News & Events
BIRDS ON THE BRAIN
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.
Graduation 2022
The Department of Biology wishes to acknowledge a heartfelt congratulations to the graduating class of 2022! You have completed one of the stepping stones on your life journey. Now, on to the next stone.
Watch and listen to this marvelous biological environment that surrounds you, that is you, and continue to learn from it. Now is the time to use your education and the skills you've learned here at the University of Puget Sound to push the boundaries of the known, explore the unknown, and make the discoveries that will help our planet become a better place.
We have been a family and a community these last four years. And although our bittersweet parting will be replaced with cherished memories, we are excited to share all that you will accomplish in the future. So please stay in contact with us.
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Graduating Biology Class of 2022
To the graduating class of 2022, the faculty and staff of the Department of Biology would like to send a very heartfelt congratulations! You made it! Thank you for all of your hard work and contributions that have made our biology family and community such a success. You will be missed, we assure you. Graduation is an important moment. But, as all endings do, it signifies a new beginning. Graduation is not the end goal in itself, but it is instead a stepping stone along the larger journey on the road of your life. We hope that all of your future aspirations and dreams in life are reached.
Please stay in touch and send us updates as you travel down that road. We love hearing from our alumni!
Biology Department Awards Reception 2022
Gordon D. Alcorn Award
This award is given to the student considered to be the outstanding senior in biology based on a combination of scholarship, research, and service to the department & community.
Winners:
- Clarissa Troutman - "Clarissa distinguished herself for excelling academically not only in her Biology courses but also in Chemistry, where she demonstrated strong scientific skills. Outside the classroom, Clarissa pushed the boundaries of her learning and scientific abilities further by taking on research projects in Genomics that required immersing herself in Bioinformatics and computer programming."
- Sabine Angier - "Sabine distinguished herself for having a resolute engagement with interdisciplinary research encompassing Biology, Chemistry, and Ocean Science. In the classroom, Sabine challenged herself academically by taking on rigorous courses outside of her comfort zone in an effort to better prepare herself for a future career, surpassing expectations and surprising even herself."
Beverly Pierson Research Engagement Award
This award is given to the graduating student who has demonstrated exceptional research dedication and engagement.
Winners:
- Lauren Augusta - "Lauren distinguished herself by working in the Martin lab for 3 years displaying hard work, leadership, humor, and unfailing positivity. Her 2 summers of university-supported research project explored bioluminescence, using aspects of in vitro evolution, bioinformatics, and experimental design. Lauren's research revealed 3 new and undescribed genes involved in the regulation of bacterial bioluminescence. Lauren's future as a microbiologist is "bright" (accepted to 4 PhD programs) if you will forgive the pun, and it has been an honor to have her in the Martin lab."
- Bryce Poplawsky (not pictured) - "Bryce distinguished himself as an active and engaged member of the Hodum lab for 3 years, including 2 years of university-supported summer research and a semester of directed research. Impressively, each of those studies focused on completely different projects, from the pupping phenology and population numbers of harbor seals, and habitat usage and foraging behaviors of diving ducks, to his senior thesis research on marine hotspots for an endangered seabird, the Marbled Murrelet. He brings a thoughtful and careful approach to his research. And he moved between projects, including challenging himself to learn new methods and quantitative analyses, with impressive facility."
DeMarais Outstanding Service Award
This award is given to the graduate who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to service to the Biology Department and the broader community during their time at the University of Puget Sound.
Winner:
- Shani Zelenko - "Shani distinguished herself for her dedication to teaching and tutoring. Shani has served as an instructor's assistant for 9 years (including one summer session). She has volunteered her time as a Phi Sigma tutor for countless hours, helped guide younger students as they've embarked on independent research projects, and supported the biology faculty through her work in the biology store room. Her leadership, her ability to connect with her students, her gift for pedagogy, and her keen interest in helping others understand and appreciate the wonders of biology make Shani a highly deserving inaugural DeMarais Outstanding Service Award recipient.
Outstanding Symposium Presentation
This award is given in recognition of an outstanding oral presentation describing excellent biological research at the Phi Sigma Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Winner:
- Sabine Angier - "Sabine's talk offered a clear reminder that our planet's thin water layer called the ocean plays a pivotal role in regulating the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that contribute to climate change. In her presentation, Sabine' took us on a tour through the tropical open ocean, the microbial genes and enzymes that produce methane in this ecosystem, and the laboratory instruments that allowed her to measure methane in two-year's worth of samples. With these samples, Sabine began to construct one of the first methane time-series in the open ocean. Thank you, Sabine for an illustrative presentation, and for your diligent and high quality technical work on this project.
Outstanding IA Award
Given to the students who have demonstrated outstanding dedication and talent for helping other students to learn and appreciate the science of biology during their service as an Instructor Assistant.
Winner:
- Colby Smith – “Colby has served as an outstanding and committed Instructional Assistant for Biology 112 and Biology 211. He anticipated needs in the classroom and was independent and organized. His dedication to helping his student peers learn was notable. He offered to hold extra office hours, guided study sessions, and even an exam review session. He far exceeded expectations of an IA and is highly deserving of this award!”
University Academic Honors-Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude
Awarded by the university to degree candidates who have exhibited academic excellence and breadth of scholarly achievement and who have a GPA of 3.7 or higher.
Winners:
- Katie Carley
- Clarissa Troutman
- Hailee Ueyama
- Marley Weiss
- Claire Zable
- Kylee Roath
- Natalie Yates
- Sarah Blumenfeld
- Ingrid De Leon De La Rosa
- Sabine Angier
- Greta Stellrecht
- Jordan Holman
- Annie Hagen
- Shane Himeda
- Nisa Bhatia
Honors in Biology
These graduates are selected by the biology department based on their research, GPA, and contribution to the University. Only 10% of the graduating seniors can receive departmental honors. The award is noted on their transcripts and in the commencement program.
Winners:
- Bryce Poplawsky
- Sarah Alchemy
- Angel Ai-Perreira
- Lucy Ogburn
- Nick Finley
Outstanding Sophomore Award
Awarded to students who do exceptional work in the two biology courses they take during their second year.
Winners:
- Coby Rodriguez
- Dani Kaes
- Dillon Conner
- Kiara Hamlin
- Martin Hendrickson
- Moira Gaffney
- Nicole Carver
Outstanding First-Year Student Award
Conferred on students who do outstanding work in their first-year biology courses. In conjunction with this award, the Phi Sigma Honors Society acknowledges these students with Certificate of Membership Offer to join Phi Sigma.
Winners:
- Abby Steward
- Amanda Dougherty
- Maddie Wolf-Gee
- Paige Laurie
- Xander Noble
Welcome Dr. Katherine Crocker
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.
The Tiktok Doctor
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.
Where is the methane in the ocean coming from?
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.
Tomato harvest in the Madlung lab
The fruit in the field and greenhouse are now ripening quickly all at once. We have dozens of different genotypes of new light receptor gene combinations that we have bred using Mendelian genetics and are isolating using molecular genotyping. After a 2-hour treatment with dilute hydrochloric acid to mimic passage through the stomach of a seed disperser the seeds are dried (photo on the right) before they are used for phenotypic experiments or for growing, crossing, and segregation in the next generation
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Sue Hannaford’s student, Adam Schmidt, dives into the mysteries of Parkinson’s disease with the help of bees
On the rooftop of Thompson Hall, a figure emerges in a full beekeeper suit, a head-to-toe covering including a white jumpsuit, a wide-brimmed hat with a mesh face veil, and thick protective gloves. Carefully, he approaches the hive, a five-foot-tall stack of wooden boxes located behind a greenhouse near the edge of the roof. Adam Schmidt ’23, the molecular and cellular biology major inside the suit, isn’t interested in the colony of several thousand bees for their honey—he wants to study their brains in an attempt to understand the progression of neurodegenerative diseases in humans.
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Photos by Sy Bean
NSF awarded a Research Experience for Post-Bac Students (REPS) supplement to Sam Barnwell and the Madlung lab
| NSF awarded a Research Experience for Post-Bac Students (REPS) supplement to Sam Barnwell and the Madlung lab! This supplement is specifically for recently graduated students who missed out on a research experience due to COVID-19 during their time in college. The supplement pays 12 months of salary for the post-bac for doing full-time research in an NSF-supported lab. Sam started with us last week and already got her first batch of DNA sequencing results back last Friday. Congratulations on the NSF award and welcome to the lab, Sam, we are glad you are here! |
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Summer Quest Symposium
This September, summer research students from all across campus gathered together for the Summer Quest Symposium where they presented their research to the campus community. It was inspiring to see so much incredible, student-driven research. Biology had 23 students presenting at the conference and they all did great
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Faculty Awards & Recognition
Portrait of Peter Wimberger wearing a rain jacket and a ball cap standing outside
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.
Andreas Madlung
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.
Peter Hodum
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
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.