The Biology Department offers cutting-edge research opportunities in high-tech laboratories.
Students engage in research projects in molecular biology, microbiology, ecology,
cell biology, and physiology. NMT biology graduates are also well-prepared for medical,
dental, and veterinary school.
♦ Newly graduated Masters Student Bridie Alexander-Lawrie also has her first paper published
- "Inhertance through the cytoplasm" in Heredity. Read it here! https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-022-00540-2
♦ The Biology Department is excited to announce that New Mexico Tech will be the first
college in New Mexico to join over 200 other colleges in over 40 states as part of
the SEA-PHAGES program which is part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance
(HHMI-SEA). The first group of students will be freshman from the Biology and Biomedical
Sciences programs. During this year-long course, students will hunt down, capture,
and characterize viruses that infect bacteria (called “bacteriophages”) from theenvironment. Each student has the opportunity to name their novel phage, and contribute
a sample to the national data bank at the University of Pittsburgh. The class as a
whole will select one phage that will have its DNA sequenced, and in the second semester,
this sequence will be fully analyzed and annotated by the class. Phages discovered
by undergraduate students through this program have been used to treat patients suffering
from multi-drug resistant bacterial infections (see this link). While only a few students are able to participate in this pilot course, the Biology
Department plans to expand enrollment next year as part of our mission to increase
opportunities for students to participate in authentic research experiences.
♦ BMS graduate Wayne Vigil, Jr, now at UC-Riverside has published his first paper
"Spectral deconvolution of redox species in the crotonyl-CoA-dependent NADH:ferredoxinoxidoreductase from Megasphaera elsdenii. A flavin-dependentbifurcating enzyme" in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2021.108793
♦ Congratulations to graduate students Marina Hein and Katie McLain for seeking out
funding opportunities and being awarded a grant from the Native Plant Society ofNew
Mexico to further their research.
♦ We are proud to announce that new Biology Accelerated MS student Catherine Batchelder
is the recipient of a Macey Scholarship for 2020-2021!
♦ Biology Acellerated MS student Kasandra Velarde applied for and received her own
grant under PI Dr. Linda DeVeaux to fund her own project. This is the article the
NM Water Resources Research Institute wrote about it.
Spring 2022 Monday seminars are combined with Graduate Seminar and will be from Noon
to 12:50 pm Mountain Time in Jones-Annex 101 unless otherwise noted. Speakers may
be in person or remote.
9/27/2021
10/4/2021 Seminar, Robert "Bob" McLean, PhD
3:40-4:30 pm MSEC 105
Dr. Bob McLean is a Regent's professor, Department of Biology, Texas State University.
He will be joining us remotely. His title is “Polymicrobial Biofilm Growth and Control During Spaceflight”
10/11/2021 Seminar, Michael A Bauer, PhD
3:40-4:30 pm MSEC 105
Dr Bauer is a dual Biology and Computer Science alumni of NMT and now an assistant
professor at the Univerty of Arkansas, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Myeloma
Center.
His title is “Selection of Bioinformatics analyses: Differential Splicing, Differential Methylation
and Novel Long non-Coding RNA”
He will be joining us remotely.
10/18/2021 Seminar, Jesus Valenzuela, PhD
3:40-4:30 pm MSEC 105
Chief of the Vector Molecular Biology Section of the NIH National Institute of Allergy
and Infections Diseases, and a memebr of the NIH Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Dr Valenzuela will be joing us remotely. Title "Impact of immune responses to insect
salivary proteins on pathogen establishment and disease progression."
10/19/2021 MS Defense, Betty Fish
5:00 pm Zoom
Betty Fish will be defending her thesis "Determining the Effect of Pineal Melatonin on Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer"
Research advisor Dr. Stewart Thompson, Psychology. Zoom invitation by request.
10/25/2021
3:40-4:30 pm
11/1/2021 Bradley Stevens, St. Jude
3:40-4:30 pm
NMT Biology Alumni and PhD student at St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Bradley's title is: "What the FLOX is up with SOX8? Understanding the role of SOX8 in both myogenesis and
sarcomagenesis"
Dr. Nicole Pietrasiak, Assistant Professor for Environmental Soil Microbiology, Plant & Environmental Sciences
Department, New Mexico State University. "Soil microbes - The underdogs of dryland
ecosystems."
12/6/2021 No Seminar
Finals
SPRING 2022
Noon to 12:50 pm in Jones-Annex 101 unless otherwise noted.
NMT alumnus Max Baymiller is expecting to defend his PhD dissertation this spring
at the University of Illinois. His talk for us is "Tissue-specific alternative splicing separates the old from the new for an essential
translation enzyme"
Please welcome him back Monday at Noon in Jones-Annex 101 or email Biology.Dept@npe.nmt.edu for a Zoom invitation.
1/31/2022 MS Progress Updates, Bridie Alexander-Lawrie & Joe Couls
Bridie Alexander-Lawrie "Recombination, inheritance, and structural variation in mitochondrial
genomes of a freshwater gastropod". Joseph Couls "Changes in Gene Expression in Cells
Treated with a Novel Anti-Parasitic Drug"
2/14/2022 MS Progress Updates, Raymond Castillo & Casia Esparza
Raymond Castillo "Population Genetics of Loss of Function Mutations". Casia Esparza
"Novel Phage Discovery: LilyPad"
2/21/2022 MS Progress Updates, Ankita Schwarting & Cameron Steffensen
Ankita Schwarting "Determining the Acute Effects of Melatonin on Reproductive Cancers".
Cameron Steffensen " Mitochondrial function in sexual vs. asexual lineages of Potamopyrgus
antipodarum "
2/28/2022 MS Progress Updates, Hannah Lambertson & Kasandra Velarde
Hannah Lambertson "The effect of select genes on radiation resistance in Halobacterium
salinarum". Kasandra Velarde "Neutralization of pathogens through electron beam irradiation,
and pathogens."
3/7/2022 MS Progress Updates, Marina Hein & Catherine Batchelder
Marina Hein , title TBD. Catherine Batchelder "Genomic Controls of Cytonuclear Interactions"
3/14/2022 Spring Break - No Seminar
3/21/2022 Seminar Dr. Kurt Williamson
Dr. Williamson, a Professor at the College of William and Mary, presents "Pulse disturbances
and the viral ecology of stormwater retention ponds.”
3/28/2022 Seminar Dr. Indranil Malik
Dr Malik, NMT Biology MS alum and now a Fellow at U of Michigan, Department of Neurology presents "Nucleotide repeat expansions in Neurodegenerative diseases."
4/4/2022 Seminar Dr. Phil Nelson
Dr Phil Nelson of the U of Pennsylvania department of Physics presents "Inference
in Biological Physics."
4/8/2022 MS Thesis Defense, Kasandra Velarde
2:00 pm, MSEC 105
Biology MS Student Kasandra Velarde defends her thesis “Neutralization of pathogens
through electron beam irradiation and phages”
4/11/2022 Seminar Dr. Benjamin Sullivan
Dr. Sullivan, an associate Professor at the University of Nevada - Reno presents "Small
and mighty: montane meadows are disproportionate carbon storage hotspots"
4/18/2022 Seminar Dr. Karen Barnard-Kubow
Dr. Barnard-Kubow, Genomics Research Director at James Madison University in VA. "Cytonuclear
coevolution a sa potential driver of reproductive isolation"
4/25/2022 Seminar Dr. Katie Hossler
Dr Hossler, Asst Professor at Wright State University in OH presents "A soil bulk
density metric to improve rapid assessments of wetland condition"
5/9/2022 MS Thesis Defense - Catherine Batchelder
Noon, MSEC 105
Catherine Batchelder, Biology Masters student, will be defending her thesis "The Effects
of Polyploidy on Cytonuclear Interactions''
Bridie Alexander-Lawrie, Biology Masters student, will be defending her thesis “Recombination
and Inheritance in Mitochondrial Genomes of a Freshwater Gastropod”
Z. Ankita Schwarting, student in the Accelerated Biology Masters Program, will be
defending her thesis "Determining the Acute Effects of Melatonin on Reproductive Cancers"
