thursday, january 19, 1978
daily nebraskan
page 7
By Mary Fastenau
He wears cowboy boots instead of dress
shoes. He dresses in corduroy pants and
sweater vests instead of conservative black
suits and ties. He looks like a college stu
dent instead of a professor. He has proto
zoa for pets instead of cats.
He is John Janovy, Jr., 39, a UNL life
science professor who destroys stereotypes
instead of conforming to them.
Armed with quick wit, a ready laugh and
a Southern drawl, the blond Janovy sits
in his lab surrounded by test tubes and
centrifuges. He describes himself with a
range of adjectives that include handsome,
intelligent and articulate. The description is
followed by rounds of laughter from
Janovy and his two female lab assistants.
Janovy was one of four United States
scientists selected to attend a week-and-a-half
work session during December in
Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was
sponsored by the World Health Organiza
tion. Research into a cure for leishmaniasis,
a tropical disease, earned Janovy a ticket to
Geneva. He has been researching preven
tion of this disease which is recognized by
the World Health Organization as one of
six tropical diseases that are major health
problems.
-Janovy called the trip "a tremendous
honor", but said it was not one of his
goals.
"IVe always wanted to study animals,"
the University of Oklahoma graduate said.
"Going to Geneva is not one of the things
I always wanted to do."
When Janovy starts talking about "my
animals" as he calls them, his enthusiasm
is evident.
He goes to the refrigerator behind him
and takes out a test tube filled with a
reddish liquid. He explains the tube
contains rabbit's blood with a culture from
Khartorin, a city on the Nile, in the Sudan.
Janovy says when he examines a
culture, he sees worldwide history and cus
toms. "I feel part of that part of the world
every time I look at that," Janovy said.
He said it also is exciting to have some
thing in his lab which is of worldwide
fame.
Janovy's animals are protozoa, which he
says have characteristics of both plants and
cells, He said they are easy to handle, in
teresting and in some cases "almost ideal"
for lab research.
Protozoa may not be the type of
animals most people choose as pets, but
Janovy considers them more interest
ing than dogs, cats and horses. He said he
enjoys working with them because they
live their lives apart from human society.
"Animals that have submitted to human
domestication have given up part of them
selves," Janovy said.
Janovy said different strains of protozoa
have individual personalities. He said they
require different environments and serve
different functions.
Some of the most interesting are those
that rearrange their internal structure at
for zoology prof t
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There's nothing routine about a career
with Schlurnberger. Just ask Larry
Gutrrtan who joined us a year ago.
"Working as a field engineer for
Schlurnberger is everything I thought it
would be," says Larry. "I like to be out
doors. Work with my hands. And keep
my own hours.
"I'm responsible for myself, my crew
and everything that happens on the
job. It's really exciting to make things
work out right.
"Some people aren't cut out for this.
It takes a special person. I work long,
hard hours and sometimes it's tough
to stay awake.
"But it's worth it. Because I'm satis
fied with myself and my work... and you
can't beat the money."
Ready for a challenge? Maybe this is
for you. If you're a graduating senior in
electrical or mechanical engineering, or
physics, let's talk. Please contact your
placement office.
Openings are available throughout
the USA
Schlurnberger Well Services
P.O. Box 2175
Houston, Texas 77001
If you aro interested in interviewing
with Schlurnberger, please attend an
information meeting (whether you
are on the interview schedule or not)
on February 1 at 6:30 PM, Room 232,
Student Union.
Interview dates: February 2 & 3.
,
ENGINEERS
An Equal Opportunity
Employer M, F
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Photo by Bob Pearson
John Janovy, Jr., a UNL life science professor considers his pet protozoa more
interesting than cats, dogs or horses.
certain times of their lives, he said.
He said one of the problems he faces
while teaching is to expand the definition
Df animals to mean more than dogs, cats
and horses. He said one of his favorite
tricks is to have freshmen zoology students
list a hundred animals. When students have
difficulties he mentions that there are more
than a quarter of a million kinds of beetles
alone.
Janovy has a unique approach to his re
search with protozoa.
"I really don't think of it as science,"
Janovy explained, "but as adu' entertain
ment. It is an intellectual experience which
allows you to be in contact with other
humans and living things."
Protozoa are not the only animals
Janovy studies. He studies fish diseases on
the Platte River and snails in the western
part of the state.
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