Departmental Highlights

Publications Heading link

2018Engulfing cells promote neuronal regeneration and remove neuronal debris through distinct biochemical functions of CED-1Nature CommunicationsHui Chiu, Yan Zou, Nobuko Suzuki, Yi-Wen Hsieh, Chiou-Fen Chuang, Yi-Chun Wu & Chieh Chang
2018Ankyrin domain encoding genes from an ancient horizontal transfer are functionally integrated into Nasonia developmental gene regulatory networksGenome BiologyDaniel Pers and Jeremy A. Lynch
2018Microbial Ecology of the Bivalvia, with an Emphasis on the Family OstreidaeJournal of Shellfish Research Melissa L. Pierce and Evan Ward
2018Tip-dating and the Origin of TelluravesIn PressNicholas M.A. Crouch, Karolis Ramanauskas, Boris Igić
2018A Recombinant Affinity Reagent Specific for a Phosphoepitope of Akt1International Journal of Molecular SciencesJennifer E. McGinnis, Leon A. Venegas, Hector Lopez and Brian K. Kay
2018 Plasticity Through Canalization: The Contrasting Effect of Temperature on Trait Size and Growth in Drosophila Frontiers in Cell and Developmental BiologyAlexander Shingleton
2019 Does God roll dice? Neutrality and determinism in evolutionary ecology Biology & PhilosophyAle Som, Abdel Halloway, William A. Mitchell, Christopher J. Whelan
2019Reproductive trade-offs maintain bract color polymorphism in Scarlet Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) PLoS ONEEun Sun Kim, David N. Zaya, Jeremie B. Fant, Mary V. Ashley
2019 Cross Talk with the GAR-3 Receptor Contributes to Feeding Defects in Caenorhabditis elegans eat-2 MutantsGeneticsAlena A. Kozlova, Michelle Lotfi and Peter G. Okkema
2019 Insulin-insensitivity of male genitalia maintains reproductive success in DrophilaRoyal ScienceAlexander Shingleton
2019 Assessing social and biophysical drivers of spontaneous plant diversity and structure in urban vacant lotsScience of The Total EnvironmentElsa Anderson
2019 The underutilized role of community gardens in improving cities’ adaptation to climate change: A reviewPeople, Place and PolicyElsa Anderson
2019 The frailty of tropical restoration plantingsRestoration EcologyLuis Beltran
2019 Management slows down invasion by non-native plants but does not prevent community change over 35 years in urban forests of the Midwestern USAForest Ecology and ManagementMaryam Gharehaghaji
2019 Mating yeast cells use an intrinsic polarity site to assemble a pheromone-gradient tracking machineJournal of Cell BiologyXin Wang
2020 Birds suppress pests in corn but release them in soybean crops within a mixed prairie/agriculture systemThe CondorMegan Garfinkel

Presentations Heading link

DatePresenterEventTitle 
October 18-19, 2019 Chih-Wei ChenRNA Cornbelt High-resolution crystal structures of ribosome-bound antibiotics provide theultimate basis for the competition of PTC inhibitors with macrolides
September 25, 2019Adit ChaudharyWEFTECTaxon-Driven Functional Shifts Associated With Storm Flow in an Urban Stream Microbial Community
January 25, 2019Chris WhelanEcoFarm Conference - Ecological Farming Association, Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CaliforniaWhy birds matter in agricultural landscapes
January 6-10, 2019Chih-Wei ChenRibosome Structure and FunctionHigh-resolution crystal structures of ribosome-bound antibiotics provide theultimate basis for the competition of PTC inhibitors with macrolides
December 8-12, 2018Bethanie-Michelle StatlerASCB-EMBO conference, San DiegoRedistribution of the yeast pheromone receptor during gradient sensing requires the RGS protein Sst2
November 10, 2018 Chih-Yu PaiMidwest Yeast Meeting, Northwestern UniversityThe yeast claudin Dcv1 contributes to the polarization of mating functions
November 10, 2018 Bryan BanhMidwest Yeast Meeting, Northwestern UniversityPheromone gradient sensing depends on Far1 recruitment of Gßϒ to the default polarity site in Yeast
November 10, 2018 Rashida Abdul-GaniyuMidwest Yeast Meeting, Northwestern UniversityThe trafficking and tracking of Gßϒ during the pheromone response in budding yeast
November 10, 2018 Bethanie-Michelle StatlerMidwest Yeast Meeting, Northwestern UniversityRedistribution of the yeast pheromone receptor during gradient sensing requires the RGS protein Sst2
October 27, 2018Christopher Whelan, PhDInvited speaker-Prostate Cancer Foundation's 25th Annual Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific RetreatResistance is Not Inevitable – Lessons from Pest Management Christopher Whelan, PhD The Moffitt Cancer Center; University of Illinois at Chicago
August 22-26, 2018Xin WangYeast Genetics Meeting, Stanford Unviersity, CaliforniaMating yeast cells become competent to sense pheromone gradients by assembling signaling and trafficking proteins at the default polarity site
August 22-26, 2018Chih-Yu PaiYeast Genetics Meeting, Stanford Unviersity, CaliforniaThe yeast claudin Dcv1 contributes to the polarization of mating functions
August 21-22, 2018Michael RickettsInvited Speaker- Microbiome Soil Sensors Workshop in La Jolla, CA Challenges in microbial community analysis specific to Arctic soils
July 14, 2018Todd WidhelmAmerican Bryological and Lichenological Society’s annual conference, Rocky Mountain Field StationAssessing evolutionary relationships in Lobariaceae using target capture
Dec 2019Rashida Abdul-GaniyuDec 2019 ASCB Meeting. Washington DC‘A Biosensor Reveals the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Phosphorylated Gβ in Yeast Cells Decoding Pheromone Gradients’.
2019Adit ChaudharyASM Microbe 2019Bacterioplankton response to allochthonous dissolved organic carbon across a coastal to offshore transect in Lake Michigan
2019Chih-Wei ChenRNA CornBelt regional RNA meetingHigh-resolution crystal structures of ribosome-bound antibiotics provide the ultimate basis for the competition of PTC inhibitors with macrolides
2020Valentina GomezSociety for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting. 2020Bio-inspiration of silent flight of owls and other flying animals: recent advances and unanswered questions
2020Zhongjiao Jiang64th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical SocietySphK1 Regulates Exocytosis via Modulation of Properties of the Readily Releasable Pool in Neurons
Jan. 2020Margaret MaloneGordon Research Conference - Predator-Prey InteractionsThe Ecology of Fear and Inverted Biomass Pyramids

Awards Heading link

Chih-Wei ChenGraduate ResearchFall 2019
Katie FowlerProvost's Graduate Research AwardFall 2019
Jocelyn GarciaFirst Prize for Undergraduate Research In Quantitative Biology- NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology Conference November 17, 2018.
Bethanie-Michelle StatlerMinorities Affairs Committee Travel Award, honorable mention at The Predoctoral Ford Foundation Fellowship 2018
Todd Widhelm UIC Travel Award 2018
Elsa Anderson Fulbright Student Research Fellowship 2018
Yuliana RoweGraduate Teaching Award Fall 2017
Rashida AbdulAmerican Society for Cell Biology Meeting Travel Award, Second place winner of the 2019 American Society for Cell Biology\nMeeting Elevator Speech Contest2019
Luis BeltranRufford Small Grant, Elmer Hadley Research Award2019
Valentina GomezArmour Graduate Fellowship, Broadening Participation Student Travel Award, Student Travel Award, Grainger Bioinformatics Center Grant, Provost’s Graduate Research Award2019

Service and Outreach Heading link

2018Adit Chaudhary and Dr. Rachel PoretskyLake Michigan Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative workshop to help plan the next Lake Michigan field year
2018Xin WangDiscovery Squad - Field Museum
2018Bethanie-Michelle Statler Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium, Louis Stokes Midwest Center of Excellence Conference, LSAMP, Expanding Your Horizons Chicago, ACT-SO, Graduate Student Council
2018Chih-Yu Pai Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) - Chicago chapter
2019Rashida Abdul-GaniyuBiological Sciences Graduate Student Council Representative, 2019 -\n2020; Mentor/Science Expert for the Junior Academy Program of the NYAS; Secretary for the Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) - Chicago Chapter
2020Arjun BalyanGraduate Student Council Representative, 2016 - 2020; BIOS survey committee to build a shared departmental vision and 5-\nyear plan
2020Valentina GomezLatin American committee member for the North American\nOrnithology Conference in Puerto Rico
2019Seema SheoranPresident, Graduate Women in Science - Chicago Chapter (2017-2019)

Looking for something to watch? Heading link

Check out one of our graduate students’, Sheryl Hosler, youtube channel here!