Loyola University is a teaching institution, foremost.  Therefore undergraduate students are the focus of my job.  Loyola is also a 'university', a place of scholarship.  It is not High School, nor is it a Junior College.  It is a place where research is expected.  'Research' is what the Sciences are all about.  I strongly believe research oriented faculty will be more dynamic, knowledgeable, and current, therefore overall better teachers.

My Department of Biological Sciences prides itself by involving undergraduate students in primary research with the faculty.  This web page is to illustrate my research commitment to students.  Much of my research involves a teaching component.  This is time consuming, and often I never see the true benefits of my effort because students usually graduate immediately upon completion of their project with me.

Below is a list of undergraduates (with their research title) I have helped with original projects, all towards completion of Honors in Biology. The list comes from my 'CRTC vita' page and identifies if a student completed their project totally under my direction or whether the student worked in someone else's lab with me as the liaison 'sponsor' to ensure the effort satisfied the Department guidelines and requirements.  For some listings, I include anecdotal comments and/or a picture to help interpret the experience.

There are as many other students who have helped with my research, but have not completed an Honors thesis - check out the end of this page to see a few of them.

The Department of Biological Sciences requires students to present the results of their research at our annual undergraduate research symposium held each late Spring.  The Department has an endowed fund that supports student research.  We are always encouraging and soliciting contributions to this Mullahy Fund.  I trust the following helps you, the reader, see how much benefit comes from the my research effort with students.
  

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY

2004. Gabler, Christopher.  Modeling the growth of a Louisiana wetland:
          the dynamics of the Brants Pass Splay area.

2002. LeDee, Olivia.  Avian risk assessment in three dimensions. (sponsored)

2001. LeDee, Olivia.  The status of lichens on Santa Cruz island of the
         Galapagos archipelagos: 30 years after the initial survey. (sponsored)

2000. Wilkinson, Laura Lee.  The annual accretion and plant biomass
          accumulation in different habitats of the Mississippi River delta.

Laura Lee was an incredibly hard field worker in the difficult environment of the Mississippi River delta.  Here, she is showing me the mud she's washing from Sagittaria at one of our sites in the Mississippi River delta.  Always with a smile!

1998. Authement, Stephanie.  Abundance and distribution of woody species in
         remnant bottomland hardwood forests of extreme southeastern Louisiana.

Stephanie worked with me in the field and lab for several years.  She gained enough experience to earn a permanent job with the U.S. Forest Service working on hardwood bottomland forests, the subject of her Honors research.  This photo is taken in the Mississippi River delta on one of her field days helping me out with one of my research projects.

         Crane, Tiffany. The effects of habitat on vertical accretion on natural
         crevasse splays at Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

1997. Powers, Kim.  Seasonal variability in the brood cell provisioning of a
         Sphecid wasp (Chalybion zimmermani).  (sponsored)

          Nystrom, Michael.  Foraging behavior of the striped bass larvae, Morone
          saxatilis.  (sponsored)

1995. Luu, Thao.  Morphological differentiation in clones of Phragmites
         australis within the Mississippi River delta.

Thao was an incredible 'trooper' when it came to field work. This photo shows her with an unusual clonal genotype of Phragmites, we named 'shorty' because of its small size.  Thao also worked long and hard hours in the laboratory measuring and weighing many hundreds of stems of the cane she collected from several sites.  I've lost touch with her after graduation, and only can hope she's doing well.

         Breithoff, Cathy.  Dendrochemical analysis of cypress tree cores: natural
         environmental remediation in Bayou Trepagnier.  (sponsored)

1994. Lefevre, K.  A comparison of the composition of mudflat seed banks
         within three Sagittaria-dominated communities and one
         Scirpus-dominated community in the Mississippi River delta.

1993. Skinner, N.  Comparison of the composition of the seed banks within
         Scirpus - and Sagittaria -dominated communities of the Mississippi River
         delta.

Nina is collecting soil at her Scirpus-dominated site in the Mississippi River delta.  Her project required long hours tending to the mud in our greenhouse to watch for seedling germination followed by growth to a point the herbs could be identified.  Nina was a great independent worker.

1992. Metzger, C.A. Population dynamics in four Salix nigra (Black Willow)
         communities of different ages within the Mississippi River delta.

Chuck worked long and hard on this 'willow' project.  He got to visit some very remote sites at the mouth of the River.

1991. Buddendorff, C.  Phytosociological study of the Oak River forest.

1989. Vizzi, P.D.  A phytosociological study of a bottomland hardwood forest
          near the intersection of Airline Highway and Dickory in Metairie,
          Louisiana.

1988. Garrison, M.K.  A phytosociological study of the Verrett Forest, Louisiana.

Mary is standing in her Verrett forest, an old-growth forest on a natural levee ridge along the long ago abandoned Bayou Terre aux Beoufs.  We both remember that day of field collecting when the those pesky deer flies about took us away!  The forest no longer exists - a housing development!

         Schott, J.M.  Morphological variations in Phragmites australis of the
         Mississippi River delta and a hypothesis for the formation of their growth
         patterns.

I have fond memories working with Jim (on the left) and his two 'side-kicks' (Matt & Ron).  That stand of Phragmites they're just emerging from about killed us all!  Jim's thesis paved the way for several years of work on 'roseau' cane.  All three are now raising wonderful families! Great times!

         DeSena, C.W.  A phytosociological study of a forest in Jean Lafitte
         National park.

1987. Holmes, D.R.  A quantitative and qualitative investigation of macroscopic
         infauna of an accreting mudflat in the Mississippi River delta.

Dennis (on the right) is, to date, the most independent worker that I have every had the pleasure of directing.  Here he is with Carlos, giving scale to an exclosure constructed to see the impact of herbivory on marsh plants during the lean winter months.  Dennis's thesis dealt with the critters living in the mud of newly emerging deltaic land.

1986. Simmons, M.J.  Determination of net aerial primary production and a
         phenological survey of plants in a marsh of intermediate salinity in
         southeast Louisiana.

Some days it's cold in the field!  Here, Mike is probably wondering if he's sane working in the dead of winter in the Pearl River basin.  He and I were able to publish the results of his research in a regional botanical journal.  I have fond memories of Mike barking every time we'd pass on the shores of the Middle Pearl River what looked like a doghouse!  It got to be a running joke that even carried into the lab!

         Egan, J.W.  The autecology of a shade tolerant pine, Pinus glabra, in a
         climax hardwood bottomland forest.

1985. Smith, R.C.  Arborescent analysis of the English Bend forest, Belle
         Chase, Louisiana.

         Laville, M.R.  Net primary productivity of a freshwater marsh within the
         lower Pearl River basin, Louisiana.

Mimi was one of my first students from Loyola who dared to work with me.  She enjoyed clowning around both in the field and lab.

TULANE UNIVERSITY

1979.  Mott, R.M.  Gradient analysis of understory vegetation in Honey Island
          Swamp.

Rich's love of snakes came just before his love of shrubs!  His thesis was Master's level quality work.  Boy, did we have some long hard Saturdays wondering if that compass would ever get us out of the swamp!

1978.  Norton, S.A.  Arborescent community analysis of Honey Island Swamp.

My days at Tulane University instilled in me a strong desire to work with undergraduates in research.  Scott was one of the first.  Here he is at one of our sites in the flooded Honey Island Swamp.  Scott completed a very high quality Honors thesis on the tree component within this swamp.

1977.  Welden, C.W.  Net annual aerial productivity of three species of marsh
          grasses.

Lastly, I'd like to pay tribute to all those undergraduates who have worked with me in the field and lab on my projects.  They have been acknowledged in publications and talks, but that's never enough for all of their hard work.  Below are just a few images I have of these wonderful students.  Many others had their photographs taken, but the scanable quality isn't good enough for this presentation - some never were photographed.  Thanks, to you all!