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TBD - LAS 2008 Meeting Site
TBD - LAS 2008 Meeting Site
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Keynote Speaker
Dr. Victor R. Townsend, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Biology at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Townsend, whose specialty is arachnology, teaches courses in vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, tropical biology, histology, and human anatomy and physiology. He actively sponsors student research on the functional morphology and evolution of the integument of squamate reptiles and natural history and morphological studies of terrestrial and aquatic arthropods.
Since arriving at Virginia Wesleyan in 2000, Dr. Townsend has taken a leading role in undergraduate research, serving on the Undergraduate Research Task Force in 2004-05 to formalize this campus initiative. Dr. Towsend has served as faculty-adviser to more than 20 students conducting undergraduate research projects, and led student research trips to the tropical environments of Trinidad and Belize. During a repeat trip to Trinidad, Dr. Townsend and the Virginia Wesleyan chapter of Beta Beta Beta, national honor society for biology, coordinated the donation of light microscopes and other science equipment to the Brasso Seco RC Primary School.
Since 1994, Dr. Townsend has co-authored 40 contributed papers presented at a variety of meetings including the annual meetings of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, the annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Sciences, and the International Conference on Vertebrate Morphology, and has presented numerous seminars at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He’s also published 33 papers in a variety of journals including the Journal of Herpetology, the Journal of Morphology, the Journal of Arachnology , the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Copeia, and others.
Dr. Townsend has been recognized for his work with grants from the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges, Virginia Wesleyan College, and the Virginia Academy of Sciences. He’s also been honored by Virginia Wesleyan with Merit Awards in 2001 and 2003 and with the 2006 Frank and Jane P. Batten Distinguished Scholar Award, an award for outstanding scholarly achievement determined by votes cast by faculty of the College.
Dr. Townsend is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, Beta Beta Beta (national biology honor society), Phi Kappa Phi (national honor society), the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Association of Southeastern Biologists, and the Virginia Academy of Sciences. He earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. and master of science and doctorate degrees in environmental and evolutionary biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact the academy's president at Moustapha Diack.
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