Hamilton faculty Wei-Jen Chang (biology), Natalia Connolly (physics), and Alistair Campbell (computer science) have just been awarded a Multi-Investigator Cottrell College Science Award by the Research Corporation.  This award, in the amount of $100,000, is for developing novel computational techniques for investigating gene interaction networks in fish parasite called Ichthyopthirius multifiliis (Ich).

Eli Bunzel ’13 and Dominic Veconi ’15 are carrying out their summer research by examining single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes originally discovered and researched by Matthew Therkelsen ’12. They’re working under Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang with May graduate Leonard Teng ’12.

The Antarctic Sun, a publication of the U.S. Antarctic Program, featured research performed by Eugene Domack, the J.W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies, and Associate Professor of Biology Michael McCormick as part of the LARISSA (LARsen Ice Shelf System Research, Antarctica) Project.  Domack is the principal investigator on the LARISSA program and, while at Hamilton, has conducted marine geology expeditions to Antarctica for the last 25 years.

Three Hamilton College faculty members were approved for tenure by the College’s Board of Trustees during a recent meeting. The Board granted tenure to Wei-Jen Chang (biology), Myriam Cotten (chemistry) and Heather Merrill (Africana studies).

Two articles by Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Biology Ernest Williams were published recently. “Long term effects of climate on two pond predators” appeared in the April issue of American Midland Naturalist, an international journal on ecology, evolution and the environment. Previously available only online, “Decline of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: Is the migratory phenomenon at risk?” was published in the March print issue of Insect Conservation and Diversity.

Professor of Biology Sue Ann Miller served on the Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) Committee of Sigma Xi on April 13-14 at the headquarters of The Scientific Research Society in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Professor of Biology Ernest Williams took six students to the Northeast Natural History Conference 2012, held April 16-18 at the OnCenter in Syracuse, N.Y., where he and the students all made presentations.

Professor of Biology Jinnie Garrett presented a poster, “High Resolution Characterization of Bacterial Diversity and Geochemistry in a Meromictic Lake (Green Lake, Fayetteville, NY)” on her research done in collaboration with Associate Professor of Biology Michael McCormick, at a meeting sponsored by the Department of Energy, March 20-24, at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Calif. 

What does one pack for a trip to an Antarctic island?  Items not found on a typical packing checklist, as some Hamilton students learned this week when they prepared for an expedition to Robertson Island.  It’s week two of the Antarctica 2012 research expedition, aboard the ship Nathaniel B. Palmer for Natalie Elking ’12, Manique Talaia-Murray ’12, Andrew Seraichick ’13, Elizabeth Bucceri ’11 and Associate Professor of Biology Mike McCormick. 

An international team of scientists - including Associate Professor of Biology Mike McCormick, alumna Elizabeth Bucceri ’11 and students Natalie Elking ’12, Manique Talaia-Murray ’12 and Andrew Seraichick ’13 - have embarked on the third cruise of the LARISSA program aboard the U.S. Antarctic Program ship Nathaniel B. Palmer.