Biology professor John McCormack — who serves as faculty council president, as well as director and curator of the Occidental Moore Lab of Zoology — recently became a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
According to Associate Professor of Chemistry Jeff Cannon, the AAAS is one of the most prestigious private national memberships for all of the sciences that plays a big role in setting future agendas on policy and education.
“To be named an AAAS fellow is a pretty big deal because you are recognized as contributing to American science by your peers, by other well-known, well-renowned scientists,” Cannon said.
McCormack said that every year the AAAS elects a certain number of members to become fellows. He said he had received the news that he had been elected as a fellow through an email and could not tell if it was real or not.
“I emailed a friend right after that,” McCormack said. “I forwarded it to them, a friend who I know was an AAAS fellow, and I asked them, ‘is this real?’”
According to McCormack, the AAAS mentioned his work on bird evolution and his work with undergraduate research as the reasons why he was nominated.
“[They] mentioned my work in mentoring undergraduate research, which I think is really the coolest part of my nomination for me,” McCormack said. “It put the focus on undergraduate research.”
Cannon said the AAAS usually focuses on big research universities.
“We’re not a research institution where we can really move quickly on big problems, and I think that in and of itself shows what a standout professor McCormack is,” Cannon said.
McCormack said during his undergraduate years he was drawn in by the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at the University of Arizona.
“I started doing undergraduate research with some of the professors and I just kept going with it from then,” McCormack said. “One of those projects was on birds, and I just was really taken with the idea of doing field work on birds.”
McCormack has been the director of the Moore Lab for 14 years, starting work there at the same time he was hired at the college as a professor.
According to McCormack, he has four or five staff members and around 10 undergraduate students in the lab working on different types of projects.
“We have students who are working in the genomics center on DNA-based projects,” McCormack said. “We have students that are working on projects where they are measuring the actual specimens in the collection and looking for differences among the different geographic areas.”
They also have students working to create 3D bird projects, and others working on the parrot project, a study about the origins of the parrots in LA, according to McCormack.
According to Cannon, McCormack has developed the Moore Lab into the 21st-century since becoming director.
“I think modernizing and advancing the Moore Lab and recognizing its potential as a scientific tool is probably a major innovation of McCormack’s work,” Cannon said.
Amelia Barnard (junior), a biology major with a concentration in environmental science, said she works for the Moore Lab. According to Barnard, McCormack has helped her form connections that will help her find what she wants to do next.
“The part that I think is extremely [valuable] is the way he works with students,” Barnard said. “He’s open to students coming in and he’s willing to be a little bit of a mentor, raise somebody up and provide open doors for opportunities for our group as we’re becoming adults.”
Barnard said that thanks to the support she got from McCormack’s Moore Lab, she will have the opportunity to present her research at the American Ornithological Society in Colorado this Oct.
Moore Lab Project Outreach and Business Coordinator Jenny Wong said she plans events that can engage the public with the lab.
“I love working with John,” Wong said. “I feel like he’s really great at making the Moore Lab more accessible, as far as working with other scientists and researchers, but really good at incorporating the students and the general public.”
According to Wong, McCormack stays open-minded and handles a lot of different responsibilities well.
“I feel like he’s always open to new ideas and stays on top of all these projects,” Wong said. “Which I’m always impressed that he juggles everything.”
Cannon said that the award testifies to the strength of the Moore Lab’s research.
“I think it’s really great that institutions like the AAAS are also now recognizing the importance of research at undergraduate institutions,” Cannon said. “That, I think, is in many ways an award to the whole college, that we’re able to do the kind of work that can be recognized by this kind of institution.”
Contact Francine Ghazarian at ghazarian@oxy.edu
