Mike McCormick
Chair of Geosciences, Professor of Biology, Joel W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Science
Mike McCormick's research focuses on the microbial ecology of geochemical gradients, electron transfer processes between bacteria and solid surfaces, and the role of microbes in silicate mineral weathering as a potential mechanism for marine CO2 reduction. A member of the Biology Department, he holds a shared teaching appointment in the Geosciences Department. McCormick earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University and discovered his passion for teaching while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. He joined the faculty at Hamilton College after completing a doctorate and postdoctoral fellowship in environmental engineering at the University of Michigan.
Recent Courses Taught
Fundamentals and Frontiers: Microbes Rule!
Microbiology
Geomicrobiology
Microbial Ecology
Distinctions
- Joint Genome Institute Community Science Program - Genome-resolved and activity-based archaeal ecology in a euxinic meromictic lake (Fayetteville Green Lake, NY, USA), 2025
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grant subaward – mCDR 2023: Tidal wetlands as a low pH environment for accelerated and scalable olivine dissolution, 2023
- U.S. Antarctic Service Medal, 2010
- Department of Energy Grant – Argonne Subsurface Science Program SFA Five-Year Plan, 2010
- National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs Grant – Collaborative Research in IPY: Abrupt Environmental Change in the Larsen Ice Shelf System, a Multidisciplinary Approach – Marine Ecosystems, 2007
- Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award, 2007
- CH2M-Hill Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors, 2003
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
- Cohen, Ashley B., Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Kristen Bidas, Felix Weber, Arkadiy I. Garber, Lisa N. Christensen, Milana Yagudaeva, Jacob A. Cram, Michael L. McCormick, and Gordon T. Taylor, 2025, Vertical microbial fluxes in a modern permanently redox-stratified lake provide insights into organic carbon sequestration and benthic–pelagic coupling during the Proterozoic Eon. Limnology and Oceanography (https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70096)
- Cohen, A.B., L. Christensen, M. Yagudaeva, K. Butler, F. Weber, M.L. McCormick, and G.T. Taylor, 2024, Preserved particulate organic carbon is likely derived from the subsurface sulfidic photic zone of the Proterozoic Ocean: evidence from a modern, oxygen-deficient lake, Geobiology (https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12593)
- Cohen, A.B., V. Klepac-Ceraj, K. Butler, F. Weber, A.I. Garber, L. Christensen, J.A. Cram, M.L. McCormick, and G.T. Taylor, 2022, Deep photoautotrophic prokaryotes contribute substantially to carbon dynamics in oxygen-deficient waters in a permanently redox-stratified freshwater lake, Limnology and Oceanography (https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12262)
- Chen, X., S. J. Romaniello, M.L. McCormick, A. Sherry, J. R. Havig, W. Zheng, and A. D. Anbar, 2021, Anoxic depositional overprinting of 238U/235U in calcite: When do carbonates tell black shale tales? Geology (https://doi.org/10.1130/G48949.1)
- Ingels, J., Aronson, R. B., Smith, C. R., Baco, A., Bik, H. M., Blake, J. A., Brandt, A., Cape, M., DeMaster, D., Dolan, E., Domack, E., Fire, S., Geisz, H., Gigliotti, M., Griffiths, H., Halanych, K. M., Havermans, C., Huettmann, F., Ishman, S., Kranz, S., Leventer, A., Mahon, A. R., McClintock, J., McCormick, M. L., Mitchell, B. G., Murray, A., Peck, L., Rogers, A., Shoplock, B., Smith, K. E., Steffel, B., Stukel, M. R., Sweetman, A., Taylor, M., Thurber, A. R., Truffer, M., Van de Putte, A., Vanreusel, A., and Zamora-Duran, M. A., 2021 Antarctic Ecosystem Responses following Ice-Shelf Collapse and Iceberg Calving: Science Review and Future Research, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
- Reilly, B. T., M. L. McCormick, S. A. Brachfeld, B. A. Haley, 2020, Authigenic ferrimagnetic iron sulfide preservation due to non-steady state diagenesis: A perspective from Perseverance Drift, Northwestern Weddell Sea, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009380)
- Wellner, J.S., T. Scambos, E.W. Domack, M. Vernet, A. Leventer, G. Balco, S. Brachfeld, M.R. Cape, B. Huber, S. Ishman, M.L. McCormick, E. Mosley-Thompson, E.C. Pettit, C.R. Smith, M. Truffer, C. Van Dover, K.-C. Yoo, 2019, The Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica (LARISSA): Polar Systems Bound Together, Changing Fast, GSA Today, 29(8)
- Herndon, E. M., J. R. Havig, D. M. Singer, M. L. McCormick, L. R. Kump, 2018, Manganese and iron geochemistry in sediments underlying a redox-stratified lake, Geochemica Cosmochimica Acta 231:50-61
- Havig, J., T. Hamilton, M.L. McCormick, B. McClure, T. Sowers, B. Wegter and L. Kump, 2017, Water column and sediment carbon isotope geochemistry of permanently redox- stratified Fayetteville Green Lake, New York, USA, Limnology and Oceanography 63:570-587
- Havig, J., M.L. McCormick, T. Hamilton, and L. Kump, 2015, The behavior of biologically important trace elements across the oxic/euxinic transition of meromictic Fayetteville Green Lake, New York, USA, Geochemica Cosmochimica Acta 165:389-406
- McCormick, M. L., Banishki, N., Powell, S., Rumack, A., and J. M. Garrett, 2014, A low cost multi-level sampling device for synchronous aseptic collection of environmental water samples. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 105, 51-53
Book Chapters:
- McCormick, M. L., 2012, "Geomicrobiology of a meromictic lake, Green Lake, Fayetteville, New York," in Rayne, T.W., ed., Field Trip Guidebook for the 84th Annual Meeting of the New York State Geological Association. pp. B4-1-16
Professional Affiliations
American Society for Microbiology
American Chemical Society
Geological Society of America
Geobiology Society
Appointed to the Faculty
2003Educational Background
Ph.D., University of Michigan
M.S., University of Michigan
B.S., Ohio State University
