Hope College Biology Department

A few weeks ago, the Vankley Museum welcomed its newest resident, Jim Hopper, aka Hopper. Our newest addition came from the Michigan Amphibian and Reptile Sanctuary after he was abandoned by his previous owner. We are thrilled to be able to give him a second chance while also providing education about his species. Hopper is believed to be around 3 years old but can live up to 15–30 years with proper care.

Cane toads were introduced around the world, including places like Australia and Florida, in attempts to control agricultural pests in sugar cane fields. Current populations are believed to be the result of individuals escaping or being released into the wild. Since then, cane toads have become widespread throughout these regions. This has created serious ecological concerns due to their toxic secretions, known as bufotoxins, which can cause illness or death in native wildlife and pets that attempt to lick or bite them. Even their eggs and tadpoles contain bufotoxins and can be harmful to predators. In their native habitat within the Amazon Basin, however, many predators have evolved resistance to these toxins, helping maintain ecological balance.

Hopper’s story demonstrates the importance of responsible pet ownership and the necessary precautions that must be taken when introducing species outside of their native habitats. Situations like this highlight how invasive species can become established and the lasting impacts they can have on ecosystems, native wildlife, and local biodiversity.

BIO and NSCI SHARP students participated in a hands-on workshop to prepare NSF GRFP proposals. They worked on exercises that will help them write stronger personal statements.

The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board awarded Dr. Kelly Ronald — assistant professor of biology at Hope College — the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for the 2026–2027 academic year. Congratulations, Dr. Ronald!

Our talented greenhouse manager, Craig Elston, shared this beautiful picture of a Copiapoa marginata (cactus flower). It's currently blooming in the greenhouse!

In 2022 and 2023, Hope biology faculty were awarded three Building Research Capacity in Biology grants. Since then, these multi-year grants from the National Science Foundation have provided summer support for a score of Hope students. In addition to SHARP positions, grant money provided a research experience for a Holland Area High School student in the Calvo lab, for the students of Dr. Ronald's course to travel out of state to a conference to present their class research, and for a field experience for Dr. Blake-Mahmud's Reproductive Biology course in northern Michigan.

This year, the grant is supporting two specimen collection trips to Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. The arboretum boasts a large collection of maple trees from all over the world. Sometimes it takes a village to collect a single specimen. Check out the amazing Arnold Arboretum arborists, Ben and John, collecting a sample of the Big Leafed Maple on behalf of the Blake-Mahmud lab.

Over the summer, students will extract RNA from these collected specimens to better understand how reproductive gene expression compares among species. Maple trees are a diverse group of trees that impact the economy in multiple ways, from the 1.6 billion dollar maple syrup industry to the over 30 billion dollars spent annually on fall color leaf viewing trips.

Davi Zola de Araujo and Ethank De Koker ready for the 2026 Multicultural Student Organization (MSO) Stole Ceremony! More information:
http://calendar.hope.edu/event/mso-stole-ceremony-6191

Congratulations and bravo to our department professors Virginia McDonough and Joseph Stukey, pictured here teaching their final classes at Hope before retirement. Thank you both for your many years of extraordinary teaching and service to our Hope College community!

This week we had our exotic vet visit, and it went great! A huge thank you to Dr. Stefan Baker and his team from Paw Paw Veterinary Clinic for coming out to perform health assessments for our animals and spending time talking with both current students and alumni about animal care and the veterinary field! We really appreciate all of his time and expertise!

Last night we celebrated many deserving students at our Biology Department Awards Ceremony. Congrats to all our award recipients on their impressive accomplishments!

Students in general biology 2 lab observed courtship behaviors of fruit flies to test assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.