POTSDAM -- Clarkson University President Tony Collins recently announced that Michael R. Twiss has been promoted from associate professor to full professor of biology in the School of Arts and Sciences. Promotion to professor is considered to be virtually the highest honor that a university can bestow upon its faculty.

Twiss is a limnologist (fresh water scientist) with expertise in the microbial plankton ecology of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system and interactions of plankton with elements in the water column.

His research aims to understand the impact that microbes have on the geochemical fate of nutrients and metals in natural waters and how plankton respond to changes in their natural environment. His research is conducted in the field on research vessels and in the laboratory using organisms isolated from nature.

Twiss holds an honours bachelor of science degree from Trent University (Canada) in biology and environmental science, a masterís degree from the University of Toronto in botany and environmental studies, and a Ph.D. in science de líeau (limnology) from the UniversitÈ du QuÈbec, where his thesis was awarded the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal for Academic Excellence.

Twiss conducted a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1996-1998, and worked briefly at Ryerson University in Toronto (1998-2002) prior to coming to Clarkson University. At Clarkson, he teaches courses in limnology, microbiology, and Great Lakes water protection.

Twiss has published 59 peer-reviewed journal articles that have been cited more than 1,100 times. He has contributed to more than 95 conference presentations since his arrival at Clarkson.

His research has been funded by such agencies as the National Science Foundation, the St. Lawrence River Research and Education Fund of the New York Power Authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York Sea Grant, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and others.

Twiss provides service to his profession as a member of the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area of Concern Remedial Action Committee, panel reviewer for granting agencies (NSF, NSERC), and as an editor. Twiss was associate editor of the Journal of Phycology from 2005 to 2012, and is currently on the editorial board of Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology.