Congratulations to Biological Sciences Chancellor’s Honors Banquet Award Winners!

April 20, 2017 by ljudy

2017 Graduate Student Teaching Award

Cassie Dresser

Unlike many PhD candidates who focus solely on research, Cassie Dresser has wanted to teach since arriving in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2013. In fact, she’s been teaching throughout her academic career. As an undergraduate at Hartwick College in New York, she was a tutor. As a master’s student at Central Michigan University, she was a teaching assistant. Before starting her PhD, she worked as an environmental educator at a state park in Michigan. Here, she’s been a lecture assistant, a teaching assistant, and now head TA. She excelled when given the rare opportunity to be the sole instructor of a 200-level course, and she is one of the first graduate students to complete UT’s Certificate in College Teaching program. Dresser has not only sought to improve her own teaching but also enhanced the teaching of other TAs in her department by researching and sharing best practices and by developing research-based scientific literacy coursework.

 

2017 Excellence in Teaching

Elisabeth Schussler

Elizabeth Shussler, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is described by her students as excited, enthusiastic, and committed to their success. “Beth must engage students at all levels, and she is wildly successful,” a colleague said. She finds ways to “really engage her students in learning how to do science, rather than just memorizing what science has already learned.” Schussler has been a pioneer in using active learning techniques—everything from clickers and Learning Catalytics to small-group discussions—to keep students engaged during large science lectures. She serves as director of teaching and learning for the Division of Biology and has been instrumental in improving biology courses at UT. She received the 2016 UT Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2012 College of Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.

2017 Research and Creative Achievement—Professional Promise

Karen Lloyd

Assistant Professor Karen Lloyd of the Department of Microbiology investigates a critical yet poorly understood subject: microbial diversity. Microbes are some of the most abundant organisms on the planet, and Lloyd’s work is expanding our knowledge of them. She focuses on microbes that are adapted to the Arctic Ocean and other sub-seafloor environments. Lloyd’s research into microbial response to climate change and the role of microbes in global nutrient cycles may yield insights into biotechnology and our understanding of how life could exist on other planets. Lloyd has authored 20 journal articles, some in prestigious publications like Nature and ISME, and has established herself as an independent principal investigator and mentor. She has received $3.6 million in external funding from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Simons and Sloan Foundations. Her expertise is in such demand that she’s had to turn down invitations to participate in conferences and workshops so she can devote more time to research.

2017 Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year

Gladys Alexandre

Gladys Alexandre, professor and associate head of the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, is passionate about helping students build    research careers. In her 12 years at UT she has mentored 52 undergraduates, giving them opportunities to be listed in peer-reviewed publications and sponsoring summer research fellowships and honors research grants. These students have gone on to receive MS degrees in microbiology and enter medical schools. Since 2014, she has been the principal investigator and director for the National Institutes of Health–funded Program for Excellence and Equity in Research, which seeks to increase the number of underrepresented students receiving PhDs in biomedical and behavioral sciences. She is a prolific writer and presenter whose work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Science Alliance.

Welcome Dr. Caroline Wienhold as the new Assistant Director of Biology Teaching and Learning

April 19, 2017 by ljudy

The Division of Biology would like to formally introduce Dr. Caroline Wienhold, the new Assistant Director of Biology Teaching and Learning.

Caroline received her PhD in Genetics & Genomics from the University of Connecticut, where she studied the differentiation of the mesodermal and neuroectodermal cell lineages in human and mouse embryonic stem cells. However, her passion was always in educating the next generation of biologists. In fact, she probably spent more time going to education seminars than biology seminars. While at UCONN, Caroline earned her Certificate in Undergraduate College Teaching, and sought out connections in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Discipline Based Education Research (DBER).  She was recruited to the University of Wisconsin – Madison for an HHMI postdoctoral fellowship to train in DBER and diversity issues related to STEM and higher education. There she studied the impact of a disciplinary first-year seminar on the achievement of underrepresented student populations in introductory biology. She also worked to develop an instrument to measure conceptual thinking around the core concepts of Vision and Change, and train graduate students in evidence-based pedagogy. Caroline has a strong belief in creating community in the classroom, giving others agency over their learning, and providing the support for learning to happen at its own pace.

As the Assistant Director of Biology Teaching and Learning, Caroline will work closely with Director Beth Schussler to provide teaching professional development opportunities for faculty and grad students and assessment of General Biology courses. She will also be working on student success initiatives, primarily focused on first year students.

Graduate Student Senate Award Winners

April 13, 2017 by ljudy

We would like to offer a big CONGRATULATIONS to graduate students that won Graduate Student Senate awards this year. There are a couple of different categories:

Research: This award is presented to graduate students who have received national and/or international recognition in their fields and show professional promise in their areas of research and creative achievement.

From Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology: Joanna Cooper, Rosela Golloshi, Brian Hercyk, and Haden Scott

From Ecology and evolutionary Biology: Sam Borstien, Angela Chuang, Aaron Floden, Alanni-Grace Grant, Chloe Lash, Brian Looney, Margaret Mamantov, Austin Milt, Morgan Roche, Michael Van Nuland, and Rachel Wooliver

From Microbiology: Joy Buongiorno and Chelsi Cassilly

From Genome Science and Technology: Khushboo Bafna, Arkadipta Bakshi, David Foutch, Ramsunder Iyer, Prashasti, and Siva Karthik Varanasi

 

Service: This award is presented to graduate students who are extraordinary campus leaders or participate in service learning and other community initiatives.

From Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology: Kathryn Abrahamsson

From Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Christine Dumoulin

 

Teaching: This award is given to graduate teaching assistants for extraordinary performance in teaching.

From Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology: Lindsey O’Neal

From Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Amanda Benoit, Liam Mueller, and Tyson Paulson

From Genome Science and Technology: Ann Wells

Jim Caponetti wins John Herr Lifetime Achievement Award at Association of Southeastern Biologist meeting

April 5, 2017 by ljudy

We would like to offer a big congratulations to Dr. Jim Caponetti for winning the John Herr Lifetime Achievement Award last week at The Association of Southeastern Biologist meeting in Montgomery, AL!!

About the Award

This prestigious award was established by the Association of Southeastern Biologists in 2007 to recognize unusually significant contributions by its members to the life of the Association and to biology in the southeastern US.

A recipient of this award must have contributed in ways that set her or him apart from other members of the Association. In particular, the recipient must have:

1. Demonstrated unusual and long-standing devotion to the Association through consistent efforts to improve and advance ASB, going beyond the standard duties of committee members and officers. The recipient must have demonstrated a willingness to serve the organization when asked for additional service.
2. Been a member in good standing of the Association for a minimum of ten years.
3. Served as an elected or appointed officer of the Association.
4. Contributed in a significant way to the Association’s purpose of promoting the advancement of biology as a science in the southeastern US, through research, education, solution of biological problems, conservation, public awareness of biological issues, and/or public service.
5. Have other accomplishments indicative of unusual dedication and service to the Association.

About Jim Caponetti

Jim Caponetti joined the Botany Department at the University of Tennessee in 1961 as an Assistant Professor. Jim has remained at UT throughout his entire faculty career, and after retirement from the faculty, has continued to work within the Division of Biology at UT coordinating undergraduate student advising and helping students choose a major and an advisor. Jim has received Advising Awards from both the College of Arts and Sciences at UT (1995) and also from the Division of Biology at UT (2009). During his time as a faculty member Jim taught a wide range of courses from undergraduate courses in Botany and Biology for majors, Biology for non-majors, to upper-division courses in plant morphology, plant tissue culture, and economic botany. Additionally he taught a range of graduate courses, again focusing on plant morphology, plant tissue culture, and related methods courses. Jim served as a mentor for eight M.S. students, and four Ph.D. students during his career. He also served the department in a number of key roles including chairing several important committees (e.g., Graduate Committee, Curriculum Committee) as well as serving as Associate Department Head / Executive Assistant to the Department Head for 14 years. During past times when mastery of a foreign language was a requirement he served as the examiner for Spanish and Italian.

Jim has been deeply involved in service to organizations promoting science and research including the Tennessee Academy of Sciences, which he attended from 1963 – 2000, served as Secretary from 1966-1977, and then as President-elect and President in 1978-1979. Likewise, Jim served as Treasurer of the American Fern Society from 1976-2000, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Pteridological Section of the Botanical Society of America from 1977 1983. He has also found time to help out the local community, and has a long-standing role as a volunteer Pharmacist for the non-profit Interfaith Health clinic, for which he has maintained his pharmacy license.

Jim’s service to ASB began in 1972 when he first served on the Nominating Committee. In 1982 he was appointed to the Faculty Awards Committee, and chaired the Committee in 1983-84. Perhaps Jim’s most visible role in ASB started in 2000 when he took on the role of Print Editor of Southeastern Biology, the official publication of ASB. Southeastern Biology was the primary vehicle for distributing information about ASB – calls for abstracts, information on the annual meeting, issues of governance, highlights of research and faculty from around the southeast were featured in Southeastern Biology.

Congratulations Dr. Caponetti!