Veronica Hamilton
Laboratory Technician
Education
Ball State University, M.Sc. (2023)
Ball State University, B.Sc. (2020)
Community College of the Air Force, A.A.S. (2013)
Specializations
Manages laboratory preparation for biology courses; serves as a safety resource for the department; manages the departmental logistical operations to include inventory management, laboratory instruments and equipment maintenance/repair/service orders, and facilitating shipping/receiving for vendor goods/services.
Research Interests
I am a diatomist. My general research interests include evaluating diatom communities and their associations with environmental variables. Diatoms are useful bioindicators for tracking environmental degradation, however, effective biomonitoring requires consistent, reliable identification. To address the need for more region-specific identification resources, my masters thesis focused on the biodiversity of these microalgae in Alaskan wetlands. I built an image voucher flora documenting a total of 184 diatom taxa from 38 genera and identifying them to the lowest taxonomic level possible. During this process, 11% of the species across the peatland types were found to be potentially new to science and 25% percent matched those at risk or declining in status on the diatom Red List (developed in Germany), highlighting the conservation value of boreal wetlands.
At Ball State, I plan to use my background in phycology to support the students enrolled in the Biology Lab sections I prepare to expand their understanding of algal morphology and taxonomy. My hope is to share my passion for aquatic microbiology and microscopy by assisting faculty with their logistical needs, ensuring that all lab equipment is well-serviced and operational for students to use during lab time.
Publications
Hamilton, V. A., Lee, S. S., Rober, A. R., Furey, P. C., Manoylov, K. M., & Wyatt, K. H. (2023). A Voucher Flora of Diatoms from Fens in the Tanana River Floodplain, Alaska. Water, 15(15), 2803.
Hamilton, V. (2022). Eunotia pseudoparallela. In Diatoms of North America. Retrieved August 02, 2024, from https://diatoms.org/species/eunotia-pseudoparallela.
PRESENTATIONS
14th European Diatom Meeting, Brussels, BE. (2023).
26th North American Diatom Symposium, Brazil, IN. (2022)
Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI. (2022)
137th Annual Indiana Academy of Science Meeting, Indianapolis, IN. (2022)
Ball State University 2022 Student Symposium, Muncie, IN. (2022)
BSU Lab Sciences Research in Progress Seminar Series, Muncie, IN. (2022)
Scientific outreach, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Milford, IA. (2022).