Dr. Mary E. Morrison
Biology: Assistant Professor
Pre-Health: Assistant Professor of Biology
Pre-Medicine: Assistant Professor of Biology
Environmental Science: Assistant Professor
Special Interest: cell biology, neuroscience, developmental biology, virology, and biology education for non-majors
Possible Research Projects:
- Cell biology of the brain: Granule neuron regulation of Purkinje cell development
- Molecular biology of the brain: Gene expression changes and signaling events during development of the cerebellum
- Mammalian Genetics: effects of mutations on mouse brain development
- Biotechnology: developing methods for gene transfer into neurons
Dr. Morrison ran a research lab at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego for 3 years prior to arriving at Lycoming-she has studied the development of the cerebellum, a brain region responsible for balance and coordination of motion, and has supervised numerous students doing independent studies and honors projects involving projects relating to brain development.
She teaches Cells, Genes, and Society, an introductory course for non-biology majors, Immunology, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology. Dr. Morrison introduced a new Biology Research Methods course in which students develop their own cell and molecular research projects. She has also helped establish a state-of-the-art microscopic imaging facility at Lycoming.
Dr. Morrison has mentored undergraduate students who have gone on to graduate and medical studies at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, U Penn, Temple and Hershey Medical Center to name a few. She advises students through the Health Professions Advisory Committee, and has served on the Independent Studies committee and the Writing Across the Curriculum Committees at Lycoming.
Dr. Morrison has served on the board of the Lycoming County Audubon Society, and has experience handling and training raptors (birds of prey: hawks, falcons, eagles, and owls). She also studies the endangered desert bighorn sheep populations in the Anza-Borrego desert east of San Diego: this involves backpacking in 115 degree heat up boulder-strewn hillsides to catch a glimpse of the sheep as they bring their lambs to isolated waterholes. To complement her lifelong passion for biology, she is an avid amateur naturalist, animal tracker, backpacker, kayak enthusiast, skier, ice skater, and volleyball player.
Her personal website can be found at http://www.lycoming.edu/~morrison/