COLIN MADDEN OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior guard on the men's basketball team from Woodinville, Wash., has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending February 13, 2011.

Madden has been a model of success on the court, in the classroom, and in the community during his four years at Colorado College.

A biology major who owns a 3.71 overall grade-point average, Madden has been an integral role in helping the men’s basketball team recover from an 0-24 record during his freshman season to posting a victory at Division I Air Force and earning its first-ever appearance in the SCAC basketball tournament this season. A team co-captain this season, Madden has played in every game the last three seasons and his one of the Tigers’ leading three-point shooters.

Madden also is well known on campus for sharing his limited free time with others. A member of Alpha Lambda Delta, the National Honor Society for First Year Students, Madden gave his time during New Student Orientation to help freshmen move into their dorms, supervise events, and answer parents' questions at the many of the events scheduled for them while making the transition to college life.

Madden also volunteers at Midland Elementary School, where he helps students in the first through fifth grades with math, reading, and whatever else they need.

“It’s been so rewarding to be a part of these kids lives, especially given most of them come from very poor or underprivileged families,” Madden said about the experience. “The best part is that if I hadn’t known that ahead of time, I might never have guessed. The kids are always overjoyed to see us, and I never get tired of seeing their smiles. Many of them have even made it to our basketball games.”

This past summer, Madden conducted research on Vibrio fischeri, a marine-dwelling bacteria that is often found in symbiosis with the Hawaiian Bobtail squid. The bacteria produce light, which the squid uses to mask its shadow during its nocturnal search for food. However, this particular strain of bacteria is almost completely dark in lab cultures, and scientists have puzzled over the reason why. He also conducted experiments on Vibrio fischeri to determine some of the possible reasons that light production might be so limited in culture and so prolific in the wild.

Madden was able to design and conduct many of his own experiments, which taught him about the thought and precision that goes into actual research. Because he was funded by a MerckASS grant, regular meetings were held to discuss findings, results and future directions. Madden worked alongside mathematics associate professor David Brown and some of his students, who designed a model that simulated the bacterial system Madden was studying.

Madden, a regular on the Dean’s List, will present his research as an honors thesis at Colorado College this spring.