April Newsletter
Greetings from the Biology GSPA! In this monthly newsletter, we have highlighted some of the recent accomplishments among members of the department and advertised some exciting events coming up in April!

Department Happenings: 
Austin Keeler, a post-doc in the Deppmann Lab, has accepted a faculty position at the University of Delaware as an assistant professor.

An art-based science outreach initiative called "Look Closer: Art in the Microscopic World" had 7 biology department Ph.D. students and post-docs give presentations to 30+ art students at Charlottesville High School about their research in October, after which the students spent several months making artwork inspired by the research. 12 biology department graduate students, post-docs, and undergraduate students then volunteered to host the two high school classes here at Gilmer, where they toured three biology department labs to see how the research they learned about took place, and they had an art gallery where they presented about their art in discussion groups. 

 Congratulations to Sarah McKeep for receiving the biology department's Distinguished Teaching Fellowship for spring 2024. McKeep's 4000-level undergraduate seminar course will explore the integrative biology of mutualistic species interactions.

Congratulations to: (i) Kendall Branham and Carina Karp (ii) Taylor Nystrom and Crystal Guerrero (Siegrist Lab) for receiving the Double Hoo Award!

Audrey Brown (graduated spring 2022), Anush Aryal (3rd year Ph.D. candidate) and Shiwei Liu (graduated winter 2022) from the Güler Malaria Lab just had a paper accepted in mBio showing that stressing the malaria parasite by limiting nutrients in its environment triggers responses that mimic those involved in resistance to a potent antimalarial, artemisinin. This is the first paper showing the starvation can be a preamble to resistance in malaria and has many implications for the evolution of resistance in the human host. Keep an eye out for it!

Congratulations to Chris Robinson (Cox Lab) for receiving the Jefferson Doctoral Dissertation Year Fellowship to complete his dissertation!

Congratulations to Myles Davoll (Cox Lab) and Irish Amundson (Gibson Lab) who were both awarded the Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation!

April Events:
* GSPA Meeting: Monday, April 3rd, 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM, Gilmer 400
Join us for our April public forum meeting! Snacks are provided! Come share your questions, concerns, and ideas about how we can improve department life, both academically and socially. If there are anonymous concerns you would like to share ahead of the meeting, please fill out this form.

* GRIT Meeting: Monday, April 3rd, 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM, Hybrid - BEC in McKim Hall & Zoom
GRIT will be having its next general body meeting. Please join us in person for free coffee, biscotti, snacks and virtually via Zoom. Meeting ID: 929 8160 0394; Passcode: glia. We will be talking about some exciting, upcoming community events as well as discussing fun summer activities! In addition, we will be reviewing our new resource pages and debriefing on BIMS, Biology, & SEAS recruitment. 

* Grad Student Appreciation Week: Monday, April 3rd – Friday, April 7th, 2023
The biology department will be giving away a few prizes and hosting breakfasts throughout the week to celebrate and appreciate graduate students for all the hard work done for the department.

* Bio Talent Show: Thursday, April 13th, 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM, Gilmer 490 
GSPA is hosting a talent show. Sherrie Jones, Ray Lam, and Barry Condron as guest judges. All talents (and un-talents) are welcome, from good singing to bad juggling. This is open to all members of the biology department. Food and refreshments will be provided! Sign up!

* Friday Seminars: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM, Hybrid - Gilmer 390 & Zoom
April 7th - Bodenstein Lecture
Speaker: Dr. Nipam Patel, Director, Marine Biological Laboratory, Professor, The University of Chicago
Talk title: “Insights from Novel Research Organisms: From Crustacean Limbs to the Beauty of Butterflies.”
Host: Dr. Ari Pani

April 7th - Bodenstein Dinner for our Bodenstein lecture! 
Location: The Graduate Hotel Ballroom, 9th Floor 
Time: Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will begin being served at 5:00 PM with a reception-style dinner to follow at 06:00 PM.

April 14th - Annual Biological Sciences Research Symposium
The first year Biology and Expand graduate students, GSPA and Community Committee are organizing the first Annual Biological Sciences Symposium to showcase all of the great work being performed in our department by undergraduate researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows. The event will be held on April 14th in the Halls of PLSB 3 and 4 and will run from 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM. We are also planning to host a celebration (food, drinks, socializing) the same evening, 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM.

For undergraduate and graduate students interested in presenting a poster, please fill out the Google form. Through this form we will ask for a title, co-authors, and abstract of 150 - 200 words, along with a few additional logistics questions (time availability, PI, financial aid need, etc.).

Tentative schedule for the day will be as follows:

• 09:30 - 10:00: Registration, Poster set-up 
• 10:00 - 12:00: Poster session #1 (undergraduate and graduate students)
• 12:00 - 01:00: Post-doc mini-symposium, hosted by GSPA (Gilmer 390)
• 01:00 - 02:00: TBD (will include light food)
• 02:00 - 04:00: Poster session #2 (undergraduate and graduate students)
• 04:00 - 04:30: Poster removal
• 04:30 - 05:00: Awards for presenters
• 06:00 - 08:00: Reception (location, TBD)

Note: This event will consolidate the biology undergraduate poster session and first year graduate student poster session into one event, so those required to present should submit their abstract and prepare for this event. This symposium will NOT include the Katz Symposium - this will be held May 3rd.

The event is open to trainees from all departments who do work within the broad field of Biological Sciences. If space becomes limited we will expand to PLSB 2 and/or trainees from Biology or in Biology labs will be prioritized.

April 14th - Biology Postdoc Seminar: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM, Gilmer 390
GSPA will be hosting the Spring 2023 Biology Seminar Series to spotlight the accomplishments of three of the department’s postdocs. To apply, please email Victor DePiero your name, the lab you’re in, and a 150 - 200 word abstract describing your research. If you have postdocs in your lab, please encourage them to apply!

April 21st - Speaker: Dr. Laura Johnson, Columbia University.
Hosted: Dr. Sarah Siegrist

April 28th - Speaker: Dr. Ahmad Jomaa, University of Virginia.
Hosted: Dr. Jennifer Guler

* Recurring Event:
Coffee Hour: Wednesday, 03:15 PM - 04:15 PM, PLSB 4th Floor Balcony 
Take a break from your desk for coffee and afternoon snacks with your fellow biologists. All are welcome, just bring your own mug!

GSPA Travel and Research Award Application
GSPA is accepting applications for a research award of up to $250. Interested applicants should email Kendall Branham the completed application by May 15th. 
Have a question or concern that you would like to see addressed by GSPA? Please use this form to submit anonymous feedback.

Have an event you'd like included in the May newsletter? Contact Roberta Onoharigho