Biology News & Events

A self-professed "outdoor bum," Peter Hodum, professor of biology and environmental policy and decision making, spends his non-teaching days by the sea studying birds. Seabirds were a passion he discovered as a first-year student doing summer research at Bowdoin College. That opportunity was "revelatory and transformative," he says. Now, his research centers on seabird conservation, specifically community-based conservation – an approach that centers local communities in the work.
 

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The Department of Biology is thrilled to announce that Dr. Katherine Crocker will be joining us as a tenure-line Assistant Professor this fall. Katherine is an interdisciplinary biologist studying how the environmental conditions experienced by an individual affect the health and phenotype of their *descendants*. These transgenerational effects of environmental stress are fascinating, and we can’t wait to learn more about them from Katherine and their future.

Rose Marie Leslie ’12 has a real passion for providing care and health education to patients of all ages, and she is making a difference by helping slow the spread of health misinformation by using TikTok. After graduating from the University of Puget Sound with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a minor in Spanish, Leslie attended medical school at the University of Minnesota and started posting a "Daily Doctor Fact" on TikTok. In late 2019 she posted about vaping which got a big enough response that Rolling Stone magazine, Good Morning America, and others did stores about her! Leslie is now a primary care doctor at Allina Health in Faribault, MN and continues to be active on TikTok. 

Scientists are puzzled by the amount of methane in the ocean, so Clarissa Troutman ’22, who has a molecular and cellular biology major, is looking for answers. Troutman was digging into the so-called "marine methane paradox" during the summer of 2021 alongside her faculty advisor, Professor Oscar Sosa. She collected  samples of seawater and plankton from Commencement Bay, enriched them in the lab, and then measured their methane concentration. Her research is helping scientists understand the role of plankton in the global carbon cycle. 

Peter was awarded the Walter Lowrie Sustained Service Award for his incredible service to the Puget Sound community. A stalwart champion of interdisciplinary thinking and experiential learning, Peter has helped build institutional programs that make a Puget Sound education distinctive. From expanding the community engagement focus on the Slater Museum of Natural History, to developing what has become the Environmental Policy & Decision-Making Program, to his innovative inter-institutional and international teaching, Peter’s work is felt across campus, across the community, and beyond borders. Thank you, Peter! We are so pleased you have received this awesome recognition of your work.

We are delighted to congratulate Puget Sound Biology faculty member Andreas Madlung, who has been named as a Distinguished Professor! Distinguished Professors are selected as the very top few Full Professor files read by the Faculty Advancement Committee each year. This award celebrates his exceptional teaching, research, and service to the university.

Congratulations to Peter Hodum who, not only has just received a promotion to Full Professor, but has also won the Bartanen Faculty Research. Peter has an active research lab with multiple lines of research centered around conservation biology of birds and island ecosystems, and with direct applications to boots-on-the-ground conservation work and public policy. He is a fantastic mentor to our students and a valued collaborator to local and international scientists. Just since 2019, he has contributed to 9 peer-reviewed publications, 1 book chapter, 1 state recovery plan, 1 oral conference presentation, and 1 poster conference presentation; he also has obtained $750,000+ in grant funds and written two popular articles.

Dr. Bryan Thines who was awarded tenure in May 2021! We are thrilled! Bryan is a true teacher-scholar, an excellent molecular biologist, a fearless innovator, and a fantastic mentor to our research students.