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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.

My group has been exploring the diversity of these systems in nature and how these systems can be harnessed for a new generation of CRISPR technologies.

About

Dr. Chase Beisel is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Chase received a BS in Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, Chase joined the NCSU faculty in 2011. His current research focuses on CRISPR-Cas immune systems and how these systems can be exploited for human benefit. <hide-this-part]He is principally interested in how these systems can be harnessed to advance the engineering of undomesticated bacteria. Chase also collaborates extensively with other researchers looking to implement CRISPR technologies in their own systems, from antibiotic-producing bacteria to crop plants. GES Involvement The Beisel lab is pursuing multiple projects related to Genetic Engineering. These projects focus on CRISPR technologies and their application to genome editing, pest control, and gene regulation. Chase currently teaches a class on genome editing with CRISPR-Cas9, and he is also interested in how CRISPR technologies interface with society.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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I am an environmental epidemiologist interested in how the environment affects our health, with particular focus on how to characterize the relevant exposure. I joined the faculty of NC State in August 2013 as part of the Chancellor’s Faculty of Excellence Program hires in Environmental Health Sciences. Before that, I was a researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for almost 15 years involved in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of ~60,000 farmers and 32,000 spouses from Iowa and North Carolina. At NC State, I am the deputy director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment and a faculty fellow in the Genetic Engineering and Society Center working on a project regarding what is known about the human health effects of genetically-modified foods. I have adjunct appointments at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the Department of Epidemiology and at the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine. I received my BS in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Davis and my masters and doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health in Environmental Health and Epidemiology. After a brief post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, I joined the faculty of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University before coming to NIEHS in 1999. Among my professional activities, I serve as an Associate Editor at Environmental Health Perspectives and PLOS One and am a member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, International Society of Exposure Science, and the American Thoracic Society.

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.

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.

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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.

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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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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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.

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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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