Curriculum Vitae

Gina Semprebon, Ph.D.

Professor, Biology

Founding Director, Center of Excellence of Women in STEM

Founding Director, Women in STEM Honors Program

Founding Director, Stern Scholars Research Program

Bay Path University

588 Longmeadow Street

Longmeadow, MA 01106

Email: gsempreb@baypath.edu

Phone: (413) 565-1366

EDUCATION

American International College Medical Technology B.A. 1978 Magna Cum Laude

American International College Education M.Ed. 1981 Summa Cum Laude

University of Massachusetts Biology M.S. 1996 Summa Cum Laude

University of Massachusetts Biology Ph.D. 2002 Summa Cum Laude

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

"Advances in the reconstruction of extant ungulate ecomorphology with applications to fossil ungulates"

Supervisor:

Margery C. Coombs, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Committee Members:

Laurie R. Godfrey, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Jin Meng, American Museum of Natural History

Nikos Solounias, New York Institute of Technology

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Current:

Professor, Department of Science - Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts (Since 2002).

Honors Faculty, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Women in STEM Honors Faculty, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Previous:

1987 - 2002 Assistant Professor, Departments of Science, Mathematics, and Education - Bay Path College, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

1984 - 1986 Instructor, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology - Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, Massachusetts

1983 - 1984 Instructor, Department of Medical Technology - Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Massachusetts

1982 Adjunct Faculty, School of Allied Health - University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

1981 -1988 Adjunct Faculty, Biology Department - American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Current:

Founding Director of Center of Excellence for Women in STEM, Department of Science, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Director, Women in Science Honors Program, Department of Science, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Director, Stern Scholars Program, Department of Science, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Vision and Change Fellow for the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education, National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health

Previous:

2002 - 2012 Chairperson, Department of Science and Mathematics, Bay Path College, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

2004 - 2012 Program Director of Masters in Forensics Program, Bay Path College, Longmeadow, Massachusetts

1988 - 1990 Program Director, Access to Success Program (Learning Disabilities), Bay Path College, Longmeadow,Massachusetts

1987 Supervisor, Multi-specialty Lab, MetPath New England Medical Laboratory, Chicopee, Massachusetts

1981 - 1983 Educational Coordinator and Director, Clinical School of Medical Technology, Holyoke Hospital, Holyoke, Massachusetts

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE

1981 - 1983 Certified Medical Technologist, Hematology and Blood Banking Departments, Holyoke Hospital, Holyoke, MA

1979 - 1981 Certified Medical Technologist, Clinical Biochemistry Department, Holyoke Hospital, Holyoke, Massachusetts

1978 Certified Medical Technologist, Multi-specialty Group of Physicians, Springfield Medical Associates, Springfield, Massachusetts

1977 - 1978 Clinical Laboratory Intern, Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield, Massachusetts

1975 - 1977 Laboratory Technician, Clinical Chemistry Department, Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Massachusetts

RESEARCH

Research interests

- Main area of expertise is in the ecomorphology of mammals – particularly herbivores.

- Best known for inventing a new method for enamel microwear analysis involving stereomicroscopy which has become widely adopted in the field of paleoecology and for being selected to take part in a research project involving the Middle Awash sequence in Ethiopia and the earliest most complete fossil hominin ancestral remains (Ardipithecus ramidus).

- Most research activities have focused on the functional anatomy of mammals and reconstructing ancient ecosystems and behavior by tracking morphological changes in mammals through time which allows for the study of global trends in vegetation and climate and extinction patterns through significant climatic events.

Research Sites

Austria:

- Institute für Paläontologie - Universität Wien – Vienna, Austria

- Naturhistorisches Museum Wien - Vienna, Austria

China:

- Hezheng Museum of Paleontologic Fossils - Gansu Providence - Linxia Basin - China

Germany:

- University of Bonn –Department of Vertebrate Paleontology - Bonn, Germany

Spain:

- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES) - Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda Catalunya - Tarragona, Spain

USA:

- Division of Vertebrate Paleontology - American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York

- Division of Mammalogy - American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York

- Carnegie Museum of Natural History - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

- Department of Anatomy - New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY

- Department of Vertebrate Paleontology - Peabody Museum of Natural History - Yale University, New Haven, CT

- Department of Mammalogy - Peabody Museum of Natural History - Yale University, New Haven, CT

- Museum of Comparative Zoology – Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

- Texas Natural Science Center, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, Austin Texas

- Department of Physical Anthropology – University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts

- Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology - University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts

- University of Michigan Museum of Natural History – Ann Arbor, Michigan

- National Museum of Natural History – Smithsonian Institute – Washington, D.C.

- Howard University – Department of Dental Medicine - Washington, D.C.

- Burke Museum of Natural History – Seattle, Washington

- Buffalo Museum of Natural History – Buffalo, New York

- Albany State Museum of Natural History – Albany, New York

- University of Nebraska State Museum – Department of Natural History – Lincoln, Nebraska

- Florida Museum of Natural History - Gainesville, Florida

Research Management and Organization of Conferences/Symposiums

- Scientific Committee of the VI International Conference of Mammoths and Their Relatives in Grevana-Siatista, Western Macedonia, Greece, May 5-12, 2014.

- Co-organizer of Western New England Biology Educator’s Faculty Development Conferences

Bay Path University - June 8, 2013 - “A Call to Action - Vision and Change in Undergraduate Life Science Education"

Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, CT – October 18, 2013 - “A Call to Action - Vision and Change in Undergraduate Life Science Education".

Bay Path University - October 17, 2014 - “Developing a Plan to Answer the Call to Action – Part I”.

Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, CT – June 7,2014 - “Developing a Plan to Answer the Call to Action – Part II.

- Organizer of symposium "Refining mesowear and Microwear Techniques Useful for Reconstructing Paleodiet in Hominids and Ungulate Mammals" -Howard University in Washington, D.C., - December 16-18, 2009 .

-Co-organizer of half-day symposium for the 65th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. "Mammalian Evolution in the Contexts of Paleoecological and Climatic Change" - October 19-22, 2005.

PUBLICATIONS

To date, I have published 54 papers in reputable peer-reviewed journals. Those papers received a total of 767 citations, and an H-index = 21 (Scopus database 2020).

Follow Me on ResearchGate (Click Link)

GRANTS

2015 - Principal Investigator for NSF IUSE 1432622 - $300,300 – Center of Excellence for Women in Science at Bay Path College: Improving Academic Success, Engagement and Retention in STEM Among Low-Income, Minority, and First-Generation Women – 3 year grant

2015 - Collaborator for NSF EAGER 1355894 – $200,029 - EAGER: From Vision to Change in Undergraduate Biology Education Across the Great Plains, Midwest, and New England - 21 month grant

2010 Collaborator for HAR2010-19957 - Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología – Ministry of Science of Spain - $27,000 – "Paleolithic Snapshots of Neanderthal Paleoecology" – 3 year grant

2014 - Co-Principal Investigator for NSF S-STEM 1356501 - $620,850 – Center of Excellence for Women in Science at Bay Path College: Retaining and Preparing Undergraduate Women for Career Success in Science (National Science Foundation) – 5 year grant

2008 - Prinicipal Investigator for NSF S-STEMI 0807069 - $505,902.00 "Attracting and Retaining Undergraduate Women in Biology, Biotechnology and Forensic Science" - 5 year Grant

2008 - Principal Investigator NSF - RHOI Grant (Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative Grant) -$38,877.32 - Mammalian Paleodiet Reconstruction of Aramis hominid site (Ardipithecus ramidus) in Ethiopia – 1 year grant

2004 - Collaborator - L. L. S. B. Leakey Foundation - Research Grant - $19,950 - "Growth and Development in Malagasy Lemurs: Solving Some Life-History Mysteries" Solving Some Life History Mysteries

2003 - Key Research Personnel - Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Inc. -$164,349 - "Dental Development and Life History of Malagasy Lemurs: "

2000 - Awardee - Graduate Field Research Grant - $2,000 - University of Massachusetts Department of Biology

1996 - Collaborator - National Science Foundation Grant 9528020 – $160,000 - "Collaborative Research: Paleoecology of Fossil horses (Family Equidae) over the past 55 million years"

PRESENTATIONS:

78th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 17-20th 2018. Semprebon, G.M., Uttecht, L, Sanders, W.J.

What can enamel microwear reveal about the dietary behavior of Moeritherium and Phiomia from the Fayum Region of Egypt?

77th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Calgary, Canada, September, 2017.

Dental Morphology and Diet of the First Occurring Old World Hipparions from the Basal Vallesian of the Vienna Basin (MN9, 11.4-11.0 MA)

76th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Salt Lake City, Utah, October, 2016.

A new approach for estimating the relative duration of mortality events of large hunted game at archaeological sites using enamel microwear.

2016 Connecticut Association of Biology Teachers in Winsted, Connecticut, April, 2016.

Course-based undergraduate research

75th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Dallas, Texas, November, 2015.

Dietary reconstruction of fossil proboscideans from the Siwalik Series of Pakistan using enamel microwear and carbon isotopes.

2015 National Association of Biology Teachers Professional Development Conference in Providence, RI, November, 2015.

Answering the call for Life Science Transformation

74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Berlin, Germany, November, 2014.

  1. The effect of insular dwarfism on dietary niche occupation in pygmy mammoths from the Channel Islands of California
  2. Morphological and ecological diversity within the hyaenodontidan genus Hyaenodon with remarks as to its origin
  3. A call to action: a report on the new national initiative for galvanizing change in undergraduate life science educational practices in the United States

VIth International Conference of Mammoths and Their Relatives in Grevana-Siatista, Western Macedonia, Greece, May, 2014.

  1. The effect of insular dwarfism on dietary niche occupation in mammoths: What were the pygmy mammoths from Santa Rosa eating?
  2. Dietary traits and resource partitioning in mammoth (Mammuthus rumanus and Mammuthus meridionalis) and mastodon (Anancus arvernensis) in the Early Pleistocene of Europe

73nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Los Angeles, California, October, 2013.

  1. "New insights from the excavations of the Höwenegg lagerstätte, Hegau, Germany (MN9, 10.3 MA)"
  2. "Diets of the late early Miocene Litopterns from Santa Cruz, Argentina based on mesowear and enamel microwear"

19th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archeologists (EAA), Pilsen, Czech Republic, September, 2013.

"Combined analysis of tooth mesowear and microwear: two-scale proxies of Pleistocene ungulate diets"

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio in September, 2013.

"Tales that Teeth Tell"

International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Barcelona, Spain in July, 2013.

"Gross Dental Wear and Dietary Evolution of North American Miocene to Pleistocene Ungulates"

International Conference on Ruminant Phylogenies in Munich, Germany in September, 2013

"The anatomy and paleoecology of the boselaphine Miotragocerus pannoniae from the late Miocene Höwenegg locality(Hegau, Germany)"

72nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Raleigh, North Carolina, October, 2012. "Elucidating Paleodietary Trends in North American Fossil Horses from Hyracotherium to Equus Using Toothwear Analyses"

University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria – 2012 (Invited lecturer and speaker as guest distinguished professor) – 2 weeks.

"Toothwear analytical techniques used in paleodietary reconstruction"

71st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Las Vegas, Nevada – 2011

  1. "Dietary reconstruction of Chinese shovel-tusked gomphotheres (Mammalia: Proboscidea): Evidence from dental microwear of molar teeth and tusks"
  2. "The dietary preference of Hyaenodon (Hyaenodontidae, Mammalia) using stereomicrowear with new insights regarding its ecomorphology"
  3. "A living laboratory approach to teaching students about the scientific method and evolution: crafting a curriculum that allows students to generate their own evidence and formulate their own conclusions about evolutionary processes"
  4. "Dietary adaptations in Eocene Archaeocete whales revealed by microwear and macrowear analysis and stomach contents"

Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age Annual Meeting – Toulouse, France –2012.

"How long did you stay? Using tooth microwear to estimate the duration of hominid occupations at archaeological sites"

15th International Symposium on Dental Morphology (ISDM) - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom - 2011.

"Can dentine microwear reveal diet? A low-magnification study of enamel and dentine in extant rhinoceros"

The (XVIII) INQUA Congress of Quaternary Sciences - Bern, Switzerland (Invited Presenter) – 2011.

"Tracking environmental changes in the Pleistocene using dental wear patterns in European fossil ungulates"

Vth International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives: - 2010 - Le Puy en Velay, France (Invited Presenter).

"Environmental implications of dietary diversity patterns in Pleistocene mammoths and their relatives from North America and Europe"

University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria – 2010 (Invited lecturer and speaker as guest distinguished professor) – 2 weeks.

"Advances in paleodietary reconstruction – an examination of current practices in hypsodonty, microwear and mesowear"

70th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA (Invited Presenter), October, 2010.

"Advances in ungulate dental wear techniques reveal new patterns of niche breadth and expansion throughout the Cenozoic"

Neogene Terrestrial Mammalian Biostratigraphy and Chronology in Beijing, China, June, 2009 (Invited Presenter).

"Comparisons of herbivore paleodiet between Pikermi, Samos, and the Miocene of China"

Bonn University Symposium in Paleodietary Techniques - Bonn, Germany, September, 2009 (Invited Speaker).

"Is there a still a place for low-tech scientific observation in science? An examination of current practices in microwear research"

69th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, September, 2009 - Bristol, England.

  1. "What does mesowear analysis of North American Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) reveal about differences in feeding behavior among chalicotheres from two continents?"
  2. "Systematics and paleoecology of hipparionine and modern horses from the Pleistocene Makuyuni Locality, Tanzania"

68th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology – 2008 - Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

  1. "A paleodietary analysis of late Eocene to middle Miocene Merycoidodontidae using three techniques of molar analysis"
  2. "Herbivore dietary interpretation and paleoecology of the Pikermian biome (Late Miocene)"

67th Annual Meeting the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 2007, Austin, Texas USA.

  1. "Hypsodont browsing: camel and pronghorn dietary reconstruction through deep time"
  2. "Low magnification dental microwear of Early and Middle Miocene catarrhines from Africa: implications for dietary diversity"
  3. "Hypsodont browsers: pronghorn and camel dietary reconstruction through deep time

5th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists, May, 2007 Carcassonne, France.

"Hypsodont browsers: pronghorn and camel dietary reconstruction through deep time"

66th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 2006 – Ottawa, Canada.

"Dietary reconstruction of Paleocene and Eocene uintatheres (order Dinocerata) from North America and Asia"

54th Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, September, 2006, Paris, France.

  1. "Dental wear and dietary evolution of North American Miocene to Pleistocene ungulates"
  2. "What were the first large terrestrial mammalian herbivores eating? Stereoscopic microwear analysis of Paleocene and Eocene Dinocerata from North America and Asia"

65th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 2006 - Mesa, Arizona USA.

  1. "The diet of the chalicotheres (Mammalia, Perissodactyla), as indicated by low magnification stereoscopic microwear analysis"
  2. "Dental wear and dietary evolution of Antilocapridae during the Miocene-Pleistocene climatic transformation"
  3. "Miocene savannas and the Great Transformation: testing dietary shifts within the Equidae using low-magnification steromicroscopy"

American Society of Mammalogists Annual Meeting, June, 2006, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

"Was grass more prominent in the pronghorn past? "

64th Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, November, 2004 - Denver, Colorado, USA.

"Ecospace reconstruction of the extinct lemurs of Madagascar: evidence of diet and niche differentiation"

63rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 2003 – St. Paul, Minnesota USA.

  1. "The efficacy of low magnification stereomicroscopy in diagnosing diet across orders of mammals"
  2. "Reconstructing the dietary habits of a large sample of Florida mastodons via low-magnification stereomicroscopy"

New England Regional Biological Anthropology Symposium, 2003, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA.

"The efficacy of low magnification stereomicroscopy in diagnosing diet across orders of mammals"

2003 American Association of Physical Anthropologists, April, 2003, Tempe, AZ, USA.

"What were the “monkey lemurs” of Madagascar up to?'

61st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 2001, Bozeman, Montana, USA.

"A new method of reconstructing ungulate dietary behavior with applications to fossil equids"

70th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, March, 2001, Kansas City, Missouri USA.

"Paul Methuen’s sleeping treasure: Subfossil lemurs in the zoological collections of the University Museum, Oxford"

59th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October, 1999, Denver, Colorado USA

"Dietary Reconstruction of the Dromomerycidae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla)"

DISTINCTIONS:

2012 Vision and Change PULSE Fellow - Selected as one of 40 across the nation.

2012 Outstanding Faculty Creative and Scholarly Works Award – Bay Path College

2009 Marsha Conrad Service Award – Bay Path College

2001 Romer Prize Medal Finalist, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

1978 Outstanding Medical Technology Award, American International College

1973 Alpha Chi National Honor Society

Certified by the Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, number 124394

Elected Fellow, American Academy of Forensic Sciences

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Academy of Forensic Sciences

National Association of Biology Teachers

Connecticut Association of Biology Teachers

Western New England Biology Educators Group (Co-Founder)

PULSE Community (Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education)

REFEREE FOR PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS:

Biological Journal of the Linnaen Society, Geobios, Geodiversitas, Historical Biology, Human Nature, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Journal of Mammalogy, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Mammalian Biology, Naturwissenschaften, Palaeo-electronica, Palaios, Paleobiology, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Quaternary International, Quaternary Journal of Archaeological Science

REFEREE FOR FUNDING AGENCIES:

  • National Science Foundation
  • SDE/GWIS (Graduate Women in Science) National Fellowships Program (USA) - Graduate Women in Science
  • Agence Nationale De La Recherche - Programme jeunes Chercheuses et Jeunes Chercheurs

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

2015 Member of the Dissertation Committee for Ph.D. Defense of Fikremariam Sisay Kassa at Addis Ababa University Ethiopia

2014 Member of the Dissertation Committee for Ph.D. Defense of Muhammad Tariq at Govt. College University, Lahore, Pakistan

2012 Member of Dissertation and Examining Committee for Ph.D. Defense of Katharina Bastl at the University of Vienna, Austria

2008 Member of Dissertation and Examining Committee for Ph.D. Defense of Eric Dewar at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

OUTREACH AND MEDIA ACTIVITIES:

2012-2016 - STEM outreach to 3 Longmeadow, MA grammar schools and summer STEM camps

2013 - Online Video - "Training Women to be Leaders in Science" - (Training Women to be Leaders in Science Video)

2013 - Science Daily Featured Research - "New Species of Horse, 4.4 million years old - (New Species of Horse)

2012 - Present - After-school STEM Enrichment Program and Summer STEM Camp for 5th graders at 3 Longmeadow, MA grammar schools

2011 - Research Subject of Science Blog - " Dietary Change and Evolution of Horses in North America" - (Horses in North America)

2010 - Research Subject of Paleontology Blog - "Pass the Twigs Please - "Toothwear Indicates the Variety of Chalicothere Diets" (Chalicotheres)

2009 - National Public Radio (NPR) Interview - "Bay Path Professor Breaks Ground on Oldest Human Ancestor" - NPR Interview

2009 - Discovery Channel T.V. Show Acknowledgment - "Discovering Ardi"

2009 - Masslive Article - "Bay Path College Biology Professor uses Teeth to Reconstruct the Past " (Masslive Article)

2009 - Chicago Tribune Article - "Ardi Older than Lucy" (Ardi Older Than Lucy)

2007 - IPHES Expert Blog (Institute Catala de Paleoecologia Humana I Evolucio Social) - "Ecological Adaptations and Tracking Climatic Changes Through Time Using Dental Wear Analysis" (IPHES Expert Blog)

2010 - Research Subject of Paleontology Blog - "Dirty Browsers - "Determining a Menu for North America's Fossil Camels" (Fossil Camels)