Faculty and Staff

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research Interests: plant molecular biology, developmental genetics, functional genomics.

Courses: Molecular Biology, BBMB Senior Seminar, Genetics.

Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Research Interests: Plant hormone signaling pathways, cell signaling dynamics, synthetic biology

Courses: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology

Teaching/Research areas: Biochemistry / Pharmacology and Anti-cancer Drug Design / Biochemical nutrition and Public Health / Infectious Diseases

M.S., Washington State University

Courses: Biology 111 labs, Cell Biology labs.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Dalia Biswas joined Whitman’s chemistry department in fall 2011. She conducted her postdoctoral work in bioinorganic chemistry at Montana State University and her doctoral work in inorganic/organometallic chemistry at The University of Montana. Biswas’ current research interests are in biological systems that utilize metal atoms for their functions.

Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University

Currently serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Research Interests: Various aspects of microbiology, including biofilms, antibiotic resistance, and phage therapy.

Courses: Microbiology, Cell Biology, Nutrition.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Marion Götz joined the Department of Chemistry in 2007. She received her Ph.D. at Georgia Tech and performed postdoctoral research at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany. Götz's interest in organic and medicinal chemistry has led her to research involving drug design and synthesis, with a particular focus on potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease, sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease and multiple myeloma. She has received funding for this work from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies. She has several publications with Whitman students as co-authors.

Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Research Interests: phylogeography and population genetics; natural history of the Blue Mountains.

Courses: Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Natural History, Genetics.

Ph.D., University of Washington

Research Interests: cellular neurophysiology.

Courses: Cell Signaling, NeuroPhysiology, Human Physiology.

Ph.D., University of Washington

Research Interests: Systems neurophysiology, visuomotor coordination and learning, mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Courses: BIOL111 Biological Principles, BIOL323 Neurophysiology, BIOL272 Human Anatomy and Physiology

Associate Professor of Chemistry Tim Machonkin was born in Rochester, New York to a two-chemist family. His interest in chemistry took off from there, and he attended college at the University of Michigan, where his love of transition metal-containing enzymes began. In 2006, he joined the chemistry faculty at Whitman. His research looks at the mutagenesis of metal-containing enzymes with possible applications in the remediation of pollutants.

Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: neuroplasticity, neuron development.

Courses: Biology 111, Neurobiology.

Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: cellular processes involved in brain cell development.

Courses: Neurobiology, Developmental Biology, Bio 111 lab.