Department of Microbiology

Recognitions, November 13

Music Grad Student Wins Research Award to Have KSO Play His Compositions

Assistant Professor Andrew Sigler works with graduate student Dennis Belisle.

At 46, in the midst of a successful career as a commercial musician, music director, teacher, and performer, Dennis Belisle decided to enroll in UT’s School of Music to pursue a new dream—being a composer.

He completed a bachelor’s degree in sacred music in spring 2018 and immediately began working on his Master of Music degree in composition degree with a theory pedagogy certificate.

Belisle graduates in December, and he’s wrapping up his studies on a very high note: members of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will perform his musical compositions during a special concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 15, at the Powell Recital Hall in the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center.

Belisle received the inaugural Robert W. Pedersen Memorial Research Award to fund the performance. Pedersen, a UT alumnus, left money to the university in an endowment earmarked “for awards for outstanding performance by students and/or faculty.”

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Microbiologist Karen Lloyd Awarded $2.5M Grant for Permafrost Research

Karen Lloyd, associate professor of microbiology, has received a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy to conduct research on the effects of thawing permafrost on the environment.

Learn more at news.utk.edu.

Department of Microbiology

News

Underground Life Has a Carbon Mass Hundreds of Times Larger Than Humans’

Microorganisms living underneath the surface of the earth

Microorganisms living underneath the surface of the earth have a total carbon mass of 15 to 23 billion tons, hundreds of times more than that of humans, according to findings announced by the Deep Carbon Observatory and coauthored by UT Professor of Microbiology Karen Lloyd.

Carbon is the most prevalent element in living beings because it is part of almost all the molecules that are key for biological processes, including proteins, fats, and even DNA. Ninety percent of the earth’s carbon is in the subsurface.

“Knowing about how carbon is distributed and how living things use it is crucial for understanding not only life cycles but also our environment,” said Lloyd.

The report, which took an international multidisciplinary team 10 years to complete, also sheds light on other aspects of the incredible world of microbial dark matter.

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Department of Microbiology

News

Recognitions, March 24

Troy Lane, associate vice chancellor for public safety and chief of police, was named Director of the Year for 2016 by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators for the Southeast region.

Graduate education at UT earned high marks in the new U.S. News and World Report rankings, with programs in business, law, engineering, information sciences, nursing, and education listed among the best in the nation.
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Recognitions

2017 Class of UT-ORNL Joint Directed Research and Development Faculty Named

Ten researchers were given Joint Directed Research Development (JDRD) awards for 2017 as part of the Science Alliance—a Tennessee Center of Excellence managed by the Office of Research and Engagement. The JDRD program was conceived to provide faculty members an opportunity to work collaboratively with researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

JDRD awards are given to faculty across a wide range of disciplines and departments with the directive to collaborate with an ORNL Laboratory Directed Research Development (LDRD) project, an ORNL Seed Project, or a project that meets one of several strategic objectives. Awarded projects focus on a variety of research areas including advanced manufacturing, big data management, and climate change and adaptation.
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