Jeffrey Hatzel Wins Biology Award

ITHACA, NY (12/06/2011)(readMedia)-- While most students were finishing up last-minute assignments before heading home for Thanksgiving in November, Ithaca College senior Jeffrey Hatzel, son of Port Chester residents, William and Leslie Hatzel, was accepting an award at the 125th Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Research Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.. His research project, "Reintroducing American Chestnut (Castanea dentata): A Comparative Analysis of Pure and Hybrid Varieties," won the award for Superior Presentation in the Field of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.

According to Hatzel, the goal of the research project was to "determine whether or not it is feasible to reintroduce the American chestnut into the forests it dominated prior to the introduction of the Chestnut Blight, which drove the species to near extinction in the early 20th century." His research was funded in part by the Commit-to-Change Fund of the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Ithaca College, the Ithaca College School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Educational Grant Initiative and the Bernard Fund of Ithaca College.

Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science. Today, there are nearly 60,000 Sigma Xi members in more than 100 countries around the world.

Hatzel is an environmental science major. In the future, he plans to further his education at the graduate level and earn a doctorate in the field of ecology/wildlife biology.

For more information, contact Keith Davis, assistant director of media relations, at (607) 274-1153 or kdavis@ithaca.edu.