Imagine a complex system of gears—each wheel turning with interlocking teeth. Throw in a wrench, and everything stops. Dr. Arnab Sengupta, an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology, mulls over that scenario every day. Only, in his case, the wheels are cells and the wrench, stress. If Sengupta and his team of undergraduate researchers can learn enough about cells and what causes them to shut down or keep producing, they could someday help stop cancer. “From a cell’s perspective,...
Story and photos developed by University Communications. Georgia College & State University students are sowing the seeds of change. Funded through a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), an environmental science professor is leading this transformation in the central-southern region of Africa. His students are researching plants that may have the power to renew vast stretches of land poisoned from mining. The three-year program includes International Research...
Imagine a Georgia—60,000 years ago—where the coastal city of Brunswick was 70 miles from the ocean and most of the state was a great, grassy plain where the bison and mammoths roamed.In an era when most people think paleo is a diet, a small public liberal arts school in Central Georgia is leading the way to unearthing this past. In doing so, it reminds the world just how hip and modern real paleontology can be.“Some people say paleontology is a dying profession and, at big research...
Story and photos developed by University Communications. From bluffs and dunes to rocky cliffs and mountain peaks—six environmental science majors took multiple mini-trips this summer to learn about the state’s diverse ecosystems. The monthlong study-away program was headed by Dr. Bruce Snyder and Dr. Christine Mutiti, associate professors of biology and environmental science. Faculty led students on informative day trips and longer camping excursions. Together, they studied the biogeographical...
Story, video and photos developed by University Communications. Most people turn on faucets without much thought about how the water gets there. Until this summer, Avery Lundy of Jones County was one of them. “We’re dealing with people’s livelihoods and the fact everybody who turns on their tap is affected by what we do here,” Lundy said, standing before a series of computer command screens that would make NASA Mission Control envious. From there, he can watch the entire process:...
Reese Monroe attended Georgia College’s first in-person orientation in June 2022. With Father’s Day just a week away, both Reese and his father, Jeffery Monroe, talked about the next steps in Reese’s educational journey. Where are you from? Macon, Georgia What high school did you attend? The Academy for Classical Education. What is the most important thing you learned in high school? To do my best work, not half do it. Major/minor: Biology; I plan to do pre-Med. Why did you choose...
Careers in marine sciences are more important than ever—with oceans rising and the proliferation of toxic algae and pollutions. To ensure Georgia College students are prepared, and to take advantage of faculty knowledge and expertise in this field, the university will open a new Aquatic Sciences Center (ASC) by fall 2022. “We are seeing significant changes in our global climate that’s been rapidly accelerating in the last decade,” said Dr. Indiren Pillay, chair of biological and environmental...
Junior biology major Wesley DeMontigny was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship in March—a first for Georgia College. For general research in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the scholarship identifies future researchers and is the most prestigious of its kind. “The Goldwater Scholarship is the nation's foremost award for undergraduates studying the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering,” said Anna Whiteside, assistant director of the Honors College and coordinator...
At age five, Dr. Harriett Whipple, professor emerita, developed a fascination with flowers. She and her friends observed roses in her yard and made clover chains in kindergarten. Little did she know that this passion would carry her through to her mid 20s, when she would get her Ph.D. in botany. Whipple came to Georgia College in 1968. For nearly 50 years she taught botany and biology—a once male-dominated field. “When I was hired, there were mostly men in my profession,” Whipple...
Georgia College’s Integrated Science Complex (ISC) is not your grandfather’s idea of a traditional lab—where doors are shut, and people isolate in their own workspaces guarding projects from prying eyes. The university’s new science building is about openess. Light. Transparency. Shared lab spaces. Collaboration. And glass. Lots of glass. “This building was designed to be science on display,” said Dr. Indiren Pillay, chair of Biological and Environmental Sciences. “There is a paradigm...
