Museum of Paleontology
Valley Life Sciences Bldg.
Univeristy of California
Berkeley, CA 94720

Contents:

• Education
• Work Experience
     Computer Experience
     Teaching Experience
• Research Experience
• Publications and Meeting Presentations
• Publications Experience
• Volunteer Work
• Society Memberships
• Awards and Honors

Last modified: 11 July 2000
Brian R. Speer, vespirus@socrates.berkeley.edu

• North Garland High School (Garland, TX)
  June 1988 Graduate

• Harding University (Searcy, AR)
  B.S. in Biology, Mathematics minor
  May 1992 Graduate

• Duke University (Durham, NC)
  transferred with professor to U.C.Berkeley in January 1994

• University of California (Berkeley, CA)
  Graduate student working toward M.S. in Biology

Content Editor at Zengine (4 mos, 1999).
Researching, writing, and editing product descriptions, creating and maintaining product category hierarchy, creation of Buyer's Guides.

West Coast & Little Chicago Pizza, Berkeley, California (1 yr, 1998-1999).
Manager: customer service, food preparation, stocks managment.

U.C.Berkeley Herbarium Employee (3 mos, summer 1994).
Annotation and filing of hepatic material, integration of three major university collections, transfer and re-integration of collection and library.

Herbarium Manager at Harding University (2 yrs, 1990-1992).
Specimen collection and preparation, identification and processing of backlog material, curation of material.

TV-19 News, Searcy, Arkansas (1 yr, 1992).
Camera operator, sound board, promotionals, video feed.

Educational Internet Projects (1997) - Temporary worker with UCMP developing and implementing educational programs using internet technologies, including mentor programs, student web projects, and self-contained learning modules.

Systems Management (1996) - One semester work assembling and maintaining a Macintosh computer lab for UC Berkeley's Integrative Biology department. Included 8 Mac 6100s (PC card), 8 Performas, 2 Mac 7100s, and two printers, all connected to a network.

My preference is for Macintosh, but I have used PCs (DOS, Windows) and SUN workstations (UNIX / Solaris).

Software Experience

• Word processing (MS Word 4, 5, 6; WordPerfect; Palantir; vi-UNIX)
• Spreadsheets (Excel)
• Image acquisition (Agfa - Arcus II / Fotolook; ESEM acquisition)
• Graphics packages (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Canvas)
• Networking (FTP, Fetch, NCSA Telnet)
• Web Browsers (Mosaic, Navigator, MS-IE)
• E-mail (PINE, Eudora)
• Phylogenetics programs (MacClade, PAUP, PHYLIP)

Languages Experience

• HTML - In addition to my home page, I have created or revised many pages on the UC Museum of Paleontology Web site. I have also created the ABLS homepage and a few other small sites. A complete list of my authored contributions to the web is available.
• PASCAL - Three semesters of training and experience.
• FORTRAN - Basic understanding of the language from one-semester course at Harding.
• BASIC - Yes, I actually wasted time learning to write simple programs in this language.

Lecturer for U.C.Berkeley Biology 1B (2 terms, 2000).
Laboratory instruction - evolution, ecology, botany. Discussion sessions - short lectures to supplement course material, small-group discussion, field trips. Research seminar and web projects.

Lecturer for Dominican College Biology 1A (1 term, 1998).
Course instruction in the nature of life; plant morphology, growth, and diversity; fungi, algae, and bacteria; plant reproduction; and the importance of plants. Laboratory instruction - development of two lab activities for each week to supplement lecture material.

Graduate Instructor for U.C.Berkeley Biology 1B (5 terms, 1994-95, 1996, 1997-98).
Laboratory instruction - evolution, ecology, botany. Discussion sessions - short lectures to supplement course material, small-group discussion, field trips. Research seminar and web projects.

Graduate Instructor for U.C.Berkeley IB181 : Paleobotany (1 term, 1995).
Laboratory development for new course, instruction and preparation, grading, short field trips. Course instruction - lectures on systematics, bryophytes, early land plants.

Graduate Instructor for U.C.Berkeley Systematics of Vascular Plants (1 term, 1994).
Course instruction - lectures on reproduction, ferns, monocots. Laboratory instruction and preparation - collection and planning of display materials with accompanying text, worksheets and handouts, grading.

Teaching Assistant for Duke General Biology 21 & 22 (3 terms, 1992-93).
Laboratory instruction and demonstration, grading of tests and lab reports. Study session directing - cell biology, animal and plant diversity, ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology.

Instructor for "Bible in English" course in Szolnok and Miskolc, Hungary (2 mos, 1992).
Lecture and small-group instruction on English vocabulary and pronunciation, instruction at beginning and intermediate levels.

Laboratory Assistant for Harding Botany (5 terms, 1990-92). Laboratory instruction - plant morphology, life cycles, diversity, physiology. Grading, laboratory exercise design and preparation, materials ordering and inventory, author of Lab Manual. Preparation of hallway displays.

Jepson Herbarium Short Course in Botany (1996)
Weekend course in plant reproductive biology for non-specialists. Topics included: life cycles, pollination, dispersal, and reproductive strategies.

Jepson Herbarium Weekend Workshop on Bryophytes (1995)
Laboratory instruction and assistance with sectioning and slide mounting techniques, identification, and morphology. Field instruction in identification.

Advisor to San Francisco Unified School District (1995)
Designing and implementing exercises to bring plant biology into the high school classroom. Instructional workshop.

"Liverwort Spore Atlas"
In progress research to survey and publish illustrations across the diversity of liverwort taxa.

"Phylogeny of the Marchantiopsida"
Morphological analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction of the complex-thalloid liverworts.

"Bryophyte Flora of Raven Rock State Park, North Carolina"
Location and collection of bryophytes from the park, vouchers deposited at DUKE. Vascular plant and fungal collections also made.

Independent research project: "Pteridophyte Flora of White County, Arkansas"
Location of populations of rare or unrecorded species, habitat determinations, resulting in addition of 13 new species to county flora.

Arkansas floristic research (1 yr).
Location of new county records for northeastern Arkansas, vouchers collected and deposited in Harding herbarium, UALR, and UARK.

Brian R. Speer, 1999. Algae. Pp. 41-44 in Ronald Singer (ed.) Encyclopedia of Paleontology. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago & London.

Polish Heraldic Style (Heraldic Symposium 2000, Houston, Texas)

Hungarian Personal Names of the 16th Century (KWHS Proc. 1997)

Anaylsis, Armorial, and Ordinary of Armory Recorded in Paul Bergmans' Armorial de Flandre du XVIme siécle (KWHS Proc. 1997)

Systematics of Targionia and the Marchantiales (AIBS 1996)
Presentation of preliminary finding of dissertation research. see: American Journal of Botany 83 (6 Suppl.):19-20.

Internet Resources for Bryologists and Lichenologists (AIBS 1996)
Demonstration workshop of the new ABLS homepage.

Contract copy editor for Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers - reading and corrections for Encyclopedia of Paleontology (1998).

A Photographic Atlas for the Botany Laboratory, 2nd ed. - contributions, advice, and corrections (1995).

Advisor to Mr. Don Crank for production of photographic book of Arkansas ferns (1992).

Petit Jean - Index Editor (1989-90).

The Katherine Wheel - Editor, quarterly newsletter (1996-1998).

The Grapevine - Layout and Copy Editor, monthly newsletter (1986-88).

Academy of St. Gabriel - on-line research and consultation organization for onomastics, heraldry, and some genealogy, personal contributions in Dutch, Hungarian, and Slavic. (1997-present)

Oakland Wildflower Show - volunteer "expert" 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997.

Worker for The Crew, volunteer community service organization (2 yrs).

KHCA Radio - fill-in news announcer (1 yr; Searcy, AR).

Co-producer for HPL (6 yrs).
Several short televideo programs. Teleplay writer/editor, prop construction, videotape editing, sound mixing, and performance. Projects include: humorous short skits, commercials, information programs, and Richard II.

Contest Coordinator for North Garland Math and Science Competition (2 yrs).
Test co-writer for math and science tests, overall coordinator in charge of the "Super Quiz" final round of competition.

Academy of Saint Gabriel
American Bryological and Lichenological Society
American Fern Society
Botanical Society of America

Mu Alpha Theta, Vice-President (1986-1987).
Junior Engineering and Technical Society, President (1986-1987).
Region XII Academic Decathlon (1986-1988); Gold medals in Science and Super Quiz.
AIME Scholar (1988).
Salutatorian (1988); Honors in math, science, English, Spanish, and social sciences.
National Merit Scholar (1988): Scholarship from Honeywell.
Jo Cleveland Creative Writing Contest: 1st in poetry (1989), 1st in hymn lyrics (1991).
Research grant from Arkansas Native Plant Society (ANPS) for Arkansas floristics research (1991).
De Vita (Biological organization), Secretary (1990-1991).
Sigma Tau Sigma, Historian (1991-1992), Chairman of Constitutional Revision Committee (1992).
College Bowl, Captain of second-place team (1992).
Student spokesperson to Harding Science and Nursing Advisory Committee (1992).
Alpha Chi member, and nominee for Joseph E. Pryor Graduate Scholarship at regional convention (1992).
Ray Kinslow Award: "Most Promising Future as a Scientist" by combined Harding sciences (1992).
B.S., Magna cum laude (1992), Harding University.
Teaching assistantship and stipend at Duke University (1992-1993).
Duke Mellon Program in Systematics, member (1992-1993).
Graduate Student Instructorship at U.C.Berkeley (1994-1998).
U.C. Museum of Paleontology, Student Research Associate (1996-1998).
A. J. Sharp Best Student Paper (ABLS), Honorable Mention (1996).
Leaf of Merit, service award (1997).
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, U.C.Berkeley (1997-1998).