I grew up just outside of Topeka Kansas.  I attended Adrian College (1,200 students) in Adrian MI, where I majored in Biology and minored in Earth Science.  While in College, my main areas of scholastic interests were reptiles, amphibians, and birds of prey.  My research involved animal behavior.  I helped pay my way through college working as a Resident Hall director and raising Boas and Pythons.  Between my junior and senior year I went to Africa to do my own research on the national park systems of third world countries.  It was a great experience!  I ended up being kidnaped by some poachers, chased by hyenas and nearly shot by the park rangers.  Nevertheless, it was still a great experience!  After college (1991) I worked for a pesticide testing firm in and around Winter Haven FL.  I was asked to apply to the PhD program at Kansas State and was accepted in spring of 1992 to study pocket gophers (I know, don’t laugh).  My gophers, and subsequently my research, were drowned during the floods of 1993, a fact we did not know until the spring of 1994.  So in 1994 I started over on a new PhD project that looked at the interactions between of above- and belowground grazers.  In 1995 my major advisor changed jobs.  I then went to work with a new advisor and started PhD study number three.  My final research centered around how fire affects the growth of forbs in the tallgrass prairie.  I finished my PhD in 2001.  For family reasons, I took one year off from grad-school.  During this time I worked as a steel worker (ya, the crazy ones who walk on those little narrow beams) and then as a ground-fish observer in the Bering Sea (which is more crazy then working steel!).

In 2000 I took a Postdoc-Visiting Lectureship position at the University of Oklahoma.  The classes I am currently teaching are Botany 1114 sec 4 and Ecology 4353.  I am also teaching a class for the Collage of Liberal Studies (CLS).  It is the Independent-Guided Independent Study (IGIS) class.  Specifically the upper-level Natural Sciences course.  This is a cool on-line course where we guide the students through topics in Natural History.  I also assist with the large introductory botany laboratories.  I am also in charge of bringing current technology into the general botany classes and serve on the computer committee for the department.

     Outside the University I run a web page for parents, teachers, and others who have children with, or are them selves, dyslexic.  I have dyslexia and cannot read or spell very well and I am really bad at math.  The main goal of the page is to help those who do not have dyslexia understand what it’s like to have an invisible disability and to help inspire those with dyslexia.  I have been running the page since 1993.  The page helps about 500 people a month (it's a lot of e-mails).

For the last year or so I have been working with the kids on my block.  We started out learning about the stars and the space station.  We have tracked the stations position and corresponded with the crew.  We started to study the nature that can be found in the neighborhood but were sidetracked by building some cool pinewood derby cars (I’m still trying to get the kids to understand the physics behind the project, but so far it’s boiled down to who has the coolest decals.  No race track yet.)  For Christmas break we built the baking soda/vinegar fueled Meteor Rocket (this kit rocks!).  The kit claims the rocket can make 100ft.  After modifications, we could routinely make 200ft.  The rocket is not capable of landing from this height without sustaining damage.  Modifications to prevent this resulted in much lower launch heights (neighbors were happy about this outcome).

From Left to right:  (1)  The Rocket kit was great!  It's under built if you launch it much.  But it is easy to upgrade.  (2) Bobby is in the fore ground holding the Baking Soda "dry fuel" while Steve and Kyle are loading the vinegar "Liquid fuel.  (3)  This is one of my favorite photos.  As it turns out, the house in the back ground is abandoned. Four other houses on the block have remained unoccupied for the two years I have lived here.  This rocket might be just the ticket to better things.  The rocket is currently 50 ft off the ground and is on the way up (Though dark, Bobby can be seen standing below the rocket).  Max height was calculated by using the gravitational constant.  (4)  Refueling for another launch.  (5)  These three are my regular students.  They built the Meteor Rocket.  Bobby, on the left, is holding the new solid fuel rocket.

A few weeks ago we moved up to solid fuel rockets.  The new rocket (the ionizer) was capable of attaining an altitude of 600ft.  This required that we move to a launch site with a larger impact area (local school playground).  This rocket was lost on the second weekend (actually we know exactly where it is, but it is at a height sufficient enough to be considered permanently out of action).  Your’s truly opted to have the students build their own rockets the following weekend.  While we are rocket scientist, we are apparently not rocket engineers (not yet anyway).  When the first self-made rocket (Bobby’s) launched it immediately lost one of its stabilizing fins and followed a most improbable flight path.  The projected altitude of this flight was 1,200 ft and if possible the lateral distance traveled would be less then 100ft.  As it turns out we reached our second goal.  However the maximum height was estimated at about 6'2" (a more accurate reading could have been obtained had I not ducked).  This means that the rocket traveled under power for less than 100ft but still had the required fuel to travel an additional 1,100 feet.  This fuel was not wasted however, as the Viking Researcher (the name of the rocket) made happy circles in the very dry grass until the fuel was spent.  The resulting fire, while large, about the half the size of a soccer field, fortunately did not burn any structures or playground equipment.  The local police were very understanding and I don’t think the local fire department was doing much that Easter Sunday anyway.  It did turn into a good learning opportunity though, and provided some fond memories. :O) Next weekend we will be monitoring the regrowth patterns of playground grass when it is subjected to spring fires.

The result of the fire.  We launched form the gravel parking lot in the back ground.  Steven is holding a rubber band powered air plane.  When we deiced to build our own rockets, Steven wanted to get a plane instead.  There were a bunch of fighters and jets to choose from and Steven chose the wimpiest one there (a piper cub).  I ribbed him for it and he replied that he always wanted to fly in a plane and that this was the plane he would most likely get to fly in.  His twelfth birthday was a few weeks after this photo, so I got him his first flight lesson at the local flight school for a present.  Not only did he get to fly in a Piper, but he flew it.  :O)

Steven Flying.  He is now passing Math and English as he knows "Pilots must be able to calculate fuel loads and read maps."  He is still struggling in school but I think he has more hope.

Other things I do for fun:

I should say camping and backpacking but I have not gone many years and don't have much time for it at present.

As I spent my school days in remedial classes learning how to spell, read, and add (things I still can't do), I did not get any exposure to literature or any exposure to writing.  To help corect this I am trying to read on book a week.  My curent averag for the last three years is one book every 9.8 days.

Books I have read during the last year include:

Becoming Human: Evolution and Human Uniqueness, By Ian Tattersall  (Very Dry.  But good.)
One, by Richard Bach (I have always liked his work and just came across this one at the used book store.)
Required reading:, by Andrew Delbanco  (The first part of this book was quite good but the last half was definitely not.)
Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe  (I recently picked up a 1880 copy of this book!)
Wessex Tails, by Tomas Hardy  (very depressing but in the right mood these stories can be really funny!)
The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger  (I think I was suppose to have read this in school, but apparently I was daydreaming through the book back then.  Excellent book, but ends like a blackout.)
The Small Woman, by Alan Burgess  (An out standing book and an amazing woman.  If you liked Anna and the King of Siam then you will like this book.)
Born for Liberty: a history of woman in America, by Sarah Evans  (I have wanted to increase my knowledge of the role of woman in history and this looked like a good choice.  However, I have been very disappointed with it and stopped reading about half way through.)
Harry Potter (books 1 to 4)  (I do not usually read si-fi, though I like it, but recently I have come across several books that I thought I should read.  These books are a very good read.  A little spoon fed, but excellent books just the same!)
Life the Universe and Everything series by Douglas Adams  (I read the first books in this series years ago and now I am finishing them up.  If you have not read these books, and you enjoy laughing until the milk comes out your nose, then try these!)
Six Easy Pieces and Six Not so Easy Pieces, Richard Feinman.  This is the second time I have read these books.  They are actually part of the famous lecture series.  I do not think the first year physics students did so well with the class, but the lectures are great just the same.
African Exodus, Stringer and Mckie.  This is a good book but not a particularly good read.
Egypt, Greece, and Rome,  Freeman.  This is actually a great book if you're into this kind of thing.  I'd like to read it again when I have more time as there is just too much information to absorb all at once.
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series, Tolken.  As the movie was coming out, I thought I should read these.  The Hobbit is a good book but the lord of the rings books are just too contrived.  Tolken appears to have written the hobbit first and for what ever reason he decided to add to the series.  But in order to do so he has to make wild clams and forget parts of the hobbit in order to make it all fit.  The harry potter books are hands down a better story line and better writing.
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo  by J.H. Patterson.  Excellent book!  I need to track down his other books.
Dinosaur Lives: Unearthing an evolutionary Saga  By J. Horner and E. Dobb.  This was a great book.  He is one of the few people who I think understands evolution.  I think he is right about mesotherms.  But I do not think he appreciates the amount of heat generated by being big.  I would call them obligate ectotherms.  That is, they must use the outside temp/environment to cool their bodies.
Why school reform will fail by  Stageting.  We are in a lot of trouble.  Excellent book.
Atlas shrugged by Ayan Rayn.  My overall dislike of this book prevents me from saying anything about it.
No Mercy By Redmond O’Hanlon.  This is is an outstanding travel adventure book.  The author and a few others travel to and through the congo.  A communist state (I did not know that).  They are searching for a "please find me im lost" plesiosaur in a inland lake.  The lack of understanding in both cultures is really amazing.  Redmond, at least in the book does little to explain the christian side.  But what I found really interesting was one of his friends rants about the christians and their God.
Clone: the road to dolly and the path ahead by Gina Kolata.  Not bad but not recommended.
The readers’ companion to Alaska.  By Alan Ryan.  This is a fun easy read book.  It covers allot of area and time.
Wyatt Earp: The life behind the legend by Casey Tefertiller.  Outstanding book!!!  Appears to be very well researched and evenhanded.
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky.  This is a Guns, germs, and steal type of book.  It is a must read for the world historian.
The Science Class You Wish You Had : The Seven Greatest Scientific Discoveries in History and the People Who Made Them by David Eliot Brody, Arnold R. Brody.  This is the best "general science" book I have come across.  The authors do a great job covering the discoveries in enough detail that most will be able to understand what was done and what made the ideas so profound.  I believe I will use this book in my next CLS class.

I suppose this is weird for Biologist, but one of my hobbies is theoretical physics.  If I could have done the math, I would probably be a physicist.

I am currently looking for a small 4 year college/university where the emphasis is on the students and their future.

Lies my teacher told me, by James W. Lowen.  This is a real eye opening book.  It shows you how and why our history is told and taught to us the way that it is.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fate of human societies, by Jared Diamond.  This is a must read for everyone.  My sister first told me about the book and in trying to explain what it was about, I became certain that I did not want to read it.  The book addresses why some societies thrived a conquered the world and others did not.  All the books I have on this subject try and justify the Western European conquest of the world as God's will, as some form feel good racism, or some other half baked Idea.  I actually cut my sister off when she was describing the book and told her my thoughts on these types of books and pointed out that if a biologist had written the book, it would then become clear why some succeeded and explored the world and others didn't.  I told her there was not a chance that this author actually sat down and looked at the facts of the ecology of each system and discovered why the world was not conquered by the Inuits.  (I think I berated the book and our continued inability to properly address the subject for some time.  I had just finished a lengthy discussion of the subject with my class the day previous and was still on my soap box :O)  )  My sister then informed me that this was in fact what the author had done.  After reading the book I have been pleasantly surprised.  Mr. Diamond has done his homework and has produced an excellent, very readable book!  I have only placed Mr. Lowen's book ahead of this one because it is much shorter and covers allot of areas quickly.

As our world races towards genetic engineering, most of the general public has no idea of what genes are, how they work, and what affect they have on us.  The next two books provide background information so that reader might make an informed decision.  (I have not done an extensive search in this area so if you have suggestions for books I should read, please pass them along!)

Living With Our Genes: they matter more then you think, By Dean Hamer and Peter Copeland.

Who's Afraid of Human Cloning? by Gregory Pence

The classes I'm currently teaching are  Botany 1114 sec 4,  and Ecology 5453.  I am also teaching a class for the Collage of Liberal Studies (CLS).  It is the Independent-Guided Independent Study (IGIS) class.  Specifically the Upper Level Natural Sciences course.  This is a cool on line course where the students are guided through topics in Natural History.
 

Need to get a hold of me?  email me at belder@ou.edu or (405) 325-1653 or snail mail me at: The Department of Botany and Microbiology, George Lynn Cross Hall, 770 Van Vleet Oval, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0245
FAX 1-405-325-7619.