Richard W. Hill
Professor and Associate Chair
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1970
302 Natural Science Building
Office Telephone: 517-353-4603
hillr@msu.edu
Environmental Physiology; Marine Sulfur Metabolism
My current research is in two areas that seem entirely disparate but in fact are united by a common emphasis on study of mechanism in relation to ecology. Marine sulfur metabolism is one of my areas of specialization. I have focused on the metabolic fate in ecosystems of an important compound, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), that is synthesized by many marine algae. Metabolism of DMSP can give rise to atmospheric dimethylsulfide, a gas that affects cloud formation and climate over the oceans. DMSP metabolism is also a potentially important factor in the tastes of food organisms that receive DMSP via food-chain processes. Recently, I have given special attention to DMSP in animals such as reef corals that contain algal symbionts.
My second area of research is the thermal biology and energetics of birds and mammals. I have been particularly interested in ontogeny, including contrasts between altricial and precocial developmental trajectories. An aspect of ontogeny to which I have given much attention is the tolerance of the neonates of some rodent species to near-freezing body temperatures. Neonates of white-footed mice, for example, revive when rewarmed after cooling to 1-3°C for several hours, even though they cease breathing during the hypothermia. I have been elucidating the physiological state of neonates while deeply hypothermic. I have also been interested in the long-term consequences of bouts of deep hypothermia. These consequences attract attention precisely because they seem to be minor. The neonates seem to exhibit a true tolerance to near-freezing body temperatures and the attendant cessation of breathing: a tolerance that likely represents an adaptation to the threat of hypothermic accidents during nestling life.
Representative Publications
Hill, R. W., and J.W. . Dacey. 2006. Metabolism of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) by juvenile Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus. Mar. Ecol. Prgr. Ser. 322: 239-248.
Hill, R.W., G.A. Wyse, and M. Anderson. 2004. Animal Physiology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. 770 pages.
Hill, R. W., J.W.H. Dacey, S.D. Hill, A. Edward, and W. A. Hicks. 2004 Dimethylsufoniopropionate in six species of giant clams and the evolution of dimethysulfide after death. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61: 758-764.
Hill, R. W. 2000. Anoxia tolerance to oxygen necessity: Paradigm shift in the physiology of survival of apneic deep hypothermia in neonatal rodents. Pp. 199-205 in G. Helmaier and M. Klingenspor (eds.), Life in the Cold. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Hill, R.W., B.A. White, M.T. Cottrell, and J.W.H. Dacey. 1998. Virus-mediated total release of dimethylsulfoniopropionate from marine phytoplankton: a potential climate process. Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 14: 1-6.