Amy Cheng Vollmer ('13)

Department of Biology

Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue

Swarthmore, PA  19081-1390           

Phone: 610-328-8044

Fax: 610-328-8663    

E-mail: avollme1@swarthmore.edu

Speaker’s URL:  http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/avollme1/research/index.html

LECTURE TOPICS AND DESCRIPTIONS

The Universal Stress Protein in E. coli

(For specific information on this lecture, please contact Amy Cheng Vollmer at avollme1@swarthmore.edu)                                          

Using Bacteria as Environmental Biosensors

(For specific information on this lecture, please contact Amy Cheng Vollmer at avollme1@swarthmore.edu)   

Using Microbiology as a Vehicle for Teaching Science Literacy

(For specific information on this lecture, please contact Amy Cheng Vollmer at avollme1@swarthmore.edu)     

Preparing Microbiology Students for Diverse Career Trajectories  

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Amy Cheng Vollmer earned her B.A. in biochemistry from Rice University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  After her post-doctoral research in T-cell immunology at Stanford Medical School, she spent four years in the Biology Department at Mills College.  Since 1989, she has been a faculty member at Swarthmore College, where she teaches courses in microbiology, biotechnology, microbial pathogenesis and the immune response, and introductory biology.  She has also offered cross-disciplinary courses in bioethics and astrobiology.  Her research focuses in the area of bacterial stress response and she has mentored over 60 undergraduate students in her laboratory.  They have constructed and used bioluminescent, stress-responsive E.coli in their research, encompassing both applied and general microbiology projects.  In addition to her research publications, Vollmer is also recognized for her teaching and mentoring.  In 2006, she was the recipient of the Carski Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from the ASM’s American Academy for Microbiology.   Vollmer served as the first editor-in-chief of the ASM's peer-reviewed Microbiology Education (now called the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education).  Additionally, she has served as chair of a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship committee and vice-chair of the 2000 Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Stress Response.  Since 2007, she has served as president of the Waksman Foundation for Microbiology. 

ASM MEMBERSHIP AFFILIATION

Primary Division        I           General Microbiology

Secondary Division    W        Microbiology Education