His research examined resource partitioning and competition in two vertically migrating diatoms, Hantzschia virgata and Caloneis amphisbaena, that inhabit the intertidal sandflats of Sunset Bay, Oregon. His results indicate that these species avoid direct competition through niche specialization, with each species dominating at different tidal heights along the shore. This research was financed with ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ FR&D sabbatical awards.

Kingston, professor of biology and environmental studies, attended the 121st Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS_ at Fayetteville State University on March 28 and 29.  At the Saturday afternoon business meeting, he was elected to a three-year term as secretary of the NCAS Board of Directors.

He also served as a judge for the Derieux Award for best undergraduate oral presentations in botany, zoology, and ecology on Saturday morning.  Kingston will join fellow ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ biology faculty members Dave Parker and Ryan Brandt in serving on the local arrangements committee in preparation for the 122nd Annual Meeting which will be hosted on the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ campus in March 2026.

Kingston concluded his service as a board member, immediate past-president and chair of the nominating committee at the academy’s business meeting on Saturday. Parker continues his roles as board member, chair of the Education Committee and social media manager. Brandt will also continue as a board member, co-director of the Collegiate Academy of the North Carolina Academy of Sciences, and one of the official photographers of the annual meeting.

Chunco’s research student, Jackson Fender, who is majoring in environmental studies, gave a poster presentation describing his research project on an invasive  marine animal on Friday evening.

His presentation was titled “Less is More:  Incorporating Undergraduate Research Experiences into a General Ecology Course.”  His results revealed significant increases in student perceptions of their learning (SPoT course evaluations) as well as their academic performance (course grade) with the inquiry-based model incorporating CUREs. This meeting, held at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, also marked his inauguration as the incoming president of the North Carolina Academy of Science for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Professor of Biology Michael Kingston was elected to the position of President-Elect of the North Carolina Academy of Science at the virtual annual meeting on March 14 hosted on Zoom by Lenoir Rhyne University.

Kingston will serve as president-elect from 2021 to 2022, and then as president from 2022 to 2023.

Kingston previously served as president in 2013-14 and chair of the Local Arrangements Committee in 1999 and 2011 when ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ served as the venue for the annual meeting.  He is also an associate editor of the Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science.

The presentation focused on the results of a five-year study examining the role of fish predators in preventing the establishment and spread of the invasive light bulb tunicate on submerged hard surfaces at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C.

Kingston is a summer adjunct faculty member in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. For the past 10 summers, he has taught a Marine Ecology summer course to undergraduate and graduate students at the Duke University Marine Laboratory (DUML) in Beaufort, North Carolina. The data presented in this oral presentation were collected by his Marine Ecology students.

The light bulb tunicate, Clavelina oblonga, was first observed in the Beaufort area in 2014. Published research sugggests that it was transported and accidentally introduced to the Beaufort area on a ship's hull. Ceramic settling plates were submersed below the DUML dock each July and assessed three weeks later in August during the summers of 2014 through 2018. 

Although C. oblonga did not settle on any plates in summer 2014, the following four summers showed high levels of coverage by this invasive species on plates protected from fish predators with mesh cages.  The invader was absent from plates that were not cages and therefore subject to fish predation. 

When allowed to spread, this exotic species grows over and smothers other established species. The results of this five-year study indicate that native fish predators can reduce the invasiveness of exotic marine species and control their spread at the earliest stages of invasion.

The 113th Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Academy of Science was hosted by Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC on Friday and Saturday, April 1-2.  This meeting was especially meaningful to Dr. Kingston because the  Methodist University Local Arrangements Committee was chaired by Associate Professor of Biology Clay Britton and included Assistant Professor of Biology Beth Overman; both are former students of Dr. Kingston and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ graduates of the Biology Department.  Dr. Britton stands to the right of Mike Kingston in the attached photo.  In addition to his presentation, Dr. Kingston served as a judge of the Botany and Zoology section of the Friday evening poster session and a judge at the Saturday morning Dereaux Award oral presentation competition in the Ecology and Environmental Science section.

In his last act as Immediate Past President and chair of the Nomination Committee, he presided over the election of the new President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretarty, and Elected Board Director at the Business Meeting on Saturday afternoon. 

He also served as a judge for the Friday evening Ecology, Environmental Science & Zoology section of the poster competition to determine the Derieux Award winners.

Approximately 350 undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty members, researchers and scientists from around the state attended the two-day meeting focused on the theme of “Evolution in Medicine and the Environment.” 

Kingston also attended the North Carolina Project Kaleidoscope Network spring meeting on March 28. Project Kaleidoscope is a national organization of faculty from around the country engaged in the development and implementation of innovative pedagogy in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  

The NC-PKAL Network meets jointly with NCAS each spring. The 2014 Spring Meeting included over 60 STEM faculty members from across the state.