To request a media interview, please reach out to School of Biological Sciences experts using our faculty directory, or contact Jess Hunt-Ralston, College of Sciences communications director. A list of faculty experts and research areas across the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech is also available to journalists upon request.
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) awarded the University of Maryland a six-year, $505,000 grant to continue UMD’s work toward the inclusion of all students in science through HHMI’s Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) initiative. HHMI awarded IE3 grants totaling more than $60 million over six years to collaborate on strategies for creating more welcoming, inclusive learning experiences for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). HHMI reviewed 354 proposals and awarded grants to 104 schools, dividing them into seven Learning Community Clusters, or LCCs. Georgia Tech is included in the University of Maryland's LLC. Lewis Wheaton, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Director of the Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences (C-PIES); Carrie Shepler, principal academic professional in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Assistant Dean for Teaching Effectiveness in the College of Sciences; Jennifer Leavey, principal academic professional in the School of Biological Sciences and Assistant Dean for Faculty Mentoring in the College of Sciences; and David Collard, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Senior Associate Dean in the College of Sciences led this grant initiative for Georgia Tech.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant to Support Inclusive Science Education | 2023-01-05T00:00:00-05:00
Skipping a stone across water requires skill and patience and, of course, a great stone. Personal preference may send you to a flat, light one, which seems to skip easier. But scientists have found that is not the only way to get impressive leaps. A recent University of Bristol study researched how shape and mass affect the way objects interact with water. And it found that a heavier rock with a good curve — imagine the shape of a mango but smaller — can get an impressive bounce. David Hu, a professor with the School of Biological Sciences and the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the School of Physics, did not take part in the study but comments on how surprised he was that the Bristol scientists studied curved objects.
Heavier, curvy stones can give surprising results in skipping, physicists say | 2023-01-05T00:00:00-05:00
Over the past two years, artificial intelligence has shown it can predict what many cellular components look like. For instance, the AlphaFold deep-learning tool developed by Google sister company DeepMind has decoded how nearly every amino acid sequence folds into defined shapes. With a grant of computing time from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Leadership Computing Challenge, a team led by Jeffrey Skolnick, Regents' Professor, Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair & GRA Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, is extending that work to unfurl how those proteins interact and form complex, working structures in living systems. More details on this development can be found at the College of Sciences News Center here.
Computing function from form | 2023-01-04T00:00:00-05:00
Many of us feel tethered to our water bottles because we've been told that being hydrated is key to being healthy. NPR's Life Kit and Short Wave colleagues teamed up to talk about what science says about hydrating. Turns out much of the lore is due for an update. Example: drinking eight glasses of water a day is good for you. That actually depends on body size and activity level. But Mindy Millard-Stafford, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of Georgia Tech's Exercise Physiology Lab, says even mild dehydration, or a two percent loss of water, can impact the brain's executive functions and ability to pay sustained attention.
Encore: How much water do you actually need? Here's the science | 2023-01-02T00:00:00-05:00
As the home of prominent research universities like Georgia Tech, medical schools and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia is uniquely positioned to be a leader in public health — not just for the U.S. but around the world. Bolstered by the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), whose mission is to bring government, business and academia together to expand and further university research, the state is able to recruit the scientists who are making breakthroughs in major health issues. These include forecasting the next pandemic, developing new antibiotics, and tackling chronic health problems like high blood pressure. Marvin Whiteley, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Bennie H. and Nelson D. Abell Chair in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar is interviewed about his research into the social behaviors of bacteria and how they can point the way to new treatments.
Pursuing Premier Public Health | 2022-12-13T00:00:00-05:00
Scientists working at the ongoing Department of Energy’s (DOE) Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment use the site’s northern Minnesota bog as a laboratory. SPRUCE allowed scientists to warm the air and soil by zero to 9 degrees C above ambient temperatures to depths more than 2m below ground. This warming simulates the effects of climate change on the carbon cycle at the whole ecosystem scale over the long term. The research found that the production of the potent greenhouse gas methane increased at a faster rate than carbon dioxide in response to warming. The results indicate that carbon dioxide release and methane production are stimulated by plants‘ release of metabolites, chemicals that plants create for protection and other functions. The scientists included a team from Georgia Tech led by Joel Kostka, professor and associate chair of research for the School of Biological Sciences, with an adjunct appointment in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
Whole Ecosystem Warming Stimulates Methane Production from Plant Metabolites in Peatlands | 2022-11-30T00:00:00-05:00
Most people may think of bacteria, regardless of species and shape, as a single cell, or maybe several free-living cells. The problem with this image, according to microbiologists, is that it doesn’t reflect how most bacteria are likely to live. Often, bacteria use sticky molecules to anchor themselves to a surface, growing in collectives called biofilms. A new study shows that even bacteria floating in the open ocean, which lack an anchoring point for forming large conglomerates, exist in multicellular forms. The study builds on 2021 published research from Georgia Tech scientists that showed unicellular yeast forming multicellular clusters. The School of Biological Sciences researchers include Ozan Bozdag, research scientist; William Ratcliff, associate professor; Kai Tong, Ph.D. Quantitative Biosciences student, and Penelope Kahn. School of Physics researchers involved include Peter Yunker, assistant professor; Thomas C. Day, graduate student; and Seyed Alireza Zamani-Dahaj, Ph.D. student.
Ocean Bacteria Reveal an Unexpected Multicellular Form | 2022-11-02T00:00:00-04:00
A Georgia Tech alumnus, and School of Biological Sciences Professor and Associate Chair of Research Joel Kostka, are working to restore seven acres of degraded salt marsh in historic Ashleyville, S.C. Albert George, who received an M.S. from Georgia Tech, is a former conservation director with the South Carolina Aquarium who is credited with spearheading work to restore the marsh. A group led by Kostka, who has a joint appointment in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and is researching coastal wetlands, received a grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund for the marsh restoration project. Ashleyville was formerly known as Maryville, once a self-sustaining Black community, chartered and settled in 1886. It offered formerly enslaved people safe places to buy land, raise families, and work in the Jim Crow era. South Carolina's Department of Natural Resources will work with Georgia Tech to monitor the restoration efforts.
Historic Maryville marsh damaged by drought getting new life with volunteers in the muck | 2022-10-10T00:00:00-04:00
It used to be that people had to worry about not getting enough water during the course of their day. But this All Things Considered segment busts some dehydration myths to include the risks of drinking too much water, which could throw your water-sodium balance out of whack. Mindy Millard-Stafford, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Georgia Tech, comments on the effects of mild dehydration on higher-level mental functions.
How much water do you actually need? Here's the science | 2022-09-22T00:00:00-04:00
It used to be that people had to worry about not getting enough water during the course of their day. But this All Things Considered segment busts some dehydration myths to include the risks of drinking too much water, which could throw your water-sodium balance out of whack. Mindy Millard-Stafford, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Georgia Tech, comments on the effects of mild dehydration on higher-level mental functions.
How much water do you actually need? Here's the science | 2022-09-22T00:00:00-04:00
