A popular mnemonic device used to help students remember biological classifications is "Kings Play Cards On Fat Green Stools,"
(Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species). Hamilton
College Associate Professor of Biology Patrick Reynolds specializes in
the "Play," or Phylum of Mollusca, which includes snails, clams and
squid. Under the Mollusca phylum heading is the "Cards," or Class
Scaphopoda, within which Reynolds conducts the majority of his
research. Scaphopods are one of seven molluscan classes, and are
characterized by a long, skinny shell, hence the less formal name "tusk
shell."
This smaller-sized branch of life is just one of the millions of
branches that comprise the Tree of Life, a common term used to help
visualize the relationships between all of the species in the world.
In an attempt to study these relationships, the National Science
Foundation is spearheading a program titled "Assembling the Tree of
Life," or AToL. The goal is to construct a genealogical map of the 1.7
million species of life that scientists have identified. In order to
achieve this, the AToL program supports large teams of researchers
working across institutions and disciplines to study species at the
genetic level.
"The result [of this research] will be a better understanding of the
meaning and importance of the Tree of Life for society, from human
health to developmental biology, comparative biology to environmental
problem-solving," Reynolds said. Mollusk research is used to
investigate early childhood development issues such as birth defects.
Many medical products utilize naturally occurring bioactive compounds
used by some species as defense mechanisms, a characteristic found in
several mollusca.
Reynolds is a member of one 20-person group that specializes in
mollusk evolution and that hopes that a collaborative proposal to the
AToL program will be successful. He has published a number of articles
in science journals since his arrival at Hamilton in September 1992. He
has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the
NSF for research on mollusca and the Antarctic ice shelf.
Reynolds' research is particularly impressive when one takes into
account the facilities within which it is conducted. Several aquariums
unsuitable for delicate seawater creatures litter a crowded laboratory.
He orders scaphopods, and after arrival he and his students have a
small window to conduct experiments and research before the organisms
die.
That will soon change. Among the state-of-the-art equipment that
will be installed in the new Science Center is a salt-water table,
designed specifically for research with marine organisms. The
salt-water table will be installed during Phase II of construction,
cited for summer 2005.
Reynolds and several of his classes travel to the Connecticut and
Rhode Island coasts each spring to conduct research in an array of
marine habitats. These field trips won't become obsolete due to the
presence of the salt-water tables, but "the pressure of having to
conduct intensive trips will be relieved," Reynolds said. The tables
will give researchers the ability to simulate a variety habitat
conditions within a lab setting, in a sense bringing the field habitats
to the classroom.
"These self-maintaining sea tables will be able to sustain mollusk
life for a longer period of time," Reynolds added. "We will be able to
expand what we do and examine their behavior and physiology better. We
will be able to do something besides show and tell. The presence of the
salt-water tables will open new avenues and will allow for a wider
range of student research."
Science Center Home
--by Jesse Hooker
