General Biology (BY101):  This is the first half of a survey course for beginning Biology and other science majors seeking a Bachelor of Science degree.  Two general topics (Cell Biology and Physiology) will be addressed.  In particular, (for those of you in the Biology Secondary Education major, who must fulfill certain Florida competencies) by the time you complete this course, you will have gained knowledge of the nature of science, investigative processes in science, safety recommendations & practices, life processes, the chemical composition of living things, energetics, metabolic pathways, cell biology, physiological processes, developmental biology, and the foundations of biology.  Textbook:  Purves et al. Life, The Science of Biology.

Aquatic & Marine Biology (BY156):  This course is designed to introduce non-Biology majors to freshwater and marine habitats.  We will introduce each topic with readings by authors such as John James Audubon, Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, Herman Melville and Jacques Cousteau.  After a brief discussion of the readings, we will focus in on the biological and physical parameters of each organism and its environment.  This years' topics will include, but are not limited to:  alligators, the St. Johns River, freshwater springs, coral reefs, seals, whales, sea turtles, and the Sargasso Sea.  Textbook:  none....all readings will be available on Blackboard.

Marine Biology (BY312):  During the first few weeks of the semester, we will focus on oceanography; a description of the marine environment that comes from a study of ocean chemistry and processes (tides, currents, etc.).  After we finish studying the physical parameters of the ocean, we will focus on the ocean's inhabitants with special emphasis on marine vertebrates.  Textbooks:  Thurman & Trujillo, Essentials of Oceanography; Waller et al., SeaLife: A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment.

Developmental Biology (BY304):  This class is designed to introduce you to how plants and animals reproduce themselves; focusing on the period between fertilization and hatching or metamorphosis into adult form.  This class is also set up to give you hands on experience with the embryos of various model systems; especially sea urchins, salamanders, and fruit flies.  You will be spending a considerable amount of lab time examining or manipulating embryos and microscope sections of embryos.  Your lab experiments will also require that you spend additional time during the week checking on your embryos. Textbooks: Wolpert.  Principles of Development.

Spring Fish Ecology.  We have been exploring the rich fauna of Blue Spring during the past year, looking at population dynamics and feeding behavior of fish.  Is there a better way to spend a Friday than seining for fish?

Development of sensory systems in fish and amphibians.  I have been working on the development of a mechanosensory system called the lateral line, which is found only in fish (including sharks) and some amphibians.  The lateral line arises from a series of ectodermal thickenings called dorsolateral placodes.  There is currently some debate about whether lateral line development is also influenced by neural crest cells.  Over the next few years, I hope to end that debate with my work on the shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus.

Central visual processing in fish.   I have spent a good portion of the past 10 years correlating vision based behavior in goldfish, Carassius auratus, with a nucleus in the brain called torus longitudinalis.  Torus longitudinalis seems to be used primarily to process black and white information, whereas the optic tectum processes color information.

Kinnecom, C. 2003. The Effects of Cold Medication on Developing Axolotl Embryos.

Jones, G. 2003. The Effect of Ephedrine on the Developing Chick Embryo.

French, L. 2002. The Effects of Dissolved Oxygen and Flow on the Distribution of Fish in a Florida Spring.

Matthias, S. 2002. The Effects of Light Levels on Vertical Fish Distribution in Blue Spring.

Krisberg, S. 2002. The Effect that Adding Algal Substrate has on Resident Fish and Invertebrates in Blue Spring.

Anglin, E. 2002. The Effects of Hypoglycemia on Axolotl Development.

Samaraweera, L. 2002. The Effects of Tylenol on Developing Axolotl Embryos.

Cedeno, N. 2002. The Effects of Insecticides Upon the Development of Salamander Embryos.

Di Spigna, O. 2001. The Morphological Effects of Retinoic Acid on Embryonic Development of the Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum.

Gidney, E. 2001. The Developmental Effects of Exposing Salamander Embryos to Chlorine.

Peters, B. 2001. A Comparative Ecological Survey of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration, Fish Distribution, and other Physical and Chemical Characteristics in Two Florida Springs.

Dietrich, J. 2000. The Effect of X-ray radiation on the Development of Axolotl Embryos.

Brainerd, C. 2000. The Effect of Biotin and Methionine on the Growth of the Equine Hoof.

Gibbs, M.A. and K.A. Work. 2003. Fish Community Dynamics in Volusia Blue Springs.  Florida Academy of Sciences Spring Meeting.

Work, K.A. and M.A. Gibbs. 2002. Distribution of Benthic Invertebrates in the Upper St. Johns River Basin. Report to the St. Johns River Water Management District.

*Krisberg, S.D., *Mathias, S., Gibbs, M.A. and Work, K.A. 2002. Microhabitat Utilization by Blue Springs Fish. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Annual Meeting.

*French, L.F., Work, K.A. and M.A. Gibbs. 2002. The Influence of Flow Rate on Fish Distribution in Blue Spring (Volusia Co., FL). Florida Academy of Sciences Spring Meeting.

*Peters, B.A., Gibbs, M.A. and K.A. Work. 2001.  Fish distribution and oxygen gradients in two Florida Springs. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A. and R.G. Northcutt. 2000.  Retinoic Acid Repatterns Lateral Line Development in Axolotls. Society for Neurosciences Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A. 1999.  Lateral Line Morphology and Cranial Osteology of the Rubynose Brotula, Cataetyx rubrirostris.  J. Morphology,

Gibbs, M.A. and D.P.M. Northmore. 1998.  Spectral Sensitivity of the Goldfish Torus Longitudinalis.  Vis. Neurosci., 15:859-865.

Gibbs, M.A. and R.G. Northcutt.  1997.  Development of the lateral line system in the Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus).   Society for Neurosciences Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A.  1997.  The Role of Torus Longitudinalis in Processing Luminance Information in the Goldfish Visual System.  Doctoral Dissertation.  University of Delaware.

Gibbs, M.A. and D.P.M. Northmore.  1996.  The role of dorsal torus longitudinalis in processing luminance information in the goldfish visual system.  Society for Neurosciences Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A.  1996.  Parallel processing of color and luminance information in the goldfish visual system. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A. and D.P.M. Northmore.  1996.  The Role of Torus Longitudinalis in Equilibrium Orientation Measured with the Dorsal Light Reflex.   Brain Behav. Evol. 48(3):115-120.

Gibbs, M.A. and D.P.M. Northmore.  1996.  Spectral sensitivity of the goldfish torus longitudinalis.  Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A. 1995.  Structure and innervation of the cephalic lateral line neuromasts of the Rubynose Brotula (Cataetyx rubrirostris) and their ecological implications.  American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Annual Meeting.

Gibbs, M.A.  1991.  The Olfactory Organs of Mesopelagic Fishes:  their Morphology and Possible Role in Mate Location.  Master's Thesis.   San Jose State University.

Gibbs, M.A.  1991.  Notes on the Distribution and Morphology of the Rubynose Brotula (Cataetyx rubrirostris) off Central California.  Calif. Fish and Game 77(3):149-152.