Past News & Announcements
Tovar Recognized as 21st Century Leader
May 2015: Dorothy Tovar, Microbiology Class of 2015, was recognized at the UMass Undergraduate Commencement as one of 10 students chosen to be 21st Century Leaders. This award recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated exemplary standards of achievement, initiative and social awareness and are made possible by the generous financial support of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association.
Manning Inventor Fellowship Awarded
May 2015: Jessica Smith, Postdoctoral Research Associate, has been selected by the College of Natural Sciences to receive the 2015-2016 Manning Inventor Fellowship for her project, Real Time Subsurface Microbial Activity Monitoring of Contaminants. Dr. Smith's postdoctoral advisor is Dr. Derek Lovley, Distinguished University Professor. Read more...
UMassGives!
April 2015: Who should take part in #UMassGives? Everyone! UMassGives is 36 amazing hours beginning Wednesday, April 29 at noon through April 30 at midnight when alumni, parents, students, and friends inspire and encourage each other to make a gift online. Tweet, post, like, give and share for the Department of Microbiology. In our department, UMassGives is about supporting our students. Make a gift to enhance the annual Curt Thorne Carry On Award for Microbiology graduate students. Every gift will make a difference!
Graduate Student Receives Dissertation Research Grant
April 2015: Jonathan Miller, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, has been awarded a Dissertation Research Grant through the University of Massachusetts Graduate School. The purpose of the grants are to provide funding for expenses incurred in connection with the student’s doctoral dissertation research. Read more...
Giffen Named Goldwater Scholar
April 2015: Congratulations to Samantha Giffen on being named a Goldwater Scholar. Ms. Giffen is a double Public Health and Microbiology major in the Class of 2016. The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The program is designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Ms. Giffen was one of four UMass students named Goldwater Scholars. Read more...
Microbiology Graduate Student Awarded Robinson Scholarship
March 2015: Gina Chaput, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Microbiology, has been selected as a recipient of the Edith Robinson Scholarship. The Edith Robinson Scholarship, given by the UMass Graduate School from the bequest of Edith Robinson, is for a continuing graduate student from Vermont or New Hampshire who is studying health, the environment, or psychology. Ms. Chaput is a second year graduate student in the research laboratory of Dr. Kristen DeAngelis.
New Addition to the Microbiology Faculty
January 2015: UMass Microbiology welcomes M. Sloan Siegrist as an Assistant Professor to its faculty. Dr. Siegrist received her Ph.D. from the Harvard School of Public Health and was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Berkeley and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Siegrist's research focuses on the cell wall of intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes.
Webley Named Director of Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Advising
January 2015: Effective January 1, 2015, Wilmore Webley, Associate Professor of Microbiology, has been named the Director of Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Advising at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Webley will advise approximately 1,500 undergraduates as they explore careers in the health fields. Read more...
Stewart Paper Recognized at AGU Meeting
January 2015: Lucy Stewart, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, was recognized with an Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA) in Biogeosciences at the American Geophysical Union Fall meeting held in San Francisco in December 2014.
Korobkova Receives Joel Goldenberg Memorial Scholarship
January 2015: Luiza Korobkova, Microbiology Class of 2015, has received the Joel Goldenberg Memorial Scholarship from the Boston Area Chapter of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). ISPE is a non-profit, professional society serving the life sciences industry, including college and university students preparing to entr related fields. The scholarship program was established to honor the memory of Boston Area Chapter Past President Joel Goldenberg.
Whole Plant Therapy Shows Potential in Fighting the Malaria Parasite
January 2015: In the fight against malaria, Stephen Rich and a team of researchers from UMass and Worcester Polytechnic Institute have found using the whole plant from Artemisia annua resists and remains effective for up to three times longer than the pure drug artemisinin, the current pharmaceutical drug used to treat malaria. Details of the research team's findings have been reported this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read more...
These recent findings by Dr. Rich's research team were also featured in the New York Times. Read more...
Lovley Named Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science
December 2014: Derek R. Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS). Deputy Chancellor Robert S. Feldman and Jeffrey D. Blaustein, UMass Professors of Psychological and Brain Sciences were also named fellows of the AAAS. Read more...
Department of Microbiology