The Lycoming College Department of Biology will host the Allegheny Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Nov. 7-8 on the campus in Williamsport, Pa.
This annual meeting will feature Dr. John F. Stolz, director of the Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University as the keynote speaker on Nov. 7. It will also include hands-on workshops led by Dr. Jeffrey Newman, president of the Allegheny Branch and associate professor and chair of biology, and his students, in addition to a variety of presentations on Nov. 8.
“We welcome the opportunity to host fellow microbiologists at Lycoming,” said Dr. Newman. “We are eager to share our cutting-edge technology that has been made possible by two National Science Foundation grants in the past five years."
The workshops, led by Dr. Newman and his students, will cover everything from genome assembly and annotation to analyzing organisms. Participants are encouraged to bring a few petri dishes with growing organisms to analyze in a few of the sessions.
On Saturday, Lycoming students will also present their research on the following projects: identification of bacteria from lesions on smallmouth bass; analysis of the DNA sequence of viruses isolated from largemouth and smallmouth bass; discovery of new species of bacteria isolated from the Loyalsock Creek; comparison of bacterial DNA sequences that confer unique traits on them; a method to compare all of the genes from organisms to determine how closely related they are. Students will learn about the microbiology research conducted at other colleges and universities in the area.
Dr. Stolz has been a faculty member at Duquesne University for 24 years. He is the recipient of over 30 grants from several organizations, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Over 70 of his articles have been published in various publications. In addition, he has authored two books of his own and over 30 chapters in several other books. He received his doctorate from Boston University and his bachelor’s degree at Fordham University.
Dr. Newman, associate professor and chair of biology, currently serves as the president of the Allegheny Branch. Dr. Newman and his students have been recognized for discovering a new species of bacteria in the Loyalsock Creek, a major branch of the Susquehanna River. He received his doctorate in molecular biology at Marquette University and his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide. The Allegheny Branch includes Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and 23 colleges and universities. For more information, visit the American Society for Microbiology website.