Dennis Gervin's Home Page

Degrees
 

w Ph.D. in Biological Science,
University of California, Santa Barbara
Emphasis: Molecular and Cellular Biology
w MA in Biological Science, University of California, Santa Barbara
Emphasis: Molecular and Cellular Biology
w BA in Microbiology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Emphasis: Genetic Engineering

Employed with YCCD 
since 1995

 Vice President for Student Learning

Office: Manzanita

Phone:  (209) 588- 5107

email:  gervind@yosemite.cc.ca.us 

Instructional and Administrative Background:

             My first teaching assignment was Introduction to Modern Genetics at U.C. Santa Barbara.  That experience confirmed what I had suspected for some time – that I truly love to teach.  I soon found myself at Modesto Junior College (CA), teaching Microbiology, Biology and Laboratory Techniques.  That was a wonderful experience, and soon after earning tenure, I found myself being pulled more and more towards Community College Leadership.  As a faculty member, I knew I was at my best when there was someone there to help my colleagues and I to cut through red-tape, tap into funding sources and encourage new and exciting programs.

            Somehow, what I had intended to be a brief flurry into college administration, turned into what has now become a life-long passion.  I found it very exciting to see that I had the ability to influence many more students as an administrator, than I ever could as an instructor.   I saw that I could indirectly reach students through the talents of other faculty and staff at the college.  I see my role as a Community College leader as being an advocate and catalyst for the learning experiences of our students.

            In Chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that modifies and increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process.  I hope my efforts serve to increase and modify the ‘reactions of learning’ at Columbia College, and that I can continue to influence how our students learn for many years to come – I also hope that (like a catalyst) I am not consumed in the process.

             At Modesto Junior College I served as Dean for Science, Math and Engineering, Dean of Instructional Services, and Interim Dean of Library and Learning Resources.  As Vice President for Student Learning at Columbia College, I feel I am in precisely the right place to continue serving students and our community.

 Research Background:

            My doctoral dissertation, Integrin Vitronectin Receptors in the Developing Avian Retina, was focused on identifying extra-cellular receptors that might help retinal neurons migrate and extend axons to their targets in the brain during development.  I was able to clone an avian vitronectin receptor, and then characterized its genetic expression during the development of the avian retina.

             This work was done as part of the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara, in the laboratory of Dr. Dennis Clegg.   http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/mcdb/faculty/clegg/index.html
 

Publications: 

Gervin, D.B., Cann, G.M., and Clegg, D.O. (1996) Temporal and Spatial Regulation of Integrin Vitronectin Receptor mRNAs in the Embryonic Chick Retina. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 37. 1084-1096.

 Gervin, D.B. (1995) Integrin Vitronectin Receptors in the Developing Avian Retina.  Doctoral Dissertation. University of California at Santa Barbara 

Cann, G.M., Bradshaw, A.D., Gervin, D.B., Hunter, A.W., and Clegg, D.O. (1996) Widespread Expression of b1 integrins in the developing chick retina; Evidence for a Role in Migration of Retinal Ganglion Cells Developmental Biology 180. 82-96 

Bradshaw, A.D., McNagny, K.M., Gervin, D.B., Cann, G.M. and Clegg, D.O. (1995) Integrin a2b1 mediates interactions between developing embryonic retinal cells and collagen. Development 121. 3593-3602

 Clegg, D.O., Mullick, L.H., Wingerd, K., Lin, H., Atienza, J., Bradshaw, A.D., Gervin, D.B., and Cann, G.M. (2000) Adhesive events in retinal development and function: The role of integrin receptors in Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation: Vertebrate Eye Development, E. Fini, ed. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 3:141-156

 Mamounas, M., Gervin, D.B., and Englesberg, E. (1989) The Insulin Receptor as a Transmitter of a Mitogenic Signal in Chinese Hamster Ovary CHO-K1 Cells.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 86(23), 9294-9298

ABSTRACTS

 Gervin, D.B., Cann, G.M., and Clegg, D.O. (1994) In situ Localization of Transcripts for Integrins Beta-1, Beta-3, and Beta-5 in the Developing Chick Retina. American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, #2092

 Gervin, D.B., Cann, G.M., Bradshaw, A.D., Cadwell, R.C., Cummings, C.J., Hunter, A.W., LaBel, R.M., Choi, E.S.-H., and Clegg, D.O. (1992) Regulation of Integrin alpha and beta mRNAs in developing chick retina. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA #5573

 Clegg, D.O., Cann, G.M., Gervin, D.B., Bradshaw, A.D., Tribble, B. and Hunter, A. (1994) Integrin Receptor Expression and Function in the Developing Retina. Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, Sarasota, FL, #1191