The following promotions within the Department of Microbiology became effective September 1, 2024: Erika Hamilton is the new Department Head; Yasu Morita has been promoted to Professor of Microbiology; Sloan Siegrist has been promoted to the Associate Department Head for Research and Verena Carvalho will be the Assistant Director for Microbiology Teaching Services.
Dr. Christina Arieta has been recognized by the College of Natural Sciences and is the recipient of the CNS Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Dr. Arieta earned her Bachelor’s of Microbiology (2009) and her Doctorate of Animal Biotechnology & Biomedical Sciences (2014) from UMass Amherst. She is currently the Senior Director of Molecular Immunology at BioNTech US Inc. and provides scientific leadership for their next-generation COVID-19 vaccine program, among other aspects of the company's vaccine program.
Dr. James Holden, Professor, was interviewed by The Scientist Magazine about how studying microbes from hydrothermal vents helps to inform our search for life beyond Earth and its relationship with the upcoming Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's moon.
Students in Heather Reed's freshman seminar, Microbiology 270, Cultivating the Microbiologist in You, painted with Photobacterium leiognathi KNH4. P. leiognathi is a bioluminescent symbiont of fish.
Harita Sistu, Ph.D. student in Microbiology, was named a finalist in ‘What’s Your Story?’, a science writing competition sponsored by the online magazine The Scientist in partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Caroline Tran, a Microbiology senior, was named a UMass 21st Century Leader. Recipients of the award are chosen in recognition of their strong academic records and exemplary achievements. They also further distinguished themselves through intellectual accomplishments and will be recognized for the prestige and honor they bring to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, both as undergraduates and as alumni joining the larger community. The award was presented at the University of Massachusetts Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2024.
Adam Charest, Microbiology '24, was named a UMass Rising Researcher. Adam is an undergraduate researcher and is currently working with Organicin Scientific, a start-up company which emerged from the research laboratory of Margaret Riley, Adjunct Professor of Microbiology. Organicin Scientific is developing new natural, non-antibiotic products that will revolutionize the treatment of aquaculture-related pathogens as well as many other promising pipelines, like acne.
Lucca Kikuti Mancilio, a Microbiology Ph.D. student, is the recipient of a UMass Graduate School Predissertation Research Grant for his proposed research project: PhosForUs: Metagenomic Insights Into in-situ Phosphorus Recovery from Polluted Water Sources Using Biofilm Systems. One of the goals of the project is to advance technology for phosphorus recovery not only from wastewater, but also from polluted waterbodies such as local ponds, and evaluate the recovered phosphorus for use as a more sustainable fertilizer.
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S.'s national emergency declaration regarding COVID-19 in 2020, Erika Hamilton, Senior Lecturer of Microbiology, was recently asked by Western Mass News to reflect on COVID-19.