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Mentor Information

Aiding the Student Along the Way

FACULTY MENTORS

Dr. Thomas Byl is a Biologist and Chemist in the Department of Civil Engineering. His research focuses on surface and ground-water quality and fate of chemicals and pathogens in aquatic environments. Projects that students will participate in his laboratory include 1) Bio-Remediation. 2) Phytoremediation. and 3) Wetland Ecology. Contact information: tdbyl@yahoo.com , /cae/Byl.aspx .

Dr. Emmanuel Dzantor is Research Associate Professor at the School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences at TSU. He has more than 20 years of experience in environmental studies including bioremediation and phytoremediation of soil contaminants, and restoration of degraded lands. His current research areas are elucidation of plant-microbe interactions involved in rhizodegradation, environmental impacts of runoff from nursery production and plant-microbe signaling processes that are important in agriculture and ecosystem sustainability. Student projects in his laboratory will include biochemical and molecular profiling of rhizosphere microbial communities that are important in rhizodegradation of contaminants, and potentials of xenobiotic contaminants for disrupting mutually beneficial plant-microbe signaling. Contact information: edzantor@tnstate.edu, /agriculture/resumes/emmanuel_dzantor.aspx.

Dr. Anthony Ejiofor is Associate Professor in the Department of Biology. His research interests are Phylogeny and community structure of prokaryotes in extreme environments and dynamics of groundwater pollution. Areas of Expertise: Microbial Physiology, Fermentation technology, and Vector Biology and Control. E-mail: aejiofor@tnstate.edu. Phone: (615) 963-5806. /biology/ejioforanthony.aspx.

Dr. Dafeng Hui is a Plant Ecologist and Modeler. He has several years' research experience in global change ecology and ecosystem ecology using both experimental and modeling methods. Specially, he has studied elevated CO₂ influence on plant photosynthesis, soil respiration, and provided various statistical and modeling methods in ecological research. Students will participate in the following research projects in Dr. Hui’s lab: 1) Experimental study of litter decomposition in the mixed species. 2) Interannual variability in net ecosystem exchanges at AmeriFlux sites. and 3) Field experimental study of bioenergy crop (switchgrass) growth and productivity. Contact information: dhui@tnstate.edu, /biology/huidafeng.aspx or http://faculty.tnstate.edu/dhui.

Dr. Philip Ganter is an Ecologist and has many years of research experience in yeast. You may find more information about his research and teaching at the website: /ganter/index.html. Contact information: pganter@tnstate.edu, /biology/ganterphil.aspx.

Dr. Terrance Johnson is an Environmental Microbiologist. He has studied environmental influences on microbial composition and activities. He has isolated a number of strains of Bacillus thuringienesis from the middle Tennessee area and Chromobacterium violacein from the Tennessee Copper Basin. He continues to study the microbial community and its changes as restoration activities take place in the Copper Basin, TN. Students involved in his laboratory will isolate Bacillus thuringienisis and Chromobacterium violacein and other bacteria from environmental samples and characterize the organisms using BioLog analysis, 16S gene amplification and sequence analysis. Specifically, student mentees will be directly involved in collecting environmental samples, enumerating culturable and non-culturable organisms associated with these samples, and identifying and characterizing selected bacteria from these samples using BioLog and 16S gene sequence analyses. Contact information: tjohnson@tnstate.edu, /biology/johnsonterrance.aspx.

Dr. Xiaofei Wang is a Molecular Biologist. He has participated in the development of avian genomic tools, including preparation of EST libraries and EST sequence analysis, development of cDNA microarrays. His current area of research includes identification of segregating genes that contribute to the biological clock control mechanisms, fat deposition, and genome structure variation in chickens. Students in Dr. Wang’s laboratory will participate in the internal/externally funded research projects, using techniques such as PCR, real time qPCR, DNA microarrays to understand mechanisms of environmental influences on biological clock in chickens. Contact information: xwang@tnstate.edu, /biology/wangxiaofei.aspx.

Dr. Suping Zhou is also an Environmental Biologist and has studied influences of environmental factors such as temperature, salinity on gene expressions. Students in Dr. Zhou’s laboratory will study 1) identification of proteins that are affected by the salt treatment; 2) identification of the genes (or sequences) regulated by the heat stress including metagenomic DNA library screening, testing cellulase activity, and DNA sequence analysis; and 3) construction of a model for the gene expression regulatory control for the stress conditions. Contact information: zsuping@tnstate.edu, /agriculture/resumes/suping_zhou.aspx.

A table of contact information.