NEWEST UPDATES
Fall 2019
● The lab gave five presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society annual conference
● Jainee received the Alan H. Kamb grant for research on Kansas Snakes
● Penning et al. was published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology
● The lab participated in the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday in downtown Joplin
● I received the Research Excellence Award from the Office of Academic Affairs at MSSU
● Gil and Whitney presented their work at the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Associations of
Anatomists in London
● They received the runner up for the Cave Young Investigator Prize
● Veronica, Nathan, and I started our collaborative work with Brian Greene at MSU
● The lab participated in the Carver Day Event at George Washington Carver National Park
● Gil and Whitney presented their work at the American Association of Clinical Anatomists annual conference
● They received the best poster presentation in the educational category
Spring 2019
● Our Book Chapter (Moon et al., 2019) was published in Feeding in Vertebrates: Evolution, Morphology, Behavior, Biomechanics
● Ashley started data collection on Alligator Snapping Turtles (a collaboration with Dr. Day Ligon from Missouri State University)
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a female Anconda who gave birth via parthenogenesis
● Nathan, Veronica, and I started collaborative work on cottonmouth venom delivery with Dr. Brian Greene at Missouri State University
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a 3-eyed carpet python caught in Australia
● Nathan received 2nd place at the MSSU undergraduate research symposium for his work on the strike speed and constriction strength of Borneo pythons
● The lab presented 5 projects at the MSSU undergraduate research symposium
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a Burmese Python recently captured in Florida
● Jeff defended his Master's thesis at Emporia State University
● I gave an invited seminar presentation at the Ozark Gateway Audubon Society meeting on how snake's work
Fall 2018
● Nathan, Veronica, Christian, Jillian, and Elva all received MSSU undergraduate research grants
● I was interviewed by the Southern Broadcaster's Club for their Southern Nights Show
● I received the Alpha Kappa order professor of the month for my General Ecology class
● Nathan received the Meshaka Award for Excellence in Ecology from the Kansas Herpetological Society
● The lab gave 6 presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society's Annual Meeting
● The lab presented natural history information at the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday
● I was interviewed by Fox 14 for #worldsnakeday
June
● Liz presented our work together at JMIH 2018
● Liz completed her graduate research in my lab and returned to UL Lafayette
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a woman who was consumed by a large python
● Five members of the lab participated in an Aquatic BioBlitz at George Washington Carver National Park
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about an envenomation from a decapitated snake
May
● Teddy received the Excellence in Research Award and Excellence in Service Award from the Department of
Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● Teddy started our collaboration with Missouri State University measuring the bite force of
Alligator snapping turtles
● I received the Stefan Cairns Alumni Award from the University of Central Missouri
● Jeffery trained on constriction gear here at MSSU and began to collect data at Emporia State University
April
● Christian, and Teddy presented portions of their research at the MO academy of sciences
● Ashley, Christian, and Teddy presented portions of their research at the MSSU undergraduate
research symposium
● Ashley received 2nd place in the Biological and Physical Sciences category for her presentation at the
MSSU undergraduate research symposium
● The lab was slightly expanded to include 15 more cages. We also expanded our samples to include
Amazon Tree Boas and Rosy Boas
March
● Jeffery completed his thesis proposal at Emporia State University
February
● I gave an invited seminar at Wichita State University's Department of Biological Sciences
● Ashley's and Christian's research was featured in Crossroads Magazine
● Penning (2018) was published in the Journal of Anatomy
January
● I was interviewed for Bordertown Magazine
● Penning and Moon (2017) was chosen for the Journal of Experimental Biology's 2018 calendar
2017
December
● I was interviewed by Live Science about a giant python found in Florida
● Penning and Moon (2017) was featured in the top 3 most-read research papers in the
Journal of Experimental Biology
November
● Ashley received the George Toland award ($200) for Ecological Research on North American Herpetofauna
from the Center for North American Herpetology
● Ashley received the Alan H. Kamb grant ($300) for research on Kansas Snakes from the Kansas
Herpetological Society
● Christian and Teddy both received a $600 undergraduate research grant from MSSU
● Ashley received a $700 undergraduate research grant from MSSU
● The lab gave seven presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society's Annual Meeting at Friends University in Wichita
● Our paper (Penning, Micklick, and Neff) was accepted in Herpetological Review
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about snake research at Missouri State University in Springfield
October
● I participated in a student interview at the KGCS station on campus at MSSU
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about snakes, science, and student-research at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg
● The lab gave three presentations at the American Association of Physics Teacher's Missouri conference
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about the importance and power of undergraduate-driven research at the ITS Friday series at MSSU
September
● The lab participated in Prairie Day at George Washington Carver National Monument
● The lab participated in the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday in downtown Joplin
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about the importance of undergraduate research to the Joplin
Noon Rotary
August
● The lab received funding for a research technician position for @ the next two years
● Gabriel presented our collaborative work at the VIII Congresso Brasileiro de Herpetologia in Brazil
June - July
● The lab participated in a BioBlitz event at George Washington Carver National Monument
● Penning (2017) was featured in the Journal of Zoology Blog
● I served as a snake predation consultant for the Discovery Channel's Man-Eating Python documentary
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about reconstructing Titanoboa to the Joplin Daybreak Rotary
● Levi completed and presented his internship and research seminars to the Department of Biology and
Environmental Health at MSSU
May
● Levi received the Excellence in Service award from the Department of Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● The labs work was featured in Crossroads Magazine
● Zadok received the Excellence in Research Award from the Department of Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● The snake physiology lab has been completed and has passed all inspections. It is now operational.
April
● Zadok received the 1st place research award in the Physical and Biological Sciences at the MSSU Student Research Symposium ($200)
● Three student-led projects were presented at the 2017 MSSU's Student Research Symposium
● Four collaborative projects were presented at the Missouri Academy of Sciences
March
● Portions of my work were featured on the cover of The Chart, MSSU's student newspaper
● The construction of the ecophysiology lab on the campus of MSSU is underway and due for May completion
● The lab's upcoming field research was awarded a $1,000 grant by The Prairie Biotic Research organization
● Penning (2017) - was published in Integrative Zoology
● Penning and Moon (2017) - was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology
-This paper has garnered some pretty wide attention. You can read about it here
● Four collaborative projects were submitted to the Missouri Academy of Sciences
February
● Zadok's research was awarded a Student Research Grant from MSSU for $750
● Some of my work was the focus of a featured article on the Missouri Southern State University's website
● I served as a consulting scientist for Sierra Magazine and my research was integrated into their recent article on new field-based strike research
● My research was featured in an article on the amazing abilities of snakes by Mother Nature Network
● Portions of my research was featured in the University of Louisiana's La Louisiane Magazine
● I recently discovered that Bio Web featured my work in their discussion of the major research findings reported at the World Congress of Herpetology.
● Portions of my research are being used as education tools in the public school systems of Kentucky
January
● Penning and Moon (2017) - was accepted to the Journal of Experimental Biology
● Four collaborative projects were presented at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology
2016
December
● Penning (2016) - was accepted to the Journal of Zoology
November
● My research was the focus of a radio interview on Australian Broadcasting Coorperations radio special on animal super powers
● The documentray that I participated in aired in the US on PBS: Graveyard of the Giant Beasts
● I presented both an oral and poster presentation at the 43rd annual meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society
● I won the Walter E. Meshaka award for best poster presentation at the 43rd annual meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society
September
● I presented an oral presentation at the 29th Annual meeting of the Missouri Herpetological Association
● The documentary that I participated in aired in the UK on channel 4: Prehistoric Megabeasts: Croc vs Snake
August
● I start teaching classes Aug 22 at Missouri Southern State University
● I travel to China for the 8th World Congress of Herpetology (Aug7th-Aug18th)
● Penning (2016) - paper submitted to the Journal of Zoology
● Penning and Moon (2016) - paper submitted to the Journal of Experimental Biology
July
● I won the Frederick H. Stoye Award for best oral presentation in physiology/physiological ecology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists for my presentation at JMIH
● I presented an oral and poster presentation, and was a co-author on two other posters, at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans
● The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's graduate school highlighted my research in a program highlight for graduate research within the biology department
June
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about an Australian python that accidentally got stuck within its own shed skin
● Penning and Cairns (2016) was just released in the Journal of Herpetology
● I just accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Biology Department at
Missouri Southern State University
● My alma mater published an article about my work in the University of Central Missouri Magazine
May
● Penning (2016) was just accepted to Integrative Zoology
● I received a Graduate Student Travel Award from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists to attend the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans, LA
● I received the Jay Huner Student Travel Award from UL at Lafayette
April
● I received partial travel support from the Gans Collections and Charitable Fund to present my research
in Hangzhou, China at the 8th World Congress of Herpetology
● I received honorable mention for my research from the E.E. Williams Grant Committee
● I received partial travel support from the World Congress of Herpetology to present in Hangzhou, China
● I competed in the 2016 UL at Lafayette Graduate School's Research and Project Showcase
- I placed 1st in the Three Minute Thesis competition, 1st place Graduate Student Publication,
and won People's Choice for best oral presentation
● Penning et al (2016) - made the April cover of Biology Letters
March
● I completed filming a documentary about some of my research for Discovery Channel's Daily Planet
● I wrapped 3 days filming for an upcoming documentary (details coming soon!)
● Penning et al (2016) - our collaboration was just published in Biology Letters
-This paper has garnered some pretty wide attention. You can read about it here!
February
● Penning (2016) - paper submitted to Integrative Zoology
● Four projects submitted for presentation at JMIH New Orleans this summer
January
● Penning et al - ontogeny of strike kinematics - presented at SICB
● Penning and Dartez (2016) was just published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A
● My photo will be featured in The Herpetologists' League Graduate Student Calendar
● The lab gave five presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society annual conference
● Jainee received the Alan H. Kamb grant for research on Kansas Snakes
● Penning et al. was published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology
● The lab participated in the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday in downtown Joplin
● I received the Research Excellence Award from the Office of Academic Affairs at MSSU
● Gil and Whitney presented their work at the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Associations of
Anatomists in London
● They received the runner up for the Cave Young Investigator Prize
● Veronica, Nathan, and I started our collaborative work with Brian Greene at MSU
● The lab participated in the Carver Day Event at George Washington Carver National Park
● Gil and Whitney presented their work at the American Association of Clinical Anatomists annual conference
● They received the best poster presentation in the educational category
Spring 2019
● Our Book Chapter (Moon et al., 2019) was published in Feeding in Vertebrates: Evolution, Morphology, Behavior, Biomechanics
● Ashley started data collection on Alligator Snapping Turtles (a collaboration with Dr. Day Ligon from Missouri State University)
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a female Anconda who gave birth via parthenogenesis
● Nathan, Veronica, and I started collaborative work on cottonmouth venom delivery with Dr. Brian Greene at Missouri State University
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a 3-eyed carpet python caught in Australia
● Nathan received 2nd place at the MSSU undergraduate research symposium for his work on the strike speed and constriction strength of Borneo pythons
● The lab presented 5 projects at the MSSU undergraduate research symposium
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a Burmese Python recently captured in Florida
● Jeff defended his Master's thesis at Emporia State University
● I gave an invited seminar presentation at the Ozark Gateway Audubon Society meeting on how snake's work
Fall 2018
● Nathan, Veronica, Christian, Jillian, and Elva all received MSSU undergraduate research grants
● I was interviewed by the Southern Broadcaster's Club for their Southern Nights Show
● I received the Alpha Kappa order professor of the month for my General Ecology class
● Nathan received the Meshaka Award for Excellence in Ecology from the Kansas Herpetological Society
● The lab gave 6 presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society's Annual Meeting
● The lab presented natural history information at the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday
● I was interviewed by Fox 14 for #worldsnakeday
June
● Liz presented our work together at JMIH 2018
● Liz completed her graduate research in my lab and returned to UL Lafayette
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about a woman who was consumed by a large python
● Five members of the lab participated in an Aquatic BioBlitz at George Washington Carver National Park
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about an envenomation from a decapitated snake
May
● Teddy received the Excellence in Research Award and Excellence in Service Award from the Department of
Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● Teddy started our collaboration with Missouri State University measuring the bite force of
Alligator snapping turtles
● I received the Stefan Cairns Alumni Award from the University of Central Missouri
● Jeffery trained on constriction gear here at MSSU and began to collect data at Emporia State University
April
● Christian, and Teddy presented portions of their research at the MO academy of sciences
● Ashley, Christian, and Teddy presented portions of their research at the MSSU undergraduate
research symposium
● Ashley received 2nd place in the Biological and Physical Sciences category for her presentation at the
MSSU undergraduate research symposium
● The lab was slightly expanded to include 15 more cages. We also expanded our samples to include
Amazon Tree Boas and Rosy Boas
March
● Jeffery completed his thesis proposal at Emporia State University
February
● I gave an invited seminar at Wichita State University's Department of Biological Sciences
● Ashley's and Christian's research was featured in Crossroads Magazine
● Penning (2018) was published in the Journal of Anatomy
January
● I was interviewed for Bordertown Magazine
● Penning and Moon (2017) was chosen for the Journal of Experimental Biology's 2018 calendar
2017
December
● I was interviewed by Live Science about a giant python found in Florida
● Penning and Moon (2017) was featured in the top 3 most-read research papers in the
Journal of Experimental Biology
November
● Ashley received the George Toland award ($200) for Ecological Research on North American Herpetofauna
from the Center for North American Herpetology
● Ashley received the Alan H. Kamb grant ($300) for research on Kansas Snakes from the Kansas
Herpetological Society
● Christian and Teddy both received a $600 undergraduate research grant from MSSU
● Ashley received a $700 undergraduate research grant from MSSU
● The lab gave seven presentations at the Kansas Herpetological Society's Annual Meeting at Friends University in Wichita
● Our paper (Penning, Micklick, and Neff) was accepted in Herpetological Review
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about snake research at Missouri State University in Springfield
October
● I participated in a student interview at the KGCS station on campus at MSSU
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about snakes, science, and student-research at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg
● The lab gave three presentations at the American Association of Physics Teacher's Missouri conference
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about the importance and power of undergraduate-driven research at the ITS Friday series at MSSU
September
● The lab participated in Prairie Day at George Washington Carver National Monument
● The lab participated in the MSSU sponsored Third Thursday in downtown Joplin
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about the importance of undergraduate research to the Joplin
Noon Rotary
August
● The lab received funding for a research technician position for @ the next two years
● Gabriel presented our collaborative work at the VIII Congresso Brasileiro de Herpetologia in Brazil
June - July
● The lab participated in a BioBlitz event at George Washington Carver National Monument
● Penning (2017) was featured in the Journal of Zoology Blog
● I served as a snake predation consultant for the Discovery Channel's Man-Eating Python documentary
● I gave an invited seminar presentation about reconstructing Titanoboa to the Joplin Daybreak Rotary
● Levi completed and presented his internship and research seminars to the Department of Biology and
Environmental Health at MSSU
May
● Levi received the Excellence in Service award from the Department of Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● The labs work was featured in Crossroads Magazine
● Zadok received the Excellence in Research Award from the Department of Biology and Environmental Health at MSSU
● The snake physiology lab has been completed and has passed all inspections. It is now operational.
April
● Zadok received the 1st place research award in the Physical and Biological Sciences at the MSSU Student Research Symposium ($200)
● Three student-led projects were presented at the 2017 MSSU's Student Research Symposium
● Four collaborative projects were presented at the Missouri Academy of Sciences
March
● Portions of my work were featured on the cover of The Chart, MSSU's student newspaper
● The construction of the ecophysiology lab on the campus of MSSU is underway and due for May completion
● The lab's upcoming field research was awarded a $1,000 grant by The Prairie Biotic Research organization
● Penning (2017) - was published in Integrative Zoology
● Penning and Moon (2017) - was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology
-This paper has garnered some pretty wide attention. You can read about it here
● Four collaborative projects were submitted to the Missouri Academy of Sciences
February
● Zadok's research was awarded a Student Research Grant from MSSU for $750
● Some of my work was the focus of a featured article on the Missouri Southern State University's website
● I served as a consulting scientist for Sierra Magazine and my research was integrated into their recent article on new field-based strike research
● My research was featured in an article on the amazing abilities of snakes by Mother Nature Network
● Portions of my research was featured in the University of Louisiana's La Louisiane Magazine
● I recently discovered that Bio Web featured my work in their discussion of the major research findings reported at the World Congress of Herpetology.
● Portions of my research are being used as education tools in the public school systems of Kentucky
January
● Penning and Moon (2017) - was accepted to the Journal of Experimental Biology
● Four collaborative projects were presented at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology
2016
December
● Penning (2016) - was accepted to the Journal of Zoology
November
● My research was the focus of a radio interview on Australian Broadcasting Coorperations radio special on animal super powers
● The documentray that I participated in aired in the US on PBS: Graveyard of the Giant Beasts
● I presented both an oral and poster presentation at the 43rd annual meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society
● I won the Walter E. Meshaka award for best poster presentation at the 43rd annual meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society
September
● I presented an oral presentation at the 29th Annual meeting of the Missouri Herpetological Association
● The documentary that I participated in aired in the UK on channel 4: Prehistoric Megabeasts: Croc vs Snake
August
● I start teaching classes Aug 22 at Missouri Southern State University
● I travel to China for the 8th World Congress of Herpetology (Aug7th-Aug18th)
● Penning (2016) - paper submitted to the Journal of Zoology
● Penning and Moon (2016) - paper submitted to the Journal of Experimental Biology
July
● I won the Frederick H. Stoye Award for best oral presentation in physiology/physiological ecology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists for my presentation at JMIH
● I presented an oral and poster presentation, and was a co-author on two other posters, at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans
● The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's graduate school highlighted my research in a program highlight for graduate research within the biology department
June
● I was interviewed by LiveScience about an Australian python that accidentally got stuck within its own shed skin
● Penning and Cairns (2016) was just released in the Journal of Herpetology
● I just accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Biology Department at
Missouri Southern State University
● My alma mater published an article about my work in the University of Central Missouri Magazine
May
● Penning (2016) was just accepted to Integrative Zoology
● I received a Graduate Student Travel Award from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists to attend the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans, LA
● I received the Jay Huner Student Travel Award from UL at Lafayette
April
● I received partial travel support from the Gans Collections and Charitable Fund to present my research
in Hangzhou, China at the 8th World Congress of Herpetology
● I received honorable mention for my research from the E.E. Williams Grant Committee
● I received partial travel support from the World Congress of Herpetology to present in Hangzhou, China
● I competed in the 2016 UL at Lafayette Graduate School's Research and Project Showcase
- I placed 1st in the Three Minute Thesis competition, 1st place Graduate Student Publication,
and won People's Choice for best oral presentation
● Penning et al (2016) - made the April cover of Biology Letters
March
● I completed filming a documentary about some of my research for Discovery Channel's Daily Planet
● I wrapped 3 days filming for an upcoming documentary (details coming soon!)
● Penning et al (2016) - our collaboration was just published in Biology Letters
-This paper has garnered some pretty wide attention. You can read about it here!
February
● Penning (2016) - paper submitted to Integrative Zoology
● Four projects submitted for presentation at JMIH New Orleans this summer
January
● Penning et al - ontogeny of strike kinematics - presented at SICB
● Penning and Dartez (2016) was just published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A
● My photo will be featured in The Herpetologists' League Graduate Student Calendar
