Bisson Named Chair Of UB Department Of Biological Sciences

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mary A. Bisson, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the UB College of Arts and Sciences, has been named chair of the department.

A marine biologist and faculty member since 1980, Bisson conducts research on ion transport in algae, work that is expected to shed light on how plants -- both on land and in marine environments -- are responding to the increasing levels of salinity in soil, a byproduct of rising global temperatures.

She also conducts research on characterization of gene coding for transport protein, membrane structures involved in transport and phytoremediation of contaminated soils.

An advocate for attracting more women into science, Bisson has served as national secretary for the Association for Women in Science and has been president and vice president of the Buffalo chapter.

On-campus, she heads up the mentoring project of the American Women Full Professors group, which was formed to help female faculty members attain tenured status at UB.

Bisson earned a doctorate from Duke University and did postdoctoral work at the University of North Carolina and at the University of Sydney, where she was a Queens Fellow.

She resides in Buffalo.