Dear biology, geology and environmental science alumni, students and friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the BGE department newsletter. It has been an exciting year for BGE students and faculty! Over the summer, we had four faculty earn significant funding from national agencies, totaling almost $2 million. These funds will make a substantial impact on student learning as well as enrich faculty research. The UTC News Blog even wrote an article about these accomplishments.
Dr. Davy Giles: $396,750 from HHS-NIH, “In vitro and in silico investigations of changes in bacterial cell membrane dynamics due to polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) modifications”
Dr. Loren Hayes: $749,999 from NSF, “IRES: Integrating biological, geospatial, and math modeling to understand how a changing climate impacts animal social systems”
Dr. Azad Hossain: $299,998 from NASA, “Remote Sensing of Water Quality in the Tennessee River”
Dr. Francesca Leasi: $696,680 from NSF, “Collaborative Research: RUI: The Evolution Of Salinity Tolerance In Monogonont Rotifers”
Another exciting development is the donation of Raccoon Mountain Caverns (RMC) to UTC for the purposes of education and research. Our students and faculty now have unlimited access to RMC to study the exciting science inside.
As you would expect, our geologists are very excited by the opportunities this presents, but so are our biologists and environmental scientists. This spring we have been searching for an assistant professor of hydrology with an interest in karst geology. To learn more past and future research in RMC, visit our website.
Your support of our gift funds helps to enhance the educational and research experiences for our students and faculty. We would like to keep in touch with all of you, so please update your information using our online alumni information form. Also, we are very active on social media, so please consider following us on whatever platform you prefer.
There is something in this newsletter for everyone. We encourage you to read through it at your leisure. Thank you for continuing to be an integral part of the UTC BGE family.
With Warmest Regards,
Gretchen E. Potts, Ph.D.
Department Head and UC Foundation Professor Gretchen-Potts@utc.edu
Dr. Gretchen Potts
TEACHING AND STAFF HIGHLIGHTS
Congratulations to Professor Sarah Farnsley on being the 2024-25 recipient of the Dr. John R. Freeman Memorial Endowment Fund Award! Established in 2004, the award honors Dr. Freeman’s dedication to classroom teaching, personal interest in students, humorous, spirit and love of this department and this institution. The award is given on a regular basis to a faculty member in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science who excels in teaching and working with students.
Professor Farnsley’s diversity of teaching and service has a significant impact on student success within the department and across the University. She has supported BGE majors through her leadership in the Sustainable Mocs Residential Learning Community and teaching the First Year Experience Course. More advanced environmental science majors learn about World Resources (ESC 2500). Her teaching regularly supports general education on campus as she coordinates all sections of Life on Earth (BIOL 1050), overseeing colleagues and GTAs.
Wendy Salazar works as the administrative support assistant in the BGE department. Without Wendy’s help, much of the department's work would grind to a halt! She joined BGE in November 2019. She helps faculty and staff with just about everything, including travel and miscellaneous reimbursements. She was recognized with a service award in 2024 for her five years of continuous support and dedication at UTC. When she is not at work, she loves to spend time with her family and her dogs. She also loves to workout at her boot camp class. We are so pleased to have Wendy as part of the BGE department. Please stop by and say hello to her if you are in the area.
SARAH FARNSLEY
WENDY SALAZAR
Wendy Salazar
Professor Sarah Farnsley
STUDENT HIGLIGHTS
FAITH REDDING AND MADELYN HOLLINSWORTH
We are happy to be able to highlight two of our senior biology undergraduate students who have been working on a research project in Dr. Spratt’s lab. This project is a collaborative project with several faculty in UTC’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, focused on the development of antimicrobial coatings that could be placed on floors to reduce bacterial contamination in healthcare facilities.
Faith is a senior majoring in biology with a preprofessional focus. Her work on this project has been her first experience working in a research lab. She has learned skills that she plans to apply to future course work in graduate school in areas like molecular genetics and microbiology. She has enjoyed working on a project that may ultimately help reduce the risk of bacterial disease in the hospital settings.
She intends to use this experience to help her obtain a position as a graduate student in some area of biomedical science. Faith has worked alongside Madelyn Hollinsworth, who has been conducting research with Dr. Spratt since last year.
Madelyn is also a senior majoring in biology with a pre-professional focus. Her interests lie in all aspects of science, specifically biology, and is focused on going to medical school. Her work with Dr. Spratt has helped her understand the process of research that may result in real-world applications to help solve healthcare challenges. Prior to working with Dr. Spratt, Madelyn had no previous experience in lab-based research. She feels that the research experience she has gained working with Dr. Spratt has helped her understand why she wants to pursue a career in medicine.
Faith Redding (left) and Maelyn Hollinsworth (right)
GRADUATE STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
UTC MS ESC students Amy Johnson and Ryan Davenport were awarded Ruby Falls Steiner Scholarships in support of their graduate education. This award (the John Thomas Steiner, Sr. Collegiate Scholarship) honors the memory of the former Ruby Falls president.
Amy Johnson has been working with Ruby Falls as a tour guide since July 2023. Her graduate research has focused on wildlife conservation. She has special interests in endangered bird species. Amy has also served as a graduate teaching assistant for the department and has worked as a technician at the Appalachian Conservation Institute.
Ryan Davenport also has a background as a tour guide at Ruby Falls. His graduate research has centered on conservation practices for bird species and ecosystems. He has volunteered at the Panola Mountain and Shigg Meadow banding stations, and he has also worked with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on habitat restoration projects.
Both Amy and Ryan are working under the direction of Dr. David Aborn. We are pleased to have such accomplished students in our graduate program and wish them well towards successful completion of their degrees.
Amy Johnson
AMY JOHNSON AND RYAN DAVENPORT
Ryan Davenport
ALUMNI UPDATES
INIGO HOWLETT
Inigo earned his master’s degree in environmental science working on a project with Dr. Spratt in 2009. After graduating from UTC, he moved back to the Northern Neck of Virginia. The area is flat, sandy, rural and near Chesapeake Bay, characterized by crab and oyster seafood and corn/soybean farming. In addition to working for his family’s business in historic preservation and on the renovation of their 1848 home, Inigo spent about 10 years with the Virginia Community College (VCC) system as an adjunct biology professor and lab manager.
At VCC Inigo taught many students on campus, but also enjoyed offering for-credit courses to inmates at a local prison (sponsored by The Sunshine Lady Foundation). They were a very motivated and engaged group of students with unusual life stories.
Inigo’s career did not stop at the community college. He was briefly in a Ph.D. program at George Mason University for computational biology and bioinformatics focused on environmental microbiology linked to the human microbiome. At that point, however, a more direct path into healthcare presented itself, and he went into the Rappahannock Community College nursing program. For the last five years he has been a registered nurse. Currently he is in a nurse practitioner program with Virginia Commonwealth University. Overall, he feels that his interests in the human microbiome and healthcare support and reinforce each other. Years after completing his thesis work with Dr. Spratt, nursing school’s focus on the idea of evidence-based practice utilizing some familiar skills prepared him well for a doctor of nursing practice degree.
Inigo Howlett
FACULTY NEWS
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Dr. Jose Barbosa was recognized and selected by the UTC College of Arts and Sciences Access and Inclusive Excellence Committee to give a talk at the 2024 CAS Spotlight on Faculty Excellence.
Dr. Barbosa’s work with the L. L. Roper Teaching and Learning Garden has helped UTC students from across various academic disciplines come together to plant, water, cultivate, harvest, laugh and learn.
Dr. Barbosa’s talk focused on how urban gardening activities may contribute to increased food security, human nutrition and mental health.
Dr. DeAnna Beasley was recognized with the Southern Conference (SoCon) Faculty Award at a UTC men’s basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. She was selected for her significant contributions to service, campus life, teaching and research and represents UTC alongside other faculty and staff from each of the 10 SoCon institutions. Congratulations to Dr. Beasley on being selected for the conference award!
Dr. Jose Barbosa
Dr. DeAnna Beasley at the Southern Conference award ceremony.
FACULTY NEWS
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Dr. Azad Hossain
Dr. Azad Hossain was awarded a $299,998 grant from NASA. The award is from the NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) program. The highly competitive award provides funding to support cutting-edge research on remote sensing of water quality in the Tennessee River over two years. Notably, this is UTC’s first-ever research grant from the NASA ROSES RIA program. “I understand the significance of this program—it is an elite research initiative. Having NASA recognize UTC’s research efforts fills me with great pride and satisfaction,” Hossain said.
Hossain specializes in geospatial technology, focusing on the geological and environmental applications of GIS, remote sensing and spatial analysis coupled with numerical modeling. With more than 28 years of experience in remote sensing and geospatial technology, he considers this award a significant milestone for scientists working with satellite-based Earth observation.
The research aims to estimate water quality parameters—turbidity and chlorophyll-a in the Tennessee River using NASA’s flagship Earth
“I understand the significance of this program—it is an elite research initiative. Having NASA recognize UTC’s research efforts fills me with great pride and satisfaction,”
- Dr. Azad Hossian
observation satellite mission, Landsat. Because Landsat captures imagery every 16 days, field measurements must align precisely with satellite overpasses to ensure accurate calibration. By integrating these ground-based measurements with satellite data, the research team will develop models to estimate chlorophyll-a and turbidity.
A key component of this project is strong student involvement. The research began in May 2024, with four undergraduate students and one graduate student from BGE participating last year. This year, four more undergraduate students are contributing to the project, and a full-time graduate student is expected to join later in the year. Some of the students presented their work at ASPRS International Technological Symposium 2024 (virtual) and at American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
This two-year project provides a foundation for developing research that is competitive, sustainable and impactful, positioning UTC at the forefront of satellite-based environmental monitoring.
FACULTY NEWS
NEW FACULTY AND TRANSITIONS
Dr. Richard “Rich” Walker joined our department in the fall of 2024. He is an aquatic ecologist who studies a range of topics that address basic and applied questions in freshwater ecosystems. Many of Dr. Walker’s research projects are focused on understanding how stressors individually and interactively affect stream ecosystems and their inhabitants. Through his research, he attempts to understand the mechanisms that underlie species’ responses to stressors, from physiological responses that may cascade through populations to the direct and indirect pathways through which stressors can alter habitat, water quality and food availability.
Dr. Walker is interested in any organism found in and around freshwater environments, including fishes and macroinvertebrates. He is already working on projects with both undergraduate and graduate research students and has excellent experience linking local and regional groups with his students and research. We are excited he has joined our department.
In the past year, two of our BGE faculty members have left UTC to pursue new opportunities. Over the summer of 2024, one of our long-time faculty members, Dr. Jennifer Boyd, left UTC to head the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University. At the end of fall semester 2024, Dr. Ashley Manning-Berg left BGE to take a position at San Diego Mesa College in California. Dr. Berg’s new position allows her to focus on teaching and introducing students to geology and oceanography through courses and field trips. We wish Dr. Boyd and Dr, Manning-Berg well in their new positions and are grateful for their contributions to the department over the years.
Dr. Ashley Manning-Berg Dr. Jennifer Boyd
Dr. Richard Walker
FACULTY NEWS
RETIREMENTS
After 31 years at UTC, Dr. Spratt has decided to retire. When asked about the number of students he has taught (either microbiology or immunology) over his time here at UTC, he estimates that between 2,500 and 3,000 students have taken his courses. A subsection of those students went on to work on research projects in his research lab and later pursued post-graduate degrees in healthcare or in research. During his time on our faculty, Dr. Spratt has maintained an active research program, having obtained 39 external grants totaling a little over $2 million in funding. He and his students have also published numerous articles in peerreviewed scientific journals and have given many presentations and posters at scientific meetings. He has been an excellent mentor to his many graduate and undergraduate research students.
Over his time at UTC, Dr. Spratt has kept in touch with the microbiologist he replaced on the UTC faculty in 1994, Dr. Gene Vredeveld. Collectively, these two microbiologists have taught and conducted research at UTC for the past 61 years, from 1964 to 2025! Dr. Vredeveld visited Dr. Spratt in June 2024 to see how the department has changed since his time here. He was impressed!
In retirement, Drs. Spratt and Vredeveld will continue to interact via the church choir in which they both sing as tenors. Also, Dr. Spratt intends to actively maintain his garden of mostly native wildflowers, shrubs and trees. (His wife Anne calls it a “small park!) He will also work to maintain a mid19th century house in the western North Carolina mountains that he owns along with his sister and brothers. Lastly, Dr. Spratt also intends to continue working on research projects with UTC colleagues in the Clinical Infectious Disease Control research group he helped to establish in 2015. We appreciate the many ways that Dr. Spratt has helped mold the BGE department as it is now. He will be missed.
Dr. Henry Spratt
Dr. Gene Vredeveld (left) and Dr. Henry Spratt (right)
Happy 55 years of Earth Day!
BGE sponsored special events to commemorate this special day to keep focusing on our environment to limit further degradation. Here on the UTC campus, one reminder of Earth Day is the large tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) tree that stands by the sidewalk that connects Holt and Grote halls. This tree was planted on April 22, 1995, the 25th anniversary of the first Earth Day, by then-student Gail Livingston, Professor Linda Collins and Dr. Henry Spratt. Of the four or five other tulip poplar saplings that were planted around the campus on that day, this tree is the only one that has survived.
“It is impressive to think that a sapling that was no larger in diameter than a person’s index finger in 1995 has grown to the tree that stands today.”
The natural environment can be repaired if we work to do this. We hope that all of our alumni and friends will keep an eye out for this Earth Day tree, keeping it (and our environment) alive and well long into the future!
Thirty-year-old tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) tree planted to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Earth Day.
CONNECT WITH US!
BGE SOCIALS
We are always interested in hearing from our past students. Please let us know if you have had a life changing event, from getting married and having a baby to landing the best job ever! We’ll share your news with fellow alumni and friends via future newsletters. You can visit our website and fill out the Alumni Information Form.
The BGE department also seeks to keep linked with our graduates via other avenues. Our newsletter is only one way to do this. We have a strong presence on social media channels, including Facebook and Instagram. Whether you’re a recent graduate wanting to stay connected to job opportunities, a current undergraduate looking to connect to a student organization or a high school student wanting to learn more about our programs and student activities, we have created a space for you to get news and ideas! We love hearing from our followers and hope you will share news and questions with us! Check out our channels below:
DEPARTMENTS
Geology: News from our geology division with job announcements for alumni
Instagram: @geologyutc
Facebook: UTC Geology
Environmental Science: News from our environmental science division
Instagram: @utchattanoogaesc
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
EDGE: A sustainability and environmental awareness group
Instagram: @utcedge
Facebook: EDGE
Geology Club: Promoting interest in geology through hosting lectures, field trips and other activities
Instagram: @utc_geology
Tribeta: BGE Honor Society
Instagram: @utc.tribeta
UTC Pre-Dental Society
Instagram: @utcpredent
BGE Department: News across the BGE and fields of biology, geology and environmental science
Instagram: @bgedepartment
Facebook: Department of Biology
UTC Pre-Medical Society
Instagram: @utcpremed
Wildlife Zoology Club: Advancing the science and practice of wildlife and wildlife conservation
Instagram: @wildlifezoologyclub
Facebook: UTC Wildlife and Zoology Club
Women in Natural Sciences (WINS): Focusing on female representation in biology, geology, physics, environmental science and chemistry
Instagram: @utcwins
Facebook: UTC Women in Natural Sciences
OUR STUDENTS NEED SUPPORT!
We appreciate the support that you, our alumni and friends, have given us in the past. We would appreciate any new support you might be able to give this year. Gifts to the department may be addressed to one of three funds that our department has set up. To make a gift to a specific program, please earmark your donation to the “BIOL/ESC Gift Fund.” or the “GEOL Gift Fund.”
Two years ago, we established two new gift-giving funds. The first memorializes our dear colleague, Dr. Mark Schorr. Gifts to the “Dr. Mark Schorr Memorial Fund for Graduate Students” will help support our MS ESC graduate students. Created last year, the “BGE Teaching Enhancement Fund,” will help faculty expand our teaching capacity and implement new developments in our different disciplines.
Thank you for considering a gift to one of these important funds. Donate here.
