Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Biology News


Spring Symposium addresses “Politics of Consumption” at Lycoming College

As part of the Lycoming College Spring Symposium, “The Politics of Consumption: Race, Class, and Ethics,” Lycoming College will host Joseph Ewoodzie, Jr., Ph.D., associate professor of sociology and Vann Professor of Racial Justice at Davidson College, for a talk about the role that food plays in cultural and racial diversity. The event is planned for Wednesday, March 20, 4:30 p.m., in the Trogner Presentation Room, Krapf Gateway Center, and is free and open to the public.

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Legendary monsters invade Lycoming College first-year classroom

Monsters are a common component of myths, legends, literature, movies, and the imagination. But how do they work, and what would the world need to look like for Godzilla or Frankenstein to walk among us? Led by Mary Kate O’Donnell, assistant professor of biology, students enrolled in Lycoming College’s First Year Seminar, “The Biology of Monsters,” analyze monster stories using modeling methods, such as estimating body size and weight for King Kong, estimating the caloric content of blood and number of humans required to meet the metabolic needs of a vampire, or determining the rate of spread of a zombie disease.

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The journey of a lifetime; student teaching in Alaska

When Allison Butler visited Lycoming College as a high school senior, she saw a display about the College’s Rural Alaska Teaching Program and said to her parents, “Wouldn’t that be cool?” Fast forward four years, and Butler ’24, a native of Pine Grove, Pa., majoring in biology-ecology and working toward a teaching certification for grades 7-12, is currently completing her student teaching requirement on the Alaskan tundra. Madisyn Neal ’24, a biology major from Roaring Branch, Pa., earning a grade 7-12 teaching certification, is also student teaching in Alaska.

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Bird Lore: Bird calls and songs

Mary E. Morrison, a member of the Lycoming College Biology Department and Lycoming Audubon Society, recently contributed an article about bird songs to the Shamokin News Item.

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New faculty arrive at Lycoming College for 2023-24 academic year

Lycoming College welcomed several new faculty members to campus for the 2023-24 academic year, bringing a breadth of knowledge to classrooms at the nationally-recognized liberal arts and sciences institution.

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WNEP: Fossil find: 300-million-year-old bone found in our area

Dave Broussard spoke to Newswatch 16 about the spiny shark jaw bone that he and junior Sage Kennedy discovered and wrote about.

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Lycoming College paleontologists uncover 362-million-year-old jaw specimens of extinct spiny sharks

A research paper written by a faculty-student duo from Lycoming College was recently published online in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, in collaboration with additional paleontologists. The paper, “First records of Ischnacanthiformes (“Acanthodii”) from the Upper Devonian Catskill Formation in north-central Pennsylvania, USA,” details recently discovered jaw specimens of acanthodians, a group of extinct fishes commonly known as “spiny sharks” that lived from approximately 442 to 252 million years ago.

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Lycoming College student wins undergraduate conference award for best paper with uplifting story

At the inaugural Lycoming College Undergraduate Humanities Research Conference, Spanish major and biology minor Jeovannee Castillo ’23 won the award for best research by a Lycoming College student for his paper, “The Cause and Cycle of Child Labor in Mexico.” Castillo’s presentation covered both his impressive research into the subject, as well as his own firsthand experiences having lived and worked as a youth in Mexico.

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Skeath Scholars award helps biology student discover a passion for immunology

As a first-year student, Carter Branigan ’24 started at Lycoming knowing he belonged somewhere in the sciences, but narrowing down the field proved a bit trickier. A moment of clarity arrived when he was introduced to immunology in Biology 347. Armed with a Skeath Scholars award, Branigan set out to find an enhanced academic experience that could help him fully commit to the field.

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Hemlocks to Hellbenders

Biology Research Associate Peter Petokas was interviewed on the Hemlocks to Hellbenders podcast, sharing his expertise on hellbenders.

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Lions, tigers, and bears: Lycoming College student interns at animal sanctuary

To gain hands-on experience, make professional connections, and develop intellectually and personally–these are the motives behind Lycoming College’s support of enhanced academic experiences. While many college students return home for the summer, students at Lycoming are encouraged to seek out and apply to internships, one student being Hannah Seebold ’24, biology major in the pre-veterinary medicine program. This summer, she interned at T&D’s Cats of the World, an animal sanctuary located in Penns Creek for unwanted, abused, and mistreated exotic pets and animals. Watch this video about her experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylD-1pP0Chs.

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Lycoming College welcomes new faculty for the 2022-23 academic year

Lycoming College is pleased to welcome eleven faculty members to its community this fall, bringing with them extensive knowledge and experience in their fields. With ecocriticism on the theatre stage, operatic styles in the music hall, Anglo-modernism in literature, expertise in stellar evolution, and more, these professors will enrich the classrooms at Lycoming College.

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Telegraph India: Higher education in the US: Looking beyond rankings and brand names

Telegraph India writes about Lycoming College 2022 grad Sohini Mukherjee, who is headed to PSU to pursue a doctoral degree in biology.

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