Achievement

Our Algal Genomics for Environmental & Biofuels Research attracts a diverse group of IGERT and non-IGERT students who (i) hail from diverse graduate programs and pursue varied applications in bioenergy, evolution, and ecology and (ii) have varied levels of expertise in both bioinformatics and sequencing technologies. To address the challenge of this diversity, Prof. D. Bhattacharya organizes the course around a specific algal species each year, one actively being researched whose genome is not “played out”. Students learn to identify and analyze different metabolic pathways and to use a suite of genomic and phylogenetic software. Students then select different cellular pathways or functions to study, relevant to their own thesis research and interests. Strong enrollment in this year’s 2nd offering confirms sustainability beyond pilot run last year. Notably, 4 members of last year’s class are co-authors on a paper on genome of red alga P. purpureum, in press in Nature Communications