I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist….Teaching might be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.
John Steinbeck
Wise teachers develop insight. They know that they do not have to go far to learn wisdom, and they know to stay close to situations in order to clarify what is going on. Individuals who become sensitive to others and learn to understand students’ motivations can be very powerful teachers. They take care to question and think about the effects of their words and actions. They are also secure enough to ask for feedback from both students and fellow teachers. They learn and grow from these responses.
Greta Nagel , Ph.D.
Current Research
Every aspect of my research involves undergraduates. Students have the opportunity to test hypotheses, learn and become proficient with standard and more complex laboratory and field skills, develop posters, and give presentations of their research both at GMC and at regional or national meetings. Students are co-authors on presentations and submitted papers. Research and state-of-the-art equipment purchases have been funded by the Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VT EPSCoR), the Vermont Genetics Network, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institutes for Health (NIH).
Human Social State Research: Reducing Anxiety of the College Life Experience
This is a new undertaking and we are asking the simple question: What interventions are most effective at reducing anxiety in college aged students? We are working directly with our Wellness Center to exam cohorts before and after a self chosen intervention (yoga, meditation, tai chi, etc.,) and using questionnaires and physiological assays to help inform our wellness initiatives on campus.
Ecologically Based Research Project: Impacts, Study and Understanding of Beech Bark Disease
The American Beech, a staple species of New England forests, can grow to 100 feet and live for 400 years. Unfortunately, Beech Bark Disease (BBD), resulting from the commensalistic relationship of the exotic and invasive parthenogenetic, woolly beech scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga Lind.) and Nectria fungi (Nectria coccinea var. faginata, Nectria galligena Bres.), has spread relentlessly throughout New England (and beyond). Fortunately, even among the most ravaged areas, certain beech trees will stand disease-free.
Stopping the spread and propagation of BBD is unrealistic, but increasing our population of resistant beech trees will ensure survival of beech in our New England forests. Explaining why certain beech trees are resistant, and identifying pathways and specific genetic and environmental players, will increase our basic understanding of this pathology and will inform other scale-fungal pathologies, and provide a context for how we should look at forests currently at the killing front as well as those lying in the aftermath of BBD progression. Forests can be repopulated with diverse, yet resistant, beech trees, “screened” for genetic resistance to BBD.
We also are home to the Champlain Valley Native Plant Nursery— right on our campus! We are involved in the restoration of elms in our bioregion. We harvest seed locally and provide 1000s of trees per year (of over 25 different species) for regional watershed restoration! Contact our Nursery Manager, Keith Roberts, robertsK@greenmtn.edu to find out more about this incredibly unique resource at GMC.
Students are highly trained in our well-equipped laboratories by our faculty and staff and can soon work independently. Olesea is isolating DNA in the lab, Robin is surveying beech trees to create a map using ArcGIS and the rest of us are working out in the field collecting beech buds, leaves, or bark— rain or shine!
Education and Training
I believe that one should never stop learning! While a professor at GMC, I also take courses in fields I had not previously studied and I realize I have many new interests. Courses I have taken at GMC (which I also can highly recommend are): ArcGIS, Conversational Spanish, Philosophy of Being Human, Stories of the Spirit, Oil Painting, Meditation, and World Religions, Pilgrimage to Ireland. We have gifted faculty in all disciplines.
National Research Science Fellow, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
Title: A Pharmacogenetic Approach to Clozapine Induced Weight Gain
Chair, The Jackson Laboratory Postdoctoral Research Retreat (2001)
Co-Chair and Mentor, Summer Student Research Program Symposium (2002)
Ph.D. Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus
Lipid metabolism, type II diabetes and obesity
Preparing Future Faculty Teaching Certification
Graduate Studies in Writing, Northeastern University
B.S. Chemistry, University of Vermont
Awards and Recognition in Teaching
Vermont Genetics Network Course Enhancement Award
Students working in the laboratory with Dr. Coe.
Excellence in Community-Based Teaching, Vermont Campus Compact (Finalist)
Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Bacaner Award for most outstanding University of Minnesota graduate student
American Association for Highent Presidenter Education K. Patricia Cross Future Leader Award
Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year, University of MN, Twin Cities (Finalist)
Courses
Dr. Coe teaches a wide variety of courses which are listed below.
Students in Disease and Disorder (BIO 1035) preparing and staining slides for microscope viewing
Microarray students take time from examining changes in gene regulation in response to oxidative stress in yeast to pose for a quick photo.
SFS 1007: Fiber Arts. After washing and carding fleeces, student enjoy the beauty of their labor!
Biology
BIO 1000 – First Year Seminar
BIO 1021 – Biodiversity
BIO 1035 – Disease and Disorders: Humans, History and Hope
BIO 2000 – Reading Seminar
BIO 2005 – Sophomore Seminar
BIO 2015 – Cell Biology
BIO 3005 – Junior Seminar
BIO 3019 – Genetics
IO 3019- Genetics of Human Behavior
BIO 3021 – Conservation Biology
BIO 4001 – Senior Seminar
BIO 4005 – Microarray
BIO 4015 – Biochemistry
BIO 4016 – Bioinformatics
BIO 4017- Proteomics
BIO 4018- Neuroscience
BIO 4053 – Research in Biology
BIO 4099 – Honors Thesis in Biology
BIO 4093 – Teaching Practicum
BIO 6050 – Conservation Genetics (MSES Program)
Occasionally we invite non-humans to visit our Genetics of Human Behavior class (BIO/PSY 3018) to help us learn more about ourselves.
Chemistry
CHE 1021 – General Chemistry I
CHE 1022 – General Chemistry II
CHE 3012- Toxicology
CHE 4015 – Biochemistry
Sustainable Liberal Arts
SLA 1000 – S.L.A.T.E. Seminar
SLA 1013 – Environmental Science
SLA 1113 Conservation Medicine
SLA 2000 – Wicked Problems, Complex Solutions
SLA 2011 – Biotechnology
SLA 4000 – A Delicate Balance (senior capstone)
Undergraduate Research Assistants
This is not an exhaustive list. I have worked with more than 50 students in my research lab over the past ten years. In some cases I have also included where they are now (post graduation). Keeping in touch with students after they graduate is also important to me and I try to update this regularly!
Thanh Nyguyen, 2015
Kristina Seitler, 2013, 2014 (RN, MS Yale University, Nursing)
Jennifer Conrad 2011 ( PhD candidate Dartmouth College, Molecular Biology)
Olesea Cojohari 2009, 2010 (PhD candidate SUNY Syracuse, Immunology)
Brenda Nsambu 2009, 2010 (RN, Norwich University)
Elisa Morales 2009 (MS, University of Illinois, Biology)
Ian Foertsch 2008 (PhD program, University of Maine, Orono)
Tibursius Sswendala (University of Albany, School of Pharmacy)
Robin Sleith 2007 (MS, Columbia, Ecology, NY Botanical Gardens, Research Associate)
Jen Hertzer 2006 (Homeschooling)
Justin Valliere 2005 (PhD candidate, University of Montana)
Honors Thesis in Biology Advisor
I generally oversee one honors thesis each year. Students that have completed honors usually decide to go directly to graduate (PhD or MD programs) the fall after graduation! The titles show the breadth of work our students carry out at Green Mountain College.
Olesea Cohojari: Genotyping of American Beech Populations Resistant or Susceptible to Beech Bark Disease
Robin Sleith : A Spatially Explicit Study of Environmental Influence on Beech Bark Disease
Gerald Audet,:Exercise Perceptions: An Evaluation of Undergraduate Awareness of Personal Health and Fitness
Kaitlin Petros: Comparison of Oxidative Stress Response for Different Strains of S. pombe vs. Different Microarray Techniques
Jennefer Hertzer: Self-Efficacy in the Science Laboratory
In addition to presenting at regional and national conferences, they can participate right at Green Mountain College at our annual Science Research Symposium that is open to the entire community.
Selected Presentations
Kristina Seitler, and Natalie Coe. Developing Primers for Quantitative Analysis of Gene Expression in Fagus grandifolia, T. Northeast Natural History Conference, April 18-20, 2015 Springfield, MA
Shirley Oskamp and Natalie Coe.(Workshop) Telling Our Stories, Better Together: Mentoring for Success, Vermont Women in Higher Education Conference, March 27, 2015 Killington, VT
Invited Panelist for Women’s History Month, Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment, “Women at Work: Stories of Courage and Inspiration” Jeffords Auditorium, March, 17, 2014
Natalie Coe, Brenda Nsambu, Gwendolyn Cramer, Olesea Cojohari. Beech Bark Disease: Genetic Mechanisms of Markers for Management, Society of American Foresters, Spokane, WA, October 24-28, 2012
Natalie Coe and Janet Murray, Mirroring Our Blind Spots: The Essential Roles of Mentorship and Collaboration in Higher Education, 2011 Vermont Women in Higher Education Conference, Killington, VT
Natalie Coe. Balancing: Not Just An Act (workshop). 2010 Vermont Women in Higher Education Conference, Fairlee, VT
Robin Sleith, Jonathan Roush, Brendan Beaudoin and Natalie Coe. Beech Bark Disease in the Green Mountain National Forest: Survey, Analyses, and Implications. New England Society of American Foresters, Cycles in Forestry, March 20-23, 2007
Natalie Coe, Robin Sleith, Jennifer Herzer, Justin Valliere, John Gallagher, and Adam Adirisio. Beech Bark Disease: Nature and Nurture in the New England Forest. Ecological Society of America, Memphis, TN August 6-11, 2006
Recent Pedagogical Conferences Attended
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Transforming STEM Education: Inquiry, Innovation, Inclusion, and Evidence
Network for Academic Renewal Conference
October 31 – November 2, 2013
San Diego, California
Biomedical Careers Student Conference in Boston, Harvard Medical School, February 26-27, 2010
Brenda Nsambu and Elisa Morales attended the conference with Dr. Coe
Selected Publications
In addition to her scholarly publications, Professor Coe reviews regularly for Oxford and other academic presses in the fields of biochemistry and bioinformatics.
Kristina Seitler and Natalie Coe. cDNA primers for quantitative analysis of protective compounds implicated in beech bark disease resistance in American beech, Fagus grandifolia. Conservation Genetics Resources (accepted July 6, 2015)
Invited Book Review, World History Connected, Volume 11, No 1, Feb 2014
http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/11.1/br_coe.html Susan Kingsley Kent. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919, A Brief History with Documents, Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2013. Pp vii+ 125 (paper).
Natalie Coe. In Nature and Culture in the New England Forest: Region, Heritage, a
nd the Environment in the Rural Northeast (Editor, Pavel Cenkl), “Life As Beech, Survival in the New England Forest,” University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 2010
Natalie Coe. The Genetics of Beech Bark Disease: Looking Small to Answer Big Questions. New England Society of American Foresters, News Quarterly, Volume 68, No. 2, p. 8-11 (2007).
Ribarik Coe, N. and Jürgen Naggert, Genetics of Obesity, Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
Curriculum and Research Grants
2015 NIH INBRE Vermont Genetics Network Renewal, Ackley Laboratory Research Space Renovations, $125K subaward
2015 AmeriCorps VISTA Native Plant Nursery (two additional awards 2013 and 2014)
2015 Undergraduate Research Assistant Award, Green Mountain College (stipends for students; 1 student/year since 2009)
2013 (not awarded, will be resubmitted)American Association of Colleges and Universities, Bringing Theory to Practice Engaged Learning, Civic Engagement and Development, and the Psychosocial Well-Being of College Students, A Culture of Mindfulness: Practice and Pilgrimage to Promote Psychological Flourishing, $10,000 (co-PI Shirley Oskamp)
2013 NSF EPS-1107945 Improving Connectivity Between the University of Vermont and Vermont State Colleges for STEM Research and Education. $10,400 sub-award
2008 National Science Foundation, Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement,
The Lost Practice of Science: Restructuring to Recapture the Essence of Scientific Inquiry in the Undergraduate Classroom, $122,902 (not awarded, with PI Meriel Brooks)
2006 Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Microarray
Pilot Study ($10,000)
2006 Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Proteomics
Equipment Grant ($26,000)
2005 Vermont Genetics Network (UVM Outreach) Microarray Course ($12,000 equipment/supplies)
2005 Vermont Campus Compact Partnership Grant, Science Advancement Program, $4000
2004 National Science Foundation, Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement,
Problem-based Learning through Coordinated Laboratory Experiences in Biochemistry
and Evolution, $48,254
2004-6 Faculty Service Learning Initiative, Green Mountain College, $400
2003 Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to study
genetic disease resistance among American Beech trees, $10,000
2000 A Pharmacogenetioc Approach to Clozapine Induced Weight Gain, Natioal Research Science Award, NIH, $85K
To all my past, current and future students at Green Mountain College.
Starting off the fall semester with a view from the top of Killington fully energized for the coming semester! Please feel free to contact me with any questions about our Biology program!
by John O’Donohue
May your work excite your heart,
Kindle in your mind a creativity
To journey the old limits
Of all that has become wearisome
May this work challenge you toward
New frontiers that will emerge
As you begin to approach them,
Calling forth from you the full force
And depth of you undiscovered gifts.
May the work fit the rhythms of your soul,
Enabling you to draw from the invisible
New ideas and a vision that will inspire.
Remember to be kind
To those who work for you,
Endeavor to remain aware
Of the quiet world
That lives behind each face.
The hard work does pay off!
Be fair in your expectations,
Compassionate in your criticism.
May you have the grace of encouragement
To awaken the gift in the other’s heart,
Building in them the confidence
To follow the call of the gift.
May you come to know that work
Which emerges from the mind of love
Will have beauty and form.
May this new work be worthy
Of the energy of your heart
And the light of your thought.
Pilgrimage to Ireland with GMC Chaplain, Shirley Oskamp and eleven students.
May your work assume
A proper space in your life;
Instead of owning or using you,
May it challenge and refine you,
Bringing you every day further
Into the wonder of your heart.
Green Mountain College