Faculty/Staff Professional Activities
Dr. Aruna Kilaru, Biological Sciences, served as secretary/treasurer of the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Biologists (SS-ASPB) for 2017-18.
Kilaru, with the help of Dr. Jay Shockey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist, as the local organizer, hosted the SS-ASPB 2018 annual meeting in New Orleans. A record number of more than 160 members from 13 states attended the meeting. Members from Kilaru’s lab (Dr. Suhas Sitaram Shinde, Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Imdadul Haq and Sujan Shrestha), as well as from the labs of Dr. Gerardo Arceo-Gomez (Jesse Daniels, Daniel A. Barker and Amber M. Stanley) and Dr. Dhirendra Kumar (Bal Krishna Thakuri, Shantaya Andrews and Saroj Chandra Lohani) presented their research at the meeting; Daniels won first prize for best oral presentation.
Travel for the trip was funded, in part, by the departments of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Sciences, as well as the Graduate and Professional Student Association. The members of SS-ASPB say they are grateful for the sponsorship of ETSU’s Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
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Dr. Chris Widga, Geosciences, was part of an international team of scientists that co-authored an article titled “The evolutionary history of dogs in the Americas,” which was published in Science in July (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6397/81.full). The team sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear genomes from North American and Siberian dogs from as early as 9,000 years ago and determined that American dogs form a lineage that likely originated in Siberia. The genetic legacy of these early dogs is minimal in modern dogs, which largely descend from canines introduced by Europeans.
In addition, Widga was recently quoted in a Newsweek article regarding the discovery of a woolly mammoth bone in Scotland. Read the story here: https://www.newsweek.com/scotland-woolly-mammoth-bone-scotland-beach-975963.
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Virginia Buda, Biomedical Communications, is a new member of board of directors of Tennesseans for the Arts. TFTA, in partnership with the Tennessee Arts Commission, advocates for the arts at all levels throughout Tennessee. Its members work with legislators to maintain funding for the arts in Tennessee, support and promote the work of the Arts Caucus in the General Assembly, and organize and produce advocacy events, culminating in the annual Arts Advocacy Day each March at the state capital.
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Adam Dickson, Political Science, International Affairs and Public Administration, was recently highlighted as part of the 2018 “BE Modern Man” cohort on the Black Enterprise website (http://www.blackenterprise.com/modern-man-community-coordinator-adam-dickson/). The question-and-answer article focuses on how Dickson has achieved success in his many areas of community involvement, advice given and received, and more.
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Dr. Michael Cody, Literature and Language, has been nominated for this year’s Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award for his first novel, Gabriel’s Songbook, which was published by Pisgah Press of Asheville, North Carolina, in December 2017.
This prestigious award was first given in 1955 to legendary Asheville author Wilma Dykeman for her seminal work, The French Broad, and has since been bestowed on such luminaries as Wayne Caldwell (Requiem by Fire, 2010), Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain, 1997), Gail Godwin (A Southern Family, 1987) and John Ehle (Last One Home: A Novel, 1984).
The award for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina (WNC) is administered through the WNC Historical Association. It was started by the Louis Lipinsky family and is now also supported by Dr. Michael Sartisky and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Board.
Read more about Gabriel’s Songbook at https://www.etsu.edu/accent/2018/04_april/cody_gabriels_songbook.aspx.