Sciences Central
NEWSLETTER FALL 2024
Congratulations to BMS Professor Jess Smith, who won this year’s Excellence in Teaching Award! She was recognized for her passion for teaching and research, and her drive to help her students achieve their best.
She has the energy to keep up with an impressive list of goals at her work and in her free time. Her hobbies are running marathons, volunteering at track meets for kids, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, biking, weightlifting, and camping
At the top of Dr. Smith’s academic interests is research, and since she began her work at Central five years ago, she and the students working with her have been productive (See sidebar with recent publications) It’s also worth noting that she and her Central research students have been awarded multiple research grants from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium
Another of Dr. Smith’s professional interests is establishing a multigenerational mentoring partnership among women in STEM. Dr. Smith reaches out to other schools and universities with this goal Her main collaborator is Dr. Dawn Holmes, the professor who mentored her.
Dr. Holmes and Dr. Smith established a long-standing partnership. Since 2019, Dr. Holmes and Dr. Smith have collaborated on research projects throughout the academic year and full-time during summer intersessions This collaboration has not only allowed them to advance their own research but has also provided an excellent opportunity for their own undergraduate research students. Moreover, they have extended their mentorship to include high school students, offering them invaluable guidance and support. This collaborative environment encourages students from multiple institutions to work together, promoting a sense of camaraderie and providing a unique research experience
Biomolecular Sciences Central
NEWSLETTER
Here’s a list of publications produced by Dr Smith’s lab featuring Central student co-authors (students’ names are bolded):
Ingrid A Schwarz, Baha Alsaqri, Yassir Lekbach, Kathryn Henry, Sydney Gorman, Trevor Woodard, Laura Dion, Lauren Real, Dawn E Holmes, Jessica A Smith, Derek R Lovley Lack of physiological evidence for cytochrome filaments functioning as conduits for extracellular electron transfer. mBio. April 2024.
Jessica A Smith, Dawn E Holmes, Trevor L Woodard, Yang Li, Xinying Liu, Li-Ying Wang, David Meier, Ingrid A Schwarz, Derek R Lovley. Detrimental impact of the Geobacter metallireducens type VI secretion system on direct interspecies electron transfer Microbiology Spectrum October 2023.
Xinying Liu, Dawn E Holmes, David JF Walker, Yang Li, David Meier, Samantha Pinches, Trevor L Woodard, Jessica A Smith.
Cytochrome OmcS is not essential for extracellular electron transport via conductive pili in Geobacter sulfurreducens strain KN400 Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 06122-21. January 2022.
7 Qian Chen, Chuanqi Liu, Xinying Liu, Dezhi Sun, Pengsong Li, Bin Qiu, Yan Dang, Nicole A Karpinski, Jessica A Smith, Dawn E Holmes. Magnetite enhances anaerobic digestion of high salinity organic wastewater Environmental Research 189: 109884. October 2020.
FALL 2024
Dr. Holmes and Dr. Smith have also maintained a close collaboration with Dr Derek Lovley from the Microbiology Department at the University of Massachusetts. This partnership has given them access to essential laboratory equipment that is not available at their smaller institutions It has also enriched their students' research experience by allowing them to work in a state-ofthe-art laboratory at an R1 institution, where they can engage with doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, and research professors from diverse backgrounds This collaborative effort exposes students to a global scientific community, and substantially broadens their horizons.
The impact of the PI’s mentorship is evident through the success stories of their students. Several students have discovered a newfound passion for research and have embarked on long-term career paths in the fields of microbiology and molecular biology For example, in 2023, a student from Central mentored by Dr. Smith was accepted into a prestigious PhD program with the goal of continuing research in molecular microbiology. This student worked collaboratively with other undergraduate students from both CCSU and WNEU and these efforts have resulted in authorship on multiple publications, including a manuscript where she serves as the primary author This exemplifies the power of multi-generational collaboration and mentorship among women in STEM.
Their commitment to mentoring and supporting the next generation of students in STEM reflects their determination to build a stronger and more equitable scientific workforce.