Bgsa Newsletter 2324

Biology Graduate Student Association
West Virginia University
2022-2023 Newsletter June 9, 2023
An In-Person Year!
This year the Biology Department was able to
gather in person for the 2022 Department of
Biology Retreat. This marks the first in-person
retreat since the Covid-19 pandemic and also
served as a chance to dress in Halloween costume.
The retreat was organized by Dr. Eddie Brzostek
and hosted at Modern Homestead in Reedville.
Emel Kangi, Oliver Cook, and Mason Lee were
invited speakers and gave great talks.
The BGSA also helped organize the first Bio Blitz, a chance for students to showcase their work with
very brief talks. We would like to thank all the students who participated and acknowledge the
winners: Zoe Pagliaro, Ishmael Muhammad and Barrett-Anne Briggs.
Celebrating accomplishments
Barrett-Anne Briggs – Defended her Program of Study! Presented at the American Society of Microbiology
Conference. Also received the Morrissey-Ropp Scholarship.
Roshan Abeyratne – Defended his PhD! Also published in Genes, Genomes, Genetics.
Joanna Ridgeway – Published a paper in Soil Biology and Biochemistry! Also presented a talk at the
annual Ecological Society of America Meeting. Received the Department of Energy Office of Science
Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award and performed thesis research at Oak Ridge National Lab
in the Fall. Defended her proposal.
Sam Skibicki – Was the Hesler Visiting Scholar at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Herbarium!
Defended his proposal.
Malia Miller – Received an award for her excellence in undergraduate research mentorship! Also passed
her qualifying exams.
Oliver Cook - Presented a poster at Society for Neuroscience Meeting! Also passed his qualifying exams.
Kristin Ratliff – Presented a poster at the Center for Bioenergy Innovation Annual Science Meeting!
John Hageter – Published in Cell Reports! Also passed his qualifying exams.
Hana Thixton-Nolan – Defended their proposal!
Hannah DeHetre – Defended her Program of Study!
Dom Cifelli – Defended his Program of Study!
Mason Lee – Published in Frontiers in Microbiology!
Emel Kangi – Defended her proposal! Was the first recipient of the Troast Family Graduate Scholarship.
Also presented a talk at the annual Ecological Society of America Meeting.
Zoe Pagliaro – Paper got accepted, so be on the lookout! Also presented a talk at the annual Ecological
Society of America Meeting.
Jess Towey – Defended her proposal!
Taizina Momtareen – Defended her proposal!
Jacob Starkey - Passed his qualifying exams!
Dio Patriarcheas – Passed his qualifying exams!
Marryn Bennett - Defended her Program of Study!
Shivani Maan - Defended her Program of Study!
Matthew Waalkes - Defended his Program of Study!
Dakota Miller - Defended his Program of Study!
Elora Shin - Defended her Program of Study!
Ryan Phillips - Defended his Program of Study!
Ishmael Muhammad - Defended his Program of Study!
Josh Lambert - Defended his Program of Study!
Check us out in the literature!
1. Ridgeway et al., 2022. Plant litter traits control microbial decomposition and drive soil carbon stabilization.
Soil Biology and Biochemistry (175).
2. Lee, M. H., Hu, G., & Rio, R. V. (2023). Symbiosis preservation: Putative regulation of fatty acyl-CoA
reductase by miR-31a within the symbiont harboring bacteriome through tsetse evolution. Frontiers in
Microbiology, 14.
3. Hageter, J., Starkey, J., & Horstick, E. J. (2023). Thalamic regulation of a visual critical period and motor
behavior. Cell Reports, 42(4).
4. Abeyratne, C. R., Macaya-Sanz, D., Zhou, R., Barry, K. W., Daum, C., Haiby, K., ... & DiFazio, S. P. (2023).
High-resolution mapping reveals hotspots and sex-biased recombination in Populus trichocarpa. G3, 13(1),
jkac269.
Biology Department T-shirts and stickers are available! T-shirts can be purchased from the biology
main office. Prices are $25 for all Biology Department members. Stickers are 2" x 2" and are $3.
These may be purchase from Cameron Corbett. Awesome t-shirt design is created by Hana
Thixton-Nolan and the lovely stickers were designed by Hannah DeHetre!
Social Events
This year saw the return of in-person social
events for the department. Thanks to the
work of our social coordinator, we were
able to participate in many events this
year, including pumpkin carving, holiday
cookie exchanges, bingo nights, movie
nights, Friendsgiving celebrations, and
more!
Students and faculty

members enjoy
carving pumpkins on
the Life Sciences
Building Green Space.
The BGSA would like to thank our faculty

advisor Dr. Eddie Brzostek, as well as
Mickey Sackett and Dr. Jen Hawkins for
their enthusiastic support, participation,
and organizational skills that made our
fun events possible!
Personal Announcements
Kristin Ratliff got a job at U of Pitt!
Hannah DeHetre adopted a new kitty – a ginger baby named Mister!
Dom Cifelli wrote a super cool R code to analyze WVU Basketball data!
Molli Coombs helped deliver two adorable baby goats!
Taizina Momtareen got married!
Special Announcements Continue to Connect

Congratulations to the new BGSA officers —
Check out even more photos on Google Drive,
Oliver Cook, Dio Patriarcheas, John Hageter,
and follow the Biology Department’s Twitter
Ryan Phillips, Lauren Kosslow, Molli Coombs
and Facebook pages for updates.
Thank you to the outgoing Officers — Joanna
Ridgeway, Emel Kangi, Cameron Corbett, Mason Please take a moment to fill out this
Lee, and Molli Coombs. information form, to be featured on the page.
The Biology Grad Student Climate Survey Email the BGSA Board with any questions,
helped facilitate some cool changes at WVU like comments, or concerns at
a new grad student ombudsperson and a WVU- wvu.bgsa@gmail.com.
wide grad student climate survey!

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Biology Graduate Student Association

West Virginia University

2022-2023 Newsletter June 9, 2023

Students and faculty

The BGSA would like to thank our faculty

Special Announcements Continue to Connect

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