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Outstanding Professionals and Professional Faculty Researcher Award

VIMS' Outstanding Professionals and Professional Faculty Researcher Award recognizes significant contributions and a record of outstanding performance towards fulfilling VIMS’ research mission.

Hamish SmallThe 2020 award goes to Dr. Hamish Small.

Hamish is an invaluable member of the Aquatic Health Sciences Department and the VIMS community. He is an excellent example of the VIMS character of cooperation and collegiality. His degrees in immunology, microbiology, and marine parasitology, along with two decades of experience focused on aquatic animal health and disease ecology, have afforded our faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to benefit from his wealth of knowledge and generous spirit.

Hamish has been an author on 43 peer-reviewed publications, and first author on more than 40% of these. An internationally recognized expert in parasitic dinoflagellates, he serves as an editor for two scientific journals and reviews more than 20 manuscripts a year from peers.

Hamish Small

Hamish exemplifies an attitude of collaboration, having worked with many research groups at VIMS. In recent years Hamish has made particularly valuable contributions to the fisheries genetics and harmful algal bloom programs. He has been a co-PI on grants bringing more than $2.3 M to VIMS for research on topics ranging from disease transmission in blue crabs to genetic population structure of fishes and the impacts of HABs.

Hamish has served as a valuable mentor to many students, willingly sharing his knowledge and time. He is often the hands-on “go to” person for students. He has served on five graduate student committees and jumps in to help many other students with their projects in the lab and field.

In summary, for all these reasons Hamish is more than deserving of the VIMS Outstanding PPF Researcher Award.