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FACULTYThe Hamilton biology faculty are active not just as teachers, but as scholars as well. Their research interests vary from cell biology, endocrinology, molecular genetics, and developmental biology to electron microscopy, plant physiology, and ecology. Wei-Jen Chang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology(wchang@hamilton.edu) Wei-jen Chang, assistant professor of biology, joined the Hamilton faculty in 2006. He earned a bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan University and his master’s and Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo. During his postdoctoral work at Princeton University Chang studied gene evolution and genome organization in unicellular organisms. He has written or co-written several professional articles in Gene, Protist, Molecular Biology and Evolution and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
David Gapp, Ph.D., Professor of Biology(dgapp@hamilton.edu) Gapp concentrates on comparative endocrinology of reptiles, with a focus on the action and evolution of gastrointestinal and pancreatic hormones. He has written and reviewed manuscripts for notable journals including The Journal of Comparative Endocrinology and Physiological Zoology, and he has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. His research focuses primarily on turtles and alligators, examining factors controlling insulin and gastrin release and looking particularly at seasonal aspects of pancreatic hormone release in turtles. His recent identification of "diabetes" in a local population of snapping turtles may provide an interesting model to pursue the study of this serious metabolic disease that affects a significant portion of the American population.
Jinnie Garrett, Ph.D., Professor of Biology(jgarrett@hamilton.edu) A member of the Hamilton College faculty since 1986, Garrett earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A & M University. Specializing in the molecular genetics of yeast, with interests in the ethical and social issues associated with genetic research, she has published articles for the Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Cell Biology, and Journal of General Microbiology. She has been awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and several private foundations. She is currently investigating the transport proteins that are actively involved in the uptake of amino acids in yeast cells. More about Jinnie Garrett ...
Herm Lehman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology(hlehman@hamilton.edu) Lehman's research is focused on the development and function of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are molecules released by neurons and mediate communication throughout the nervous system. Thus, the proper expression and maintenance of neurotransmitter levels is a critical, yet largely unknown, aspect of the metabolism of the neuron. More about Herman Lehman ...
Michael McCormick, Ph.D., University of Michigan, Associate Professor of Biology(mmccormi@hamilton.edu) Mike McCormick is a member of the Biology Department with a shared teaching commitment in the Geosciences Department. His research interests lie broadly in geomicrobiology and environmental chemistry. McCormick's current research focuses on electron transfer processes between metal respiring bacteria and metal oxides, the transformation of environmental contaminants by biogenic minerals, the microbial diversity of naturally occurring redox interfaces and the development of microbial fuel cells as a novel energy source. He joined Hamilton having completed a Ph.D. and post-doctoral fellowship in environmental engineering at the University of Michigan. McCormick has published in the journals Environmental Science and Technology and Water Research. McCormick’s research has been supported by grants from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 2007 McCormick was awarded a research grant by DOE to examine the role of biogenic Fe(II) minerals in treating uranium contamination and by NSF to characterize the microbial diversity of a novel cold seep community recently discovered off the Antarctic Peninsula. More about Mike McCormick ...SueAnn Miller, Ph.D., Professor of Biology(smiller@hamilton.edu) Miller investigates the influence of cell division and cell death on shaping early vertebrate embryos. Her research is conducted with undergraduate student collaborators and has been funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Research Foundation, and several other private foundations. She has published research in Developmental Biology, Development, Developmental Dynamics, The Anatomical Record, and the Journal of Experimental Zoology, and about education in The New Anatomist. Miller served on NSF granting panels and as chair of the Grants-in-Aid of Research Committee of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and she continues as a member of the committee. She served two terms as the first elected director of Sigma Xi's Baccalaureate College Constituency Group as well as on that board of directors and executive committee. Miller served on the education committee and was a science delegate of the American Association of Anatomists in the Peoples' Republic of China. Extensive world travel, most recently in Madagascar, enriches her broad view of biology that she shares with students. More about Sue Ann Miller ...William Pfitsch, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology(wpfitsch@hamilton.edu) Pfitsch researches how plants meet the challenges of living in potentially stressful conditions. In recent years, he has focused his research on the limitations of different plants in their natural habitats, specifically examining physiological and morphological differences of asters in the forest and open fields. Currently, Pfitsch focuses on plant interactions with other organisms (specifically symbiotic fungi and bacteria) that help them meet those challenges. Pfitsch earned his Ph.D. in botany at the University of Washington. His research has been supported by funds such as the Emerson Grant for Collaborative Research, and Howard Hughes Research. Currently, Pfitsch is working on a collaborative project with the Hamilton College Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Biology Ernest Williams, The Nature Conservancy, and the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation on a project which has received funding from the National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy. A member of the Environmental Studies Advisory Committee at Hamilton College, Pfitsch has published extensively. His articles were published in journals including Ecology and Oecologia, and he wrote a chapter for Tropical Alpine Environments: Plant Form and Function (Cambridge University Press). More about William Pfitsch ...
Pat Reynolds, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Associate Dean of Faculty(preynold@hamilton.edu) A National Science Foundation grantee, Reynolds is an expert on marine invertebrate biology, particularly the evolution of Mollusca -- the phylum that includes snails, clams and squid. Reynolds received his B.Sc. from University College, Galway, Ireland, and his Ph.D. from the University of Victoria, Canada. He has worked with biology student research assistants on cruises and at marine field stations along both coasts of North America and in Antarctica. His recent publications have appeared in Advances in Marine Biology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, and in Molecular systematics and phylogeography of mollusks (Smithsonian Institution Press). He is also the editor of Invertebrate Biology, an international journal of the American Microscopical Society. Reynolds has been a visiting scientist at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Caribo Cay, Belize, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Natural History Museum in London. More about Patrick Reynolds ...
Ashleigh Smythe, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology(asmythe@hamilton.edu) Ashleigh Smythe, visiting assistant professor of biology, earned a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of California, Davis. She was most recently at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Smythe has published papers in Nematology, Systematic Biology and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.Ernest Williams, Jr., Ph.D., Christian A. Johnson Professor of Biology(ewilliam@hamilton.edu) Through field work in New York, Wyoming and Mexico, and in collaboration with Hamilton students, Williams studies the population biology, chemical ecology, and conservation of butterflies. His most recent book is The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors, which is a field guide to patterns in nature and was released in 2005 by Oxford University Press. He is also co-author of The Stokes Butterfly Book, published by Little, Brown and Co., and editor and co-author of A Marsh for all Seasons, published locally by the Utica Marsh Council. His recent publications have appeared in Journal of Insect Conservation, Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, the Journal of Animal Ecology, Resoration Ecology, The Journal of Biogeography, and American Butterflies. Williams currently works with Associate Professor of Biology Bill Pfitsch on habitat restoration and management in the Rome Sand Plains of central New York.
Ken Bart, Director of Microscopy and Imaging Facility, Lecturer in Biology(kbart@hamilton.edu) Bart is an electron microscopist who was trained in phycology/microbiology at SUNY at Binghamton. His research interests are diverse and include pathogenic fungal control, microbial biofilm development and recently the microscopic analysis of Antarctic ice cores. Bart's research has been supported by a National Science Foundation -ILI grant and has been published in journals such as the Journal of Cell Biology, Microscopy Research Techniques, Fungal Genetics and Biology. More about Kenneth Bart ...
Damhnait McHugh, Ph.D., Visiting Mellon Faculty Exchange Scholar in BiologyDamhnait McHugh, Visiting Mellon Faculty Exchange Scholar in Biology, comes to Hamilton from Colgate University, where she is associate professor of biology. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Victoria, Canada, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. McHugh’s areas of specialty are evolution and development of marine invertebrates, and her current research focuses on differential gene expression patterns in larvae with contrasting development modes. Her work has been published in Invertebrate Biology, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Marine Biology, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and other journals.Back to Biology overview. |
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Hamilton graduates who majored in Biology are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including: |
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