Department of Biological Sciences
 

2004 Archived News

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  • 11-30-04 - In Memoriam: Susan Daniels
    On Thursday November 18, Susan J. Daniels passed away at the age of 44. Sue has been a member of the Department of Biology since 1994 working in many capacities, including technical support, data analysis, editorial work, research associate and graduate student. She earned a M.S. in 1997, and recently had been working toward a PhD. Dr. Jeffrey Walters, Bailey Professor of Biology, was her major advisor for both of her degrees. Sue was an exceptional scholar with expertise in the field biology of birds, animal behavior, and conservation. She was a Cunningham Fellow, and has published ten papers and book chapters, all of high quality in prestigious journals and books. Sue was a friend to many, and a positive force within the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg Communities.
  • 10-13-04 - David Popham and Stephen Melville have received a 3-year grant for $348,000 from the USDA to study "Factors affecting heat resistance of Clostridium perfringens spores." The study will compare Clostridium perfringens strains normally associated with food contamination and food poisoning with strains found in other environments. Mutant strains will be constructed that are defective in individual spore properties believed to play important roles in producing heat resistant spores. The research will contribute to our understanding of the extreme resistance properties of bacterial spores and potentially to improved methods for food preservation.
  • David Popham and Al Claiborne, a collaborator at Wake Forest University, have received a 2-year grant for $108,000 from the NIH-sponsored Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense (SERCEB) to begin a new study of "Coenzyme A-linked Redox Control in Bacillus anthracis". Carleitta Paige, a Wake Forest graduate student supported by a Graduate Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will be spending time in the Popham lab for the next couple years to work on this project. Control of the reducing/oxidizing environment of the cell is predicted to be important in both the resistance properties of Anthrax spores and in pathogenesis of this disease.
  • The department's Microbiology group will be well-represented at the annual meeting of the VA branch of the American Society for Microbiology at Bridgewater College Nov. 5-6, 2004. A group of 12 researchers will attend the meeting and 9 graduate students will present talks and posters on their work.
  • 9-30-04 - The Hokie Bird visits the Biology Department! See the photo gallery! The Hokie Bird came to help Dr. Jack Cranford celebrate receiving the 2004 Alumni Advising Award.
  • 4-8-04 - Brenda Winkel has obtained an AdvanceVT Leadership Fellowship. The fellow will be appointed Associate Director of the Fralin Center for Biotechnology, allowing her to work with the Director to learn more about the role of this individual in providing leadership and vision for the Center. She will also lead an effort to establish a Graduate Program in the Plant Sciences on campus; as part of this a Research Symposium will be organized in Spring 2005 involving participants from other institutions to discuss the future of research in the plant sciences and provide insights into successful existing graduate programs in this area.
  • 4-8-04 - Duncan Porter has been selected as this year's recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Natural Science by the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation.
  • 4-8-04 - Nicole Mammerella a biology major who graduated in 2003, was recently selected as a National Science Foundation Graduate Scholarship, which appears to be the first such award given to a Virginia Tech Biology Major. Nicole is currently pursuing a PhD at Harvard.
  • 3-22-04 - John J. Tyson, University Distinguished Professor of Biology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has been named one of Virginia's three Outstanding Scientists of the Year 2004, according to an announcement by Governor Mark R. Warner and Science Museum of Virginia Director Walter R.T. Witschey.
  • 3-12-04 - David Popham received a 2-year grant from NIH to begin studying the germination process of Bacillus anthracis spores, the agent that causes Anthrax. This research may lead to better methods to decontaminate buildings that have been contaminated with spores. Dave also received a 4-year grant from NIH to continue his studies of cell wall synthesis in Bacillus subtilis. Studies of this process in actively growing bacterial cells is designed to identify targets for the development of new antibiotics. The cell walls of bacterial spores play important roles in determining the extreme heat resistance of these cells. An understanding of the details of how this structure is assembled can lead to better methods for preserving food and for cleaning up spore-contaminated sites.
  • 3-12-04 - Derrell McPherson, who recently finished his PhD working with David Popham, received the 2004 Outstanding Dissertation Award in Sciences, an honor given by the graduate school. Congratulations to Derrell for his hard work and success, and to David for his excellent mentorship!
  • 1-12-04 - Hilu's Work Top Story In Recent American Journal Of Botany. Flowering plants are the largest group of plants and contain just about all our food crops, said Khidir Hilu, whose research breaking into new grounds in the molecular evolution of flowering plants makes up the featured article in the recently released December issue of the American Journal of Botany.
    (with permission from Botanical Society of America)