ASU School of Life Sciences Annual Report 2022/23

ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.

Nancy Manley

Director and John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professor

In August of 2022 we welcomed Nancy Manley, a new leader to bring our school into a new era of innovation and impact. Manley is a geneticist who specializes in the thymus organ and its effect on immunity and aging. She received her PhD in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989 and has led a remarkable career. She comes to ASU after 20 years at the University of Georgia, where she was a Distinguished Research Professor and served as the head of the Department of Genetics for the last five years.

An expert in developmental biology and molecular genetics, Manley’s research focuses on the thymus — the organ in the body primarily responsible for the creation of T cells, an important component of the immune system.

Two of the largest collaborative research projects she is currently working on gaining a better understanding of the development and function of the thymus in neonatal and aging immune systems, addressing the issue at the furthest boundaries of the life span.

Leadership

Associate directors and special advisors

Kevin

Professor, associate director, operations and facilities

Nancy Grimm

Regents Professor; Virginia M Ullman Professor of Ecology; special advisor to the director for faculty mentoring and development

Faculty group leaders

Pierre

Professor; Faculty Group Leader of Organismal Biology

Nico Franz Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Ecology; Biocollections Director; Faculty Group Leader of Genomics, Evolution and Bioinformatics

Melissa

Faculty Group Leader of Genomics, Evolution and Bioinformatics

Brenda

Professor, Faculty Group Leader of Biomedicine and Biotechnology

Regents and Foundation Professor and Faculty Group Leader of Global Change Biology

Wim Vermaas Foundation Professor; associate director, research and training initiatives

Shelley Haydel Professor; associate director, academic programs

Jane Maienschein University Professor, Regents’ Professor, Center Director and Faculty Group Leader of Human Dimensions

McGraw

Tsafrir Mor Professor, assistant director, undergraduate programs

Stephen Pratt Professor, associate director, graduate programs

Stuart Newfeld Professor; Faculty Group Leader of Cellular and Molecular Biosciences

Osvaldo Sala

Hogue

Deviche

Wilson

Arizona State University has become the foundational model for the New American University, a new paradigm for the public research university that transforms higher education. ASU is committed to excellence, access and impact in everything it does.

The School of Life Sciences was the first academic unit to be created as a part of the vision for a New American University. In the school’s first year, we attracted 1,375 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students. Now as we approach the celebration of 20 years of academic excellence, our numbers have increased by more than 380 percent and we continue our legacy of nurturing innovation and change for ASU.

During the 2022/2023 academic year, we have exemplified the design aspirations of the New American University model: We enable student success through experience-based course design and increased access to research experiences. We lead the way in online STEM education, expanding academic and excellence to a new generation of scholars. We fuse intellectual disciplines as our faculty and students collaborate to conduct use-inspired research in a variety of fields, engaging globally to bring impactful knowledge and solutions to pressing issues throughout the world. Additionally, we continue to cultivate a culture of inclusivity and diversity, fostering initiatives and research to connect with our community, explore social needs and transform society

3,622

2,988

A

leading interdisciplinary research, global center discovery and for development

Conducting use-inspired research

Noah Snyder Mackler, Kenneth Chiou and Alex DeCasien led an international research team that demonstrated that, in a population of macaque monkeys, females with a higher social status had younger, more resilient molecular profiles, providing a key link between the social environment and healthy brains.

Michael Lynch joined a multi-institute group of researchers to conduct a first-of-its-kind study investigating transcription error rates in human cells and the underlying mechanisms affecting them. The research sheds new light on a foundational process in biology — DNA transcription — and suggests that high rates of error observed in specific classes of neuron

could be a source of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

Carlo Maley joined an international team led by Stanford Medicine, their findings show a strong link between cancer development and a circular form of DNA known as extrachromosomal DNA, revealing that people with this form of DNA in their precancerous cells are 20 to 30 times more likely than others to develop cancer. This suggests a dramatic shift in thinking about how cancers evolve over time in the body and successfully evade immune defenses.

Candace Lewis and her team conducted a pilot study showing the first molecular links behind successful PTSD treatment, and new evidence that may explain the reasons behind its success.

Enhancing local impact and social embeddedness

Efrem Lim teamed up with three regional hospitals for a first-of-its-kind comprehensive statewide survey to study the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Arizona. The findings highlight the fact that SARS-CoV-2 underwent a substantial alteration of its genomic profile in its transformation to Omicron.

Julie Bethany Rakes and Ferran Garcia Pichel discovered a new predatory bacterium in soil biocrusts, posing serious consequences for desert health and demonstrating that predatory bacteria can shape the structure and function of microbial communities around the world.

Ferran Garcia-Pichel and his students have proposed using new and existing solar energy farms as nurseries for generating fresh biocrust, an innovative approach to restoring healthy biocrusts. Ultimately, newly generated biocrusts can then be used to replenish arid lands where such soils have been damaged or destroyed. Biocrusts play a crucial role in maintaining soil health and ecosystem sustainability as they are currently under assault.

Katey Cooper, Tala Araghi and Carly Busch conducted a study highlighting how active learning has the potential to impact depressive symptoms in undergraduates and how instructors can use this knowledge to facilitate better classroom learning.

Engage globally

Osvaldo Sala joined a vast and ambitious global team of researchers to conduct the first-ever assessment of ecological impacts of livestock grazing across drylands — a key advance toward understanding the global sustainability of these crucial ecosystems.

SOLS Kayla Burgher collaborated with Jesse Senko to publish a study estimating that over 1.1 million sea turtles have been illegally killed between 1990 and 2020. Despite the shock of such a staggering number, their study also shows that throughout the last decade this rate has declined by approximately 28%.

Jacob Youngblood, Arianne Cease, Michael Angilletta, Jon Harrison and Stav Talal found that climate change will dramatically increase the intensity of locust swarms, resulting in even more crops lost to insect pests and threatening food security.

Shawn Chen and Douglas Lake contributed to new research discovering the potential for antibody cocktails synergized from plants to create COVID-19 treatments.

Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz has been appointed to a new consortium of world experts to explore methods for removing methane from the atmosphere to address today’s climate crisis. The national academies of sciences, engineering and Medicine formed this prestigious committee.

Enabling and

academic excellence accessibility

Promoting undergraduate research experience

For over 20 years the School of Life Sciences has actively supported undergraduate research in faculty labs where 90% of our undergraduate courses are taught by tenuretrack faculty. Our students have a wide range of research opportunities with more than 100 faculty members committed to mentoring undergraduates.

SOLUR, the School of Life Sciences

Undergraduate Research program, creates a community of mentorship, support and professional development for our students as they explore research methods and principles, develop skills and study ethics involved in research practices. Students enter the program and participate at four progressing levels: Apprentice, Researcher, Scholar and Fellow.

Because we believe in the importance of research for all our students, we have also created the iSTEM SOLUR Prep course,

designed to prepare undergraduates who are just beginning their journey at ASU so they can become better candidates for research opportunities. By the end of the semester, 97% of these students declare an understanding of the research process and 10% of them have successfully joined a lab.

One of the crowning achievements for our undergraduate researchers is presenting their work to the public. This year we hosted the fourth annual BioSci Southwest Symposium in Fall 2022 and the 30th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in Spring 2023. Over 200 students from across the country participated in these innovative hybrid events, presenting their research on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s and cancer to sea turtle conservation.

As students engage in research, they become better candidates for the next step in their career path. Currently, more than 88 percent of SOLUR program graduates are working in STEM jobs or enrolled in graduate, medical and professional school programs.

SOLUR by the numbers

Empowering and supporting graduate research careers

For over 20 years SOLS has actively worked to build an engaged and thriving graduate community. These graduate students lend their passion and creativity to life-changing research, working side-by-side with faculty on high-impact projects that advance our understanding and address problems on a global scale. They also enrich the SOLS community by contributing to committees and initiatives to further diversity and inclusion, sustainability and conservation, teaching excellence and science communication.

Junior Ayuk Enow

Graduate College Enrichment Fellowship

Jonathon Hileman

Edward and Linda Birge Scholarship

Tasneem Mohammed

Graduate College Enrichment Fellowship

Crispin Nakoa

Graduate College Enrichment Fellowship

Xyonane Segovia

LoBrutto Family Fund Fellowship

Additional awards were received by:

Nicole Brewer, BSSw Fellowship

Kayla Burgher, International conference awards

Carly Busch, ASU ISSR poster contest winner

We are proud to support some of the finest young minds in their fields

Expanding access through online education

SOLS has launched five fully online undergraduate degree programs, leading the nation in online biology education and innovative solutions for virtual lab experiences.

We launched a Master of Science in biology, expanding our roster of graduate online biology classes for those seeking an alternative to oncampus education.

The new degree offering enables students to deepen their knowledge about the life sciences and encompasses a broad range of applications, from addressing public health challenges to climate change.

Students are prepared to fill roles in the medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, as well as pursue teaching roles at various levels. The program equips students with problem-solving and critical thinking skills, transferable to any profession. The personalized curriculum, called Neo Bio, combines skills-based lessons with the narrative-driven Dreamscape Learn virtual

reality lab experiences, which were introduced last year.

Neo Bio, which will launch in the fall 2023 semester with Biology 181, uses an adaptive learning platform that constantly tests students and allows them to review and reinforce any skills that were not mastered before proceeding.

The goal is to instill a consistent level of competency for all students, according to the two leads on the project: Michael Angilletta, President’s Professor in the School of Life Sciences and associate dean of learning innovation at EdPlus and John VandenBrooks, professor in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and the associate dean of immersive learning for EdPlus.

Work on the initiative started more than five years ago, when faculty in the School of Life Sciences were building an online biology curriculum and realized that uniformity was needed between online and on-campus courses, and also across sections, because instructors were emphasizing different concepts.

Renamed, refocused

The Teaching Innovation Center was reintroduced as the Teaching and Learning Center to emphasize the commitment to instructional coaching, faculty support and teaching excellence.

• TLC facilitated TA orientation for 65 incoming PhD students and 25 masters students.

• TLC created and distributed resources for faculty development for increasing student engagement, sharing meaningful feedback and creating classroom communities.

• TLC connected with partners across ASU to share with SOLS the best of learning technologies and evidence-based teaching practices to further faculty and TA development. TLC partnered with the RISE Center to present lunchtime learning.

• TLC continued efforts to ensure accessibility and inclusion for all SOLS students with ongoing course reviews, revision and captioning of academic media and contribution of alt-text to Dreamscape

Faculty awards

• Michael Lynch, Regents Professor

• Carolyn Compton, 2023 Faculty Service Achievement Award

• Sara Brownell, 2023 Faculty Teaching Award

• Susan Holechek and Danny Jackson, Catalyst Awards

• Rick Gerkin, IFF Award

• Bert Hoelldobler, PROSE Award finalist

Learn virtual reality learning experiences and Cogbooks adaptive learning materials.

• TLC supported the 9th year of the BioBridge freshman orientation program.

• In partnership with the SOLS DEI Initiative, TLC celebrated the 5th cohort of the DEI Inclusive Teaching Fellowship. SOLS courses revised for the 2022 cohort included General Biology, Environmental Ethics and HIV/AIDS Science Behavior and Society.

• TLC was instrumental in the development of a new OURS course allowing ASU Online students an opportunity to participate in an authentic research experience, Behavioral and Molecular Analysis of Honeybees. TLC worked with Dr. Hong Lei on the course design, facilitated by a three-camera setup that records 4K footage of 14,000 honeybees. 20 students took part in the pilot. The course is in revision as part of the DEI Inclusive Teaching Fellowship program.

• TLC has started development on the next OURS course to bring Nobel laureate Dr. Leland Hartwell’s Visual Cognition course to ASU Online students.

New faculty

• Nancy Manley, John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professor and SOLS Director

• Michael Britton, Teaching Assistant Professor

• Yvonne Sawall, Assistant Professor

• Leocadio Blanco-Bercial, Assistant Professor

• Nsa Dada, Assistant Professor

• Amy Maas, Assistant Professor

• Candace Lewis, Assistant Professor

• Nate Upham, Assistant Professor

• Krystal Tsosi, Assistant Professor

Transforming Society

Ask A Biologist: Strengthening our interactive network of teaching, learning and discovery resources

In 2022, the Ask A Biologist team focused on some of the site’s most engaging resources: virtual tours and games. Over the last year, two new games have been launched — Keys to the Ocean and Ecochains. A new, updated virtual tour design is soon to be released, and our collection of biology stories and profiles continue to grow.

AAB trends

2022 and 2023

2022 • highlights

6M+

Game plays

20 2 3 • trends

2.5M+

Game plays, an 8% increase (Jan. 1 - March 31)

The website remained very popular in 2022. There were over 36 million visits for the year, and during that year, use of virtual tours and games increased or stayed steady. Looking at the traffic in 2023, both virtual tours and games have seen increased use.

Ask A Biologist is always working to reach a broader global audience. In the last year, many new translations were added to the site; Ukrainian is the newest available language. The reach of AAB outside of the website also continues to grow, mostly through its YouTube channel and the Dr. Biology podcast. AAB’s podcast was listed as one of the 15 Best Biology Podcasts of 2023 by Genius Lab Gear.

750K+

Virtual trips, a 13% increase from 2021/22

272K+

Virtual trips, a 7.2% incrase (Jan 1. - March 31)

Increasing inclusion and diversity at ASU

In 2020, the School of Life Sciences created the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative, including a Special Advisor to the Director and the DEI Committee, to transform our institutional structures and culture to better support ASU’s Charter and improve wellbeing across our diverse community.

The School of Life Sciences DEI Taskforce works across our school, Arizona State University, and national networks to develop an inclusive and thriving community that reflects the sociodemographic diversity of our state and nation. The SOLS DEI Task force works to ensure that human diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational to decision-making, resource allocation, policies and practices in support of our academic mission.

December 2022 the SOLS DEI committee was reconfigured into a task force comprising 13 members, which include staff, faculty, graduate students, and postdocs. Each task force member will serve a two-year term.

February 2023 Veronica Martinez joined as DEI Program Manager. Veronica brings with her over 10 years of experience leading and advancing DEI initiatives within various organizational and institutional sectors. Veronica holds a Masters of Arts in Social Justice and Human Rights from ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

Using the DEI Strategic Plan to set priorities, three subcommittees were formed to support the development and implementation of key activities. This work will continue into AY24.

Fall 2022 Nancy Grimm, Regents Professor; Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Ecology; and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist was appointed as Special Advisor to the Director for DEI.

Nancy Grimm

Veronica Martinez

SOLS Community Standards Subcommittee

Is developing guiding principles and values centered on SOLS commitment to DEI. Our Community Standards will define clear and specific behavior expectations that apply to all within SOLS, to create an inclusive and respectful learning, workplace and research environment.

SOLS Climate Survey Subcommittee

Is working to gather a baseline of SOLS demographic and climate data to support and strengthen further development of short- and long-term DEI benchmarks and goals. SOLSwide survey will be administered in Fall 2023.

Improving International Student and Faculty Experiences

Is working to identify and address specific and special concerns/needs related to international student and faculty experiences.

Mentoring Training and skill-building

Culturally Aware Mentoring Workshops - 16 SOLS faculty completed a three-day virtual training to increase their knowledge and skills in mentoring. The training was co-sponsored by ASU and facilitated by the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and the Diversity Program Consortium.

AdvanceGEO Bystander Intervention - Five SOLS members became trained facilitators and are continuing to engage in virtual training with that organization. SOLS will explore offering this training on a regular basis.

Center for the Improvement of Mentoring Experiences

in Research (CIMER) - Three SOLS members are trained facilitators (and are the only CIMER-trained facilitators at ASU); two more faculty members will be trained this spring, with support of the DEI Task Force.

Mutually Enriching Mentorship - NS-funded DEI seed grant to SOLS, SESE, SMS, SOS, ESSA. First cohort completed Spring 2023. Second cohort of graduate designers have been selected. The Mutually Enriching Mentorship program (MEM) aims to enhance understanding around race-based issues on ASU’s campus as it relates to the graduate student experience. Six graduate students are selected through an application process, and they support the MEM initiative by creating scenarios under the guidance of an external facilitator. Anonymized scenarios are used in MEM faculty workshops to develop the cultural competency of ASU faculty. MEM workshops also train faculty and their mentees in Critical Response Process, a means of giving and receiving feedback.

The SOLS DEI Inclusive Teaching Fellowship funded three teams of SOLS instructors and graduate students in the Fall 2022 cohort and two more teams in the Spring 2023 cohort. This year, the Inclusive Teaching Fellowship expanded from a SOLS-based initiative to an interdisciplinary collaboration with the College of Global Futures. There are now 16 Inclusive Teaching Fellows from SOLS and 4 from CGF.

Highlights of other DEI-related activities in AY 2022-2023

Inclusive Hiring Guidelines for SOLS - A document providing links to guidelines for inclusive hiring will be available to search committees in fall 2023.

SOLS was approved for two Presidential Graduate Assistantships that will provide support to recruit graduate students from minoritized groups.

Along with School of Earth and Space Science (SESE) and School of Human Evolution and Social Change (SHESC), SOLS was approved to begin a search for three Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows in Indigenous Knowledge Systems for the Anthropocene (IKSA). A search committee — Nancy Grimm (Chair, SOLS), Krystal Tsosie (SOLS), Steve Semkin (SESE), Matt Peeples (SHESC), Bryan Brayboy (School of Social Transformation) and Edauri Navarro-Perez (graduate student member) — was formed and issued a job announcement with a closing date of May 19, 2023.

Credits

Report prepared by: Dominique Perkins

Special thanks to: Nancy Manley, Wim Vermaas, Kevin McGraw, Veronica Martinez, Charles Kaczynski, Paula Baker, Catherine

Ashmead and Holly Basteyns

Design: Megan Joyce, VisLab,

PDF/23C-1002/09282023

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