Biology
Recent breakthroughs - such as molecular-level discoveries in the mechanics of life, innovations in health-related biology, and initiatives sustaining environmental balance - make the biological sciences an exciting field of study. Learn more about the Department of Biology by visiting www.bio.cmich.edu
Fall 2008 Highlights
- The department awarded nearly $25,000 in scholarships to 47 students on September 18, 2008. The reception for students and their families was attended by State Representative Bill Caul as well as biology faculty members and representatives from the college's dean's office.
- The biology department's emphasis on faculty-mentored student research has paid off in the form of two recent awards to undergraduate students at conferences. Katelyn Schumacher's work was recognized as "Best Undergraduate Research" at the American Society of Mammalogy Meeting. Schumacher works in the lab of Dr. Brad Swanson. James Reinecke was named the "Undegraduate Poster Award Winner" at the Society for Neuroscience Michigan Chapter (MiSfN) conference. Dr. Michelle Steinhilb is his research mentor.
- Outstanding teaching by biology faculty members has been highlighted recently, with two faculty members receiving the CST Award for Outstanding Teaching - Elizabeth Alm and Tracy Galarowicz. Scott McNaught was named as one of the recipients of the CMU Excellence in Teaching Award.
- Associate professor Brad Swanson recently attended the Marine Mammals of the Holarctic conference in Odessa, Ukraine. There were over 300 people in attendance, with 200+ talks and 12 countries participating. Swanson was invited to be one of the 12 plenary session speakers and his talk was based on graduate student Stephanie Sell's M.S. work (for which she won an award for best graduate student research at the 2007 Society for Conservation Biology meeting in South Africa, where over 2,000 people attended).
- Graduate student Molly Jud's thesis was selected for a 2007-2008 CMU Outstanding Thesis/Dissertation Award and as CMU's nomination for the Midwestern Association of Graduate School's 2009 Distinguished Master's Thesis Award. Jud was a student under professor Jennifer Schisa, held a "Provost RA" appointment while at CMU, and is now continuing her studies as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah.
