Dr. Jan Haldeman describes her partnership
with Alicia Trautman to the N.A.B.T. delegates

National Association Of Biology Teachers Elects Erskine Professor Section Chair, Graduate To Board Of Directors

Dr. Janice H. Haldeman, professor of biology at Erskine College, was elected chairman of the Four-Year College Section of the National Association of Biology Teachers during the NABT annual convention Nov. 7-10 in Montreal.

Erskine graduate Dr. Jane P. Ellis, biology professor at Presbyterian College, was elected vice chairman of the Four-Year College Section and to the Board of Directors of the 8,800-member NABT. Dr. Haldeman will succeed Dr. Donald French of Oklahoma State University as chair of the Four-Year College Section.

Haldeman presented a poster entitled "Peer Mentoring in Undergraduate Research," which reported work performed by Erskine seniors Kathryn Freeborn, Bonnie Barte and Rebecca Harris, juniors Ashleigh Brown and Noelle Garvin, and sophomore Hannah Bell. These students have teamed up on an environmental microbiology project, conducting a seasonal survey for carriers of potentially pathogenic bacteria.

Both Haldeman and Ellis were among eight teachers making presentations on the outcome of the three-year program, "Forging a Link," partnerships in science education between college and pre-college biology teachers.

Haldeman reported on her partnership with Alicia Trautman, teacher at Dixie High School, and Ellis reported on the partnership she established between teachers in the biology and education departments and a high school teacher. Dr. Donald Cronkite, professor of biology at Hope College, Michigan, developed and directed the program.

Both Haldeman and Ellis also participated on a committee to establish guidelines for college biology programs.

More than 1,200 biology teachers from throughout the United States, Canada, and Central America attended the conference, held at Palais des Congres in Montreal.

Five hundred delegates, the largest number ever, attended the convention banquet at which the speaker was Dr. E.O. Wilson, distinguished biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Wilson, a Harvard professor known for his scholarship in biodiversity and the behavior of ants, received NABT’s Distinguished Service Award.

A number of field trips enabled delegates to visit historical sites in Montreal, home to more than 80 ethnic groups and the world’s second largest French-speaking city.

More than 70 companies, foundations, organizations and agencies sponsored exhibits at the NABT convention.