Natural Sciences

Chemistry

Natural Sciences

Dr. Whiteman settled in New Mexico more than 30 years ago and holds an undergraduate degree in fine arts and a doctorate degree in biology. She is the founding director of Western New Mexico University’s Outdoor Program and is broadly interested in the intersectionality of outdoor recreation, equity, biodiversity, climate change, and regenerative development.  Kathy aims to foster community resiliency in part by cultivating next generation engagement in applied, inquiry-based and experiential opportunities that connect higher education programs to the state's diverse outdoor economies.

Natural Sciences

Cell and Molecular Biology Program Western Mew Mexico University

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Animal Form, Function, and Diversity (AFFD), Vertebrate Zoology, Behavioral Ecology, Biogeography, and Biology for Health Sciences

Dr. Haugen’s research interests include the behavior, ecology, and evolution of vertebrates with an emphasis on parental care and mating systems of neotropical anurans.

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Dr. Manda Clair Jost, WNMU Professor of Biology (tenured), is currently in her 17th year at WNMU and teaches a number of courses in the Life Sciences curriculum, most of which focus on biological diversity, evolution, and ecology of animals. Born in Houston Texas, Dr. Jost is a dual citizen of the United States (by birth) and Chile (by heritage), and is bilingual as a native speaker of English with advanced competency in Spanish. After completing her secondary schooling in New Mexico and in Germany, Dr. Jost completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with minors in both Linguistics and Documentary Film. She then completed both her Mastersʼ and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) in the department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, with a dissertation focused on the evolution of acoustic communication in insects. During graduate school she conducted international field studies in Brazil, Madagascar, Ecuador, Colombia, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, and developed strong interests in the biological diversity, human cultural diversity, and languages of these places. It was also during this time that Dr. Jost first began teaching evolution and the history of science, as one of several teaching assistants for influential evolutionary biologists including Michael Donoghue, Kerry Shaw, and the late Stephen Jay Gould. After competing her Ph.D., Dr. Jost then spent 6 years as a postdoctoral researcher and university lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin studying molecular evolution in teleost fishes, before coming to WNMU in 2008. In addition to her research interests in the molecular evolution of novel adaptations in animals, the teaching of biodiversity and evolution became Dr. Jostʼs core professional focus. She has led or been on the instructional staff of a number of evolution-themed workshops at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and international meetings of the Evolution society, funded by the National Science Foundation. In 2011 she was awarded as a Fulbright Scholar to spend a semester in North India, where she gave workshops and invited seminars on applied evolution and phylogenetics at more than ten different universities and institutions. At WNMU in addition to teaching courses in Evolution, Zoology, General Biology, Marine Ecology, and Physical Anthropology, she frequently leads educational student field trips both locally and to Mexico; and was awarded a second Fulbright for 2018 to conduct research and teach evolution and zoology in Chile. During recent years she has been developing a college-level textbook on Evolution; has served on a number of panels for Fulbright and the National Science Foundation reviewing grant proposals; and has taken a keen interest in the biodiversity and ecology of the Sea of Cortez / Gulf of California along the western coast of Mexico. She has also engaged in more recent exploratory research on the ancient Mimbres culture of southern New Mexico, through NAGPRA-compliance contract work for the WNMU museum, and research experiences with students enrolled in her course in Biological Anthropology. For WNMUʼs ALAS program, Dr. Jost is the primary representative of Natural Sciences, and is responsible for preparing content related to the history of science, biology, the diversity of life, evolution (including human evolution), ecology, environmental sustainability, and additional topics to include the development of language and certain ancient human cultures. She has been the recipient of the annual WNMU faculty research award and the annual WNMU faculty teaching award, and funds a scholarship for outstanding zoology students through the WNMU foundation.

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

University of California, Riverside (Ph.D.) Riverside, CA (2008 – 2015) Earth Sciences, Geophysics Advisors: Drs. Gareth Funning & Elizabeth Cochran Florida State University (M.S.) Tallahassee, FL (2006 - 2008) Geological Sciences, Geophysics Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Georgen University of South Carolina (B.S.) Columbia, SC (2005 – 2006) Geophysics Graduated with honors Colorado School of Mines (no degree) Golden, CO (2002 – 2004) Geophysics

Natural Sciences

Biological Sciences: Ecology, Botany, Fungi, Algae, Ornithology, Biostatistics

I have been a member of the WNMU Natural Sciences Department since 2001 (23 years), and am currently the senior faculty member of that academic division. I was the Assistant Department Chair for five years (2019 - 2023) overlapping the Covid pandemic and a major remodel of Harlan Hall, and being the designated person to deal with all personnel issues in our department. I have taught 24 different courses during my 23 years in the department, and in the past five years have served as advisor of ca. 70 students. In my "spare time" conduct botanical research in Iowa and New Mexico (co-authoring peer-reviewed papers and several invited book chapters) and chaired committees that have organized eight Southwest Regional Science Olympiad competitions (2008-2016), ten biennial Natural History of the Gila Symposium (2004-2024) and the annual WNMU Academic and Research Symposium and Career Fair (2005-present).

Natural Sciences

Chemistry

• CHEM 2307 Analytical Chemistry; CHEM 401 Physical Chemistry; PHYS 1230 Physics I

 

I am an analytical chemist who likes to build and modify analytical instruments. I work with mass spectrometers and ion mobility spectrometers to characterize biological molecules such as proteins and lipids. I also have an interest in environmental chemistry and analysis, particularly soil and water chemistry.

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

I am a paleontologist focusing on aquatic ecosystems in deep time. I use fossil algae and lake sediment chemistry to reconstruct past environments and climates in order to better understand how aquatic ecosystems respond to rapid climate/environmental change.  Lake sediments preserve single-celled algae (specifically, diatoms), allowing scientists to look back in time. As the diatoms die, they fall to the bottom of the lake where they build up over hundreds or thousands of years, creating a record of past ecosystems. By studying the layers of mud, scientists can look back in time and reconstruct the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the lake. This information can give us valuable information about past environments and climate. For example, reconstructing lake level can reveal patterns of drought including intensity and frequency over thousands of years. The question then becomes, what caused those droughts and how did humans adapt to those periods with lowered precipitation.

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

30 year resident of Silver City, retired from career in General Surgery in 2008.

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences