Michael Little - Biography

Office:  ML 114
Phone: (304) 696-5446
Email:  little@marshall.edu

Dr. Michael Little is presently chairperson of the Department of Integrated Science and Technology and a faculty member with 30 years of experience. He presently teaches courses in the Integrated Science and Environmental Science degree programs. He received Baccalaureate and Master of Science degrees from Marshall University and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Louisville in 1983. His initial research, in collaboration with Dr. John Wiley of the East Carolina University School of Medicine, tracked the movement of mobile ribosomal elements through the genomes of a diploid-tetraploid species complex of treefrogs. He has recently worked with a group of undergraduate and graduate students who have sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial genome in a rare Appalachian fish, the Cheat Minnow. Current research involves the use of GIS and digital technology to map the relationship between stream structure and distribution of Appalachian fishes.

He has taught Genetics, Introductory Biology, History and Development of Scientific Thought, Applied Ecology of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems, Introduction to Forensic Science, Ecosystem Dynamics, as well as seminars for the Marshall University Honors and Yeager Scholar programs. Working with the Integrated Science and Technology faculty and students, he has directed the development of a virtual Appalachian community that integrates science and math instruction in a web delivered series of activities. The status of this work can be monitored by checking the website at www.marshal.edu/highlandpark.

He was the 2003 Drinko Fellow at Marshall and recipient of a National Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology. Presented at the Ninth International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, Jacksonville, Florida.