Ms. Padilla's Abstract entitled “Application of an Oligo-nucleotide Microarray for Reductive Dechlorination Biomarker Identification and Process Monitoring” was one of the 2 winning entries, at the "Sustainability Live" event held recently in Birmingham, UK!

Sustainability Live is the UK’s largest exhibition for excellence and innovation in environment, water, energy and land. The Environmental Science Student Awards Initiative sponsored by Adventus. This was a new award for 2009 and gives students the opportunity to be rewarded for their innovative thinking and creative approach to long standing issues.

There were 2 overall winners of the Environmental Science Students Award:

Elizabeth Padilla-Crespo of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, for her work on "Application of an Oligo-nucleotide Microarray for Reductive Dechlorination Biomarker Identification and Process Monitoring"

And secondly, Behnaz Razavi of the University of California in Irvine, for her work on "Free-Radical-Induced Oxidative and Reductive Degradation of Fibrate Pharmaceuticals: Kinetic Studies and Degradation Mechanisms".

The presentations were judged by representatives of Adventus and the Conference Scientific Advisory Board - on the criterion of originality, organization, research techniques and overall quality of work.

For full article select the following link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31206671/

Associate Professor Eric Gaucher Highlighted in Astrobiology Magazine. Link to article: http://www.astrobio.net/news/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3114

Associate Professor Eric Gaucher Highlighted in Astrobiology Magazine. Link to article: http://www.astrobio.net/news/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3114

The College of Sciences Faculty Mentor Awards are sponsored by the College and the COS ADVANCE Professor in order recognize the time and effort that faculty members spend in mentoring and to appreciate the mentors' services to the community. This year Professor Julia Kubanek, School of Biology and School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, was awarded CoS Faculty Mentor Award.

The College of Sciences Faculty Mentor Awards are sponsored by the College and the COS ADVANCE Professor in order recognize the time and effort that faculty members spend in mentoring and to appreciate the mentors' services to the community. This year Professor Julia Kubanek, School of Biology and School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, was awarded CoS Faculty Mentor Award.

Tracy Hazen, School of Biology graduate, has been awarded an ASM/CCID Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Program in Infectious Disease and Public Health Microbiology. This is a highly competitive program designed to support development of new approaches, methodologies and knowledge in infectious disease prevention & control related to the public health mission of the CDC. The fellowship will allow Tracy to perform research in residence at the CCID Center which is located at the CDC.

Tracy Hazen, School of Biology graduate, has been awarded an ASM/CCID Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Program in Infectious Disease and Public Health Microbiology. This is a highly competitive program designed to support development of new approaches, methodologies and knowledge in infectious disease prevention & control related to the public health mission of the CDC. The fellowship will allow Tracy to perform research in residence at the CCID Center which is located at the CDC.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Georgia Tech $370,000 for research into the factors influencing the severity of parasite epidemics in natural populations. Understanding why some epidemics devastate host populations, while others have only small effects, is particularly timely given that epidemics of infectious disease in wildlife populations have increased worldwide. This research will be led by Dr. Meghan Duffy of the School of Biology, and will be done in collaboration with Dr. Spencer Hall at Indiana University. They will study the links between the severity of fungal parasite epidemics in zooplankton host populations and interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. They are particularly interested in how host genetic diversity and the presence of natural predators (especially ones who prey selectively on infected hosts) jointly determine epidemic severity.
This project will use a three-pronged approach to tackle these questions. It will combine intensive studies of natural epidemics in lake plankton, laboratory experiments manipulating host diversity and predation, and development of epidemiological models that incorporate both rapid evolution and selective predation. The processes examined and the modeling work naturally extend to many other disease systems. Therefore, this work will ultimately produce theoretical guidance for efforts seeking to understand and control the severity of wildlife disease.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Georgia Tech $370,000 for research into the factors influencing the severity of parasite epidemics in natural populations. Understanding why some epidemics devastate host populations, while others have only small effects, is particularly timely given that epidemics of infectious disease in wildlife populations have increased worldwide. This research will be led by Dr. Meghan Duffy of the School of Biology, and will be done in collaboration with Dr. Spencer Hall at Indiana University. They will study the links between the severity of fungal parasite epidemics in zooplankton host populations and interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. They are particularly interested in how host genetic diversity and the presence of natural predators (especially ones who prey selectively on infected hosts) jointly determine epidemic severity.
This project will use a three-pronged approach to tackle these questions. It will combine intensive studies of natural epidemics in lake plankton, laboratory experiments manipulating host diversity and predation, and development of epidemiological models that incorporate both rapid evolution and selective predation. The processes examined and the modeling work naturally extend to many other disease systems. Therefore, this work will ultimately produce theoretical guidance for efforts seeking to understand and control the severity of wildlife disease.