A Message from the Department Head

It is hard to believe it is fall of 2023! I hope this newsletter finds you all well and happy. This is a year of change in the Department of Biology. I’ll offer some bittersweet news later in the newsletter.

Our students, staff, and faculty remain highly productive. We have exceeded our all time external funding levels from sponsors including the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. In fact, we nearly doubled our annual funding from last year to nearly $3.5 million awarded this year, for a total of nearly $16 million in actively funded projects.

Our faculty are the top in the nation in prestigue and reputation. They published more than 40 scholarly articles many with gradaute and undergraduate students. We expanded our master's program to include a non-thesis track, which allows us to cater to students who need science preparation for non-research careers. We also had 181 graduates including five master's degrees and five PhD degrees.

The faculty have asked me to serve another four-year term as department head. It has been a great pleasure to serve by advocating for our faculty and students and doing my best to enable them to achieve. I am very proud of our department and look forward to another term.

Malcolm Schug, PhD

Department Head

New Faces for Fall 2023

Please join us in welcoming new faculty and staff to the Department of Biology:

Dr. Kwame Darfour-Oduro, Visiting Assistant Professor
Dr. Rammyani Bagchi, Lecturer
Dr. Ashlyn Spring, Lecturer
Clara Hidalgo, LSAMP Program Manager

Read about our new members here >>

Dr. David Remington

Transfers and Transitions:

Farewell, Congratulations, and Best Wishes!

We bid a bittersweet farewell to several faculty and staff, including our Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. David Remington, who retired after 21 years of service.

See a full list of those departing from the Biology Department>>

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Ayalew Osena

Research in the Osena Lab focuses on fundamental questions about food security as the global population approaches a projected total of 9.8 billion by 2050, necessitating an increase in cereal production by 50 percent. Enhancing crop productivity under the increasing impact of climate change is a great challenge; micronutrient deficiency, also called ‘hidden hunger,’ affects a third of the world population and about 30% of the U.S. population.

Read more about Osena's research >>

Osena Lab Graduate Students Strive to Stop Hunger

Research in the Osena Lab has global implications and attracts graduate students from around the world. International students find a second home in the lab and build connections with students who share their experience of crossing oceans to lead cutting-edge research in the face of a climate crisis.

Learn about graduate students in the Osena Lab >>

Faculty, Staff, and Student Awards

Louis-Marie Bobay receives Research Excellence Award

Laura Grubbs receives Staff Excellence Award

Graduate Research Expo presenters

Daniel Araya presents at Undergraduate Research Expo

Dr. Louis-Marie Bobay won UNCG's presitigious Early Career Research Excellence Award, honoring his accomplishments in building a nationally renowned research program focusing on 1) mechanisms of speciation in prokaryotes, 2) mechanisms driving the turnover of genes and the consequences on prokaryote evolution, 3) deciphering fine-scale evolutionary relationships between diverse species of gut prokaryotes and their hosts. Read more >>

Laura Grubbs received the College of Arts & Sciences Staff Excellence Award for her outstanding work in microbiology. Laura manages the preparation of the laboratories and frequently goes above and beyond to help with new software development and attention to students’ success.

Graduate Research and Creativity Showcase 2022 Winners

1st Place: Ajmal Khan Plastics (micro- and nanoplastics) and human cardiovascular diseases: Are we inadvertently inducing heart attack? Mentored by Dr. Zhenquan Jia

3rd Place: Muhammad Numan Molecular mechanisms of iron uptake and transport in the iron rich ancient crop tef (Eragrostis tef) Mentored by Dr. Ayalew Ligaba-Osena

4th Place: Dannielle Kowacich-Swaney Role of intraspecific cues on Ph. papatasi sand fly behavior Mentored by Dr. Gideon Wasserberg

Undergraduate Research Expo Winners

2nd Place: Daniel Araya Expression of Pyrococcus furiosus thioredoxin (PfTrx) in transgenic tobacco for enhanced abiotic stress tolerance Mentored by Dr. Ayalew Ligaba-Osena

3rd Place: Kate Tireell and Kristen Mitchell Epstein-Barr Virus Replication Triggers Cancer Cells to Migrate Mentored by Dr.Amy Adamson

Honorable mention: Eric Whisnant, Daniel Araya, Willy Pina, Adbalkader Samaimeh Accessing natural variation in grain size in tef (Eragrostis tef) genotypes for genetic improvements Mentored by Dr. Ayalew Ligaba-Osena

Honorable mention: Karabunning Kupradit Inherited Toxicity: How the Legacy of Plastic Pollution Altered Future Generations’ Susceptibility to Emerging Chemicals of Concern Mentored by Dr. Ramji Bhandari

Student Spotlights

CHANCE MEETS PREPARATION FOR HONORS GRAD: Diana Morena-Herrero is a double-major in Biology and Spanish. A first-generation U.S. citizen and college student, Moreno has maintained a 3.9 GPA while working as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and holding many campus leadership roles.

Read her story >>

SHAFAQ AHMED'S LOVE FOR BIOLOGY LAB LEADS TO NIH CANCER RESEARCH: Shafaq Ahmed graduated with a degree in Biology in December 2022 and was highly active in undergraduate research. Now, she works as a post-baccalaureate research fellow at the NIH National Cancer Institute. Read her story >>

FROM BATS TO BUGS: UNDERGRAD EXPLORES CONNECTIONS IN WETLANDS: Mason Ibrahim was a highly active research student in Dr. Akira Terui’s laboratory, where she studied the impact of emerging aquatic insects on bat abundance. Now, Mason is in the highly competititve Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation program, with plans to continue restoration ecology research in graduate school.

Read her story >>

Giving to the Biology Department

There are many ways to contribute to student and faculty success in the Biology Department. Our students and faculty benefit greatly from donations of any amount to help with research and travel to conferences to present their findings.

Support is especially helpful in our current financial climate. Please consider giving by clicking here.

The Biology Enrichment Fund: A general fund for support of students and faculty research efforts.
The David L. Remington Fund for Undergraduate Research: Funds undergraduate research in biology.
The Pat McCaron Fund for Student Support: Funds graduate and undergraduate research in biology.

Please contact Dr. Malcolm Schug (mdschug@uncg.edu) directly for substantial donations or to set up endowment gift funds.

Congratulations, graduates!

View Biology's graduating students and a celebration address by Dr. David Remington.

Give to the Department

Gifts of any size help enrich our department's student research, travel, conference participation, and research supplies.

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove®
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC | 27402 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.