Biology Faculty

Mary Allen is a microbiologist with interests in microbial community composition and factors that influence biofilm formation and persistence. She is currently conducting research projects on the microbial community colonizing cones of the hops plant, Humulus lupulus, which are used in brewing beer, and on the effects of spices on biofilms.  Mary also directs students in collaboration with Hartwick’s Center for Craft Food and Beverage on projects to improve testing services provided for regional and national craft food and beverage producers.

My primary research interest is subsurface microbial ecology. Currently, a vast portion of the microorganisms living in the subsurface have yet to be cultivated. As a result, the metabolic potential of these organisms is unknown. I work to combine geochemical and genomic analyses to decipherer the metabolisms of these uncultivated organisms and their ecological roles in subsurface environments.

Eric is a molecular and cellular biologist studying functions of the ubiquitin system, which, selectively targets proteins to be degraded by the proteasome, orchestrates responses to various stresses, and controls protein trafficking. He is particularly interested in how different types of ubiquitin polymers signal these distinct functions. He is also developing a yeast model of a rare disease called Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, in which individuals develop severe neurological and behavioral symptoms due to defects in a gene affecting purine metabolism. Recently, he has been focusing on the regulation of a family of yeast purine-cytosine permeases, including the transcriptional controls over their expression, and how, after these proteins bind to their cargo, they are targeted by the ubiquitin system for endocytosis and delivery to the vacuole.

Allen Crooker is an entomologist with a broad background in the sciences and specializations in microscopy and acarology. He is also trained as an environmental pathologist with specializations in anatomy, neurobiology, and heavy metal pathology. Allen’s past work has included ultrastructural studies of mites, development and characterization of pharmaceuticals, metal pathology, and mite taxonomy. He is currently studying the taxonomy and distribution of marine littoral arthropod communities in the American Atlantic boreal region and in Madagascar.

Peter Fauth is a broadly trained, field biologist who studies the behavior and demography of threatened populations and communities. He is currently conducting forest, bird and odonate inventories at nearby Robert V. Riddell and Gilbert Lake State Parks.

Josh Garrett is a molecular and cellular physiologist by training. His current research projects are aimed at developing a better understanding of the endothelium, a layer of cells that line the walls of all blood vessels acting as a selective barrier that regulates the passage of fluid, macromolecules, and white cells from the vascular space to the interstitium. Specifically, he is interested in how endothelial cells perform this function under normal conditions and during acute and chronic inflammation that contributes to the pathophysiology of diseases such as septic shock, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and atherosclerosis.

Doug Hamilton is a molecular plant biologist using current molecular techniques in various projects involving plants, bacteria, and fungi.

Mark Kuhlmann is a marine and aquatic field biologist with interests in the behavioral, population, and community ecology of invertebrates and fishes. He is currently conducting research projects on the behavioral and population ecology of crayfish in local streams and research on octopus in the Bahamas.

My research interests include developmental and cytogenetic studies in amphibians, especially salamanders, including evolutionary cytogenetics and genomics, genome size, limb and organ regeneration, and amphibian deformities.  Recent work has involved international collaborations with colleagues in Japan, Slovenia, England, Russia, and Canada. Current research includes cytogenetics and limb developmental evolution in Asian hynobiid salamanders, genetics, cytogenetics, and developmental evolution of cave adaptations in the European blind cave salamander (Proteus anguinus), and genome size evolution and its phenotypic correlates in salamanders, especially Neotropical plethodontids.

Linda Swift is a physiologist with interests in medical physiology, medicinal plants and prevention of malnutrition in remote villages in Asia. She is currently conducting research to obtain data from tribal children 0-5 years of age. Her research topics include: growth stunting, incidence of anemia, protein deficiency, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, incidence of parasites, infections from water quality, and lack of motor skill development. All of her research involves student collaboration.

Munir Syed is a Doctor of Medicine with M.Phil. in Medical Microbiology. He taught Clinical Pathology at his alma mater, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar before immigrating to United States. Besides other biology courses, he primarily teaches Microbiology of Disease and Pathophysiology to nursing majors at Hartwick College. Munir Syed also teaches online Pathophysiology during J Term and summer sessions.