Congratulations to these Klein College of Science employees with new titles and positions for 2025-26.

Biological Sciences

Ellen Wisner, teaching professor
Shankari Somayaji, associate teaching professor
Junya Tomida, associate professor
Patricjia van Oosten-Hawle, associate professor

Chemistry

Jessica White, associate teaching professor

Mathematics and Statistics

Sarah Birdsong, associate teaching professor
Duan Chen, professor
Kevin McGoff, professor
Yinghao Pan, associate professor
Arindam Roy, associate professor

Botanical Gardens

Cara Lursen, business services coordinator

UNC Charlotte students joined other citizen scientists across Georgia, Florida, Alabama and North and South Carolina to participate in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census last weekend.

The goal of the census was to capture a point-in-time data set of the number and variety of pollinators, and the flowers that attract them. The census was organized across the southeast by the University of Georgia Extension, and led in North Carolina by the NC State Extension. More than 200 events were planned across the states to conduct the count. Census takers hope the data collected will inspire others to create sustainable pollinator habitats.

The campus event was led on Aug. 22 by Carrie Wells, associate teaching professor of biological sciences. She met the students in the afternoon at the Pollinator Garden, located behind McEniry, to count the things with wings.

Wells was excited to join other events across the region to participate in the count.

“Last year, my Pollinator Club students and I participated in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census for the first time, and it was such a great experience that we decided to do it again this year,” said Wells.

Zarah Rahman Blythe and Marie Spiridon, undergraduate students majoring in biology and leaders of the Pollinator Club, helped prepare the garden for the count earlier in the week and publicize the event.

During the census, students paired off in teams and each picked an area of the garden to count the number of pollinators that visited the plants in a 15-minute window.

Sal DeAndrea, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in biology, helped the students to identify the various bugs that visited the garden, to ensure an accurate count for the census.

Wells sees the event as a way to connect with students on something meaningful, and a way to help them connect to each other.

“Because I teach online asynchronous courses, it can be hard to find new ways to connect with students outside of a screen,” said Wells. “This event, and others like it, gives us a chance to do just that — it’s an outlet to teach where the pollinators actually are and what they are doing to our campus environment.”

“I focused both my M.S. and Ph.D. research on butterflies, so I have a special place in my heart for sharing my love of pollinators with students, and a census in the garden we tend is the perfect way to do it,” said Wells. “It allows for a connection that no textbook can ever touch.”

Susan K. Michael, senior lecturer of chemistry, was selected as the University marshal for UNC Charlotte’s first-ever summer commencement ceremony, held on Saturday, August 9.

Faculty are selected for this distinguished role based on their leadership and service to the campus community, and faculty excellence in their teaching and professional achievements.

She was recognized last year with the prestigious UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence, the top honor for teaching at the University.

Michael is also an alumna of Charlotte, earning a master’s of science degree.

Michael has taught full-time at Charlotte for 27 years, educating more than 10,000 students in introductory chemistry lectures and labs.

She has also been the face of the chemistry department to new students for the past decade, attending open houses, admitted student days, new student orientations and other recruiting sessions.

Ean Bass grew up in Mooresville immersed in motorsports, deciding to pursue mechanical engineering with the encouragement of his father who spent his career as a race car engineer.

Bass took college classes at Mitchell Community College during his junior and senior years of high school, so when COVID-19 began, it was easy to continue his coursework there to finish an associate degree in engineering. Bass realized that with one additional science class he could also earn an associate of science degree, so he took Organic Chemistry I.

“I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but I did surprisingly well. I got an A, so I thought to myself that this wasn’t that hard,” said Bass. “Then I took Organic Chemistry II, and I did it immediately afterwards in the summer session. That was pretty crazy to do in five weeks, and it was probably the hardest class I have ever taken, but I survived.”

After completing both the AE and AS degrees, Bass transferred to UNC Charlotte and began taking engineering classes in the William States Lee College of Engineering. He crossed the stage in May with dual bachelor of science degrees in physics and mechanical engineering, with a motorsports concentration.

Yet, after spending his youth driving cars, he considered that he could expand his knowledge even further of the science side of motorsports, thinking of the chemistry classes he had completed and the doors it could open for him.

“I got it into my head that I might want to be a test driver as that’s what I grew up doing,” said Bass. “I realized later down the line that it would be advantageous for me to not only understand engineering and all the forces to go through the tires, but also the chemistry behind all the rubber compounds. There’s a whole separate world beyond modeling the tires — it’s making the compounds and designing the rubber. So those chemistry classes were the impetus for another degree.”

Three months later, a third degree

With the introduction of UNC Charlotte’s first-ever summer commencement ceremony, Bass found an opportunity that he hadn’t planned, and will be graduating with a third undergraduate degree a mere three months after he earned the first two. 

This August, fueled by his desire to understand not only the engineering but science portion of the sport he loves, he is adding another degree from the Klein College of Science: a bachelor of arts in chemistry with a mathematics minor.

Bass really enjoyed his courses in chemistry and the science portion of his education, crediting faculty Eric McKenzie, Jessica White and Susan Michael for significant support as he worked to finish three degrees in such a compact timeframe. When he needed to juggle his class schedule and find a way to fit in electives and the last remaining classes, Bass said they “came to the rescue.”

“They were truly awesome as teachers and when the time slots for my classes didn’t line up. I’ve really gotten to know them well and realized there is so much advising they also do behind the scenes, especially when working with three different departments in two different colleges. I reached out for help and they went above and beyond for me. My advice to another Charlotte student would be to not take three degrees in the span of two years,” said Bass, laughing.

Where Science and Motorsports meet

Bass took a lot of his engineering courses in the summer as he worked on the formula car team and filled his schedule with chemistry and physics classes in the fall and spring. He explored the overlap between motorsports and the physics and chemistry in the science of it. 

“My background is racing. But after I started chemistry classes, I saw science in the batteries, tire compounds, combustion engines and what fuel composition you need to use,” said Bass.

Bass also helped conduct research in the BATT CAVE and saw firsthand the similarities and differences in the chemistry and engineering side of how batteries work.

“When we go over heat transfer in engineering and then we go over thermodynamics in chemistry, there is overlap and they’re very similar. You’re talking about the same subject but in two different ways,” said Bass. “I saw all my work from engineering again in chemistry, and from both sides it was just described differently, so it was very beneficial for my understanding.”

Bass is looking forward to flexing this interdisciplinary approach to help him explore the next step in his path. He has applied for graduate schools and jobs across a variety of industries from tires to rockets, and is willing to go where the opportunities might take him. Wherever he lands, he will be looking for the same things he loves and found at Charlotte — the culture, the people and the work of a great team.

Although reusable water bottles usually contain less bacteria than plastic water bottles, not cleaning them regularly can lead to exposure to potentially harmful bacteria. WSOC-TV Channel 9’s Erika Jackson visited the lab of Brittany Johnson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, to test a variety of reusable water bottles for bacteria. 

Johnson swabbed the lids, straws, and insides of the bottles, and then transferred the samples onto two plates that grow two types of microorganisms. The samples were incubated for 48 hours, and then Johnson presented the results, which varied based on how recently the water bottle was used, how often the user washed their bottle, and how thoroughly they washed it. 

“As we start going through the water bottles that had been recently used or never washed, you’re going to start to see more and more colonies,” Johnson explained. “The more colonies we see, the more bacteria that was in that sample.”

The bacteria in water bottles can originate from the drinker’s own unique bacteria found in the mouth, but finding foreign bacteria is the most concerning, as it can make people sick. 

“When you’re taking your water bottle with you to other places, like you take it with you to the bathroom, then there are germs in the bathroom and bacteria in the bathroom that get on your water bottle,” Johnson said. “Then you ingest those and that can be really harmful.”

Johnson’s findings were also featured on Yahoo!News, Boston 25 News, KIRO 7 News (Seattle), and WFTV (Orlando).

Watch the full segment on WSOC-TV.

More than 130 researchers from North and South Carolina convened in the UNC Charlotte Cone University Center on Wednesday, June 11, for the inaugural Carolina Symposium on Genome Integrity and Chromatin Regulation. 

The symposium was hosted by the Department of Biological Sciences and the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Science in the Klein College of Science and highlighted the cutting-edge advances in genome integrity and chromatin regulation.

The conference was organized by Christine Richardson, chair of biological sciences and director of CBES; Shan Yan, professor of biology and associate chair for research; and Xiaojun Ren, associate professor and the Irwin Belk Distinguished Scholar of Biology.

The symposium fostered scientific exchange, collaboration, and networking among researchers at all career stages, and provided valuable learning opportunities for trainees, offering them a platform to present their work through the poster session and engage with leading experts in the field.

“We were honored to have the support of UNC Charlotte to host this successful symposium, with exceptional attendance and overwhelmingly positive feedback,” said Richardson. “The areas of genome integrity and chromatin regulation tie together the strengths of so many researchers in the Southeast, enabling us to leverage the success of this meeting toward building a bigger collaborative association between these institutions.”

Richardson and UNC Charlotte Vice Chancellor of Research John L. Daniels offered a welcome from the University.

Prominent researchers from Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University gave the keynote addresses, as well as sessions with invited speakers from Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill. Contributed speakers were selected from submissions and given by researchers from Clemson University, UNC Charlotte, NC State University, Wake Forest University, and the Medical University of South Carolina.

 Alan D. D’Andrea, M.D., gave the morning keynote titled “CHAMP1 complex directs heterochromatin assembly and promotes homology-directed DNA repair.” 

Alan D. D’Andrea, M.D., the Fuller-American Cancer Society Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University and Member of the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Medicine, delivered the morning keynote address.

Carl Wu, Ph.D., Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University and Member of the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Medicine, gave the afternoon keynote.

Carl Wu, Ph.D., delivered the afternoon keynote address titled “Shaping the dynamic chromatin landscape for gene expression at single-molecule resolution.”

“There are many research labs with research interests in the areas of genome integrity and chromatin regulation at academic and research institutions in North Carolina and South Carolina,” said Yan. “This Carolina Symposium provides opportunities for investigators and researchers including trainees to disseminate research findings and foster potential collaborations. We hope this symposium will become an annual event in the future.”

“I am excited that leading scientists have recognized UNC Charlotte as a premier hub for impactful research and training at the intersection of genome integrity and chromatin regulation,” Xiaojun said.

More than 45 researchers presented posters during the poster session, and winners were selected by a panel of 15 experts from Clemson University, Medical University of South Carolina, North Carolina State University, UNC Charlotte, UNC Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, and Winthrop University.

Poster session winners received monetary prizes, including award certificates:

First prize winner: Hana Wasserman, Duke University

Second prize winner: Zane Tolbert, Clemson University

Third prize winner: Julie Disharoon, Medical University of South Carolina

Two honorable mentions: Erin Dickert, Duke University and Adam Luthman, UNC Chapel Hill

The Klein College of Science held their annual award ceremony on Monday, May 12, in the Cone University Center.

With the recent formation of the College, the KCOS Dean’s office established awards to recognize excellence in research, teaching and mentoring, leadership and service, and community engagement. These recognitions will be awarded annually following a nomination period.

The 2025 nominations were reviewed and awarded by teams of employees from inside Klein College as well as across the University, and recognized staff; early and advanced career faculty; research and teaching faculty; and part- and full-time faculty.

The College also established a set of KNOBEL prizes (KCOS prize for NOtaBLe Achievements) based on namesake Fred Klein’s challenge to KCOS to develop a future Nobel laureate.

Klein College of Science Founding Dean Bernadette Donovan-Merkert presented the awards and prizes, along with Adam Reitzel, associate dean for research and graduate education, Banita Brown, associate dean for undergraduate student affairs, and Matthew Parrow, associate dean for academic administration.

Faculty who are retiring at the end of June were celebrated:

• Xingde Dai, professor of mathematics, was honored for 35 years of service at UNC Charlotte (not pictured).
• Adalira Saenz-Ludlow, professor of mathematics education, was honored for 30 years of service at UNC Charlotte. 

2025 Klein College Award winners

KCOS Award for Excellence in Research – Advanced Scholar

Recipient: 

Mikhail Klibanov, mathematics and statistics

Honorable Mentions:

• Shan Yan, biological sciences
• Juan Vivero-Escoto, chemistry

KCOS Award for Excellence in Research – Rising Star

Recipients (not pictured): 

• Danillo Augusto, biological sciences
• Kristen Funk, biological sciences

KCOS Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching or Mentoring

Recipient: 

M. Brittany Johnson, biological sciences

KCOS Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Recipients:

• Susan Trammell, physics and optical science
• Lauren Woods, chemistry

KCOS Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member

Recipient: 

Umesh Silwal, physics and optical science

KCOS Award for the Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research

Team Recipient: Richard Chi and Ellen Wisner, biological Sciences

KCOS Faculty Leadership Award

Recipients:

• Tonya Bates, biological sciences
• Michael Walter, chemistry

KCOS Outstanding Staff Award

Recipients:

• Lucy Chen, biological sciences
• Ed Davis, Botanical Gardens
• Quincey Hinson, mathematics and statistics

KCOS Community Engagement Award

Team Recipient:

Rosario Porras Aguilar (Physics and Optical Science) and Label-Free STEM Education Team

2025 Klein College KNOBEL Prizes

KNOBEL Prize for Research and Scholarship

• Bao-Hua Song, biological sciences
• Andrew Truman, biological sciences
• Shan Yan, biological sciences
• Jay Foley, chemistry
• Will Brian, mathematics and Statistics
• Kevin McGoff, mathematics and Statistics
• Rosario Porras-Aguilar, physics and optical science
• Susan Trammell, physics and optical science

KNOBEL Prize for Teaching

• Team: Chemistry– Kathy Asala, Eric McKenzie, Susan Michael, Jessica White
• Team: QEP Coordinators for Courses, GTAs and Preceptors– mathematics and statistics
  • Anna Athanasopoulou
  • Sarah Birdsong
  • Caylah Crosby
  • Allison Alowson
  • Ree Linker
  • Wan Othman
  • Jennifer Reed
  • Scott Wilde

KNOBEL Prize for Leadership and Service

• Morgan Carter, biological sciences
• Team: Michael Grabchak, Xingjie (Helen) Li, Kevin McGoff and REU Team

KNOBEL Prize for Community Engagement

Sarah Birdsong, mathematics and statistics

Klein College of Science researchers Pinku Mukherjee and Susan Trammell were each awarded a research and development grant from NCInnovation this week. NCInnovation is a nonprofit organization that bridges the gap between academia and industry to help advance research from North Carolina public universities from proof-of-concept to commercial investment and viability.

The grants were awarded after a multi-month review and evaluation process led by external panels of subject matter experts and overseen by the Program Committee of NCInnovation’s Board of Directors.

Jordan Poler, professor of chemistry in the Klein College of Science, received the NCInnovation grant last year and has made strides in regenerable filtration that removes PFAS and forever chemicals from water supplies.

Mukherjee, the Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research, along with team member Ru Zhou, associate research professor in biological sciences, are developing a pancreatic cancer therapeutic using a novel T-cell engager derived from a patented monoclonal antibody that was also developed at UNC Charlotte. The T-cell engager has shown significant efficacy in treating chemotherapy-resistant pancreatic cancer as the tumor-specific protein is found on 85% of solid tumors. Pancreatic cancer is particularly deadly because it is typically diagnosed only in late stages due to a lack of screening tools and the fact that it progresses without obvious symptoms.

Trammell, professor of physics and optical science, and team developed an innovative laser technology, called Light-Assisted Drying, to enable storage of vaccines and other therapeutics at room temperature. This technology, which was recently awarded U.S. Patent 11,849,722, is a promising alternative to freeze-drying for storing and stabilizing proteins. Traditional preservation methods are slow, energy-intensive and involve complicated procedures. LAD, in under three hours, uses a near-infrared laser to gently remove water from the material and encase it in a protective sugar-based coating, preserving both stability and effectiveness. It works with a wide range of biological materials and offers a practical substitute for refrigeration-dependent systems, which could eliminating the need for refrigeration during transport and storage would reduce costs by up to 80%.

Mukerjee and Trammell were among 17 awardees statewide from 12 institutions:

Read more about the NCInnovation grants for Mukherjee and Trammell.

Juan Luis Vivero-Escoto, John Taylor and Kirill Afonin from the Klein College of Science were selected to serve as University Marshals for three of the May 2025 commencement ceremonies.

Faculty are selected for this prestigious role based on their leadership and service to the campus community, and faculty excellence in their teaching and professional achievements.

University Marshals hold the mace and lead the procession of platform guests onto the stage at the start of commencement.

Juan Luis Vivero-Escoto

Juan Luis Vivero-Escoto, professor of chemistry, served as the University Marshal for the doctoral hooding ceremony on Thursday, May 8. Vivero-Escoto serves as director of the UNC Charlotte Center for Innovation, Translational Research and Applications of Nanostructured Systems, CITRANS. In 2024, Vivero-Escoto was awarded the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award, which recognizes mentorship of graduate-level students.

John Taylor

John Taylor, teaching professor of mathematics and statistics, was selected as the University Marshal for the morning ceremony on Saturday, May 10, for the Klein College of Science and College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences undergraduate commencement. 

Taylor has taught at UNC Charlotte since 2006, teaching undergraduate and graduate level classes and as a tutor in the Mathematics Learning Center. Taylor, beloved by students and known for his innovative, student-centered approach to teaching mathematics, was a finalist for the UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence in 2024.

Kirill Afonin

Kirill Afonin, professor of chemistry, served as the University Marshal for the master’s degree and graduate certificate ceremony on Saturday, May 10, for the Graduate School.

Since joining UNC Charlotte in 2015, Afonin has received numerous honors and recognitions, including 10 patents, more than 30 research highlights published about his work and dozens of oral presentations and invited talks. He was awarded the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal in 2023 and recently was recognized with the Harshini V. de Silva Gradaute Mentor Award. Afonin is internationally recognized as a leader in RNA nanotechnology, one of the most significant and rapidly evolving fields of science.

Kirill Afonin, professor of chemistry in the Klein College of Science, was named one of two recipients of the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award, presented Thursday, May 1, at the Spring Faculty Awards ceremony in the Popp Martin Student Union.

Afonin is internationally recognized as a leader in RNA nanotechnology, one of the most significant and rapidly evolving fields of science. Since joining UNC Charlotte in 2015, Afonin has received numerous honors and recognitions, including 10 patents, more than 30 research highlights published about his work and dozens of oral presentations and invited talks. One of his review articles was recognized by Web of Science for being in the top 1% of papers most cited in the field of pharmacology and toxicology.

“He is one of our University’s superstars with a phenomenal skill set, but perhaps his greatest strength is his ability to mentor students in research,” stated Thomas Schmedake, professor and chair of chemistry. “In just over eight years, Kirill has established one of the leading RNA nanotechnology labs, with over 100 publications and more than $4.7 million in external funding.”

Afonin’s students have contributed to more than 40 research papers, three educational manuscripts, 13 review articles and various other publications, including an editorial, invited commentary and research highlight, all in peer-reviewed journals. Many of his Ph.D. students graduate with more than 10 publications, with one graduating with 34 publications and a book.

“What sets Dr. Afonin apart is his genuine interest in the lives and well-being of his students,” said Weina Ke ’20 Ph.D., a scientist and CaNanoLab data curator in the Bioinformatics and Computational Science Department at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in Frederick, Maryland. “He often took the time to inquire about my health, my family and overall happiness. His support extended beyond the academic realm, creating a nurturing and inclusive atmosphere within his research group.”

“Dr. Afonin’s contribution to the education of the next generation of scientists is the epitome of outstanding mentorship,” said Marina Dobrovolskaia, laboratory director of operations and head of the immunology section for the Nanotechnology Characterization Lab in Frederick, Maryland. “His research inspires students and collaborators for whom he serves as a role model. In his lab, he has created a unique, inclusive and diverse environment, allowing the students to thrive academically, professionally and personally. Not surprisingly, his graduate students leave the lab with publications and experiences, allowing them to secure highly competitive jobs at leading research institutions.”

Afonin, who completed a doctorate in photochemistry and a graduate certificate in bioinformatics, proteomics/genomics from Bowling Green State University in a joint program with the Medical University of Ohio and the University of Toledo, also holds a Master of Science in Chemistry of Natural Compounds from Saint Petersburg State University in Russia.

The Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award honors its namesake, an exceptional teacher, brilliant scholar and researcher and devoted servant of her profession and community. The award is given annually to the faculty member whose commitment to students, research and scholarly inquiry most closely exemplifies the spirit of de Silva.

Read more about UNC Charlotte’s 2025 Spring Faculty Award recipients.