One of the criteria for choosing the recipient of Georgia Tech’s Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award is the winning team’s ability to address major challenges. 

The latest team of annual recipients took on the challenge of 2020 at Georgia Tech: addressing the coronavirus pandemic across campus to help keep our community safe and healthy. Anton Bryskin, Gregory Gibson, Pinar Keskinocak, Michael Shannon, Joshua Weitz, Loren Williams and JulieAnne Williamson answered that call with a Georgia Tech Covid-19 testing program that now serves as a model for other institutions of higher learning across the country.

The winner of the Outstanding Achievement in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research Award, Stefan France, also responded to a formidable task, one that existed before Covid-19: the critical need to boost the number of underrepresented minority students at Georgia Tech — as did Pamela Pollet, this year's recipient of the 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award for "excellence and extraordinary efforts in teaching" throughout an unprecedented school year.

Those who nominated the College of Sciences recipients of this year's Institute Research Awards note the outstanding impact these individuals have realized by addressing these issues in positive, measurable, meaningful ways:

Georgia Tech answers coronavirus call to action 

The winners of the Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award are the researchers and staff members who quickly came up with a successful in-house platform for conducting Covid-19 testing at Georgia Tech: 

From the nomination materials:

“This program is the outcome of remarkable vision and decisive action in experimental science on the part of this team, beginning in spring 2020 with the emergence of coronavirus infections in the U.S. It was immediately apparent that accurate tests for viral infection were greatly needed, and that the normal governmental and commercial channels for providing those tests would be overwhelmed.  

Rather than simply wait for national systems to sort themselves out, the molecular biologists in the team initiated a bold plan to prepare and validate all of the components needed to perform hundreds of thousands of tests using the accepted polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method approved for clinical use, and to do this entirely in-house on the Georgia Tech campus.

Very soon after the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Professor Williams began the construction of the Georgia Tech version of the PCR test, and its necessary technical infrastructure, without a mandate. Professors Gibson, Keskinocak, and Weitz provided key scientific insight and leadership for a GT campus-wide testing system. Dr. Bryskin was, and remains, the program’s indispensable technical expert — creating and optimizing processes for the complex steps that need to be performed flawlessly on thousands of samples per day. He was also the first to see and act on the need for CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification, an essential component of GT’s ability to collect and use the resulting information. 

Dr. Farrell, Ms. Williamson, and Dr. Shannon solved many seemingly insurmountable bureaucratic and organizational barriers, including the rapid creation of staff positions and space in the EBB building. Many others have contributed mightily of course, including the companion symptomatic testing program at Stamps Health Services run by Dr. Ben Holton, but these were the true visionaries and indispensables.

With a screening capacity of 3,000 saliva samples per day and using CLIA-certified, FDA-approved methodology, this program is now a model for efforts at other universities and institutions in the state of Georgia and nationwide."

A chemistry professor’s formula for diversity, mentorship

Stefan France, an associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, receives the Outstanding Achievement in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research 2021 Award. In addition to $7,500, France wins a $2,500 research support grant.

This award honors multiple contributions by France. From the nomination materials:

“In Spring 2020, France became the Project Leader for GT-CREATER, an American Chemical Society-funded Bridge Site that offers two-year thesis M.S. degrees to support the transition from undergraduate to graduate school for underrepresented minority students.

France has trained approximately 60 undergraduates, about half from Georgia Tech. Since 2016, he has served as the principal investigator for the National Science Foundation-funded Chemistry Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site, providing summer research opportunities to more than 30 undergraduates from around the country.
In 2019, France established the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Bridges to the Professoriate (B2P), a pre-professional group for students and postdocs interested in obtaining academic positions. He also serves as co-advisor for the GT Chapter of National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).”

Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award

Furthermore, the Georgia Tech Faculty Honors Committee has also presented its Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award to Pamela Pollet, Safety Program Coordinator, Senior Research Scientist, and Associate Director of the Specialty Separation Center for the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The Outstanding Teacher Award is given to those who “display teaching excellence, including extraordinary efforts in teaching, inspiration transmitted to students, direct impact and involvement with students, intellectual integrity and scholarship, and impact on post graduate success of students,” according to the Faculty Honors Committee Awards website. 

All of the Institute Research Awards were presented at the virtual Faculty and Staff Honors celebration on Thursday, April 15, 2021.

One research paper details the evolution of a Georgia Tech-built website that calculates the estimated risks of gathering in groups for every county in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic. The other Georgia Tech research paper looks for mathematics-based structure and symmetry deep inside the folds of origami, the ancient Japanese art.

The two studies address very different scientific issues, but they are both authored by College of Sciences faculty — and are the two studies that share the 2021 Best Faculty Paper Award, presented by the Georgia Tech Chapter of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, during its annual end-of-year honors. 

Joshua Weitz, Patton Distinguished Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and founding director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences program, is one of two corresponding authors of “Realtime, interactive website for US-county-level COVID-19 event risk assessment”, published in Nature Human Behavior in November 2020. The paper's co-author and project collaborator, who shares the award with Weitz, is Clio Andris, assistant professor in the School of City and Regional Planning in the College of Design, with a joint appointment at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech.

Four other researchers and experts from the School of Biological Sciences — Aroon Chande, Quan Nguyen, Stephen J. Beckett, and Troy Hilley — also worked on the study.

The ability for the Covid-19 Risk Assessment Planning Tool website to drill down to the county level for the entire country was introduced in July 2020, during the height of the pandemic. “We have developed an interactive county-level map of the risk that one or more individuals may have Covid-19 in events of different sizes,” Weitz explained, at the time. 

“The issue of understanding risks associated with gatherings is even more relevant as many kinds of businesses, including sports and universities, are considering how to re-open safely.”

Since the website launched last summer, it has been featured in over 150 external stories and interviews by media outlets on the pandemic. The website was developed in collaboration with Andris’ lab and with researchers from the Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory, a public/private partnership between Georgia Tech, IHRC Inc., and ASRT Inc.

For David Zeb Rocklin, an assistant professor in the School of Physics, it was the intersection of art and science — or rather, using the math in origami principles to enhance science — that led to his paper and latest honor from Sigma Xi.

"Hidden symmetries generate rigid folding mechanisms in periodic origami", published in November 2020, appeared in PNAS (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

The paper, which Rocklin co-authored with graduate student James McInerney, “gives us access to a lot of mathematical technology,” Rocklin says, by looking at origami sheets in a new way, which could lead to even more practical scientific and engineering applications for origami. 

“I’m a soft matter physics guy, so I study how the geometric structure of a system controls how it changes shape when you push on it,” Rocklin says. “On the one hand it’s something you can hold in your hand and feel it and see it moving in real space, but on the other hand, it embodies and obeys these really austere algebraic structures.” 

Since 1947, the Georgia Tech Chapter of Sigma Xi has annually honored faculty and students for their research at the annual Spring Awards Banquet. The Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Research Awards are made possible by the support of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation and the Ferst Foundation.  

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, founded in 1886 at Cornell University, is the honor society of scientists and engineers that recognizes scientific achievement. Its mission is to enhance the health of the research enterprise, foster integrity in science and engineering, and promote the public’s understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition.

Seven College of Sciences faculty members from five schools are winners of annual awards from Georgia Tech’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

The Center for Teaching and Learning, part of the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development, enhances the learning and teaching environment at Georgia Tech by encouraging a fully engaged, sharing community with communication networks, resources, and innovative programs for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students. It recognizes tenured and non-tenured faculty with end-of-school-year awards honoring the work and innovation Georgia Tech educators bring to their classrooms.

This year's list includes a pair of School of Mathematics educators: Stephanie Reikes, a lecturer in the School of Mathematics, is the winner of Georgia Tech’s 2021 Undergraduate Educator Award. Professor Dan Margalit is one of two winners of the 2021 Eichholz Faculty Teaching Award.

2021 Undergraduate Educator Award 

Stephanie Reikes, School of Mathematics

Reikes’ award was offered for the first time in 2009, recognizing the outstanding contributions that non-tenure track faculty make to student education. It reflects Reikes’ unique role at Georgia Tech, with responsibilities in the School of Mathematics and the Tutoring & Academic Support unit at Georgia Tech. She is responsible for teaching all of the Institute’s pre-calculus mathematics courses, including Support for College Algebra, College Algebra, and Pre-Calculus. She specializes in working with student of all backgrounds, including at-risk students, students with disabilities, and student-athletes. 

In addition to leading improvements in this challenging area, she has strengthened the cooperation and collaboration between Tutoring & Academic Support and the School of Mathematics, and introduced an innovative Learning Assistants program. She also directs the Math Lab.

2021 Eichholz Award Faculty Teaching Award

Dan Margalit, School of Mathematics 

The Eichholz Award, which includes a $3,000 prize, was established in 2005 through a gift from School of Mechanical Engineering's Regents’ Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Eichholz. It was created to reward senior faculty members who made a long-term contribution to introductory undergraduate education and were outstanding teachers for students taking freshman and sophomore core courses. It was recently broadened to recognize faculty at any point in their careers who excel in teaching core and general education courses, and who help students establish a solid foundation for their education at Georgia Tech.

Margalit’s math research lies at the intersection of low-dimensional topology and geometric group theory. He focuses on mapping class groups of surfaces, also called the the symmetries of surfaces. The author/editor of three books, Margalit hosts several workshops and discussion groups centering not just on topology and the advanced geometry he teaches, but mentorship and support for undergraduate and graduate students.

CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award ($3,000 each award)

Young Jang – School of Biological Sciences

This award, offered through the joint support of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and BP America, provides Georgia Tech with the opportunity to highlight the excellent teaching and educational innovation that junior faculty bring to campus. 

Jang, an assistant professor, researches stem cell biology and its impact on the aging process. Jang’s lab uses multi-disciplinary approaches to study muscle stem cell biology and develops bioactive stem cell delivery vehicles for use in regenerative medicine.

Faculty Award for Academic Outreach ($3,000)

Chandra Raman – School of Physics

This award rewards faculty members for productive academic outreach in which they go beyond their normal duties to enrich the larger educational community with their subject matter knowledge. Initiatives may involve furthering the learning of K-12 students, teachers, or other educational stakeholders in Georgia.

Raman, a professor, lists Bose-Einstein condensation and quantum atomic sensors as his research interests. His lab is an experimental atomic physics group that prepares atomic vapors from room temperature down to the microKelvin temperature regime, and seeks to exploit their unique capabilities for applications in quantum photonics, sensing, and many-body physics.

Innovation in Co-Curricular Education ($3,000 shared--$1,000 each)

Paul Verhaeghen—School of Psychology

This award is open to full-time faculty of any rank who increase student learning outside the traditional curriculum and help Georgia Tech achieve its strategic goal of graduating global citizens who can contribute to all sectors of society. Initiatives may involve formal or informal out-of-class learning experiences that engage undergraduate and/or graduate students in opportunities to develop respect for other cultures, explore the leadership qualities and ethical behaviors necessary to contribute to society, and/or build on their innovative and entrepreneurial talents in order to have a positive impact on local, state, national and/or international arenas. 

Verhaeghen, a professor, researches cognitive aging and working memory in the School of Psychology. He has also conducted scientific research into mindfulness meditation, and has published a book on his findings, “Presence: How Mindfulness Shapes Your Brain, Mind, and Life.” In late 2020 he was awarded a two-year, $200,000 grant from the Mind and Life Institute.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award ($3,000 shared--$1,500 each)

Michael Evans, Carrie Shepler, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry  

This award, offered in 2018-2019 for the first time, provides Georgia Tech with the opportunity to acknowledge the value of scholarship of teaching and learning articulated by Boyer’s Scholarship Reconsidered (1990), and exemplified by the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. This award is intended to encourage and support the work of faculty whose scholarship focuses on the instructional mission of the institution.

Evans is a senior academic professional who serves as the Freshmen Chemistry Laboratory Coordinator. As he writes in the Chemical Education section of his biographical profile, “Our advanced labs have focused on how to keep students engaged and allow them to see the relevance of lab work to their career paths.”

As Director of Instructional Activities and Student Experience in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Shepler’s responsibilities include co-chairing the Freshman Chemistry Committee, providing administrative supervision and support, planning of assessment and feedback, pedagogical development, and coordination and training of teaching assistants in the freshman program in addition to teaching freshman program courses. Shepler also serves as an academic advisor. 

At the end of every semester at Georgia Tech — after weeks of faculty grading the work of students — the tables are flipped, and students get to evaluate their teachers and their class experiences using the Course Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS). 

Faculty members with exceptional scores and response rates are presented with the Center for Teaching and Learning’s (CTL) Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching: Class of 1934 CIOS Award. This year, 40 College of Sciences faculty and instructors are receiving awards and honors for their work from spring through fall 2020 semesters.

The challenges of teaching classes during Covid-19 necessitated a new recognition from the CTL: The Honor Roll, which includes 32 College of Sciences faculty on its inaugural list.

“Teaching during the pandemic has required everyone to pivot to new ways of teaching, and faculty appreciate hearing that students value their efforts,” says Joyce Weinsheimer, CTL director. The criteria for Honor Roll selection are the same as for the Class of 1934 Award.

The following are the College of Sciences faculty named to both the Class of 1934 and Honor Roll Awards (groups broken up into small and large classes): 

Class of 1934 Award

Small Classes

Mirjana Milosevec Brockett, senior academic professional, School of Biological Sciences

Lutz Warnke, assistant professor, School of Mathematics

Large Classes

Hector Daniel Cervantes Banos, postdoctoral researcher, School of Mathematics

Dan Margalit, professor, School of Mathematics

Dobromir Rahnev, assistant professor, School of Psychology

Amit Reddi, associate professor, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Carrie Shepler, professor, Director of Instructional Activities and Student Experience, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Alonzo Whyte, academic professional, School of Biological Sciences (Neuroscience)

Honor Roll

Small Classes 

School of Biological Sciences — Mirjana Brockett, senior academic professional; Colin Harrison, academic professional

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences — Heather Chilton, lecturer;  Zachary Handlos, academic professional

School of Mathematics — Lutz Warnke, assistant professor

School of Psychology — Richard Catrambone, professor; Michael Hunter, assistant professor; James Roberts, associate professor

Large Classes 

School of Biological Sciences:

Annalise Paaby, assistant professor; William Ratcliff, associate professor; Raphael Rosenzweig, professor; Emily Weigel, academic professional

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences:

Samantha Wilson, academic professional

School of Chemistry and Biochemistry:

Meghan Benda, graduate student; Amit Reddi, associate professor; Carrie Shepler, professor, Director of Instructional Activities and Student Experience

School of Mathematics:

Alex Blumenthal, assistant professor; Hector Daniel Cervantes Banos, postdoctoral researcher; Klara Grodzinsky, Director of Teaching Assistants; Miriam Kuzbary, assistant professor; Gary Lavigne, professor; Wenjing Liao, assistant professor; Marissa Loving, postdoctoral researcher; Dan Margalit, professor; Gregory Mayer, Director of Online Learning; Stephanie Reikes, lecturer, Tutoring and Academic Support; Victor Vilaca Da Rocha, assistant professor; Zhiyu Wang, postdoctoral researcher

Neuroscience:

Mary Holder, academic professional; Alonzo Whyte, academic professional

School of Psychology:

Dobromir Rahnev, assistant professor

Both the new One Giant Leap and One Small Step Awards (formerly known as Process Improvement Awards) are designed to honor individuals and/or teams who exhibit the following traits:

  • Consistently invents or improves tools, processes, or systems.
  • Regularly evaluates situations, gathers data, and uses the data to identify opportunities for change.
  • Constantly asks, “how can we do this better?” and “why do we do it that way?”
  • Frequently considers non-traditional approaches.
  • Regularly identifies problems but focuses on potential solutions.
  • Proactively seeks feedback and involvement from constituents.

The winners of these awards, presented by Georgia Tech Human Resources, easily meet those criteria. 

In addition, the Spirit of Georgia Tech Award aims to honor employees who “inspire others with their presence and professionalism, creating an environment where others flourish and thrive.” That, say those who work with her, exactly describes School of Biological Sciences Academic Program Coordinator II Chung Kim, this year’s award winner.

One Giant Leap to fight the pandemic 

For the One Giant Leap Award — which identifies those who exhibit those behaviors on an Institute level — the winning team includes College of Sciences' Greg Gibson, Patton Distinguished Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Director of the Center for Integrative Genomics, and member of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; and Joshua Weitz, Patton Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences.

Both Gibson and Weitz have been heavily involved in the Institute’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Gibson helped to set up the process for testing Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff, and Weitz and an interdisciplinary team created the Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool, an interactive map estimating Covid-19 risk levels for gatherings of different group sizes for every county in the United States and in the UK. Both Weitz and Gibson are on an Institute task force helping to create a safe return to campus in the fall.

The Testing Site Operations team, which shares the 2020 award, includes: Dale Allgood, Alfred Blue, Tokiki Brown, Anton Bryksin, Jenny Cotton, Greg Gibson, Sheree Gibson, Benjamin Holton, Jamison Keller, Brian Liu, True Merrill, Alex Ortiz, Miles Paca, Mike Shannon, Nicholas Speller, Sara Warner, Joshua Weitz, and JulieAnne Williamson.

The Spirit of Georgia Tech = Chung Kim’s support for faculty 

Lisa Redding, academic program coordinator II for Bioinformatics and Quantitative Biosciences, School of Biological Sciences, says that in dozens of supporting comments from graduate students and faculty, “Chung was praised for her kindness, professionalism, and positive attitude. She is known for being knowledgeable, helpful, organized, and for following-up to make sure that problems are resolved.”

Redding says students echo those comments; Chung “cares about them as people, not just as students. She is said to exude positivity,” and goes out of her way to make students feel well-supported in their graduate education. They also praise her for taking time to greet them by name when they pass on campus. 

One Small Step for secure GT devices

For the One Small Step Award — for a team or individual who exhibits those behaviors on an individual or departmental level — the award goes to a team of College of Sciences Academic and Research Computing Services (ARCS) professionals who came up with a new way for enrolling and managing devices on campus networks. 

The following ARCS staffers, along with an Office of Information Technology (OIT) staff member, were honored for their work on the College of Sciences Asset and Endpoint Management Dashboard:

Steven Daniele, Academic & Research IT Senior Support Engineer, ARCS

Justin Filoseta, Director of IT, Research Scientist II, ARCS

Troy W. Hilley, Systems/IT Architect Principal, 

Jeffrey S. Lowe, Senior Web Developer, ARCS

Nguyen T. Nguyen, Support Engineer Lead, ARCS 

Arian Padron, Lead Support Engineer, ARCS

Michael Sheldon, Application Developer Manager, ARCS

Troy T. West, Information Security Engineer Lead, OIT

“The whole process of verifying inventory, enrolling devices with endpoint management, and signing the loan form, is now a simple and self-service workflow, available via the one-stop-shop of the College of Sciences Asset and Endpoint Management Dashboard,” says Lew Lefton, College of Sciences Assistant Dean for Information Technology and Associate Vice President for Research Computing. “This convenience increased the number of people who were in compliance with policy, and consequently reduced the likelihood of data disclosures and their associated risks.”

Julia Kubanek, professor of biological sciences and chemistry and biochemistry, and associate dean for Research in Georgia Tech’s College of Sciences, has been named vice president for Interdisciplinary Research (VPIR). Kubanek will assume the role on July 1.

“I am very pleased to announce Julia Kubanek as the next vice president for Interdisciplinary Research,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech. “In her long and lauded career at Tech, she has proven herself an exemplary educator and leader who is committed to excellence in scholarship, and to building partnerships that grow collaborative research across the Institute.”

Kubanek joined Georgia Tech as an assistant professor in the School of Biology and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2001. She was named an associate professor in 2006, and professor in 2011. In that time, she also served as the associate chair of the School of Biology from 2009 to 2011. Kubanek has served as the associate dean for Research in the College of Sciences since 2014.

In her role as associate dean for Research, Kubanek was part of the leadership team that helped shepherd substantial research growth in the College of Sciences, including the enhancement of research opportunities and infrastructure for faculty and students. Kubanek supported the collaborative interests of faculty and students by organizing and hosting cross-disciplinary workshops, including with the Oak Ridge National Lab. Her work also included career development workshops for early career academic and research faculty; guidance to faculty looking to launch new collaborative projects; and one-on-one mentoring of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students.

“With 20 years at Tech, I know this institution is filled with faculty, staff, and students who want to drive life-changing research in ways they cannot achieve alone,” Kubanek said. “In a supportive, collaborative, and interdisciplinary environment, I believe the creative, promising research visions of our Georgia Tech researchers can grow to international prominence and improve people’s lives and the health of our planet.”

The VPIR is responsible for ensuring the effective and strategic administration of interdisciplinary research and activities, including the Interdisciplinary Research Institutes, the Interdisciplinary Research Centers, the Pediatric Technology Center, the Georgia Center for Medical Innovation, and the Novelis Innovation Hub. The role has been filled on an interim basis since February by Devesh Ranjan, associate chair for Research, Ring Family Chair, and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.

“I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Devesh Ranjan, who has expertly served in the role of interim VPIR and will continue to do so until June 30, providing critical continuity and leadership,” Abdallah said. “Thank you, too, to our search chair Rob Butera, professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering, and vice president for Research Development and Operations, and the search committee who reviewed an exceptional field of candidates.”

Kubanek’s publications and grants have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, industry, and national labs, as well as state agencies and foundations. Her educational and scientific contributions have seen her recognized for teaching excellence and mentoring by her students and colleagues, as well as accolades from national boards and associations. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, as well as the National Science Foundation CAREER award, among many others.

Kubanek’s research focus has included aquatic chemical ecology, chemical signaling, chemical communication, chemoreception, chemical biology, marine natural products chemistry, secondary metabolism, drug discovery, and metabolomics. She has mentored and advised more than 90 students and postdocs and has published more than 100 papers in journals and conferences. Kubanek received a B.Sc. in chemistry from Queen's University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of British Columbia.

As second-year transfer students in fall 2020, Grace Ahn and Simone Anderson arrived at Georgia Tech under atypical — mostly virtual — circumstances. After both finished freshman year at another university, Ahn and Anderson began their studies at Georgia Tech while navigating online classes, joining new club meetings over Zoom, and taking part in Tech’s signature weekly campus Covid-19 testing program.  

Despite the pandemic upending the traditional learning environment, Anderson and Ahn have each carved out a unique place and college experience on campus. 

Both Ahn and Anderson were admitted to Georgia Tech via the Transfer Pathway Program, an initiative through which groups of students are guaranteed acceptance to Tech after completing a full year at another university and fulfilling various requirements related to grades and class credit. 

Among these transfer pathway initiatives are the recently announced Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Pathway Program, and the Arts & Sciences Pathway, which provides an opportunity for those not offered first-year admission to Georgia Tech within the College of Design, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and College of Sciences, to apply as transfer students. 

“I wanted to come to Tech and learn from great professors and get to collaborate with some of the greatest minds,” shares Ahn on her decision to join the Transfer Pathway Program. 

After spending her first year at the University of Georgia, Ahn transferred to Georgia Tech to study biology. Since then she’s joined various organizations including Stamps Health Services Ambassadors, Student Hospital Connections, and the Transfer Student Association, where she currently serves as treasurer. She also works in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, where she connects with potential students and parents via phone and email to give advice and share her perspective as a transfer student.  

Like Ahn, Anderson is on the executive board of the Transfer Student Association, where she serves as secretary. She transferred to Georgia Tech from Georgia College & State University, and also studies biology. She is a member of Doctors without Borders and the Student Government Association, where she serves on the elections committee. 

Ahn and Anderson both credit the Transfer Student Association as a rich opportunity to meet and connect with students who are experiencing a similar transition — and to help people acclimate to Georgia Tech through sharing advice and friendship. 

“I looked [the organization] up on Engage because I didn’t know many people coming to Tech and I wanted to meet more people, especially transfer students who are in the same place as me,” says Ahn. “That’s how I got involved. Everything’s virtual so far — we haven’t had anything in person, but it’s still a great way to connect to other people. We do game nights, scavenger hunts — stuff like that.” 

Anderson says she stumbled across the Transfer Student Association social page while scrolling through Instagram, and credits the organization with helping her build the firm foundation for her own community at Georgia Tech. 

Adjusting to second-year studies in Atlanta 

Ahn and Anderson also share that there was a learning curve for getting used to studying at Tech.

“I feel like back as a first year, I was kind of hand-held, a little bit into like, ‘this is how college works,’” notes Anderson. “You know — you have to get up every morning for classes, your parents aren’t going to wake you up, and so forth. It's very much, ‘here’s how this works — go to it,’ in your first year in college.” 

With a large adjustment to an entirely different campus and community, Anderson says it took time to get used to life at Georgia Tech.  

“The tradition and culture of Georgia Tech is very different from my previous school,” she adds. One life hack she’s learned along the way? Take a walk and explore Tech’s dining halls. “I went to Willage (West Village Dining Commons) for the first time the other day.” 

Ahn adds that the learning atmosphere at Georgia Tech, especially working in a virtual environment, was also an adjustment. 

“I had a sense of how colleges work. But the classes were definitely harder and academically challenging — because it's Tech.” At her old university, Ahn noticed that fewer students were as intently and purely focused on academics than at Tech, “so that was kind of different” from her first-year experience.  

Ahn and Anderson credit their professors for fruitful learning experiences in their inaugural year at Tech, and are grateful and excited for the engagement opportunities available around campus. 

“In my evolution class, my professor will have these websites that have little games and simulations that correspond to the topic we're learning,” says Anderson. “It has several benefits for me. One, he will play them digitally for us, and it helps me understand the content better. And two, it's better than just looking at lecture slides all the time.” 

If you’re interested in transferring to Georgia Tech 

As far as advice and tips for students considering transferring to campus?. 

“Have clear goals — that this is what [you] want,” says Anderson. “If transferring is something you want to do, focus on it. And you know that — but there should be a balance between focusing on transferring to Tech and maintaining a social life. When I was transferring, I was very single-minded on getting here. And there's a balance, so you can enjoy your time at your current institution and still be very focused.” 

Ahn also encourages prospective students to gear up and “prepare academically, because it's probably harder here than it is at your previous institution. I have no regrets coming here — I would tell [you] to do the same thing. Even though it’s challenging, I think it's totally worth it.” 

Now, with their second year of college and first year on campus in the rear view, Ahn and Anderson stand ready to help share their transfer path to Tech with interested students, and dive into adventures as biology third-years together — and as fellow Yellow Jackets. 

While Yassin Watson and his sister were the first in their family to attend college, he says that throughout his childhood, his parents strongly emphasized the importance of education. Because of their support and encouragement, Watson shares that he decided to set his sights high to find a college that would challenge him academically while fostering his personal growth. 

Growing up in Atlanta, Watson was familiar with the academic rigor of Georgia Tech and the driven nature and focus of the students who typically attend the Institute. He confides that, despite his preparation, during the first semester of his freshman year, “I was academically challenged beyond comparison to anything I experienced prior.” 

The challenge did not intimidate Watson — it invigorated him. It also led him to appreciate and love Georgia Tech’s “incredibly diverse community of students from different countries, majors, and life experiences,” he adds. 

And over the six years he has spent at Georgia Tech since then, Watson has kept busy. He’s graduating this May with degrees in biology and industrial engineering, along with minors in social justice and physiology. On campus, he serves as president of the Georgia Tech chapter of Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta), and is involved in GT Veggie Jackets, the GT-e Distance Running Team (which he co-founded), and the GT Healthy Jacket program. 

He has also focused on service, particularly in his senior year. “The pressure of the pandemic pushed me to ask myself what I can do in a virtual capacity to continue my service as a steward of my community,” he shares. As a result, last summer Watson contributed pro bono research with industrial engineering to help with creating resource allocation modeling tools to facilitate a safe return to campus in fall 2020.  

Over the course of the past school year, he also teamed up with the executive board as president of the Georgia Tech Biology Honor Society to “work diligently to navigate challenges in revamping our digital infrastructure — to increase student engagement and ensure a successful series of event programming.” 

In his tenure at Tech, Watson has also completed several semesters of wide-ranging research across the School of Biological Sciences, Stewart School of Industrial Engineering, and Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. 

Watson graduates as an aspiring physician-astronaut “carving my own path to advance the intersections between medicine, engineering, and space exploration.” That journey will keep him in Tech’s orbit for a few more years — Watson plans to stay at Georgia Tech to pursue his master's in health systems and a certificate in astrobiology before applying to medical school.  

Watson recently joined us virtually for a Q&A on his time as a student and what’s next: 

So, how have your initial expectations of Georgia Tech compared to your actual experience? 

As a native Atlantan, I’ve spent my whole life near Georgia Tech. Throughout my grade school years, teachers never hesitated to sing the praises of our world-renowned institution — in its ability to attract some of the brightest minds on the planet. Additionally, my parents always emphasized the importance of education in improving the quality of life for others and for myself, so Tech was on my radar long before my enrollment.  

After graduating high school and finally starting my journey here, I considered a handful of different career options but didn’t have the slightest idea of what would actually take place over the next few years. Like most, I heard many, many stories about Tech’s rigor, and after my first semester, I rapidly became acquainted with it … it was also during my first semester here that I began to realize how truly diverse, unique, and inspirational our community is.  

Every single person I’ve met at Tech is incredibly gifted at something — whether or not that gift is directly related to our school’s reputation as a trailblazer of technology. Just as many athletes, musicians, chefs, and poets study for finals in the CULC (Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons), [so] do future policymakers, engineers, scientists, and activists. And with each new team I joined over the subsequent semesters since my first, I witnessed, time and time again, that a single Yellow Jacket can wholly embody many of these identities.  

If there is one initial idea that I had about Tech that was flipped on its head after my actual experience here, it is the realization that we are not a monolithic group of students solely concerned with academic achievement.  

Our hard work in the books translates to what we are passionate about outside the classroom walls, and it has been a blessing to be welcomed into such a highly motivated community of multi-talented students while navigating the oftentimes rocky transition of blossoming into young adulthood.  

What is the most important thing you've learned at Georgia Tech? 

This past pandemic year has given us all a sobering reminder that life tends to be more enjoyable in the company of others. So if there is any nugget of wisdom to single out as the most important thing I’ve learned while at Tech, it is the need for us to have community in anything we do.  

The mutual exchange of support between myself and the groups I’ve been a part of during my time here have laid the foundation for unbreakable friendships and professional relationships that I cherish deeply.  

Whether in classes, clubs, internships, or research, the process of collaborating with others to reach a shared goal has consistently proven challenging — yet ultimately fulfilling. As they say: if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together!  

What is your greatest achievement at Georgia Tech? 

My greatest achievement at Tech has been my involvement in research on Alzheimer’s disease. I could speak endlessly to the extraordinary demands of formulating and testing research questions, but what makes this so personally significant to me is that my team’s work will contribute — even the slightest bit — to [fewer] families being severely impacted by the vicious effects of the disease.  

My dad had Alzheimer’s disease throughout my childhood until his passing a couple years before I started college. Reginald Watson was one of the kindest, smartest, and hardest working people I’ve ever known and is one of my greatest role models in life. Although he died when I was just coming of age, many experiences I’ve had in the years since have brought me emotional closure in his absence.  

But it was the countless mornings, evenings, and nights I spent in the Pathology Dynamics Laboratory on Atlantic Drive that have served as one of the most cathartic outlets for mourning. I cannot thank my research mentor and principal investigator, Dr. Cassie Mitchell, or any of my beloved teammates enough for allowing me to work with them on something that means so much to me — and millions of other families worldwide.  

Which professors or classes made a big impact on you? 

Far, far too many to list them all here. Different professors helped me at different times of my journey for the different needs I had at each different stage! For my first four and a half years at Tech, I was solely studying industrial engineering and social justice, so I received priceless guidance and mentorship in my career, academics, and personal life from countless faculty in the College of Engineering and Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. 

In the past year and a half, amongst faculty in the College of Sciences, Dr. Shana Kerr’s introductory biology class made me absolutely certain that I wanted to stick with the subject when I was just minoring in it at the time. Her enthusiasm for life sciences is impossible to miss!  

Dr. Kerr then warmly welcomed me under her academic advisement when I made the jump to pursue a full biology major soon after taking Dr. Adam Decker’s human anatomy class and lab. His unparalleled passion for understanding the most intricate details of the human body at every scale was one of the largest motivators for me to commit my career to medicine.  

Similarly, Dr. Benjamin Holton’s survey of medicine class presented the special opportunity to perform case studies, conduct medical ethics debates, dissect hearts, and engage in many other invaluable experiences regarding the field of healthcare — all while in a small group setting. Dr. Holton was serving as the director of Stamps Health Services when I took his class, and it was surreal to get his first-hand account of the unfolding pandemic as it rapidly affected our global and local community, especially since we had just gone over a case study on the 1918 influenza pandemic just a few weeks prior.  

Coincidentally, Dr. Holton was one of the first people I came face-to-face with in our first semester back on campus this school year as he kindly evaluated me after I broke my shoulder while skateboarding. (Holton continues to serve as senior director of Stamps Student Health Services, and continues to help advise and lead Georgia Tech’s Covid-19 response and recovery efforts, including campus testing and vaccination clinics.) 

Moreover, Dr. Colin Harrison was the professor of both of my introductory biology lab classes, and has served as the advisor and principal investigator for my senior research thesis on biology laboratory education. His work in diversity, equity, and inclusion in science motivates me to use my platform for similar initiatives throughout my career.  

Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention Dr. Emily Weigel. She was my professor for ecology lab, behavioral biology, and organismal biology — and has repeatedly gone far above and beyond her teaching duties to truly look out for and care for her students in every single class I’ve had with her. Dr. Weigel seamlessly blends a variety of instructional strategies that combine inquiry — collaboration when needed — innovative assignments, and overall a ton of fun! She is a professor who is truly able to see students for who they are and what makes them unique, all while managing to motivate them to learn the material. And I can’t help but geek out when we chat about birds and mushrooms. 

Georgia Tech and our College of Sciences is very lucky to have such compassionate, intelligent, and creative faculty in the School of Biological Sciences, and I am just as lucky to have been their pupil. 

One more question: What’s your advice for fellow students?  

Build community in your friendships, organizational involvements, and professional relationships with faculty, and you will have a solid support network to help you explore all that Georgia Tech has to offer, even when times get very difficult. And always acknowledge and thank the tireless efforts of our staff who work so hard to keep our community clean and safe!   

Jessica Kilpatrick chose to attend Georgia Tech because she knew that “it would prepare me for my future and get me to the next step.” Now graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minor in health and medical sciences from the Institute, with plans to attend the Emory University Physician Assistant Program in the fall, Kilpatrick says she feels confident that her time at Georgia Tech has prepared her for the next phase of her life. 

Kilpatrick shares that on campus as an undergrad, she found a healthy balance between academics, career preparation, and social time. She kept focus on her classes — while making time to play volleyball and spend time with her friends, boyfriend, and nieces. 

She also worked as a student assistant trainer and currently serves in the coveted role as head student athletic trainer for Georgia Tech Football, which she notes as her favorite activity so far at Georgia Tech. “Being able to work with a team I grew up cheering for has been surreal, and I am sad that my Saturdays on Grant Field have come to a close.” 

As she prepares for the semesters and new adventures ahead, Kilpatrick plans to celebrate her graduation by attending this spring’s Commencement ceremony with her family. “I am most looking forward to getting my degree and completing one of the hardest things I have ever done,” she adds.  

Kilpatrick recently joined us virtually for a Q&A on her time as a student and what’s next: 

So, how have your initial expectations of Georgia Tech compared to your actual experience? 

Before coming to Georgia Tech, I was worried about the rigor and difficulty of classes. I thought that there would not be much time to do things that I enjoy, but I was wrong. I found that, to do well and maintain my mental health, I had to go out and enjoy things. It has been those moments with friends that have really grounded me, and kept me at a level needed to succeed at Georgia Tech. 

What is the most important thing you've learned at Georgia Tech? 

The most important thing I have learned while at Georgia Tech is that academics are not everything. It is important to join clubs, stay active, and do things you enjoy. During my first year, I found a group of friends who loved to play volleyball, so twice a week we would go out and play.  

This not only would give me a break from my work, but it would also lower my stress and allow me to be more attentive once I started studying again. It is important to find people who share similar interests as you and help you relax, but also encourage you to focus on school when needed. 

What is your proudest achievement at Georgia Tech? 

My job with the football team is my proudest achievement. In the spring of my first year, I started working as a student athletic trainer with the team. Since then, I have transitioned into the role of head student (athletic trainer), obtained over 2,000 hours of experience, and earned over $20,000 in scholarships.  

While working alongside some talented athletes has been amazing, I am even more blessed for the training I have received from the athletic training staff, and the connections I have made that will further advance my medical career. 

Which professors or class made a big impact on you? 

Dr. Meghan Babcock has by far been my most influential professor, and she has served as my academic advisor for the past two years. Every time I stepped into her classroom or office, or even saw her around campus, she spoke to me by name and asked how things were going. For a professor to care that much for her students was amazing, and it was comforting to know that I could go to her if I ever needed help. Because of her attentiveness and care, she will always be someone I remember. 

As far as classes go, Chemistry 1212 had the biggest impact on me. Throughout high school, I made all A’s, but I knew that at Georgia Tech, that was likely going to end, and I was prepared for it. During the fall of my second year, Chem 1212 broke my perfect record. And the grade? 89. Although I knew my perfect record would eventually end, it was still a humbling experience and again proved to me that academics are not everything. You do not have to be perfect to be successful. 

What is your most vivid memory at Georgia Tech? 

During my first semester, I ended up with pneumonia and was having some bad reactions. But it was a hell week, and I would not let little ole pneumonia stop me. Well, it ended up stopping me anyways. I was in a study session for a calculus test that was coming up, and my throat was swelling up on me. I had to rush out of the study session, walk 20 minutes to my dorm, and finally get to the hospital.  

While it was happening, I could not help but see the humor in the situation. I did not listen to my body telling me it needed to rest, so it made the decision for me. At this point I was not fully sold on the idea that "school isn’t everything," but that experience definitely pushed me to start realizing that my health is important too. 

What is one piece of advice would you offer a current student? 

Don't let academics get in the way of forming friendships. There is definitely a balance, and schoolwork should not be neglected — but you will regret not spending time with your friends when given the chance. Go to sporting events, go to SCPC (Student Center Programs Council) events, take advantage of your time on campus, because those are the memories you will keep. 

Where are you headed after graduation? 

I am very excited to say that I will be heading to Emory University to join their Physician Assistant Program. My job with the Georgia Tech Football team, balance of life and school, and help from professors like Dr. Babcock all helped me get to this point — and I definitely owe Georgia Tech big time for how it has set me up for success.

Scientists have long thought that there was a direct connection between the rise in atmospheric oxygen, which started with the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago, and the rise of large, complex multicellular organisms. 

That theory, the “Oxygen Control Hypothesis,” suggests that the size of these early multicellular organisms was limited by the depth to which oxygen could diffuse into their bodies. The hypothesis makes a simple prediction that has been highly influential within both evolutionary biology and geosciences: Greater atmospheric oxygen should always increase the size to which multicellular organisms can grow. 

It’s a hypothesis that’s proven difficult to test in a lab. Yet a team of Georgia Tech researchers found a way — using directed evolution, synthetic biology, and mathematical modeling — all brought to bear on a simple multicellular lifeform called a ‘snowflake yeast’. The results? Significant new information on the correlations between oxygenation of the early Earth and the rise of large multicellular organisms — and it’s all about exactly how much O2 was available to some of our earliest multicellular ancestors. 

“The positive effect of oxygen on the evolution of multicellularity is entirely dose-dependent — our planet's first oxygenation would have strongly constrained, not promoted, the evolution of multicellular life,” explains G. Ozan Bozdag, research scientist in the School of Biological Sciences and the study’s lead author. “The positive effect of oxygen on multicellular size may only be realized when it reaches high levels.”

“Oxygen suppression of macroscopic multicellularity” is published in the May 14, 2021 edition of the journal Nature Communications. Bozdag’s co-authors on the paper include Georgia Tech researchers Will Ratcliff, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences; Chris Reinhard, associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Rozenn Pineau, Ph.D. student in the School of Biological Sciences and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences (QBioS); along with Eric Libby, assistant professor at Umea University in Sweden and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.

Directing yeast to evolve in record time 

“We show that the effect of oxygen is more complex than previously imagined. The early rise in global oxygen should in fact strongly constrain the evolution of macroscopic multicellularity, rather than selecting for larger and more complex organisms,” notes Ratcliff. 

“People have long believed that the oxygenation of Earth's surface was helpful — some going so far as to say it is a precondition — for the evolution of large, complex multicellular organisms,” he adds. “But nobody has ever tested this directly, because we haven't had a model system that is both able to undergo lots of generations of evolution quickly, and able to grow over the full range of oxygen conditions,” from anaerobic conditions up to modern levels.  

The researchers were able to do that, however, with snowflake yeast, simple multicellular organisms capable of rapid evolutionary change. By varying their growth environment, they evolved snowflake yeast for over 800 generations in the lab with selection for larger size. 

The results surprised Bozdag. “I was astonished to see that multicellular yeast doubled their size very rapidly when they could not use oxygen, while populations that evolved in the moderately oxygenated environment showed no size increase at all,” he says. “This effect is robust — even over much longer timescales.” 

Size — and oxygen levels — matter for multicellular growth 

In the team’s research, “large size easily evolved either when our yeast had no oxygen or plenty of it, but not when oxygen was present at low levels,” Ratcliff says. “We did a lot more work to show that this is actually a totally predictable and understandable outcome of the fact that oxygen, when limiting, acts as a resource — if cells can access it, they get a big metabolic benefit. When oxygen is scarce, it can't diffuse very far into organisms, so there is an evolutionary incentive for multicellular organisms to be small — allowing most of their cells access to oxygen — a constraint that is not there when oxygen simply isn't present, or when there's enough of it around to diffuse more deeply into tissues.”

Ratcliff says not only does his group’s work challenge the Oxygen Control Hypothesis, it also helps science understand why so little apparent evolutionary innovation was happening in the world of multicellular organisms in the billion years after the Great Oxygenation Event. Ratcliff explains that geologists call this period the “Boring Billion” in Earth’s history — also known as the Dullest Time in Earth's History, and Earth's Middle Ages — a period when oxygen was present in the atmosphere, but at low levels, and multicellular organisms stayed relatively small and simple.

Bozdag adds another insight into the unique nature of the study. “Previous work examined the interplay between oxygen and multicellular size mainly through the physical principles of gas diffusion,” he says. “While that reasoning is essential, we also need an inclusive consideration of principles of Darwinian evolution when studying the origin of complex multicellular life on our planet.” Finally being able to advance organisms through many generations of evolution helped the researchers accomplish just that, Bozdag adds.

This work was supported by National Science Foundation grant no. DEB-1845363 to W.C.R, NSF grant no. IOS-1656549 to W.C.R., NSF grant no. IOS-1656849 to E.L., and a Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering to W.C.R. C.T.R. and W.C.R. acknowledge funding from the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

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