Biology

Students will give short presentations about their summer research as part of the Biology seminar series. These presentations give students and faculty an opportunity to learn more about the exciting research that is being conducted by Middlebury students over the summer.

Sept 24: Thiglin Shi & Thomas Khodadad (Spritzer lab); Dephne Halley (Pask lab); Jenny Pushner (Spatafora lab); Tina Cai (Moody lab)
Oct 8: Ben Morris & Aiden Masters (Pask lab); Oliva Olson (Mychajliw lab); Emily Bulczynski (Spatafora lab); Malia Armstrong (Moody lab)

As a graduate student, Dr. Singleton defined the role of Sox11, a prominent transcription factor in mammalian and non-mammalian neural development, using RNA-sequencing and protein mapping both in vivo and in vitro. Her postdoctoral research addresses the molecular and cellular events disrupted in Menkes disease, a progressive form of childhood neurodegeneration that is triggered by dysregulation of copper. To read more about Dr Singleton visit: go/bio_seminars

The Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering (VASE), will host its annual fall meeting on Tuesday, September 22, 2021 at 5:00pm on the Middlebury College campus. This meeting will convene in-person for the first time since 2019, and will be offered in compliance with current COVID-19 guidelines. VASE is excited to be hosting Dr. Bill McKibben who will deliver a keynote address on the topic of climate change and global warming. This meeting will begin with a brief awards ceremony to honor VASE’s Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year awardees.

Thesis Presentations by Eli Miller and Anthony Bongiorno
Zoom Link: go.middlebury.edu/MBB-BIOThesisPresMay19

For more information see: http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/bio/news/events-coming-up

Thesis Presentations by Alitzel Villanueva and Warren Galloway.
Zoom Link: go.middlebury.edu/ESBIThesisPresMay18
For more information see: http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/bio/news/events-coming-up

MBBC Thesis presentations by Evan Fedorov and Anna Goldstein
Zoom link: go.middlebury.edu/MBBThesisPresMay14
More Details: www.middlebury.edu/academics/bio/news/events-coming-up

 

Dr. Datta’s lab focuses on understanding how sensory cues — particularly odors — are detected by the nervous system, and how the brain transforms information about the presence of salient sensory cues into patterns of motivated action. 

Register in advance, by visiting: go.middlebury.edu/BioSeminarDatta

Sponsored by the Department of Biology.

Talk by Vaughn Cooper Ph.D., Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The Cooper laboratory studies how bacterial populations evolve to adapt to new hosts and environments, particularly in biofilms. Other major interests include the evolution of antimicrobial resistance and why genome regions mutate/evolve at different rates. Register in advance, by visiting: go.middlebury.edu/BioSeminarCooper.

Sponsored by the Department of Biology.

During this present phase of neoliberal capitalist colonial crisis there has been a considerable increase in the number of mainstream institutions claiming to be interested in “anti-racism”, including educational & medical institutions. While we see the word “anti-racism” everywhere in the private & public spheres, we see no changes in the behaviors nor the outcomes of the actions of these scientists claiming to be against racism, especially in the field of biology. Utilizing both settler-colonial critique & evolutionary thinking, Dr.

Race/ism was created by European colonizers in order to seize land, labor, & gain control of the means of production. For every capitalist crisis, market disaster, & form of resistance that colonizers met from colonized peoples, they created a “new race”. Many scholars’ approach to battling the racist wielding of biological essentialism by European scientists has focused on highlighting the dangers of the biologicalization of race. Dr.