Faculty Awards and Honors: Winter 2018
Squire J. Booker, professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest honorary societies. Booker studies molecular mechanisms involved in enzymatic reactions and is particularly well-known for his research related to free radicals. His laboratory has garnered international attention for describing a pathway used by disease-causing bacteria such as MRSA to evade many commonly used antibiotics. Booker has also worked on using enzymatic reactions to produce biofuels, antibacterial agents, and other chemical products.
Nathanial Brown, professor of mathematics, has been honored with the 2017 Dr. James Robinson Equal Opportunity Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty or staff member who has promoted equal opportunity through affirmative action and/or has contributed to enhancing the educational environment of Penn State through improving cross-Faculty Awards and Honors cultural understanding. Focused primarily on improving diversity in STEM fields, Brown regularly gives talks and hosts related events, works with Penn State’s Millennium Scholars program, and administers the website stemfeminist.com.
Donald A. Bryant, Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded the 2018 D.C. White Research and Mentoring Award by the American Society for Microbiology. The award recognizes distinguished accomplishments in interdisciplinary and collaborative research as well as mentoring in microbiology. In his research, Bryant applies biochemical, genetic, and systems biology approaches to study the gene regulation, physiology, and structure of bacteria that use photosynthesis to capture and convert light into biochemical energy. He has mentored 36 postdoctoral researchers, 53 graduate students, and many undergraduate students throughout his career.
Jane Charlton, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has been honored with the inaugural Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Impact Award, which celebrates Penn State faculty whose work has transformed education through the innovative use of technology. In the online Astronomy 101, Charlton engages her students with an immersive, science fiction story-based approach to learning. An early iteration of the course used role-playing, and its popularity, coupled with advances in computing, led Charlton to develop an instructional video game, released in 2014. Her course is now completed by nearly 2,000 students each year.
Michael DeGiorgio, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in biology, which recognizes early-career scientists for their research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become a leader in their field. His research focuses on the development of mathematical models and statistical methods for understanding evolutionary history from patterns in genetic data. He works on both theoretical and applied problems in statistical population genetics, human evolutionary genomics, and phylogenetics.
Research by Todd LaJeunesse, associate professor of biology, his students, and colleagues has been recognized for its high impact and originality by two scientific societies. The International Society of Protistologists awarded the 2014 William Trager Award for Outstanding Paper of the Year to LaJeunesse and colleagues in 2017, and the International Phycological Society awarded the Tyge Christian Prize to LaJeunesse and colleagues in 2016. Both research articles were published in 2014 and describe species of dinoflagellates—plantlike microalgae—that generally live symbiotically inside of stony corals and other reef-dwelling invertebrates.
Kin Fai Mak, assistant professor of physics, has been awarded a 2016 Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The foundation established the fellowship program in 1988 to support the research of innovative early-career scientists. Mak’s research is focused on understanding unusual electronic phenomena that occur when electrons are confined in crystals that are only a few atoms thick.
Mak has also been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in physics, which recognizes early-career scientists for their research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become a leader in their field.
Kohta Murase, assistant professor of physics and of astronomy and astrophysics, has been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in physics, which recognizes early-career scientists for their research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become a leader in their field. His research focuses on the physics and astrophysics related to cosmic rays, the subatomic particles known as neutrinos, and the properties of dark matter.
Mikael Rechtsman, assistant professor of physics, has been awarded a 2017 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The foundation established the fellowship program in 1988 to support the research of innovative early-career scientists. In his research, Rechtsman uses both experimental and theoretical approaches to understand photonics, the science of light.
Jun Zhu, associate professor of physics, has received a National Science Foundation Convergence award as part of the NSF Growing Convergent Research program. The program seeks to highlight the deep integration of multiple disciplines in order to advance scientific discovery and innovation. Zhu will receive funds to facilitate an annual summer program that will help educate future researchers for the second quantum revolution by connecting graduate students with researchers in fields varying from condensed matter physics to quantum chemistry and engineering.