Emily Humphrey Dixon, assistant professor of biochemistry, is proud of her students and knows they are well prepared for a future beyond St. Lawrence.  She recently received an e-mail from a former student’s supervisor telling her how well qualified the student was for this job.  Michael Trembley '09, now a laboratory technician at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., and Dixon worked on his Senior-Year Experience (SYE) together. 
           
Dixon’s research focuses on gene regulation in yeast cells.  “All of our cells have the same genes,” Dixon says, “The difference is which genes are turned on and off and how cells adapt to different environmental conditions.”  In her research she examines which genes are “turned on and off” using yeast, which responds to environmental stimuli, as a model of what happens in our bodies.  Her research delves into DNA structures and the proteins that interact with different DNA structures leading to a change in gene regulation.  Dixon is working with three SYE students on this project and says she values the students’ contributions to it.
           
Dixon also values the small class sizes at St. Lawrence.  “I really get to know each student individually in all of my classes,” she says.
           
Outside of her work on gene regulation, Dixon takes advantage of the outdoors in the North Country.  She loves getting outside into nature, enjoying hiking, skiing and kayaking.

--Josh Johnson ’10