CBS People: Erin Fider

Name: Erin Fider

Job title: Program Associate

Number of years with the college: 3.5 (also worked for the Department of Pharmacology for 8 years prior)

Where you work: Itasca Biology Program

Describe something interesting or unusual about your work here:
I work in St. Paul during the academic year and spend three months each summer at Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories. The contrast between the city and the woods, as well as the two distinct working environments, lets me lead a double life. At Itasca, I get to interact on a more personal level with people I meet only in passing here on campus. Living there is unpredictable. On any given day you might run across a bear, get caught in a storm or watch a helicopter land on the soccer field. The best part is working with the great Itasca staff that I only get to see during the summer months. As many will attest, their combined sense of humor cannot be rivaled!

Where’s your favorite spot to hang out when you are at Itasca?
I walk to a huge boulder out on Bear Paw point nearly every day. It's the perfect place to watch the sunset, have a picnic or just sit. I've taken to calling it "my rock" even though the plaque bolted onto it is in memory of Samuel Green, the pioneer forester and professor who first established summer courses in forestry at Itasca. I guess he must have enjoyed the solitude there as well, but he doesn't seem to mind sharing it.

What do you listen to in the car when you drive from St. Paul to Itasca?
Anything and everything! The Essential Adam Ant CD was my top pick this summer. It's impossible to get drowsy while listening to Ant music and it brings back some fun memories.

CBS students making a difference in the world

College of Biological Sciences undergraduates volunteered with Minnesota Medical Leaders this summer in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Michelle Holman, one of the volunteers on the medical mission, describes her experience...

CBS People: Tracy Anderson

Name: Tracy Anderson

Job title: Microscopist / Imaging Specialist (Junior Scientist)

Number of years with the college: 5.5 years (Also, graduated from CBS with a microbiology degree and worked as an undergrad for CBS information technology and also as a teaching assistant for the Biology program.)

Where you work: CBS Imaging Center

Describe something interesting or unusual about your work here.
Working in a University core facility, which serves the entire U of M community, I get to look at a plethora of interesting things under the microscope. The list includes bacteria that can sense magnetic poles, odor absorbing upholstery, orange flavoring used in foods, tool artifacts from the Stone Age, cheese, butter, a piece of an iron-clad ship from the Civil War, extinct insects, owl retina, islet cells, shrimp food, skin exfoliant cream, heart stents, pacemakers, plant roots, basil, artificial tissue, Brazilian moths, astronaut food, lichens collected from around the world … the list goes on. I feel privileged to look at the world with such a unique perspective.

How do you usually get to work?
During the warmer months I drive my MINI Cooper to work, although I really miss riding a scooter. During the winter months I take the bus, which conveniently drops me off next to Snyder Hall in St. Paul where I work.

What other professional pursuit could you imagine for yourself?
Food stylist/photographer and restaurant critic. And pastry chef. In New York City.

A strong foundation

Looking for an innovative, fun, and challenging introduction to biology? Check out the Foundations of Biology, a required course for all first-year College of Biological Sciences students!



Foundations of Biology is taught in an interactive, state-of-the-art classroom. It provides students with individualized atttention from top faculty and hands-on experience, focusing on applying knowledge to real life issues.

CBS Spotlight: Lake Itasca Biological Station

Located near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories is a pristine living laboratory of lakes, bogs, springs, and forests with biodiversity that puts it as close to a tropical rain forest as we get in Minnesota.

Today, students go to Itasca to get their feet wet as tomorrow’s researchers. Moreover, research now underway at the field station such as the Minnesota Mississippi Metagenome Project reflects advances in ecology driven by molecular biology, genomics, remote sensing and computational biology.

If you want to know more about what the U of M and Lake Itasca Biological Station have to offer, click here.

CBS People: Sarah Corrigan

Job title: Assistant Director, Honors in CBS

Number of years with the college: 9

Where you work: CBS Student Services and the University Honors Program

Describe something interesting or unusual about your work here:
I try to learn all my students’ names, and I’ve learned over the years that it's easier to do if you memorize both first and last name. Sometime my brain works like a search engine - input the last name, and the first name comes up a second or two later.

What’s your favorite biology topic?
My interests in biology include issues in conservation and behavior in birds. I can watch hummingbird videos on YouTube for quite a while without getting bored. The one class I wish I’d taken as a student is entomology. The only insects I can identify are the larvae eaten by bluegill sunfish.

Where’s your favorite place on campus to hang out?
I love the horticulture garden on St. Paul campus. Gardening is one of my favorite obsessions!

Stay tuned for more profiles of CBS people in the coming months!

CBS on Twitter!

                                      

Twitter lets you keep in touch with what is happening in CBS through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What's happening? Check out the CBS twitter page and get your tweet on!