Category: "Biology"

In pursuit of developing models and algorithms for reconstructing gene histories across multiple species, Harvey Mudd College researchers have completed a paper that has been accepted to the 11th Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Health Informatics (ACM-BCB 2020). Computer science professor Yi-Chieh (Jessica) Wu and seven students will present “An […]

Harvey Mudd College welcomes three scholars— Morgan Carr-Markell, Sarah Kavassalis and Joseph Wirth—who have been hired as part of a pilot three-year postdoctoral program that responds to the increased demand for faculty members equipped with the ability to teach computational skills. With the Postdoctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Computation (PIC), the College seeks to address the […]

The founding member and former chair of the Department of Biology at Harvey Mudd College William K. Purves, passed away April 22 in Costa Mesa with family at his side. Purves was the Stuart Mudd Professor of Biology from 1977 to 1995. He served as chair of the department of computer science from 1985 to 1990 […]

Promotions and tenure appointments for Harvey Mudd College faculty were approved by the board of trustees and will become effective July 1, 2020. Upon discussion and the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee, the board unanimously approved the following appointments. Karl Haushalter received promotion to full professor. Hired in 2003, he researches DNA repair processes […]

Harvey Mudd College biology professor Danae Schulz studies a parasite that causes fatal disease in humans and animals. Along with student researchers and faculty collaborators, she has published research in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases that investigates ways to inhibit the growth of the parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. Schulz, Matty Walsh ’20, Ellie Naudzius ’20, Savanah Diaz […]

The Computing Research Association (CRA) announced its 2020 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awards in December, and two Harvey Mudd College students were commended. Ivy Liu ’20 was selected as a finalist, and Daniel Bashir ’20 earned an honorable mention. Sponsored this year by Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, the prestigious program recognizes undergraduates at North American colleges […]

Ran Libeskind-Hadas, R. Michael Shanahan Professor of Computer Science, studies algorithmic issues in computational biology—in particular, the problem of phylogenetic tree reconciliation, a computational method used to reconstruct the evolutionary histories of related pairs of organisms by hypothesizing the evolutionary events that explain their incongruence. The reconciliation is a mapping of one tree onto the other […]

Harvey Mudd College joint chemistry and biology major Emily Shimizu ’20 has been named an Astronaut Scholar for the 2019–2020 academic year by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. She is the 26th Harvey Mudd student to receive the honor, which includes a scholarship prize of up to $10,000 and opportunities for professional development and mentoring. “Besides […]

Like an undersea version of the canary in a coal mine analogy, soft corals are indicator species whose vibrancy and health act as a gauge for the overall habitat of a coral reef. Coral reefs provide food, livelihoods and coastal protection for more than 500 million people worldwide and are among the ecosystems most threatened […]

Promotions and tenure appointments for HMC faculty were approved during the May meeting of the HMC Board of Trustees. Eliot Bush (biology) and Theresa Lynn (physics) have been promoted to the rank of full professor. Both serve as chair of their respective departments. Bush, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, uses computational methods […]