The Admissions Office will host its 2015 Fall Open House for prospective students and their families on Saturday, October 17, from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the Sports Arena. Guests will have the opportunity to tour the campus, meet with faculty and representatives from student support services, discuss financial aid options, explore career opportunities, and tour the surrounding cultural corridor. For more information, please visit our Open House web page. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help greet our guests, please contact Dean Reinhart, associate director of admissions, 878-5508.

The MAP-Works Planning Committee is excited to announce next week's launch of this year's MAP-Works survey. MAP-Works enables effective early intervention for students while motivating, informing, and coordinating faculty and staff members to reach out to students and effectively focus on successful behaviors.

All first-year students will receive an e-mail next week with instructions for completing the survey. Students can review their personalized reports at any time by logging into the system after completing the survey. Faculty and staff members will have access to open training sessions as well as personalized one-on-one consultation if desired. More information will be forthcoming.

Please contact Brian Dubenion, assistant director of residence life for student success and MAP-Works campus coordinator, with questions.

Please join the Great Lakes Center today for the seminar "Three-Dimensional Modeling: A Powerful Tool for the Improved Scientific Understanding and Management of Lake Erie," presented by Serghei Bocaniov, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Classroom Building B332.

All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Lake Erie is the most productive and economically important lake among the Laurentian Great Lakes, with more than 11.5 million people (almost one-third of the total population of the Great Lakes basin) living along its coastlines. It also accounts for fishery and recreational industries worth billions of dollars and is a significant source for municipal and domestic water supplies. As an incredibly valuable resource in need of protection, Lake Erie is a focus of extensive scientific research to understand its responses to the effects of climate change, invasive species, cultural eutrophication, and other human activities.

Various approaches can be used to understand the ecological responses of aquatic ecosystems to climate change, nutrient loads, and invasive species as well as the consequences of possible management options. One approach is to apply process-based modeling, for example, to develop mechanistic models for aquatic ecosystems. Such models, including dynamic three-dimensional (3-D) models, can increase the scientific understanding of the ecosystem functioning and provide valid predictions beyond the range of the calibration data. They are also useful for testing scientific hypotheses or predicting and quantifying the ecosystem responses to climate change, invasive species, and management activities. 

This seminar will present results from two case studies to show how 3-D modeling, particularly the 3-D coupled hydrodynamic and ecological model of Lake Erie, can be used to test scientific hypotheses and support lake management decisions: (1) the nearshore shunt hypothesis and the role of mussels in the decline of spring phytoplankton blooms; and (2) the development of load-response curves to facilitate the revision of the existing phosphorus target loads to Lake Erie needed to achieve the desired reductions in central basin hypoxia.

Please join the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Three-Dimensional Modeling: A Powerful Tool for the Improved Scientific Understanding and Management of Lake Erie," presented by Serghei Bocaniov, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute, on Thursday, October 15, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Classroom Building B332.  

All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Lake Erie is the most productive and economically important lake among the Laurentian Great Lakes, with more than 11.5 million people (almost one-third of the total population of the Great Lakes basin) living along its coastlines. It also accounts for fishery and recreational industries worth billions of dollars and is a significant source for municipal and domestic water supplies. As an incredibly valuable resource in need of protection, Lake Erie is a focus of extensive scientific research to understand its responses to the effects of climate change, invasive species, cultural eutrophication, and other human activities.

Various approaches can be used to understand the ecological responses of aquatic ecosystems to climate change, nutrient loads, and invasive species as well as the consequences of possible management options. One approach is to apply process-based modeling, for example, to develop mechanistic models for aquatic ecosystems. Such models, including dynamic three-dimensional (3-D) models, can increase the scientific understanding of the ecosystem functioning and provide valid predictions beyond the range of the calibration data. They are also useful for testing scientific hypotheses or predicting and quantifying the ecosystem responses to climate change, invasive species, and management activities. 

This seminar will present results from two case studies to show how 3-D modeling, particularly the 3-D coupled hydrodynamic and ecological model of Lake Erie, can be used to test scientific hypotheses and support lake management decisions: (1) the nearshore shunt hypothesis and the role of mussels in the decline of spring phytoplankton blooms; and (2) the development of load-response curves to facilitate the revision of the existing phosphorus target loads to Lake Erie needed to achieve the desired reductions in central basin hypoxia.

From the Diversity Program Coordinator
The fall 2015 Diversity Dialogue Series kicks off Tuesday, September 29, with "Comparing Generations: Old School vs. New School" at 6:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

Comparing Generations is an interactive dialogue between students, faculty, and staff that will explore creative thinking and particular ways of seeing through each others' eyes. This event is sponsored by Buffalo State's Equity and Campus Diversity Office and the International Center for Studies in Creativity.

Download the flier (PDF) and join the dialogue expecting "creative disclosure." Please call the Equity and Campus Diversity Office at 878-2610 with questions.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) office is accepting applications for two one-year faculty development fellowships of $2,000 each to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning on campus. Full-time faculty members, departments, and interdisciplinary groups are encouraged to apply (docx). Applications will be accepted electronically until 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 6. Please e-mail completed forms to John Draeger, associate professor of philosophy and director of SoTL.

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "The Protein Arginine Methyltransferase PRMT5 Regulates D2-Like Dopamine Receptor Signaling," presented by Denise Ferkey, associate professor of biological sciences at the University at Buffalo, on Monday, September 28, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Protein arginine methylation regulates diverse functions of eukaryotic cells. Although this modification has been implicated in the regulation of several signal transduction pathways, a clear link to G protein-coupled signaling had not been identified. We have found the first direct evidence that G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are functionally regulated by arginine methylation. Specifically, we show that arginines within the third intracellular loop of the human D2 dopamine receptor are methylated by PRMT5, and that this modification enhances D2-like dopamine receptor signaling in both cultured human cells (D2) and in C. elegans (DOP-3). These GPCRs represent the founding members of a new class of proteins that are functionally regulated by arginine methylation. Moreover, our work delineates a new means of regulating G protein-coupled signal transduction. These findings hold promise for developing a new class of pharmacological therapies—ones that modulate GPCR signaling by changing the methylation status of these key proteins.

The Faculty-Student Association (FSA) is accepting applications for grants to enhance the educational and cultural life of the Buffalo State campus during the 2016 calendar year. Application information and forms are available on the FSA website.

For further information, please call (716) 983-0084 or e-mail Gary Vickers, executive director of FSA.

Students, are you interested in starting your own business? Do you currently have your own business? Please join us at the fall 2015 Student INC.ubator Meet-Ups on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. and Fridays at 3:00 p.m. in Bishop Hall 107.

The INC.ubator provides a collaborative, professional work environment for student entrepreneurs, allowing them to gain invaluable skills, knowledge, and experience along the way. Please stop by. We look forward to seeing you.

For more information, please contact INC.ubator manager Karina Loera Barcenas, 878-4030.

The 16th annual Faculty and Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum will be held on Thursday, October 29, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the beautifully renovated Houston Gym.

The goal of the forum is to develop, encourage, and support Buffalo State faculty and staff research and creativity, and to make collaborative research endeavors and grantsmanship more accessible. All faculty and staff members are invited to organize an exhibit to present current research, creative activity, or other scholarship. Individual, departmental, or group exhibits are welcome. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other Buffalo State faculty and staff and to identify common scholarly and creative interests you may have.

To participate, please complete the online form on the Call for Submissions tab of the Fall Forum website. Titles and abstracts or descriptions are to be submitted electronically by Wednesday, September 30.

Please note: The Houston Gym is a smaller venue, with a limited number of electrical outlets, tables, and chairs. Display space is limited to one 5-foot table or one or two easels per individual submission.