By: Johnica Morrow
Last night, Cedar Point was lucky enough to have Dr. John Janovy give this week's seminar. Dr. Janovy was the president of the American Society of Parasitology (ASP) this past year. He delivered his presidential address to the society in New Orleans at ASP's annual meeting a few weeks ago. Because he and his wonderful wife, Karen, were here at CPBS for a visit, he agreed to speak for our seminar series.
Before the beginning of the talk, Dr. Janovy presented Dr. Scott Gardner, who is here at CPBS teaching the Field Parasitology course this session, with a gift. The gift was a flask from the ASP annual meeting that had a drawing of tapeworms wearing traditional Mardi Gras masks to commemorate the 2014 meeting in New Orleans.
His speech was delivered as two parts formal and one part laid back, discussion style informal as he spoke about the importance of parasitology. Sporting his Nebraska Parasitology t-shirt, he talked with students about the significance of the discipline of parasitology and about the people who are a part of it. His seminar included stories about integral parasitologists and their contributions to the growth of the field. He also talked about the importance of parasitological studies as an integrative part of other disciplines within the broad scope of biological research.
Dr. Janovy's talk went a little over time, but all of the students were happy to stay and listen. Many of them were captivated by the stories about Minnie Elizabeth Watson, a prominent gregarine researcher whose photo is apparently impossible to find despite the vast collection of information that is the internet, and J. Teague Self, Janovy's major advisor who worked on avian malaria. Despite being kept out later than expected, students still had many good questions for Dr. Janovy following his presentation, which was titled, "Why American Higher Education Needs Parasitologists". Thanks for participating, Dr. Janovy!
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