![Department of Biology](/academics/biology/images/facilities/BioheroL.jpg)
Department of Biology
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.
Scroll down for department seminars and events.
Biology Department News
♦ Newly graduated Masters Student Bridie Alexander-Lawrie also has her first paper published
- "Inhertance through the cytoplasm" in Heredity. Read it here!
http://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-022-00540-2
♦ Asst Professor Joel Sharbrough awarded prestigious NSF CAREER Award!
♦ 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 the environment. 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.
http://szzhuodong.com/news/2023/goldwater-scholar.php
♦ Cassandra Skaar earns prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.
♦ 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:ferredoxin oxidoreductase from Megasphaera elsdenii. A flavin-dependent bifurcating enzyme" in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics http://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.
Click here for a list of scholarships for women
Summer 2023
July 17, 2023 Master Thesis Defense. Raymond Castillo, Biology Masters student advised by Dr Joel Sharbrough, will be defending his thesis “LoFFFS: An R-Package to Infer Functional Loss-of-Function Frequency Spectra” Monday, July 17, 2023 at 10 am in Jones Annex 101 or via Zoom. Please contact the biology department for a Zoom link.
Biology Department Events Fall 2023 / Spring 2024
The Fall 2023 NM-INBRE Sponsored Biology/Biomedical Seminar Series is held on Mondays from 4:30pm to 5:30 pm in MSEC 195 and via Zoom unless noted otherwise. Email biology.dept@npe.szzhuodong.com for a Zoom link.
9/18/2023 | Dr Ellen Martinson, Asst Prof of Biol UNM | "Variation in Extended Phenotypes" |
9/25/2023 | ||
10/2/2023 | Marilyn Wells, Phd Candidate. U of TX - Austin | Blood vs. Bacteria: Viscoelasticity of the biofilm matrix and clearance by immune cells |
10/9/2023 | Student Talks | Summer REUs |
10/16/2023 | Dr Brett Seymoure, UTEP | The dark side of light: Consequences of disrupting natural light for the behavioral ecology of arthropods. |
10/23/2023 | Dr Matthew Scholfield, GlaxoSmithKline (and alumni) | "My Unexpected Journey to Pharmaceutical Development" |
10/30/2023 | Joseph Ulbrich, MS Thesis Defense | "Characterization of viral communities from Cavern pools in Carlsbad Caverns" |
11/6/2023 | Dr David Skaar, NCSU | The Human Imprintome: Survival in the Postgenome Era |
11/13/2023 | Student Talks | Summer REUs |
11/20/2023 | No Seminar | Thankgiving Break |
11/27/2023 | ||
12/4/2023 | No Seminar | Finals |
Click for printable pdf directions to the Biology Department
Biology Staff
NAME | TITLE | PHONE | DEPARTMENT | LOCATION | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dr. Kaarin Goncz | Instructor, Lab Manager | 575-835-5098 | Biology | Jones Annex 221 | Kaarin.Goncz@szzhuodong.com |
Vanessa Quinones | Department Specialist | 575-835-5612 | Biology | Jones Annex 219 | Vanessa.Quinones@szzhuodong.com |