Educational record:
1999 Ph.D. University
of Illinois (Urbana campus)
1975-1977 N. S. F. traineeship (University
Fellow)
1975 MS University of Illinois
(Urbana campus)
1970 BA Dordt College, Sioux Center,
Iowa cum laude
Teaching areas
Publications and articles
Mahaffy, J.F. 2005. Protozoa at Dordt College. A DVD of microscopic images and video prepared for interested educators and produced with the help of Karl Kaemingk of Unity Christian High School.
Mahaffy, J.F. 2005 Why cougar (mountain lions) are again appearing in our area. Article written for the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Available online at url: http://www.greatplainszoo.org/conservation/cougar-in-our-area. Accessed on July 11, 2005.
Mahaffy, J.F. 2003. Mountain Lion Killed in rural Sioux County (including necroscopy report). Available on the web at http://homepages.dordt.edu/~mahaffy/mtlion/SiouxCountykill.htm Also published on the cougar network at: http://www.easterncougarnet.org/FieldReportIowa10-03.htm
Mahaffy, J.F., 2002. The case for relict population(s) of the prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus virdis viridis) in Sioux County, Iowa and Lincoln and Union counties in South Dakota. An earlier version (2001) of this manuscript is on file with Doug Harr of the Iowa DNR at the Wildlife Research Station in Boone, Iowa
Mahaffy, J.F., 2001. Historic and recent evidence for rattlesnakes (most likely the prairie rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis viridis and possibly the massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) in Monona and southernmost Woodbury County from the area of the Loess Hills in NW Iowa: A preliminary report. Manuscript on file with Doug Harr of the Iowa DNR at the Wildlife Research Station in Boone, Iowa.
Mahaffy, J.F., 1999. Vegetational patterns in the Herrin and Springfield coals (Middle Pennsylvanian of Illinois), based on miospore profiles with comparison to coal-ball patterns. Ph.D. Thesis University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 211 p.
Mahaffy, J.F., 1998 (Spring issue). Great demo with mites. MABT (Massachusetts Association of Biology Teachers) News p.5.
Mahaffy, J.F., 1988. Vegetational history of the Springfield Coal (Middle Pennsylvanian of Illinois) and distribution patterns of a tree-fern miospore, Thymospora pseudothiessenii, based on miospore profiles. Int. J. Coal Gel. 10:239-260.
Mahaffy, J.F., 1985, Profile patterns of coal and peat palynology in the Herrin (No. 6) Coal Member, Carbondale Formation, Middle Pennsylvanian of Southern Illinois. Compte Rendu, Ninth International Congress of Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Geology, May 17-26, 1979, Washington and Champaign-Urbana, IL., V.5:25-34.
DiMichele, W.B., Mahaffy, J.F., and. Phillips,
T.L., 1979. Lycopods of Pennsylvanian age coals: Polysporia, Can.
J. of Bot., 57(16): 1740-1753.
Abstracts or workshops:
Mahaffy, J.F. 2007. Historic Evidence for Rattlesnakes (Massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus, and the Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus) from Mitchell County in Northeastern Iowa and from Mower County in Southeastern Minnesota. Presented at ASIH meetings July 11-17 at St Louis, Missouri.. Click here for abstract.
Herdegen, Amy (Groeneboon) and Mahaffy, J. F. 2006.Antimalarial Activity of Two Varieties of Papaya (Carica papaya) Extracts. ASA annual meetings at Calvin College, Grand Rapids Michigan on July 28 - July 31, 2006.
Mahaffy, J.F., 2005. Why are mountain lions reappearing in eastern South Dakota? How do we live with this carnivore? Invited talk for earth Day at Great Plains Zoo (Sioux Falls) on April 29th.
Mahaffy, J.F. 2005 Learning station: Cougars. Presented at the B. J. Haan education Conference on Teaching Science in the Christian School (March 10-11, 2005 at Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa).
Mahaffy, J.F. 2004. Mountain Lions in Iowa. Invited speaker for the Iowa Roadside Conference on Oct. 7th in Harlan Iowa.
Mahaffy, J.F. 2004. Presentation and help with opening of mountain lion display at Hartman Reserve Nature Center on Sept 14th in Cedar Rapids. Ron Andrews of the Iowa DNR had been scheduled to be there but cancelled because of heart surgery
Mahaffy, J.F., 2001. Cretaceous exposures in NW Iowa along the Big Sioux River north of Sioux City: A guidebook for a field trip for the 2001 Heartland Teacher's Convention at Dordt College.
Mahaffy, J.F., 1999. Profile patterns and their paleoecological interpretation in the Herrin (No. 6) Coal Member at Old Ben No. 24 mine (Franklin County, Illinois) (abst.). 32 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. (Savannah, Georgia).
Mahaffy, J.F., 1976. Philosophical presuppositions used in systematizing the fossil data, Given at annual ASA meeting (Wheaton, Ill.).
Mahaffy, J.F. 1975. Morphology of Microspermopteris
and occurrences in Middle Pennsylvanian Coal Balls, Bot. Soc. of Amer.
Abst. p.22
Work in progress:
Manuscript stage
Bakker, K.,* Schut, K.,* Mahaffy, J.F., and Pung, O.** Absence of Trypanosoma cruzi in raccoons and an opossum in Northwest Iowa. (*Undergraduate Research project at Dordt College, **Georgia Southern University)
Mahaffy, J.F., Profile patterns and their paleoecological interpretation in the Herrin (No. 6) Coal Member at Old Ben No. 24 mine (Franklin County, Illinois)
Mahaffy, J.F., Comparison of coal ball
and miospore deposition using R-Ratios in an Upper Carboniferous Coal.
Current research projects
(Many in collaboration with undergraduate students)
Expanding range of Felis concolor. I have been investigating mountain lion (cougar) have moved into the area this area in western border of Iowa and southeast South Dakota. Local reports are investigated and significant results are shared with the Iowa fur bearer of the DNR, Ron Andrews. In October 2003, I was involved in the investigation and participated in the necrosopy of the cougar that was shot in Western Sioux County. In the Spring of 2004, a biology student, Travis Pollema, was involved in this mountain lion work as an individual studies (Pollema 2004). This involved two reports that included prints. The prints in NW Lyon County were likely cougar. Those on a farm in the center of Sioux county were independently verified by several cougar experts to be mountain lion (Pollema and Mahaffy 2004). Other local signs of what is probably the same cat indicate the cat was at least temporarily setting up territory. Another part of this research involved field testing three kinds of camera traps for their utility in confirming location of cougar. Also in the Spring of 2004 two students, Jill Buteyn and Carissa Uittenbosch, (as part of their Zoology project) tentatively identified the three tapeworms I had preserved from the necroscopy of the cat that was killed. The identification will be confirmed with the help of a parasitology lab in the summer of 2004.
Buteyn, J. and Uittenbosch, C. 2004. Identification of Mountain Lion Tapeworm. Project for Zoology class in Spring of 2004 [report available from files of James Mahaffy at the Dordt College Biology Department]Pollema, T. 2004. Tracking the movement and territory of dispersing male mountain lions, Felis concolor, in Northwest Iowa using camera traps and visual reports. A biology individual studies (Bio 393) done in the Spring 2004 at Dordt College. [Report available from the files of James Mahaffy at the Dordt College Biology Department]
Pollema, T. and Mahaffy, J. 2004. Report 30 of mountain lion reports. [report available from files of James Mahaffy at the Dordt College Biology Department]
Helping uncover an ichthyodectid
fish found in the Greenhorn Formation of Cretaceous age in the hills
near the town of Westfield, Iowa. Since
there are few vertebrates found in the Iowa exposure of the Cretaceous,
this is a significant find.
Description with Stan Oordt (the finder) of parts of a musk ox skull and some other Pleistocene bones from a local quarry. Several of the fossil bones from this quarry have been identified with the help of some paleontologists at the University of Nebraska. After determining the Pleistocene stratigraphy (most likely from the last glaciation, late Wisconsian, but possibly earlier), we should be ready to write up this manuscript.
Report of a Pliosaurid tooth from the Cretaceous (Greenhorn Fm.) of NW Iowa.This tooth was found by one of my paleontology students, Ben Van Ee on a field trip in 1996. The tooth was identified with the help of Dr. Gordon Bell of the South Dakota School of Mines. Since few vertebrate fossils have been reported from this area, we plan to report the find as a short note in one of the paleontological journals.
Investigation of the habitat and growth forms of Fritschiella. This algae was identified in one of the unialgal cultures that students collect for Plant Morphology. We are investigating to see if we can cause it to change its growth form under different conditions (still and moving water) and are trying to find this rare algae again in the wild, so we can learn more about in its local habitat and ecology.
Investigating the range of the Prairie rattler (Crotalus viridis)
in NW Iowa. I
have been following up on reports that seem to have some substance of the
snake being found in short-grass relict prairie in counties both north
and south of the known locality in Plymouth near Westfield in Plymouth
County, Iowa. Since the Westfield location is the easternmost extend
of the known range and the only place the snake has been proven to exist
in Iowa (where it is endangered), these reports would be on interest to
the state and the herpetological community of they prove to be true. A
Dordt biology student, Ryan Verver, helped in the early investigation as
an individual research project. In the food plains of the Little
Sioux River, I have found that there were rattlesnakes in wet meadows.
The habitat of these are more suggestive of the massasauga than the prairie
rattler. Unfortunately habitat changes due to agriculture have probably
resulted in this population (whichever rattler it was) being extirpated.
Two manuscripts on this study are on file with the Iowa DNR or can be obtained
from the author. An offshoot of this study has uncovered historic
extensions of massasauga or probable massasauga in western Iowa (Crawford
and some other counties) and northeastern Iowa
(Mitchell County) and adjacent Mower County in SE Minnesota.
Professional Service
Major Dordt College committee assignments include Curriculum Committee from 1986-1995 and a committee on student life, Spiritual Activities Committee for many years (Chairperson for a year) and general education (core) committee.
Maintain a number of web pages used for courses.
Initiated and currently maintain a list (acg-l) for the Affiliation of Christian Geologists on the Internet with approximately 85 subscribers worldwide. I also maintain the list (acb-l) for the affiliation of Christian Biologists.
Assisted faculty members in the development of their computer skills
Have given a variety of presentations to
school groups (elementary through high school), college parents, and radio
commentaries on Sioux Center radio station KDCR.
Professional Memberships and Subscriptions
AASP (American Association of Stratigraphic
Palynologists
BSA (Botanical Society of America - Paleobotany
Section)
ASIH
(American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists)
SEPM (Society of Economic Paleontologist
and Mineralogists)
Sigma Xi (Inactive member)
American Scientific Affiliation
Paleobiology (Subscribe to the journal)
Paleonet (the professional list for paleontologists)
Biolab (a list related to college biology
lab teaching)
Modified on Setember 6, 2007 (10:17 AM)