GES Center Faculty Directory

CENTER DIRECTORS

By building a unique interdisciplinary program that aims at transparency and inclusion of diverse perspectives in long-term, rigorous dialogue, NC State, through the creative visions of Dr. Jennifer Kuzma and Dr. Fred Gould are marking a global impact on the design and development of genetically engineered organisms. By combining expertise in biological sciences, social sciences and the humanities, the GES Center helps citizens and policymakers make informed decisions by giving them information developed through detailed research and thorough deliberation.

Jennifer Kuzma

jennifer_kuzmaGoodnight-NC GSK Foundation Distinguished Professor, Co-Director of GES Center | School of Public and International Affairs | College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ph: 919-515-2592 | Email: jkuzma@ncsu.edu | CV
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About

Jennifer Kuzma, Ph.D., Goodnight-NCGSK Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, and co-founder and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center at NC State University. The GES Center represents a key interdisciplinary cluster at NC State of nearly 50 affiliated faculty, plus graduate students, that integrates science and public values to inform the future of genetic engineering. The Center maintains external partnerships with stakeholders locally, nationally and globally, and has led research, education and engagement initiatives that improve dialogue, technology development, and decision making about the applications of genetic engineering.

Prior to her current position, Kuzma was an associate professor of science and technology policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota (2003-2013). Here she was area and degree program chair of science, technology, and environmental policy; associate and interim director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy; co-PI of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Risk Analysis for Introduced Species; and associate director of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment. Before that (1997-2003), she served as program and study director for several U.S. National Academy of Sciences reports related to biotechnology governance and bioterrorism and as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Risk Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis.

She has over 120 scholarly publications on emerging technologies, risk analysis, regulatory policy, and governance and has been studying these areas for over 25 years. Her recent work on biotechnology governance has been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, NSF, and USDA. She is currently co-PI of a new NSF-National Research Traineeship interdisciplinary graduate program on agricultural biotechnology in food, energy and water systems (AgBioFEWS).

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Kuzma has held many local, national, and international leadership positions, including: World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on Technology, Values and Policy member; the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Preparing for Future Biotechnology, Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Council Member and Secretary, chair of the Gordon Conference on Science & Technology Policy, Member of the U.S. FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee, AAAS-American Bar Association National Council of Scientists and Lawyers, Governor’s Bioscience Advisory Committee, and a Member of the United Nations WHO-FAO Expert Group for Nanotechnologies in Food and Agriculture. In 2014, she received the SRA Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Award for recognition of her contributions to the field of risk analysis, and in 2017-2018 she was awarded the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Science Policy at the University of Ottawa. In 2019 she was elected a Fellow of the AAAS for distinguished translational work in bridging the bench and society, advancing anticipatory governance of new technologies, and contributions to methods for oversight policy analysis. She was one of the early pioneers in studying the societal implications of gene editing, synthetic biology, and agrifood nanotechnology. She is interviewed frequently in the media for her work and expertise in technology policy, including The New York Times, Science, The Scientist, Nature, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, Scientific American, The Boston Globe, PBS Nova, Wired, and ABC and NBC News.

She obtained her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1995. Here she discovered bacterial isoprene production and holds the first patent for methods for bacterial production of isoprene (bioisoprene). Her postdoctoral work was completed at the Rockefeller University in New York where she worked on plant drought and salinity tolerance mechanisms, leading to an article in the journal Science.

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Fred Gould

fred_gouldDistinguished University Professor, Co-Director of GES Center | Entomology and Plant Pathology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Ph: 919-832-8633 | Email: fgould@ncsu.edu | CV
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Current Research

The concept of managing pests and disease vectors by manipulating their genomes dates back to the 1960’s but the tools available for such manipulations (e.g. radiation) proved too coarse to be practical. With the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in the past few years, the potential to drive desired genes into wild populations became more feasible and has received a great deal of attention in both the peer-reviewed literature and in the popular press. We use general and detailed population genetic models to examine the expected behavior of these gene drive systems and conceptualize self-limiting gene drive systems.

Evolution of insect pest resistance to genetically engineered crops with insecticidal proteins is a major threat to the sustainable use of these crops. We use modeling approaches as well as genomic analyses to better understand how resistance evolves and approaches to delay or reverse resistance evolution.

About

Dr. Fred Gould, co-director of the center, is a University Distinguished Professor of Evolutionary Biology in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, who has done cutting-edge research in the area of ecology and evolutionary biology. An elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Gould studies the ecology and genetics of insect pests to improve food production and human and environmental health.

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Dr. Gould was the Chair of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) groundbreaking study on Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects, which reevaluated and compiled all available research on GE crop safety.

He serves on the NAS committee on “Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences.” He also serves on the National Research Council Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. One of his research projects involves genetically modified mosquitoes that have reduced capacity to carry and spread dengue fever. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, among others, for his work.Gould participated in policy development for transgenic crops at the national and international level. He sees a need to develop more inclusive and transparent approaches for building, assessing and regulating transgenic pests. Gould has authored or co-authored more than 160 refereed publications. He has been invited to present papers at numerous conferences, symposia and seminars.

In 2007, he won the George Bugliarello Prize from Sigma Xi for his article on genetic manipulation of pests for control of human disease vectors. In 2004, Gould received the Alexander von Humboldt Award, which is presented annually to the person judged to have made the most significant contribution to American agriculture during the previous five years.

In 2011, Gould received NC State’s Holladay Medal, the university’s highest award for faculty achievement. Gould has served on National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council committees to study the environmental effects of the commercialization of genetically modified plants and develop recommendations on genetically modified pest-protected crops. He has also served on Environmental Protection Agency panels on genetically modified crops. Gould is a member of the Entomological Society of America, the Society for the Study of Evolution and Sigma Xi.

Born in New York, Gould earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Queens College and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He came to NC State as a research associate in 1978, was named full professor in 1990, and was named Reynolds Professor in 1993. Gould was the 10th faculty member from NC State to win the O. Max Gardner Award since 1996.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Zack Brown

zack_brownAssistant Professor | Agricultural & Resource Economics | College of Agriculture & Life Sciences

Ph: 919-515-5969 | Email: zsbrown2@ncsu.edu | CV
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Current Research

The most significant project which I am currently working on is a USDA/NIFA-funded survey on “Assessing Public Perceptions of Gene Drives for Invasive Species and Pest Control.” The is a one-year, $100K project I’m leading, with Jason Delborne (NCSU/CNR/FER) and Paul Mitchell (University of Wisconsin) collaborating. It will involve focus group discussions with citizens / grocery shoppers, as well as a largescale survey of the US general public.

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The aim of the work is to both get an idea of how consumers will respond to foods produced using gene drives (especially in terms of their willingness to pay for these foods), as well as to understand citizen preferences for how risks of the technology are assessed. So far there is no published empirical research on either of these questions. This project grew directly out of the 2015 NSF-sponsored workshop, “A Roadmap to Gene Drives,” and will support the doctoral research of economics PhD student Mike Jones, who came to NCSU as part of the NSF-funded IGERT program in GES.

Much of my other GES-related research focuses on various aspects surrounding the management of insecticide resistance, in the case of genetically engineered Bt crops. These crops are used on over 90% of US corn and cotton farmland. The EPA regulates these crops by requiring that corn and cotton farmers plant ‘refuge’ areas of the farm where no Bt is used, to maintain the viability of target pests which remain susceptible to Bt. This prolongs the effective lifespan of Bt crops in suppressing pests. There are many questions about the economics of refuges, in terms of persuading farmers to follow the regulation (when the threat of enforcement is relatively low) as well as how to efficiently incorporate uncertainty in the biological science of refuges into policy prescriptions. Finally, there is potential for revising agricultural policies, for example US Federal Crop Insurance, to provide more effective incentives to resistance management and refuge adoption. To initiate empirical research on all of the above questions, I recently submitted a 3-year, $300K funding proposal to the USDA-sponsored Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.

I also am a co-PI on a large NIFA grant, led by Hannah Burrack (NCSU entomoloogist), studying effective responses to spotted wing drosophila, a fruit fly invader causing major damage to US berry crops. My activities in this larger grant are to focus on insecticide resistance management in controlling the fly (with research objectives similar to those described above for the Bt resistance), as well as to assist with risk assessment of gene drive technologies currently being proposed for controlling the fly. The risk assessment component is comprising dissertation research for entomology PhD student Johanna Elsensohn, who also came to NCSU as part of the NSF-funded IGERT program in GES. Link describing grant: https://news.ncsu.edu/2015/10/usda-grants-6-7m-to-curb-fruit-pest/

Lastly, I am leading the publication of an issue of BMC Proceedings, writing up the contributions at the recent OECD-sponsored workshop, “Environmental Release of Engineered Pests: Building an International Governance Framework,” hosted by the GES Center and CSIRO. The journal special issue should be published at the end of 2017. A detailed description of this workshop is at this link: https://research.ncsu.edu/ges/research-ges/oecd-crp-meeting/

About

Dr. Zachary Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. His PhD training (from Duke University’s School of the Environment) is in environmental and resource Economics. Broadly, his research and teaching is in the field of ‘bioeconomics,’ analyzing the dynamic interactions between human behavior and complex environmental and ecological systems, using experimental methods, observational data, mathematical models and theory. His specific topics of focus have included global malaria control policy, insect resistance management, behavioral economics, technology adoption, and more recently the dynamics of agricultural biotechnology innovation. Dr. Brown is originally from Elkins, West Virginia, and he did his undergraduate work at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

GES Involvement
Zachary Brown joined NC State in January 2014 as a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in Genetic Engineering and Society. He advises a number PhD students across a number of departments involved with the GES Center, as well as teaches courses for the GES Minor. Besides serving on the GES Center’s Executive Committee, his work related to the Center includes the economic optimization and adaptive management of evolutionary dynamics (e.g. insect resistance to transgenic Bt crops as well as the optimal control of gene drives), consumers’ economic values for foods created using next- generation biotechnologies, as well as induced innovation in agricultural biotech sector (measured using patent data).

Jason Delborne

jason_delborneAssociate Professor of Science, Policy, and Society | Forestry & Environmental Resources | College of Natural Resources

Ph: 919-515-0106 | Email: jadelbor@ncsu.edu | CV
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About

Dr. Jason Delborne is Associate Professor of Science, Policy, and Society in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources in the College of Natural Resources. Jason received an A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.

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He joined the NCSU faculty in 2013 as part of the Genetic Engineering and Society Cluster. His research, which draws on the interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS), explores highly politicized scientific controversies with particular attention to interactions among policymakers, scientists, and the public. In particular, he investigates how communities, stakeholders, and publics can be engaged in the governance of emerging technologies. Jason recently completed service on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on the potential for biotechnology to address forest health, which released its report in January 2019 (Forest Health and Biotechnology.

GES Involvement

As a member of the GES cluster faculty and executive committee, much of Jason’s research and teaching relate to genetic engineering. He leads a collaborative NSF grant to study the genetically engineered American chestnut tree, potentially the first GMO designed to persist and spread in the environment with the restoration of a species as its goal. He served as lead editor for a special issue of the Journal of Responsible Innovation that focused on research and governance needs for gene drive technologies, a project that emerged from an NSF workshop grant led by the GES Center Co-Directors. Relatedly, Jason served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on gene drive research, which released its report in June 2016 (Gene Drives on the Horizon). In terms of teaching and mentoring, Jason advises a Ph.D. student in the AgBioFEWS program, serves on several Ph.D. committees for other GES students, co-directs the GES graduate minor program, and teaches a required class in that curriculum, “Emerging Technologies and Society” (GES 508).

Todd Kuiken

todd_kuikenSenior Research Scholar | Genetic Engineering and Society Center

Ph: 919-515-2593 | Email: tkuiken@ncsu.edu | CV
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Current Research

Since arriving in August 2016 I have begun two new projects exploring the democratization of science. Through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation this project will enable the fast-growing ecosystem of health innovators to develop a culture of responsibility that reflects its pluralistic and open-source ethos.

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We will facilitate the interactions between this emerging ecosystem and formal regulatory institutions to support responsible innovation in distributed networks. You can read more about the project here: https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/citizen-health-innovators-exploring-stories-of-modern-health

The latest project, funded by the Open Philanthropy Project, will explore the rapidly expanding DIYbio community by visiting 20 individual labs in the United States and abroad in order to qualify the state of DIYbio in terms of capabilities, trends, and needs in relation to biosafety and biosecurity. We plan to explore the broader biosecurity concerns in relation to potential threats, current relationships with biosecurity professionals and identify trends/needs of the community. The project will also establish a biosafety/biosecurity fellowship program. All DIY labs face the same tension: how to operate an open access biolab for a broad set of users encouraged to experiment widely, while simultaneously maintaining strict controls on what they do. By embedding biosafety experts within the DIYbio communities over the course of a year, the Open Philanthropy Biosafety–Biosecurity Fellows will learn first-hand how DIY labs operate and will use this knowledge to codify a universal set of biosafety and biosecurity practices that can be adopted by the growing number of DIY labs.

About

Dr. Todd Kuiken is a Senior Research Scholar with the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State University, where he explores the scientific and technological frontier, stimulating discovery and bringing new tools to bear on public policy challenges that emerge as science advances. He has numerous projects evaluating and designing new research and governance strategies to proactively address the biosafety, biosecurity and environmental opportunities/risks associated with emerging genetic technologies. He was previously the principal investigator on the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Synthetic Biology Project.

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Dr. Kuiken is a member of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology. He is also a member of the human practices committee of the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition, and a founding member of its biosafety/biosecurity committee. Dr. Kuiken has provided expert testimony in front of the U.S. National Security Agency Advisory Board, the U.S. National Academies of Science, the United Nations Bioweapons Convention, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, has been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, and is a regular speaker on public policy issues related to nanotechnology and synthetic biology.

After completing his B.S. in Environmental Management and Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology he worked directly with renowned scientists on the biogeochemical cycling of mercury at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned an M.A. in Environmental and Resource Policy from The George Washington University concentrating on the scientific, economic and community development aspects of environmental issues. While there, he worked at various environmental non-profits including the National Wildlife Federation, where he worked within the Clean the Rain campaign that dealt with the environmental and public health threats associated with mercury pollution. Dr. Kuiken earned his Ph.D. from Tennessee Tech University, where his research focused on the air/surface exchange of mercury associated with forest ecosystems. As part of his dissertation, he synthesized these results with other studies associated with mercury cycling, public health threats and policy alternatives, to bring attention to the threats and the need for improved public policy dealing with mercury pollution.

GES Involvement
In September 2016 he received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to facilitate interactions between the emerging ‘makers in biology’ ecosystem and formal regulatory institutions to ensure safe, responsible innovation. He is a member of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology. He is the co-chair of the human practices committee at the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition and a founding member of its biosafety/biosecurity committee. In addition, he is collaborating with DIYbio.org on a project to ensure safety within the rapidly expanding community of amateur biologists and the growing network of community laboratories. The initiative is analyzing and developing programs around the potential biosafety and biosecurity threats associated with such a diffuse community.

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AFFILIATED FACULTY

erin_banksDirector of Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity | The Graduate School | The Graduate School
Ph: 919-513-1635 | Email: erbanks@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Co-authored the manuscript entitled “Ethics and Responsible Innovation in Biotechnology Communities: A Pedagogy of Engaged Scholarship.” This paper was presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.

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Rodolphe Barrangou

rodolphe_barrangouAssociate Professor | FBNS | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-1644 | Email: rbarran@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Our laboratory focuses on the biology and genetics of CRISPR-Cas immune systems in bacteria. Using microbiology, molecular biology and genomics approaches, we investigate the use of CRISPR-Cas systems for four types of applications:

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1. Exploitation of CRISPR spacer hypervariability for genotyping and phylogenetic studies of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria 2. Leveraging CRISPR-mediated interference for building up phage resistance in probiotic strains and starter cultures used in food manufacturing 3. Harnessing of Cas9-mediated, re-programmable dsDNA cleavage for genome editing in bacteria 4. Co-opting native systems in bacteria for CRISPR-based self targeting as a potent antimicrobial alternative. These activities provide insights into the genetic and molecular processes that drive CRISPR-mediated adaptive immunity in bacteria, and generate novel tools for the manipulation of industrially relevant organisms for food, Ag, health and biotechnological applications. We also focus on understanding the molecular basis for health-promotion by beneficial lactic acid bacteria and developing next-generation probiotics. In particular, we study gastro-intestinal tract colonization, host immunomodulation and cell-surface composition and function. We also investigate the forces that drive and shape genome evolution in probiotic lactobacilli.

About

Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is an associate professor with a specialty in the study of beneficial bacteria, used in food manufacturing as starter cultures and probiotics. Dr. Barrangou earned a BS in Biological Sciences from Rene Descartes University in Paris, France, a MS in Biological Engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne, France, a MS in Food Science from NC State, a PhD in Genomics from NC State and a MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining NC State University in 2013, Rodolphe spent 9 years in R&D and M&A at Danisco and DuPont. Currently, Rodolphe focuses on the evolution and functions of CRISPR-Cas systems, and their applications in bacteria used in food manufacturing. In particular, the Barrangou lab conducts research on CRISPR-based antimicrobials, genome editing and tracking of food bacteria, as well as understanding and enhancing the health-promoting properties of probiotics. Rodolphe is also an associate member of the Microbiology graduate program, the Biotechnology graduate program, the Functional Genomics graduate program, and the Comparative Medicine Institute. Dr. Barrangou is the T. R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Scholar in Probiotics Research. GES Involvement Rodolphe has a number of projects related to Genetic Engineering, with funding from state, federal and industrial sources to study the applications of CRISPR-based technologies for safe food supply. Translationally, Rodolphe is actively involved in using these technologies commercially, with involvement on the Board of Directors of Caribou Biosciences, as co-founder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Intellia Therapeutics, and a co-founder and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Locus Biosciences.

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Jade Berry-James

rajade_berry-jamesAssociate Professor | Public Administration | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-515-5027 | Email: rmberryj@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Berry-James, R. M. (Invited PA Keynote). Responsible Innovation in Food Biotechnology: Exploring Cultural Perceptions and Engaging Public Trust. North Carolina Central University, College of Behavioral and Social Science 10th Anniversary, September 28, 2016.

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About

Dr. Jade Berry James is an associate professor of public administration with a specialty in social equity and program management. Jade is also a consultant in higher education, specializing in assessment and accreditation. Jade received a BS in Business Administration from Rider University, a MPA from Kean University and a PhD in Public Administration from Rutgers University (Newark). She has been on the NCSU faculty since 2010. She conducts research on cultural perspectives in public administration and public policy as well as evaluates publicly funded programs and services.

GES Involvement
Jade was a recent Resident Research Fellow in the Genetic Engineering & Society Center. While at the Center, Jade received an internal grant to study cultural attitudes toward genetically modified food. Jade is also interested in responsible innovation, particularly examining how industry and government engage citizens from underrepresented communities. Jade co-mentors one PhD students who is in the GES graduate minor program.

David Berube

david_berubeProfessor, Director of PCOST | Communication | College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ph: 919-515-0410 | Email: dmberube@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

David is writing a book on the Communication of Zika that takes a serious look into public conflation of all things about genetic engineering as a single concept hence impeding advances that are both harmless and effective. David is a CoPI on a NSF grant to study ethics education as a component in genetic engineering education.

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About

Dr. David M. Berube teaches graduate courses in persuasion, risk communication, and undergraduate courses disaster communication and climate change communication. He heads a team on Public Communication of Science & Technology (PCOST). He was the lead author on the NSF White Paper in Risk Communication, wrote the book NanoHype, and over the last 20 years as a recipient of over $10 million in federal grants in the public understanding of nanoscience and nanotechnology. He is a CoPI and a member of the executive committee for the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network. His interests have developed and include synthetic biology especially at the boundaries with both other disciplines as well as different stakeholders, especially the DIYbio and iGEM communities.

GES Involvement
David is writing a book on the Communication of Zika that takes a serious look into public conflation of all things about genetic engineering as a single concept hence impeding advances that are both harmless and effective. David is a CoPI on a NSF grant to study ethics education as a component in genetic engineering education.

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Andy Binder

andrew_binderAssociate Professor | Communication | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-515-9750 | Email: arbinder@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

He conducts research on controversial science topics, including how information about those topics is transmitted through various communication channels and what impact that communication has on risk perception and public understanding of science.

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His research has been published in the journals Science Communication, Public Understanding of Science,Communication Research, and Journal of Health Communication, among others. Current projects include a national opinion survey on the use of reclaimed water in people’s homes, a meta-analysis of the empirical relationship between sending sexually explicit text messages and sexual behaviors, and a systematic review of research on public opinion of genetic engineering.

About

Dr. Andrew Binder is an associate professor whose research examines how media portray science and technology and how citizens think about science topics. Andy received a BA in French with a certificate in African Studies, an MS in life sciences communication, and a PhD in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He joined the faculty at NC State in 2010. His research focuses on public understanding of science, risk communication, and media portrayals of science and technology. Using primarily quantitative social science methods, Andy conducts surveys and experiments to measure and explain citizen attitudes toward both controversial and non-controversial science topics. Most recently, he has published a number of articles based on a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 1233197) regarding how people feel about using recycled water in their homes. This project touched on many of the concepts Andy finds intriguing about science communication, such as: uncertainty, risk assessment vs. risk analysis vs. risk perception, and the contribution of (offline) social networks to the spread of opinions and attitudes. GES Involvement Andy conducts communication research on a number of science topics, some of which touch on genetic engineering. He is currently serving as a co-PI (with Drs. Jason Delborne and Louie Rivers) on another National Science Foundation project (Grant No. 1632670) examining the potential introduction of genetically modified American chestnut trees into the forests of Appalachia. He is finishing up a separate project looking at peer-reviewed research on the topic of public opinion of genetic engineering—who is conducting such research, what disciplines are represented, and how interdisciplinary the research is. With a database of over 1,000 published research articles, the project is providing a wealth of data and information on the social aspects of genetic engineering.

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Matthew Booker

matthew_bookerAssociate Professor of History | History | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-513-1431 | Email: mmbooker@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

The Archive of Agricultural Genetic Engineering and Society continues to be the sole effort to create a public archive of oral histories with important figures in the first generation of genetic engineers, regulators, and their critics.

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With colleagues Todd Kuiken, Jennifer Kuzma, and Fred Gould, I’m proud that we continued to capture the personal experiences of key persons in the field.

About

Dr. Matthew Booker is an associate professor of environmental history. Matthew received a BA in Latin American History from the University of California at Berkeley, an MS in Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon and a PhD in History from Stanford University. He has been at NC State since 2004. Matthew’s first book is an urban and natural history of San Francisco Bay. In 2016-17 Matthew is a fellow at the National Humanities Center where he is writing a history of food production in American industrial cities, 1870-1930. While everyone knows that industrial cities were filthy, few remember their fecundity, evidenced by the remarkable amount of protein grown within their boundaries. This was especially true of coastal cities, whose waterways supported a massive aquacultural industry of global significance. Like genetically modified crops today, urban oysters were neither entirely artificial nor entirely natural but rather a biotechnology dependent on science, law, and consumer taste. Matthew is interested in how that system arose, why it achieved such success, and how it disappeared so thoroughly that it seems surprising it ever existed. GES Involvement Matthew is interested in Genetic Engineering and agriculture. In collaboration with the Genetic Engineering and Society Center and the NC State libraries, he directs the Archive of Agricultural Genetic Engineering and Society, conducting interviews with leading scientists, regulators, entrepreneurs, and critics in the first generation of agricultural genetic engineering. Matthew sits on three GES IGERT PhD student committees and assisted the second-year cohort with their website Conserving Island Biodiversity. He co-taught three graduate courses in the IGERT and also offers courses in environmental history and the history of agriculture.

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Hannah Burrack

hannah_burrackProfessor & Extension Specialist | Entomology & Plant Pathology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-4344 | Email: hjburrac@ncsu.edu | CV |  Publications

Current Research

My research focuses on understanding the ecology of insect pests in tobacco and small fruits and utilizing this information to enhance pest management. I am particularly interested in landscape scale management issues, host preference behavior, and invasive species biology. I am also developing projects in specialty crop systems, including hops.

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Jose Cisneros

jose_cisnerosDirector, CALS International Programs | Horticulture International & Entrepreneurship | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-515-1240 | Email: jjcisner@ncsu.edu

Current Projects

CALS Global Initiatives; CALS International Training: AgriScience Global Immersion; Horticulture International is the next step of this project that started in 2010 called AgriFoodGateway. We will continue our mission of transferring knowledge and disseminating applied technology to farmers, extension agents, and agriculture professionals worldwide.

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Rick Davis

Rick DavisWilliam Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor & Department Head | Entomology & Plant Pathology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-515-7984 | Email: eric_davis@ncsu.edu

Current Research

Our lab’s primary interest is with plant-parasitic (phyto)nematodes, but we are also interested in all aspects of host-parasite interactions. The main objective of our research is to combine information that we generate in both basic and applied investigations towards the goal of improving the control of plant-parasitic nematodes in agriculture.

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Our present research projects involve: 1. Identification and functional analyses of secreted nematode effector proteins; 2. Nematode genomics emphasizing parasitism gene expression and epigenetics; 3. Plant host cellular and molecular targets and responses to nematode effectors; 4. Plant resistance to nematodes, both conventional and bioengineered

About

Davis is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of plant pathology who joined N.C. State University in 1993 as an assistant professor. His experience includes developing a research program at N.C. State in the study of nematode parasitism genes. Davis has made pioneering discoveries about nematodes that may be translated into reducing crop damage. He has authored 75 refereed publications, as well as 29 invited reviews and book chapters. He is an inventor on three patents and has three pending patent applications. Davis is a recipient of the Syngenta Crop Protection and Ruth Allen Awards from the American Phytopathological Society.

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Veljko Dubljevic

veljko_dubljevicAssistant Professor | Philosophy and Religious Studies | College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ph: 919-515-6219 | Email: vdublje@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

My research and teaching focuses on ethics of neuroscience and technology, and the cognitive neuroscience of ethics. I co-edited a volume at Oxford University Press (together with Fabrice Jotterand): Cognitive Enhancement: Ethical and Policy Implications in International Perspectives,

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and am currently working on my monograph Neuroethics and Justice: Public Reason in the Cognitive Enhancement Debate, (in Book Series  The International Library of Ethics, Law, and Technology, under contract with Springer). I also serve as the inaugural managing editor and co-editor for the book series  Advances in Neuroethics.

About

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Rob Dunn

rob-dunnProfessor | Applied Ecology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-7569 | Email: rob_dunn@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Most of the living world remains poorly or totally unknown. In my lab we study the species around us in our everyday lives, species we tend to think of us as well known. Most of those species are not well known and so there are many things to discover in your backyard, in your bedroom, or even on your roommate. Some days I work to study these species myself, bending down to figure out whether the fungus on my neighbor’s foot is a new species.

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More often I spent my time working with students and other researchers to help along their own discoveries. I also write about the world around us, which is a chance to share the stories of the scientists who have devoted their lives to understanding species, organs, cells, genes or ecosystems that influence us every day. In my building alone I am surrounded by biologists who study prairie voles, rare butterflies, fish ovaries, dinosaurs with long, long, claws, the decisions we make when threatened with death, alcoholic fruit flies, fungus farming beetles, and much, much more. It is a good job, this thing called science, silly at times, serious at others, but nearly always good.

About

Rob Dunn is a biologist and writer . Central to all of his work is the sense that big discoveries lurk not only in faraway tropical forests, but also in our backyards and even bedrooms. The unknown is large and wonderful and Dunn and his collaborators, students, and postdocs love to spend their days in it.

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Rebecca Dunning

Rebecca DunningDirector, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Fellows Program| Research Assistant Professor | Social Sciences | Department of Horticultural Sciences | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-389-2220 | Email: rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

My applied research, outreach, and teaching focus on the realization of sustainable and community-based food systems at the intersection of private and social-mission businesses, cooperatives, and non-profits. Teaching includes the Community-Based Food Systems foundational and capstone courses in the Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems major, and a DE course in the Ethics of Agricultural Biotechnology.

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Keith Edmisten

keith_edmistenProfessor of Crop & Soil Sciences & Extension Cotton Specialist | Crop and Soil Sciences | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-515-4069 | Email: kledmist@ncsu.edu

Current Research

Dr. Edisten conducts applied cotton and industrial hemp agronomic research and cotton germplasm evaluation to include evaluation of new events, traits and elite varieties.

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The Crop Science cotton extension program cooperates on several applied research projects with faculty within the department and with faculty from Entomology, Plant Pathology, Soil Science and Agriculture Economics. We also evaluate genetically engineered germplasm and varieties and to help producers integrate varieties and traits into their production systems.

The industrial hemp program is in its infancy, with applied research starting in 2017. Dr. Edmisten works with Dr. Angela Post to conduct applied research aimed at developing recommendations for industrial hemp production in North Carolina.

Results of these tests and other production recommendations are made available to county faculty, consultants and growers utilizing various methods including: a cotton information book, field days, growers meetings, newsletters sent electronically and placed on the internet, agent, industry and consultant training.

About

Dr. Keith Edmisten is a Professor of Crop and Soil Sciences and serves as the Extension Cotton Specialist for the NCSU Crop Science & Soil Sciences Department. Keith received his BS from NCSU in Agronomy, MS from NCSU in Crop Science and PhD from Virginia Tech in Crop Physiology in 1987. He served on the faculty at Mississippi State University and Auburn University prior to joining the Crop Science faculty here at NCSU in 1992. He teaches CS224 Seeds, Biotechnology and Society, CS 216 Southern Row Crop Production, and CS590 Intro to Regulatory Affairs and also advises the Plant and Soil Science biotechnology concentration undergraduate students. He was selected as the Extension Cotton Specialist of the year in 1997 and the Cotton Physiologist of the year in 2015. GES Involvement Keith’s research and extension program is designed to evaluate genetically engineered germplasm and varieties and to help producers integrate the varieties and traits into their production systems. He provides biotechnology education to the public through the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service at NCSU and maintains the Extension agricultural biotechnology portal at NCSU (agbiotech.ces.ncsu.edu). Keith enjoys the interdisciplinary nature of the GES center and the IGERT program and hopes to help provide an applied perspective to program activities.

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Khara Grieger

Photo of Khara GriegerSenior Research Scholar | Genetic Engineering and Society Center

Ph: 919-515-2594 | Email: kdgriege@ncsu.edu | CV/Publications

Current Research

Dr. Grieger is currently working on a range of projects related to responsible innovation of emerging issues and novel technologies, including engineered nanomaterials, societal implications, and policy. She currently serves as a Co-PI on a collaborative research project between NC State and RTI International focused on sustainable development of nanomaterials used in water treatment technologies, leading efforts to investigate potential risks and inform nanomaterial innovation.

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She is also an advisory board member for a large European project focused on nanomaterial risk governance. Starting summer 2019, she and Jennifer Kuzma are leading a USDA/NIFA-funded grant to investigate the societal implications of nanomaterials in the farm to fork continuum.

Before joining the team at NC State, Khara was a Senior Environmental Research Scientist at RTI International in the Health and Environmental Risk Analysis program (2012-2019) and a recent Duke University Scholar (2017-2018). In addition to conducting and leading independent research projects, she has also managed and provided technical support for numerous federal projects, including those funded by US-FDA, EPA, NIOSH, and Army. 

Khara completed her Ph.D. and Postdoctoral training at the Technical University of Denmark in Environmental Engineering. Prior to that, she obtained an MSc from DTU in Environmental Engineering, an MS in Plant Biology and Ecology, and a BS in Zoology from Michigan State University.

GES Involvement
In addition to the projects described above, Khara’s goal is to continue to work on interesting projects that involve complex intersections between emerging technologies, risk, uncertainty, decisions, regulations, and ethics. In the near-term, she is pursuing numerous proposals and project initiatives within this space, and will continue to interact with faculty across NC State as well as continue interactions with external colleagues including those in international institutions.

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John Godwin

john.godwinProfessor | Biological Sciences | College of Sciences
Ph: 919-513-2936 | Email: godwin@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

The Godwin laboratory is participating in a NSF-funded IGERT program at NCSU and a multi-institutional and international collaborative partnership termed the Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents program (GBIRd).

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The focus is on evaluating the feasibility and suitability of using genetic approaches as an approach to controlling invasive rodents on islands. This is of interest from a conservation standpoint because islands are biodiversity hotspots where invasive rodents do tremendous ecological damage and have endangered or caused the extinction of many species.

About

Coming Soon

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Jean Goodwin

jean_goodwinProfessor | Communication | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-515-8423 | Email: jegoodwi@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

I am interested in ways scientists can communicate with those skeptical of well-established results without making the situation worse. I have an ongoing case study of how GM scientist-communication Kevin Folta interacted with difficult audience members that shows him refusing to respond in kind.

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About

Dr. Jean Goodwin was hired in 2016 as part of the Leadership in Public Science initiative to integrate communication research and education into STEM projects here on campus. My research focuses on the communication practices that enable citizens who deeply disagree to manage to talk with one another. I’m particularly interested in the hardest cases: even when people aren’t going to cooperate with one another, when it’s unlikely that a consensus will be reached and an issue fully resolved, what can communication nevertheless accomplish? Of course, these hard cases become harder still when scientists get involved, since experts possess a (legitimate) authority that doesn’t fit neatly into democratic communication practices. As a rhetorician from the humanistic branch of the Communication discipline I advance this work by discourse analysis, looking closely at the talk exchanged in particular events; by conceptual analysis of central concepts such as “expert authority;” and by integrating the perspectives of those who have thought about these issues, from Plato and Cicero in classical times down to Walter Lippmann and Chantal Mouffe closer to the present day. I am also interested in communication education for scientists; I believe this will require broadening existing programs that focus on training skills to include opportunities for reflecting on the roles scientists can play in public life, and on communication ethics.

GES Involvement
I am currently writing on the communication techniques used by GE scientist/communicator Kevin Folta. In addition, my team has developed case studies students can use to explore some of the ethical challenges of GE communication. Since I’m new to NCSU, I welcome opportunities to support students in the GES graduate minor or GES courses.

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Kevin Gross

kevin_grossProfessor | Statistics | College of Sciences
Ph: 919-513-8072 | Email: krgross@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

My research uses theoretical models and statistical tools to answer questions in population and community ecology. I am particularly interested in understanding the processes that govern the dynamics of multispecies assemblages.

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Multispecies dynamics is a topic that is interesting from a basic science perspective, and also touches on a number of timely applied questions, including biological control, conservation biology, and the dynamics of infectious disease. This research has both a theoretical side that entails the development and analysis of mathematical models, and a statistical side that involves developing techniques to confront theory with data. Separately, I am also interested in using mathematical models to study the dynamics of science itself. That is, how do the institutions, customs, and culture of science expedite or impede the collective acquisition of knowledge?

About

Dr. Kevin Gross is a professor who studies theoretical and mathematical biology. Kevin received a BS in Biology from Duke University, and a PhD in Zoology and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has been on the faculty at NCSU since 2003. Kevin uses mathematical and statistical models to explore the dynamics and interactions of species and the ecosystems they inhabit. Work from his group often touches on the interface between ecological dynamics and issues of social concern, such as the impact of environmental change on ecosystem resilience, the regulation of agricultural pests, and the evolutionary responses of arthropod disease vectors to contemporary management tactics. He is also interested in the dynamics of the scientific process, and the collective acquisition of knowledge.

GES Involvement
Kevin’s work with the GES Center focuses on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of genetically engineered organisms. His recent PhD student Gregory Backus developed the first suite of mathematical models to understand the potential efficacy of GE organisms to manage or to eradicate invasive mice and rats from island ecosystems. Kevin is also interested in frameworks to quantify the uncertainty in ecological and evolutionary responses to the introduction of GE organisms.

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Nora Haenn

nora_haennAssociate Professor, Director of Anthropology Graduate Program | Sociology and Anthropology; International Studies | Humanities and Social Science
Ph: 919-513-2705 | Email: nmhaenn@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Questions of genetic engineering and society can prove complex for experts, let alone undergraduate students just getting introduced to the field. In 2016-17, I worked with five NCSU undergraduates who carried out independent research to examine policy documents, research articles, and websites dedicated to the topic.

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Among other questions, the students asked what images biotech companies use to depict people associated with genetically modified crops and how researchers assess the ability of GM crops to feed the world’s poorest people. The students presented their findings at NCSU’s annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Genetic Engineering and Society colloquium. Educating critical thinkers who can navigate beyond surface arguments is key to the missions of GES and North Carolina State University.

About

Dr. Nora Haenn is an associate professor with a specialty in cultural ecology, the social dynamics of natural resource management, and local-global power structures. Nora received a B.A. in Philosophy from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Indiana University. She has been on the NCSU faculty since 2007. Her work on the relationship between smallholding agriculturalists and extension agents in southern Mexico examines the identity dynamics that facilitate or hinder knowledge sharing. She also considers how ideologies of cultural and economic difference affect the development, distribution, and regulation of GM products. Haenn’s research method entails immersion in local communities to understand the standpoints of particular actors. She also collaborates with social scientists whose expertise in applying social surveys outside the United States allow for elucidation of the spatial, gendered, and other aspects of linked human and natural systems.

GES Involvement
Nora has co-taught core courses in the GES curriculum, including two study abroad courses in Latin America. She sits on graduate student committees and works with students interested in situating GM within frameworks that include political ecology, international development, and the cultural context of specific field sites.

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Karey A. Harwood

karey_harwooddAssociate Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s Studies, Coordinator of Women’s and Gender Studies | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-515-6383 | Email: karey_harwood@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

I am examining arguments about equitable access to assisted reproductive technologies, the eugenic implications of restricted access, and the effect on democratic values. I also write about the ethics of egg freezing.

About

Karey A. Harwood is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University where she won the Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2010. She is also Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, a program in Interdisciplinary Studies at NC State.

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She received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University where she studied religious ethics and the sociology of religion and morality and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Grant in Women’s Health in 2001. The focus of her research has been in biomedical ethics and reproductive technologies. Her book, The Infertility Treadmill: Feminist Ethics, Personal Choice, and the Use of Reproductive Technologies, examined both the social context of reproductive technologies and the individual experience of infertility, including the tendency of reproductive technologies to function as a consumeristic rite of passage in coming to terms with infertility. Her more recent work grows out of civic engagement with public education in North Carolina and focuses on competing world views vying to shape public education in a 21st century democratic society.

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Joe Herkert

joe_herkertEmeritus Associate Professor | Interdisciplinary Studies | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Email: jherkert@ncsu.edu

About

Joseph Herkert is Lincoln Associate Professor Emeritus of Ethics and Technology in the College of Letters and Sciences and the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Arizona State University, and a Visiting Scholar (part-time) at the Genetic Engineering and Society Center, North Carolina State University.

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Herkert has been teaching engineering ethics and science, technology & society courses for more than twenty-five years. He is editor of Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Engineering: Selected Readings (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2000) and co-editor of The Growing Gap between Emerging Technologies and Legal-Ethical Oversight: The Pacing Problem (Springer, 2011), and has published numerous articles on engineering ethics and societal implications of technology in engineering, law, social science, and applied ethics journals. Herkert previously served as Editor of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and an Associate Editor of Engineering Studies. He is or has been an active leader in many professional organizations including the Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the National Institute for Engineering Ethics, and the Engineering Ethics and Liberal Education/Engineering and Society (LEES) Divisions of the American Society for Engineering Education. In 2005 Herkert received the Sterling Olmsted Award, the highest honor bestowed by LEES, for “making significant contributions in the teaching and administering of liberal education in engineering education.” Herkert is a Senior Member of IEEE and served a three-year term on the IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Societal Implications of Science and Engineering). Herkert received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and his doctorate in Engineering & Policy from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Gail Jones

gail_jonesProfessor of STEM Education | STEM Education | College of Education
Ph: 919-515-4053 | Email: mgjones3@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Augmented Virtual Reality For Learning: This study is examining characteristics of virtual reality as a tool for learning biology. We are exploring how these new tools can be used to teach youth about the human body.

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STEM Career Interests: With funding from the National Science Foundation we are investigating how experiences and relationships with others promotes STEM career interests. This project will engage families with three area museums as we build science capital and family habitus for science.

About

Dr. Gail Jones is an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor STEM Education at North Carolina State University. She has over 30 years of experience in STEM education and has taught science to students from grades K to 12. Dr. Jones’ research focuses on nanotechnology education, learning size and scale, 3D virtual reality instructional technologies, and life long learning in science. She works to improve science education in North Carolina, the U.S. and internationally. Her work is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, and the PowerAmerica Institute.

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Sophia Kathariou

sophia-kathariouProfessor | Food Science and Microbiology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-2075 | Email: skathar@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

An expert in genetics, microbiology and molecular biology, Dr. Kathariou studies foodborne pathogens such as listeria and campylobacter, and was recently named a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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Before joining the faculty of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences in 2000, she was an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hawaii. She received the Heinz P.R. Seeliger Award for promotion of scientific research in listeriosis and was named to the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture.

Robert Kelly

robert_kellyAlcoa Professor, Director of NCSU Biotechnology Program | College of Engineering
Ph: 919-515-6396 | Email: kelly@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Focus Areas – Biomolecular Engineering. Biocatalysis at Extremely High Temperatures. Microbial Physiology. Functional Genomics. Bioenergy and Biofuels

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William Kimler

william_kimler Associate Professor | History | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-513-2238 | Email: kimler@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Dr. Kimler is an associate professor of history who studies the history of ecology, evolution, and genetics. Will received his BA in Biology at Rice University, a MS in Ecology at Cornell University, and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at Cornell. His research has emphasized

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the nature of controversies over evidence and proper explanation for theories in evolutionary biology, particularly the role of ecology and population genetics in explaining evolution. Another focus is on the methods and concepts of the field sciences such as animal behavior and ecology. Individual projects have included mimetic coloration as a case study of evolutionary explanation, the work of Charles Darwin, the influence of tropical naturalists, questions of animal mind, taxonomic controversies, and the place of theoretical population ecology and genetics in the Modern Synthesis.

GES Involvement
Will is interested in how interdisciplinary fields resolve questions of expertise and the direction of new science, the formation of scientific disciplines, and the nature of collaborative work. He has team-taught a core graduate course for GES, served on graduate committees, and offers a graduate History of the Life Sciences course. He is willing to be a mentor for grad students interested in developing historical perspective on an emergent field.

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Bill Kinsella

bill_kinsellaProfessor | Communication | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph: 919-515-9736 | Email: wjkinsel@ncsu.edu

Current Research

Public discourses on issues with scientific/technical dimensions, especially in energy and environmental contexts Interactions among policy makers, regulatory agencies, technical communities, and public stakeholder communities

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Knowledge production across disciplinary, institutional, social, and cultural contexts Communication and interdisciplinary collaboration in scientific research and technology development settings.

About

Dr. Kinsella’s research and teaching address the overlapping areas of organizational communication, environmental and energy communication, rhetoric of science and technology, and rhetoric of public policy. He views these areas through an interpretive perspective based in critical theory, phenomenology, rhetoric, and discourse studies. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics (Manhattan College), pursued graduate studies in astronomy and physics (New Mexico State University) and worked as a science educator before completing his master’s and doctoral degrees in Communication at Rutgers University. He taught at Ocean County College (NJ), Richard Stockton State College (NJ), and Lewis & Clark College (OR) before joining the Communication faculty at NC State in 2004. He serves as a faculty member in the interdisciplinary programs in Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media, Environmental Sciences, and Science, Technology & Society (STS), and directed the STS program from 2009-2014. During 2010 he was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Institute for Nuclear Energy and Energy Systems, University of Stuttgart, Germany. His work on nuclear energy communication has encompassed the areas of nuclear fusion, environmental cleanup across the US nuclear weapons complex, and commercial nuclear energy in US and global contexts.

Dr. Kinsella’s work has received two Article of the Year awards from the National Communication Association’s Organizational Communication Division (2000, 2005), three Christine L. Oravec research awards from the Association’s Environmental Communication Division (2006, 2008, 2015), the Association’s Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Dissertation Award (1998), and a Best Research Article Award from the Canadian Association for Studies in Discourse and Writing (2013). He serves on the editorial boards of the Atlantic Journal of Communication, the KB Journal (Kenneth Burke Journal), and Science Communication. He co-directed the Seventh Biennial Conference on Communication and the Environment (2003) and the Second Annual Research Symposium on Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (2011), and served as President of the National Communication Association’s Environmental Communication Division during 2009-2010.

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Alun Lloyd

alun_lloydDrexel Professor; Director, Biomathematics Graduate Program | Mathematics | College of Sciences
Ph: 919-515-1910 | Email: allloyd@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Mathematical modeling of reversal gene drives

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About

Dr. Alun Lloyd is a professor with broad interests in population biology, particularly on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. After gaining a BA and Masters in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, he moved to the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford to study for a D.Phil. in Biological Sciences. Following postdocs at Oxford and the Institute for Advanced Study,Princeton NJ, he joined the faculty of NC State University in 2003. Since 2007 he has been Director of the Biomathematics Graduate Program and became Director of the Quantitative Sciences in Biomedicine in 2014. His research interests include the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, the population dynamics of mosquito vectors and the use of novel control measures.

GES Involvement
Alun has a number of projects related to Genetic Engineering. Together with Fred Gould, he has been working on various aspects of the Aedes aegypti/dengue virus system and control measures based on transgenic mosquitoes, supported by grants from NIH, the Gates Foundation and the Keck Foundation. More broadly, he has worked on the theoretical bases of a number of gene drives, including Killer Rescue, MEDEA and CRISPR-based drives and drive reversals. He is co-PI on the IGERT grant, has mentored PhD students who have taken, or are taking, the GES minor and has developed and taught one of the GES courses.

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Marce Lorenzen

marce_lorenzenAssociate Professor | Entomology & Plant Pathology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-7857 | Email: mdlorenz@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

To elucidate the molecular mechanism that underlies a class of novel selfish-genetic element found only in Tribolium. Due to the selfish behavior of these elements they have potential as gene “drivers” to push pesticide susceptibility into populations of insect pests of crops, or vector incompetence into populations of insect vectors of disease. Lorenzen Publications 

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Jim Mahaffey

Professor | Biological Sciences | College of Sciences
Ph: 919-515-5791 | Email: mahaffey@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

My research objective is to understand the genetic control of body patterning in animals. A conserved group of genes encoding homeodomain-class transcription factors (the hox genes) is responsible for establishing the anterior-posterior body pattern of most if not all animals.

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The encoded proteins specify regional identity by selectively activating necessary battery of “target” genes to establish segment-specific cell fates. However, since the proteins encoded by each hox gene have similar DNA recognition and binding properties, it is not clear how these proteins lead to very specific target gene activation and developmental fates. Clearly, the Hox proteins do not function alone but in concert with other factors.

About

Dr. James Mahaffey is a professor with specialty in animal developmental genetics. Jim received a BS in Independent Studies from the University of Cincinnati and a PhD in Genetics from the Biology Department at The Johns Hopkins University. This was followed by postdoctoral studies in Developmental Genetics at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been at NCSU since 1988. He conducts research on the genetic control of animal development using Drosophila and other insects as model systems. Currently his research focus is on the genetic control of limb development and patterning with emphasis on the roles of Hox genes using genomic and molecular genetics approaches.

GES Involvement
Dr. Mahaffey is a GES Center Affiliated Faculty member advising and training students interested in molecular biology and genetic engineering.


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Darby Orcutt

darby_orcuttAssistant Head, Collections & Research Strategy | NCSU Libraries
Ph: 919-515-7588 | Email: dcorcutt@ncsu.edu

Ask Me About

Humanities & Social Sciences Collections; International & Interdisciplinary Collections; Media Collections, including DVDs, Video Games, and Streaming Videos; NCSU Libraries’ Initiative, “Aligning Collections with Emerging Needs in Research Informatics”

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About

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Bob P. Patterson

bob_pattersonAlumni Distinguished Professor | Crop & Soil Sciences | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-3424 | Email: bob_patterson@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Research on the physiological aspects of crop response to plant water deficits, in collaboration with plant breeders and geneticists. His primary research objective is to provide insights regarding physiological response to plant water deficits that hopefully will lead to useful selection criteria targeting improved crop water use efficiency.

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About

Dr. Bob Patterson is an Alumni Distinguished Professor with a specialty in crop physiology and biochemistry. Bob received a BS (1961) and MS (1963) in Soil Science and Plant Physiology at North Carolina State University, and a PhD in Agronomy, plant biochemistry, and inorganic chemistry from Cornell University (1968). He has been on the NCSU faculty since 1968.

GES Involvement
Bob benefits in significant ways by attending the GES seminars, especially by gaining knowledge that he shares with the students he is teaching in a variety of baccalaureate and graduate courses. Through this participation, Bob feels much more confident in responding in a responsible manner to the many questions his students continually ask about genetically engineered crops.

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Jorge Piedrahita

jorge_piedrahitaTerry B Randall Jr Distinguished Professor | MBS | College of Veterinary Medicine
Ph: 919-515-7407 | Email: japiedra@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Dr. Piedrahita’s laboratory is primarily interested in the behavior of stem and progenitor cells in vitro and in vivo, and the development of large animal models of use in human and veterinary regenerative medicine. Towards this end, his research combines techniques in functional genomics, stem cells, cell biology, embryo manipulation, and molecular biology.

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About

Dr. Piedrahita obtained his M.Sc. in Reproductive Physiology and his Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California. He then moved to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he completed his Post-doctorate training in stem cells and homologous recombination. He started his academic career at Texas A&M University where he rose from Assistant Professor to Full Professor. He has been at NC State since 2002. He is presently a Professor in the department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences and the Director of the Comparative Medicine Institute (CMI), a university-wide institute.

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Royden Saah

Royden SaahVisiting Scholar | Biological Sciences (COS) Entomology/Plant Science (CALS) | GBIRd
Ph: 919-520-5954 | Email: jrsaah@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

The research goal is to use a naturally-occurring (t-complex) and/or CRISPR “gene drive” in mice to facilitate a bias of subsequent rodent generations to all be a single sex. If successful, GBIRd’s proof of concept holds the potential to significantly expand conservationists’ toolbox to reverse the impacts that invasive rodents have on islands, their terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and human communities.

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Louie Rivers, III

louie_riversAssistant Professor | Forestry and Natural Resources | College of Natural Resources
Email: lrivers@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

My research focuses on the examination of risk, judgment and decision process in minority and marginalized communities, particularly in regards to the natural environment and issues of environmental justice. Traditionally, the study and governance of risk has been from a highly technical and quantitative perspective, excluding lay stakeholders. In order to better include minority and/or marginalized communities into risk governance processes there is a need to better understand how these populations assess or perceive a variety of environmental risks and subsequently make decisions in relation to these risks. Addressing this gap in environmental regulation and policymaking is a major part of my research agenda.

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Michael Schulman

michael_schulmanWilliam Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor | Agricultural and Human Sciences | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-515-9016 | Email: mdschulm@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Areas of expertise: Rural Sociology – Occupational Safety and Health – Youth Workers

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About

Michael D. Schulman joined the faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NCSU in 1977. As a rural sociologist, he has investigated the structure of rural poverty, the decline of black farmers, the loss of manufacturing jobs in rural areas, and the social consequences of socioeconomic restructuring. His current interests include young workers, occupational safety and health, and global child labor. He was editor of the Rural Studies Series of monographs and Rural Sociology, the official journal of the Rural Sociological Society. He received the Excellence in Research Award from the Rural Sociological Society in 2012 and the Excellence in Instruction Award from RSS in 1998.


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Max Scott

max_scottProfessor | Entomology and Plant Pathology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-515-0275 | Email: mjscott3@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Our main research interests are investigating how gene expression is regulated in insects and applying this knowledge to develop engineered strains for genetic control programs. For our fundamental studies of gene regulation we use the model genetic insect Drosophila melanogaster.

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Our applied work has mostly been on developing male-only strains of the livestock pests, Lucilia cuprina (the Australian sheep blowfly) and Cochliomyia hominivorax (the New World screwworm). We are also interested in developing transgenic strains of D. suzukii (spotted wing Drosophila), which is a plant pest (e.g. berries) in North Carolina.

About

Dr. Max Scott is a professor with a specialty in developing genetically modified strains of insects for genetic control programs. Max received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia and a PhD in Cell Biology from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His postdoctoral training was on gene regulation and sex determination in flies, initially with John Lucchesi at the University of NC, Chapel Hill and subsequently with Fotis Kafatos at the IMBB in Greece. He has been on the NCSU faculty since 2010. The more basic studies in his lab have been on X chromosome gene regulation and sex determination in flies. This has led to a focus on developing transgenic strains of insect pests that carry conditional female lethal genes, which can be used for male-only sterile release programs. Much of the focus the past few years has been on the New World screwworm, a fly that is a devastating pest of livestock. This work has been in collaboration with the USDA-ARS. In addition, the lab studies spotted wing Drosophila, a pest of fruit, and Aedes aegypti, the vector for dengue and zika viruses.

GES Involvement
Max has developed transgenic insect strains for genetic control programs. Max is mentoring one PhD student who is in the GES graduate minor program, attends GES colloquia and teaches in one of the GES courses.

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Heike Sederoff

heike_sederoffProfessor | Plant and Microbial Biology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ph: 919-513-0076 | Email: hwsedero@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

Redirecting carbon metabolism to increase yield – Camelina sativa is an excellent oil crop for biofuel production because it grows with little water and fertilizer on marginal land. To improve camelina as a dedicated biofuel plant, we have increased its photosynthetic CO2-fixation rates by modifying CO2 transport,

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assimilation and allocation and reducing the cost of photorespiraton. To extend its agricultural range, we are improving its stress tolerance against heat and drought. We are currently working on new technologies to modify the plastid genome and introduce a synthetic, RUBISCO-independent CO2 fixation cycle. Genomic networks of abiotic stress responses in roots. Plant root growth and development is a major factor in the adaptation of plants to site, in the establishment of the architecture of the whole plant, and in the plant’s ability to take up, transport and sequester water and nutrients. The direction of primary root growth is guided by the vector of gravity and the plants ability to sense mechanical stress, light quality and direction, and nutrient availability. We have identified the transcriptional networks integrating the response of roots to changes in their orientation (gravity) and mechanical impedance.

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Ron Sederoff

ron_sederoffDistinguished University Professor Emeritus | Forestry and Environmental Resources | College of Natural Resources
Ph: 919-513-0073 | Email: volvo@ncsu.edu | CV

About

Dr. Ron Sederoff is a recently retired Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. He is considered a pioneer in the application of molecular genetics to forest trees, integrating genomics and quantitative genetics. His forest biotechnology  group developed high throughput genomic mapping and QTL analysis that allowed mapping of important traits for single forest trees.

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Fusiform rust disease was shown to be determined by a gene for gene patho-system, providing genetic control of the disease. The group characterized pine genes involved in biosynthesis and polymerization of lignin. A mutation in cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase was shown to have a high proportion of abnormal lignin, greatly extending the evidence for the plasticity of lignin composition. He also led the genetic and physical mapping of chestnut as a step toward the development of disease resistance and the restoration of the American chestnut. Most recent work incorporated systems biology and molecular modeling focused on the metabolic pathway of lignin biosynthesis in Populus trichocarpa as part of the Chiang laboratory.

GES Involvement
Ron has been involved in the establishment of regulations for genetically modified organisms when he served for six years as a early member of the USDA Agricultural Biotechnology Research Advisory Committee. He has contributed to six reports from the National Research Council on issues of agricultural biotechnology. He has published several articles on biotechnology regulation and intellectual property in forestry and agriculture.

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Wally Thurman

wally_thurmanReynolds Professor of Agricultural & Resource Economics | Agricultural and Resource Economics | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences/COM
Ph: 919-515-4545 | Email: wthurman@ncsu.edu | CV

Current Research

I conduct research on agricultural markets and the economics and political economy of agricultural and natural resource policy. My published work includes empirical studies of quota schemes in the United States for peanuts and tobacco, analysis of the effects of the Clean Water and Clear Air Acts, compensation schemes in the poultry industry, and the economics of bees. Currently, I am studying the land trust movement and the rise of markets for crop pollination services.

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