Margret Hatch, Ph.D.

Margret Hatch
Personal Website
Associate Professor, Biology
[email protected]
Office Phone
570 963 2529
Office Location
Dawson Building, 212G
Penn State Scranton
120 Ridge View Drive
Dunmore, PA 18512
Biography
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Meg Hatch is an Associate Professor of Biology and serves as the College Contact Referral Representative for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Co-Coordinator of the campus Honors Program. She is an ornithologist who studies life-history trade-offs in migratory songbirds. She is currently serving as Treasurer of the Wilson Ornithological Society and is an American Ornithological Society Fellow. 
 
Discipline Focus: Research in Ornithology, Migratory Ecology, Ecoimmunology, Life Histories, Parental Care
 
Speakers' Bureau Topics:  Ornithology in general; migratory songbirds; parental behavior in birds. Habitat quality and utilization by migratory songbirds; age-related changes in reproduction and parental behavior; variation in disease-fighting ability related to intrinsic (e.g. age, gender, condition) and extrinsic (e.g. temperature, habitat) factors in common migratory songbirds.
 
Honors:
  • AOS Fellow, American Ornithological Society. (August 2021).
  • University College Teaching Award, University College. (April 16, 2019).
  • Advisory Board Award for Teaching, Penn State Worthington Scranton Advisory Board. (April 29, 2018).
  • SGA Faculty Mentoring Award, Penn State Worthington Scranton SGA. (April 25, 2018).
  • Gertrude Hawk Chocolates Service Award, David and Ann Hawk. (2016).
  • Excellence in Academic Advising Award, Penn State Worthington Scranton. (May 2016).
     
Research Interests

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION

Variation is the foundation of natural selection. I study individual variation and life-history trade-offs in songbirds. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Ornithology
  • Migratory Ecology 
  • Eco immunology of migratory songbirds
  • Life Histories
  • Parental Care

RESEARCH PROJECTS

  • Individual variation in immune function
  • Comparisons between species in immune function
  • Migratory trade-offs 
Publications

Smith, R. J., & Hatch, M. I. (2020). Stopover ecology of fall migrating landbirds at an inland stopover site in northeastern Pennsylvania dominated by nonnative vegetation. Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 132 (2), 398-409.

Smith, R. J., Hatch, M. I., & Carey, M. (2020). Arrival timing and the influence of weather experienced during the nonbreeding and breeding periods on correlates of reproductive success in female Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) breeding in northeastern Pennsylvania, US. International Journal of Biometeorology, 64(8), 1285-1293.

Smith, R. J., & Hatch, M. I. (2017). Loss of viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) is associated with changes in species composition and mass gain by spring migrants using early successional habitat. Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 129(2), 247-258.

Education
  • Ph D, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2003.
    Major: Biology
  • MS, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 1996.
    Major: Wildlife Ecology
  • BS, UC Davis, Davis, California, 1992.
    Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Biology
Course Schedule
Biol 161 – Human Anatomy and Physiology I
Biol 163 – Human Anatomy and Physiology II
Biol 220W – Biology: Populations and Communities
Biol 429 – Animal Behavior