Annika Esvelt (BS Applied Human Biology, 2025) won in both the mile and the 3000m races. Annika also earned Women's Track Athlete of the Meet honors. Collectively, four members of SPU's team won five titles during the championships. Congratulations to Hannah and Annika!

  • Dr. Saif Al Ghais named to international academy

    Feb 18, 2025

    Dr. Saif Al Ghais, who earned his BS in Biology from SPU in 1985 and his PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Liverpool, was recently appointed a member of the International Academy of Advanced Technology and Engineering in China. Dr. Al Ghais is a marine biologist and currently the Director-General of the Environment Protection and Development Authority in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Dr. Al Ghais, who was a classmate of Dr. Tim Nelson, SPU Professor of BIology, was last on campus in April 2013, when he gave a guest lecture on 鈥淓nvironmental Challenges and Sustainability in the Gulf Region.鈥�

  • Belle Burnside wins Top Poster prize at Murdock Conference

    Nov 10, 2024

    Congratulations to Belle Burnside (BS Ecology, 2025), who earned Top Poster Presentation honors in the Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity category at the annual Murdock College Science Research Conference. Belle's presentation, "Succession and forest maturation decreases population density of black-tailed deer on Blakely Island, WA", was mentored by Dr. Eric Long, Professor of Biology. Belle was one of 14 students from the Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry departments who presented their research at the conference, which was attended by over 300 students from universities around the Pacific Northwest. More information on SPU's student presenters is available on the Biology department website.

  • 50 SPU students contributed to salmon mislabeling fraud study

    Nov 6, 2024

    Dr. Tracie Delgado, Professor of Biology, is the senior author of a new study in the peer-reviewed journal . This study, carried out by 50 students in Dr. Delgado's lab and in her Genetics course, provided genetic evidence that "wild-caught" salmon sold in sushi restaurants and grocery stores were often actually farm-raised salmon. Professors of Biology, Dr. Eric Long and Dr. Tim Nelson, also contributed to this study. This study has been reported on by multiple media outlets, including NPR (KUOW), , the 涩里番 Times, Newsweek, ABC news, Popular Science and others. More information about the study is available on the .

  • New study from Dr. Wall-Scheffler examines impact of longer lower limbs on running

    Oct 30, 2024

    Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Professor of Biology, and collaborators at Charles University in the Czech Republic (where Dr. Wall-Scheffler was a Fulbright Fellow), published a new study, "Impact of relative lower-limb length on heat loss and body temperature during running" in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology. This study found that runners with longer lower limbs relative to overall body size experienced greater heat loss and smaller increases in mean body temperature compared to runners with shorter lower limbs relative to overall body size. Surprisingly, this thermoregulation was not due to increased body surface area, as was previously predicted. This study provides further evidence to the adaptive significance of lower limb length in thermoregulation across a variety of physical activities.

206-281-2000

Connect with Us

Publications

Resources

Schools

Centers

Policy

© 2025 涩里番