Dr. David Bowne
Assistant Professor of Biology
bowned@etown.edu | 717-361-1317

Dr. David Bowne teaches and conducts research in ecology and conservation biology.  He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, a M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development from the University of Georgia, and a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University.  Dr. Bowne and his students conduct research on how land use impacts ecological processes.  They are currently investigating how amphibians respond to a stream restoration project in an agricultural system.  Dr. Bowne is also leading a national research project through the Ecologcial Research as Education Network (EREN; www.erenweb.org) on how urbanization affects freshwater turtle populations.  In collaboration with students and Dr. Debra Wohl, he is also studying antibiotic resistance in the environment.  Dr. Bowne's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The Earthwatch Institute, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.  He has published in journals such as Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Conservation Biology, Animal Behavior, and Copeia.  Dr. Bowne teaches General Ecology, Conservation Biology, Geographic Information Systems, and the introductory biology courses Molecules, Cells, and Animal Systems and Principles of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity of Life.

Dr. Diane Bridge
Associate Professor of Biology
bridged@etown.edu | 717-361-1177

Dr. Jane Cavender
Professor of Biology
cavender@etown.edu | 717-361-1448

Dr. Jane Cavender graduated with a B.A. in Biology from the University of Delaware and an MS and Ph.D. in Genetics from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. She joined the faculty of Elizabethtown College in 1993 and currently teaches first year biology Molecules, Cells and Animal Systems; Cell Biology lecture and laboratory and Experimental Design in Cell Biology. Dr. Cavender is the internship director and she manages the Biotechnology major and the Masters in Molecular Medicine Program with Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr Cavender’s research interests center around the Simian Virus 40 (SV40) T antigen oncoprotein. Her lab has been funded by three NIH:NCI R15 awards, along with several student directed grants from the Beta Beta Beta National Honor Society and the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. Currently, Dr. Cavender and her students use this SV40 T antigen model system for two broad research endeavors. One group is attempting to pinpoint how this protein blocks mouse preadipocyte stem cell differentiation; while a second group is narrowing down the activities of the protein that are responsible for the morphological changes seen in aggressive tumors. Dr Cavender believes that research and discovery are at the heart of learning and scholarship at Elizabethtown College.

Dr. Aaron Cecala
Assistant Professor of Biology
website                                                                             cecalaa@etown.edu | 717-361-1341

Dr. Aaron L. Cecala earned a B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology from Allegheny College in 2002 and a PhD in Neurobiology and Anatomy from the University of Rochester in 2009. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Franklin and Marshall College (2009-10) before beginning his tenure-track career at Elizabethtown in the fall of 2010. He currently teaches the two-semester sequence in Human Anatomy and Physiology (Bio201 & 202), Comparative Anatomy (Bio341) and General Physiology (Bio 324 & 324L). Dr. Cecala’s research centers around how mammalian nervous systems learn to produce accurate and precise movements using information gathered from the organism’s surrounding environment. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience and has published papers in the Journal of Neurophysiology and Vision Research.

Dr. Jonathon Coren
Associate Professor of Biology and Chair
corenj@etown.edu | 717-361-1342

Jonathon Coren graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Biology and a minor in Spanish in 1983. He obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University in 1991. He then did an academic postdoc in MaryAnne Bjornsti's lab at Thomas Jefferson University from 1991 to 1993 and an industrial postdoc in Nat Sternberg's lab at DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals from 1993 to 1997. He was an adjunct professor in the Biology department at Saint Joseph's University from 1997 to 1999. He was an assistant professor in the Biology department at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma form 1999 to 2002.

Dr. Thomas Murray
Professor of Biology
murrayte@etown.edu | 717-361-1474

Dr. Thomas Murray has been teaching at Elizabethtown since 1994. He has a B.A. in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Connecticut. His interests include ecosystem ecology, and aquatic system restoration. He is a member of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, North American Lake Management Society and the North American Benthological Society and has published on topics including wetland restoration, stream chemistry, and eutrophication. He teaches Aquatic Ecology, Ecotoxicology, Marine Biology, a First Year Seminar and introductory laboratories. He and his students are currently engaged in two stream projects. In the first, they are collaborating with investigators across the country to evaluate the role of riparian vegetation on stream temperature. In the second, they are monitoring the long term restoration of the Conewago Creek and its tributaries as part of the Conewago Initiative.

Dr. Debra L. Wohl
Associate Professor of Biology
wohld@etown.edu | 717-361-1326

Dr. Debra L. Wohl's research focuses on microbial interactions, particularly on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem function. Dr. Wohl currently has two on-going research projects. As part of a large-scale study of antibiotic resistance in soil inhabiting bacteria (i.e., Enterobacter spp.), Dr. Wohl, and co-Investigator Dr. David Bowne, are currently studying variables such as metal pollution and land-use practices that may contribute to the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. A second project of Dr. Wohl's, funded by the National Institute of Health, is to determine whether there is a significant positive relationship between the administration of antibiotics during a vaginal delivery and the development of eczema, asthma, or allergies in children under the age of 2. Dr. Wohl teaches introductory biology courses, general microbiology classes, and a course in pathogenic microbiology. She earned a Ph.D. in Ecology and a M.S. in Entomology from the University of Georgia and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Jodi L. Yorty
Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology
yortyj@etown.edu | 717-361-1325

Dr. Jodi L. Yorty earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from Lebanon Valley College in 1999 and a Ph.D. in Immunobiology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004. Her thesis research focused on the exciting field of neuroimmunology, a branch of immunology that seeks to understand the cellular and molecular relationships among the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. As a post-doctoral fellow from 2004-2006 Dr. Yorty studied the activation, function, and maintenance of cancer-specific T lymphocytes, which culminated in a publication in Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. Dr. Yorty began her tenure track career at Elizabethtown College in 2007. Her current research is elucidating the cellular and molecular effects of stress hormones on anti-cancer T cell lymphocytes and the in vitro and in vivo progression of cancer. She is actively seeking funding for her research. Dr. Yorty is a member of the Council on Undergraduate Research, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society. Dr. Yorty teaches Introduction to General Biology, Molecular Biology, Immunology and Nutrition.

Helen Bartlett
Assistant in Biology
bartlehs@etown.edu | 717-361-1318