Hendrix College Biology

We loved participating in Conway’s STEAM night! What a great turn out from Hendrix Natural Sciences and the community!

Way to go Dr. Duina!

🎉 Big congratulations to Dr. Andrea Duina, professor of biology at Hendrix College, who has been named Associate Editor for GENETICS, a premier journal of the Genetics Society of America. 🧬

In this new role, Dr. Duina will help shape the journal’s Primers section—resources that make cutting-edge genetics research more accessible for undergraduate students and educators across the globe.

“This position is a great fit for me as it allows me to integrate my two passions in science – research and teaching – in a way that will impact many individuals,” said Dr. Duina.

Dr. Duina is known for seamlessly integrating real-world research into the classroom. 💡🔬 Since 2004, he has led a vibrant undergraduate research program at Hendrix, using baker’s yeast to investigate how genes function. Supported by Arkansas INBRE and the National Science Foundation, his work provides Hendrix students with valuable, hands-on experience alongside a nationally recognized leader in the field. At Hendrix, students don’t just learn about scientific discoveries—they participate in them—thanks to inspiring professors such as Dr. Duina.

Please join us in celebrating this exciting appointment and the incredible impact Dr. Duina continues to make in genetics education and research!

Summer time is research time!

Dr. Laura MacDonald recently took her Concepts of Biology students out of the classroom and into the kitchen to bring together science and food! Read on to learn more about her tactics for making one of our non-majors courses more than lecture as usual.

Biology professor Dr. Andrew Schurko and 11 students recently hosted “Dinner with Microbes.” Students learned about the roles of microorganisms in food production and planned a menu for this food-tasting exhibit.
All food was prepared by students, with some help from bacteria and yeast! The menu included kombucha, pickles, kimchi, sourdough bread, pineapple tepache, root beer, miso soup, yogurt, and cream cheese!

Congratulations to our very own Hannia Valero, a 2025 Hendrix College Biology major, for being named this year's President's Medal Award Recipient. Hannia has been very active in our campus community, and our department as well, notably working with Kathryn Youn and Raahi Kapoor to redesign the prairie section of our native garden. Well done, Hannia!

We are proud to congratulate Hannia Valero Lopez ’25, a biology major from El Dorado, Arkansas, on receiving the 2025 President’s Medal—the highest honor awarded to a Hendrix student.

The President’s Medal is presented annually to the student who best embodies Hendrix College’s ideals of scholarship, citizenship, and community service. Hannia has been a consistent leader and advocate on campus since her first year, organizing service projects, building community, and creating a welcoming space for students from all backgrounds. Her joyful spirit and deep commitment to service inspire those around her.

We extend our congratulations to all the Hendrix students recognized for academic achievement and campus community service at today’s 2025 Honors Day Convocation. We invite you to celebrate all of this year’s honorees by viewing the full list of award recipients at the link below.
https://www.hendrix.edu/2025-honors-convocation/

Biology and Psychology students from the Comparative Animal Behavior class presented on their end of semester projects this week. These presentations represent the culmination of their iterative training in asking original research questions about animal behavior and then designing and executing studies to answer those questions. These projects involve intensive collaboration, problem-solving, and application of statistics and interpretation of results. Well done everyone!

Seven Hendrix College Biology students presented their research last weekend at the Arkansas Academy of Sciences conference at Lyon College. Their talks and posters included topics like urban wildlife, prairie songbirds, leaf litter ecosystems, and microbes! It was a great group of projects. Well done everyone!

Dr. Rick Murray was recently interviewed on the USA Hockey Podcast! This episode explores some work in his lab that looks at the effect of using smaller, age-appropriate, nets on player development in youth hockey. Participation in youth sports has a number of benefits for children's physical and mental health, but their participation, engagement, and development can be undermined by requiring them to play with adult rules, equipment, and surface sizes. Scaling the rules, equipment, and playing surface to match their size has been shown to enhance children's experience in several sports, but there has been no research on the influence of scaling in youth hockey. Preliminary data suggest that the scaled nets are creating a better development environment and has led to a collaboration with groups in Canada and Sweden to further study potential ways to improve the experience for youth hockey players. Click the link below to listen.

#37 Impacts of Net/Rink Sizing on Player Development with Rick Murray The USA Hockey Podcast: A Youth Sports Conversation · Episode

The Duina lab just published a new article in the journal microPublication Biology! The title of the article is “Trapping of yFACT at 3’ ends of genes is not a universal characteristic of yeast versions of Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome histone H3 mutants” and can be accessed here: https://micropublication.org/journals/biology/micropub-biology-001384

Besides Dr. Andrea Duina, all other authors are current or past Hendrix students and they include Joey Beard, Reece Forrest, Lillian Francis, Will Griffin, Agustin Kalinowski, Jackson Parks, and Caroline Tackett. Please congratulate current students Lillian and Agustin if you see them on campus!!

(Below is a picture of six of the eight authors playing bocce during a break at the TAGC Conference in Washington DC this past March)

Thanks for representing the birds, our department, and the college Elizabeth and Luke! Well done!

Biology students Elizabeth Williams ’25 and Luke Simpson ’25 presented at last weekend's Arkansas Dark Sky Festival! They shared facts about the harmful impact of artificial light on birds -- for example, how light sources from buildings, cities, and homes can interfere with migrations, even causing birds to collide with structures and windows. Williams and Simpson shared ways humans can help, such as turning off non-essential lighting and using downturned lighting during spring and fall migrations and from midnight to dawn. To learn more about Dark Sky initiatives, visit the Arkansas Natural Sky Association at: https://darkskyarkansas.org/

Image Description: Photo of Elizabeth Williams ’25 and Luke Simpson ’25 presenting to a group in an outdoor patio.