December Newsletter
Greetings from the Biology GSPA! In this monthly newsletter, we're featuring accomplishments from the Biology Department and announcing exciting upcoming events!

Department Happenings: 
Recent PhD Phoebe Cook from the Brodie lab published her paper in The American Naturalist showing that age structure of groups changes social network structure in forked fungus beetles (read here). Congratulations, Phoebe!

Dr. Dan McIntyre published "Niche cells regulate primordial germ cell quiescence in response to basement membrane signaling" in Development. Read it here!

3rd year graduate student Abbey Ramirez and Dr. Amanda Gibson got a grant from the Eppley Foundation for Research to investigate the genetic diversity and structure of populations of a major crop parasite, the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne arenaria. Congratulations, Abbey and the Gibson lab!

The Biology department won the Third Annual UVA STEM Food Drive (again)! Thank you Sherrie Jones and Mary Liberman for all the work you did for the food drive, and to everyone who donated! 

Have an announcement you'd like featured in the January newsletter? Contact Isabelle Sajonia.

December Events:
* Biology Holiday Party:
The Holiday party was a hit! The GSPA would like to give a special shout out to Sherrie Jones for organizing this spectacular event, Mary Liberman for making all the desserts, and our talented performers (Daniel Nondorf and Sarah McPeek). 

* Friday Seminar: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Hybrid - Gilmer 390 & Zoom
No upcoming Seminars.

* Recurring Event:
Coffee Hour: Thursday, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, PLSB 4th Floor Lounge
Take a break from your desk for coffee and afternoon snacks with your fellow biologists. All are welcome, just bring your own mug!

* GSPA Meeting: No December meeting
Due to the holidays, we will not have a December GSPA meeting. We will update you on our January meeting day/time in the new year.

Looking Ahead
Online Biology Recruitment: Monday February 19th and 20th
Get involved in the Biology department's graduate student recruitment this February! Sign up for datablitz (a short 2-3 minute science talk) and lab visits and lunches. Sign up here. Email Megan with any questions.

Have a question or concern that you would like to see addressed by GSPA? Please use this form to submit anonymous feedback.