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Research Interests In my classes, I endeavor to enhance learning by using a variety of teaching strategies. Students learn in different ways; some students may be better "visual" learners (i.e., they do better when exposed to illustrations, pictures, videos etc.), some may be better at assimilating information kinesthetically (learning by doing), and others may be better auditory learners (learn by listening). Most often a student will learn best when exposed to variety of presentations. The ideal university classroom should be stimulating and relevant, but also interactive, allowing students to collaborate with each other, and the instructor, to solve problems. Teaching students to think critically will allow them to use the basic principles learned in class to solve the variety of problems they will face after leaving the university and entering the "real world". Teaching at the university level should foster the development of critical thinking skills that will benefit the students' further development as creative individuals. My research interests are in the area of osmoregulation in crustaceans and teleosts, and the effects of environmental contaminants on these processes using biochemical, immunological and physiological techniques. In particular, I am interested in the effects of pollutants on estuarine species of crab (primarily fiddler crabs) and fish (killifish) with respect to their ability to osmoregulate (i.e., maintain hemolymph and blood concentrations of osmolytes in the face of increasing or decreasing salinity). As we continue to develop areas along our rivers, and to spray our crops with agricultural chemicals, the problem of pollutants becomes greater, and estuarine organisms may provide insight into how certain chemicals affect a particular habitat. Selected Publications Richardson, M., Morrison-Shetlar, A., and Shetlar, R. (2003) "Because His Shell is Empty" Writing Poems About Biology. Language and Learning Across the Disciplines, 6(2): 63-85. Shetlar, R. and Simokat, K. (1993) Effects of dietary state on the in vivo expression of mRNA encoding the renal and intestinal sodium-D-glucose cotransporter from winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). Bulletin of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, 32:133-134. Shetlar, R.E., Schlermann, B., Morrison, A.I. and Kinne, R.K.H. (1990) Characterization of a Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransport system in oocytes from Xenopus laevis. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1023:184-190. Shetlar, R.E. and Towle, D.W. (1989) Electrogenic sodium/proton exchange in membrane vesicles from crab (Carcinus maenas) gill. American Journal of Physiology, 257:R924-R931. Bevan, C., Kinne, R.K.H., Shetlar, R.E. and Kinne-Saffran, E. (1989) Presence of a Na+/H+ exchanger in brush border membranes isolated from the kidney of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias. Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 159:339-347. | |
| rbasaria@mail.ucf.edu | Phone: 407-823-2141 | Fax: 407-823-5769 | University of Central Florida Homepage | College of Sciences Homepage |