Congratulations to Dr. Travis Marsico, professor of botany and associate department chair, on his appointment by the U.S. Department of State to the 2022-23 class of Jefferson Science Fellows. This program, for which Marsico will live in Washington, D.C., is designed to enhance capacity for science, technology and engineering expertise within the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Marsico gives details in a video report.

Dr. Edward Salo, associate professor of history, is one of 14 researchers selected by New America for its Nuclear Futures Working Group, which is formed to address multiple issues regarding nuclear policy thinking and bridge conventional national security concepts within the 21st century policy environment. He also recently authored an article, for the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Association Eunomia Journal, on Russia’s heritage weaponization in its invasion of Ukraine.

On invitation from The Link Theatre Company in Jonesboro, Claire Abernathy, associate professor of theatre, collaborated with the directors to design both the theatrical costumes and the lighting for the company’s recent production, All in the Timing, by David Ives. All in the Timing, which was comprised of six short plays, enjoyed a successful run at Church Street Station in downtown Jonesboro.

Dr. Asela Wijeratne, assistant professor of bioinformatics, has received a research grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Working with colleagues from Iowa State, he and his team will examine how certain soil-borne pathogens alter microbes in the vicinity of soybean roots, and they will look for novel materials for biocontrol of phytophthora stem and root rot.

Dr. Anahita Izadyar, associate professor of chemistry, has been invited by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to conduct grant proposals for two projects, one involving sensing systems in aquatic ecosystems and the other involving ion recognition in electrochemistry. She also completed invited reviews of research articles in four different professional scholarly journals, including Journal of ChemElectroChem, Electrochemistry Communications Journal, and Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry.