Mentoring

Undergraduate Scholar Mentoring

  • Pushkar Sai, Department of Biological Sciences. OUR-supported undergraduate researcher. (2023-2025). Role of tryptophan in Delftia tsuruhatensis regulation of antimalarial compounds. 
  • Abby Studnek, NC State (e)SCoOP 2024. Analysis of microbial communities in wax worm samples from beekeepers in North Carolina. 
  • Brooke La Fuente, NC State (e)SCoOP 2024. Analysis of microbial communities in wax worm samples from beekeepers in North Carolina. 
  • Parker Bolton, NC State (e)SCoOP 2023. Comparison of microbial communities in academic composts. 
  • Chirag Sreedhara, Wake STEM Early College (GCSP 2023). Analysis of Plastic Decomposition and Genetic Features in Galleria mellonella.
  • Isaac Hedges, Wake STEM Early College (GCSP 2023). Analysis of Plastic Decomposition and Genetic Features in Galleria mellonella.
  • Nolan McInnis, Wake STEM Early College (GCSP 2023). Analysis of Plastic Decomposition and Genetic Features in Galleria mellonella.
  • Luke Dickerson, Wake STEM Early College (GCSP 2023). Analysis of Plastic Decomposition and Genetic Features in Galleria mellonella.
  • Makenzie Hopkins, Department of Biology, University of Maryland (BeeMORE REEU Summer Researcher 2023). Comparing the Diversity of Microorganisms within Wildtype and Commercially Available Galleria mellonella larvae.
  • Likith Solasa, Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry (BIT SURE 2023). Transcriptome analysis of Delftia acidovorans strains in the presence of gold ions.
  • Gnanasekkaran Dhanasekar, Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering (OUR Summer RA). Differences in growth patterns of two strains of Delftia acidovorans in the presence and absence of gold.
  • Varun Narayan, Department of Biological Sciences (BIT SURE 2023). Differential expression of Delftia acidovorans in the presence and absence of gold.
  • Emery Meyer, Department of Biological Sciences,  (NCSU Office of Undergraduate Research supported student 2022). Characterization of Comamonas territogena. 
  • Audrey McLeod, Department of Biological Sciences,  (NCSU Office of Undergraduate Research supported student 2022). Characterization of Comamonas testosteroni. 
  • Richie Perez, Department of Biological Sciences (BIT SURE 2022). Characterization of a series of Delftia acidovorans isolates.
  • Riley Morgan, Department of Biological Sciences (BIT SURE 2022). Characterization of a series of Delftia acidovorans isolates (with Richie Perez). 
  • Caleb Carter, NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP). Summer 2022. Workflow for the isolation, characterization, and Nanopore sequencing of microbial isolates with potential bioremediation applications. 
  • Sean Armour, BeeMORE Summer REEU Researcher 2022. Analyses of microbial community composition and dynamics of bee bread.
  • Cynthia Reagan, Durham Technical Community College, BeeMORE REEU Summer Researcher 2022. Metagenomics of bee bread samples from treated and untreated bee hives. 
  • Giovanni Cruz, Durham Technical Community College, BeeMORE REEU Summer Researcher 2021. Genomics of yeast associated with wasps.
  • Adriana Arroyo, U. Puerto Rico, BeeMORE REEU Summer Researcher 2021. Genomics of yeast associated with wasps. 
  • Gwen Dallmann, Department of Biological Sciences. Campus as a Classroom Intern (with Rahul Sharma). Fall 2021-Spring 2022.
  • Katherine Hobbet, Department of Biological Sciences. Genetics 496 Project: Delftia spp. Pangenome. 2021.  
  • Adriana Berry, Rochester Institute of Technology/NTID. (NSF BIT SURE REU 2021). Genomics of electronic waste recycling microbes.
  • Sarah Hunter, College of Charleston. (NSF BIT SURE REU 2021). Genomics of electronic waste recycling microbes.
  • Rahul Sharma, Department of Biological Sciences (BIT SURE 2021). Analysis of Delftia tsuruhatensis.
  • Lauren Ramilo, Department of Biological Sciences (NCSU Office of Undergraduate Research supported summer student 2020). Engaging the public with the Delftia online Hub: go.ncsu.edu/delftia. 
  • Rose Krebs, Department of Biological Sciences (BIT SURE 2020). Analyses of Delftia acidovorans genomes and metagenomes to identify conserved elements of the Delftibactin gene cluster. 
  • Maureen Haynes, U. Toledo (NSF BIT SURE REU 2019). Comparison of 16S rRNA gene amplicon, whole genome shotgun, and Nanopore sequencing of microbial communities during mortality compost. 
  • Daiza Norman, Department of Biological Sciences. Daiza and Noah Riley coordinated and helped process samples from our Where is Delftia on our campus? project with Dr. Zakiya Leggett (Environmental Sciences) and Dr. Porche’ Spence (NC Central University). Daiza and Noah collected over 150 samples from students who sampled their campus and extracted, purified, and quantified metagenomics DNA that was then used in the BIT 477/577 Metagenomics and BIT 479/579 High-throughput Discovery courses. Each semester since 2018, Noah and Daiza have continued this project with ~150 samples per semester.
  • Noah Riley, Department of Biological Sciences. Noah designed novel qPCR primers to detect Delftia acidovorans in complex genomic samples. He has also started studying Delftia tsuruhatensis and helped design and plan the Wolfpack Citizen Science Challenge (spring 2018; URL: https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/wolfpack-citizen-science-challenge/spring-2018). He obtained credit for his undergraduate research for fall 2017, fall 2018, and spring 2019.
  • Jacob Rooks. Paper Processing and Forestry, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2018) and worked on a high-throughput assay to detect PHAs produced by Delftia acidovorans.
  • Matt Whittaker, Department of Biological Sciences, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2018) and worked for research credit in the Biotechnology Program during the 2018-2019 academic year. Matt automated several Delftia acidovorans assays using a liquid handler and wrote a chapter in the open-access Delftia book: go.ncsu.edu/delftiabook 
  • Alex Burd, Department of Biological Sciences, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2017) and worked for research credit in the Biotechnology Program during the 2017-2018 academic year. Alex and Sheridan (see below) were awarded a team grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research to continue their research in the spring of 2018. 
  • Sheridan Littleton, Department of Biological Sciences, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2017) and worked for research credit in the Biotechnology Program during the 2017-2018 academic year. Alex and Sheridan were awarded a team grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research to continue their research in the spring of 2018.
  • John Hipp, Department of Chemical Engineering, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2016). 
  • Michelle Musante, Department of Biological Sciences, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2016) and worked for research credit in the Biotechnology Program during the 2016-2017 academic year. 
  • Vicki Cornish, Department of Biological Sciences, was a BIT SURE 2015 researcher and worked on metagenomics approaches to detect Delftia acidovorans.
  • Victoria McQuade, Department of Biological Sciences, was a BIT SURE 2015 researcher and worked on Delftia genomics.
  • William DeFoor, Department of Biological Sciences, was a summer undergraduate research student (BIT SURE 2014) who developed a multiplex PCR assay to detect Delftia acidovorans. Will also co-authored a paper published in the undergraduate Journal of Young Investigators on the effect of Delftia on immune cells. 
  • Aruna Iyer, Department of Biological Sciences and Statistics, was an undergraduate summer research student who helped develop a multiplex PCR assay for the detection of Delftia acidovorans in samples from sinks (BIT SURE 2014).
  • Melissa Zinter, an undergraduate in the Department of Biological Sciences, was a BIT SURE 2013 researcher who sequenced metagenomics samples from Lake Raleigh and developed materials and protocols for the BIT metagenomics lab module.

Graduate Student Mentoring

  • Alex Nelson and John Buckley were doctoral students helping with BIT 410/510 lab sections in the spring of 2025.
  • Stephanie Charlino, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology, was the graduate teaching assistant for the new BIT 495/595 Portable Genome Sequencing half-semester module.
  • Pricilla Rozario, M.S. student in the Curriculum and Instruction program, was the BIT 295 Biotechnology and Sustainability graduate teaching assistant (Fall 2023, Spring 2024)
  • Erin Cavanaugh, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology, was the graduate teaching assistant for the QM-certified completely online section of BIT 410/510.
  • Blake Horton, graduate student, BIT 479/579 High-throughput Discovery Spring 2023.
  • Dilán Rivera, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology, was the graduate teaching assistant for the first completely online section of BIT 410/510.
  • Mackenzie Maddox, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology, BIT 477/577 Metagenomics Fall 2022 graduate TA.
  • Billy Marx, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology, BIT 477/577 Metagenomics Fall 2021 graduate TA.
  • Megan Boland, a doctoral student in Biological Agricultural Engineering, 2020 BIT 477/577 Metagenomics class, as we developed an online version of the course. 
  • Adam Groth, a graduate student in Plant and Microbial Biology, BIT 479/579 High-throughput Discovery Spring 2020
  • Emily Vernon, Masters in Microbial Biotechnology 2019-2020, was a teaching assistant for the BIT 477/577 Metagenomics and BIT 480/580 Yeast Metabolic Engineering courses.
  • Marielis Zambrano, doctorate, Department of Forestry, was a teaching assistant for the BIT SURE REU short course on metagenomics and high-throughput sequencing (summer 2019). I have also advised her on the metagenomics aspects of her dissertation and helped with sample preparation for sequencing.
  • Kaylie Loyd, M.S., Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. I served on her committee and also assisted in the lab with her protocol optimization.
  • Andrew Duncan, Masters in Physiology candidate, teaching assistant for BIT 477/577 Fall 2017 Metagenomics. Helped mentor Drew by teaching him lab techniques and computer skills needed for the BIT 477/577 Metagenomics module.  
  • Adam Groth, Plant, and Microbial Biology, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 410/510 Spring 2018. Mentored Adam by providing feedback on grading lab reports and using electronic lab notebooks.
  • Nicholas Faulkner, Plant and Microbial Biology, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 410/510 Fall/Spring 2018. Mentored Nick by providing feedback on grading lab reports and using electronic lab notebooks. 
  • David Suchoff, Horticultural Science, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 495/595 Spring 2018 High-throughput Discovery. Assisted David with the redesign of an activity for the High-throughput Discovery module and involved him in the course design improvements. David Suchoff also helped redesign the graduate student capstone project for the course: the creation of a case study focusing on high-throughput approaches.
  • Paul Enriquez, Biochemistry, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 477/577 Fall 2016 Metagenomics. Helped mentor Paul by teaching him lab techniques and computer skills needed for the BIT 477/577 Metagenomics module.  
  • Jacob Dums, Plant and Microbial Biology, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 410/510 Spring 2017. Mentored by providing feedback on grading lab reports and using electronic lab notebooks. 
  • Jamie Nosbisch, Biomathematics, doctorate, teaching assistant for BIT 495/595 Spring 2017 High-throughput Discovery. Assisted Jamie with the design of an activity for the new High-throughput Discovery module and involved her in the course design.

Teaching Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring

  • Dr. Hayden Huggins (2023-2025)
  • Dr. Sophie Noel (2022-2025)
  • Dr. Carly Sjogren (2020-2023). Currently Associate Teaching Professor at Penn State.
  • Dr. Leigh Ann Samsa (2018-2020). Currently Research Development Manager, Office of Research Development, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
  • Dr. Lihua Stefan (2018). Currently faculty at Ohio State University.
  • Dr. Stefanie Chen (2015-2019). Currently Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
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