The American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) has elected 109 new fellows in 2019. Among them are Joel Kostka and Joshua Weitz.

Kostka is a professor in the Schools of Biological Sciences and of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Weitz is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences. Both are members of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.

AAM is an honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Fellows of the AAM are elected annually through a selective, peer-review process, based on records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

The election of Kostka as AAM fellow comes shortly after another high recognition of his contributions to microbiology. In 2018, he was named Distinguished Lecturer by ASM. In this capacity, Kostka speaks at ASM branch meetings throughout the U.S. His visits provide opportunities for students and early-career research microbiologists to interact with prominent scientists.

Kostka is well-known for his research in environmental microbiology. His lab characterizes the role of microorganisms in the functioning of ecosystems, especially in the context of bioremediation and climate change. He is co-principal investigator of C-IMAGE-III. This consortium is funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to study the environmental consequences of the release of petroleum hydrocarbons on living marine resources and ecosystem health.

Weitz holds courtesy appointments in the Schools of Physics and of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also the founding director of Georgia Tech’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences, a Simons Foundation Investigator in Ocean Processes and Ecology, and author of an award-winning book on quantitative viral ecology.

"I'm grateful for the recognition and excited to continue our ongoing, collaborative efforts to understand the role of ecology and evolution in shaping microbial and viral life," Weitz says.

Weitz’s research focuses on the interactions between viruses and their microbial hosts, that is, the viral infections of microbial life. Weitz is motivated by seemingly simple questions: What happens to a microbe when it is infected by a virus? How do infections of single cells translate into population- and system-wide consequences?

AAM fellows represent all subspecialties of the microbial sciences and are involved in basic and applied research, teaching, public health, industry, or government service. They hail from all around the globe. Kostka and Weitz join fellows from France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Israel, Korea, Taiwan, and China.

By Laura Mast, Contributing Writer

A unique treat awaits fans at the Yellow Jackets’ Jan. 22 men’s basketball home game. The Georgia Tech team will battle Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish for the hoops amid element cards, games, and prizes to celebrate 2019, the International Year of the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements.  

Born 150 years ago, the periodic table is one of the most important and recognizable tools of science. To celebrate the table’s staying power, the United Nations proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.

At Georgia Tech, the College of Sciences is leading an all-year-round celebration, #IYPT2019GT. It has partnered with other units to engage students, faculty, and staff in reconnecting with the periodic table, through athletics, art, and academics.

Kicking off the celebration is “The Periodic Table at Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame” men’s basketball match on Jan. 22. Partnering with Georgia Tech Athletics, the College of Sciences will bring #IYPT2019GT to McCamish Pavilion. Fans will have a chance to play games with the periodic table and element cards featuring the Yellow Jackets basketball team and Georgia Tech researchers. Prizes await lucky winners.  

"This kick-off event for Georgia Tech's year-long celebration of the periodic table is a great opportunity to bring chemistry to the public's attention and to illustrate its relevance to all of us – scientists, sports fans, and athletes," says David Collard, the College of Sciences' interim dean.

“Georgia Tech Athletics is proud to partner with the College of Sciences to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the periodic table of elements,” Director Todd Stansbury says. “Such a collaboration is uniquely ‘Georgia Tech,’ as we offer our student-athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest level of collegiate athletics, while they receive an education at one of the nation’s leading research universities. We celebrate this combination, as it has proven to produce young people who change the world.”

Brief History of the Periodic Table
Using a set of notecards à la classic card game solitaire, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev sorted and resorted the cards, each representing one element, trying to find a pattern using the elements’ weights and properties. He cracked the code after several sleepless days.

For decades before Mendeleev, scientists had been searching for patterns in the elements. Many other arrangements had been proposed, including one cylindrical design. Mendeleev succeeded where others failed – his table correctly placed more elements than any other.

Critically, too, Mendeleev’s table left gaps for elements yet to be discovered. His table included just over 50 elements, and it wasn’t imminently clear: Were there more elements? How many?

As we now know, many more elements came to light. Thanks to those empty spaces, Mendeleev’s powerful theoretical tool predicted newcomers with startling success. His spot-on predictions of hypothetical elements’ basic properties – atomic mass, atomic number, and reactivity – guided researchers into discovering new elements.

Major changes to Mendeleev’s design occurred as more elements were discovered. For example, the discovery of the noble gases in the 1890s led to the addition of an entirely new column (also called a group). The lanthanides and actinides, those two rows (or periods) at the bottom, were placed below the existing table to retain its basic shape. The periodic table is still being updated to this day: elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 were added in November 2016.

#IYPT2019GT Activities and Events
Every week, the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry will highlight two elements in social media through videos and haikus. And every month, a student, faculty, or staff will expound on a favorite element in a short video.

The periodic table and chemical elements will be a topic in Georgia Tech’s GT 1000 and various Writing & Communication courses. Classes in the School of Music and the School of Industrial Design will use the periodic table as inspiration for projects. The 2019 Clough Art Crawl will have a special section and prizes for submissions inspired by the periodic table or chemical elements.

In February, the Frontiers in Science Lecture Series on the periodic table will commence. Lectures will explore topics from the origin of the chemical elements to the economic, societal, and geopolitical consequences of elements yet undiscovered or in scarce supply. Among the lecturers is bestselling author Sam Kean. His book “The Disappearing Spoon” reveals the periodic table as a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession.

Here is a partial list of events. Full information is available at periodictable.gatech.edu.

• January 22 The Periodic Table at Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame. Go Yellow Jackets!
• February
  • Frontiers in Science: How the Universe Made the Elements
  • Water, in Three Movements, Georgia Tech Laptop Orchestra, School of Music
• March
  • Frontiers in Science: Celebrating Silicon: Its Success, Hidden History, and Next Act
  • Periodic Table and the Chemical Elements in Clough Art Crawl
  • Periodic Table and the Chemical Elements in Atlanta Science Festival Expo
• April
  • Frontiers in Science: Mathematical Mysteries of the Periodic Table
  • Frontiers in Science: The Periodic Table: A Treasure Trove of Passion, Adventure, Betrayal, and Obsession
• June
  • Halloween in June: Periodic Table Costume Party and Variety Show
• August
  • Chemical Element Scavenger Hunt
• September
  • Frontiers in Science: The Elusive End of the Periodic Table: Why Chase It?
• October
  • Frontiers in Science: Turning Sour, Bloated, and Out of Breath: Ocean Chemistry under Global Warming
• November
  • Frontiers in Science, The Geopolitics of the Rare and Not-So-Rare Elements
  • Periodic Table Celebration Exhibit
• December 
  • Periodic Table Celebration Exhibit

Keep up with #IYPT2019GT by checking periodictable.gatech.edu periodically. Follow the College of Sciences on Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to celebrating #IYPT2019GT with you!

Born 150 years ago, the periodic table is one of the most important and recognizable tools of science. To celebrate the table’s staying power, the United Nations proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements — and Georgia Tech is joining the celebration.

Events will take place every month, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 22, at McCamish Pavilion during the men's basketball game against Notre Dame. Fans will have a chance to play games with the periodic table and element cards, win prizes, and enjoy nitrogen-frozen ice cream.

A few upcoming events are listed below — follow along for more at periodictable.gatech.edu.

• Jan. 22: The Periodic Table at Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame
• Feb. 6: Frontiers in Science: How the Universe Made the Elements in the Periodic Table
• Feb. 21: Music Meets Science Meets Laptops with the Georgia Tech Laptop Orchestra

More information is available from the College of Sciences.

Led by the College of Sciences, Georgia Tech launched its year-long celebration of 2019, the International Year of the Periodic Table (#IYPT2019), at the Jan. 22 men's basketball game against Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets prevailed over the Fighting Irish, 63-61.

College of Sciences students, faculty, and staff distributed element cards and guided fans through the periodic table dart game. Scores of fans won periodic table mug beakers and T-shirts, as well as ScienceMatters card holders and sticky note pads. ScienceMatters is the College of Sciences' podcast. It's second season returns in the spring 2019 semester.

Also featured in the Jan. 22 game was biochemistry major and track star Jeanine Williams. At half-time, a video of Williams talking about her favorite element was broadcast on the McCamish jumbotron.

Get visual highlights from the #IYPT2019 kick-off from the video on the right.

By Mallory Rosten, Communications Assistant

If you wander behind West Village, the dining hall that doubles as a community center on West campus, you’ll find twin residence halls Folk and Caldwell. They look the same as other dorms on quiet West campus, but looks can be deceiving.

Inside lives a buzzing community of young scientists and mathematicians, bonded together by curiosity and chemistry labs. In the basement, students would excitedly work together to solve a problem on the white board walls, late at night before a test. In the lounges, students might vigorously debate whether a hot dog is a sandwich, citing scientific sources and data.

These students are part of the College of Sciences’ Living Learning Community, or LLC. Formerly two separate LLCs, SHaRP (Science Health and Related Professions) and SMaRT (Science and Math Research Training), the program is now known as Explore. The staff found that the two LLCS often overlapped: pre-health students were interested in research, research students were interested in pre-health, and the students spent so much time together that there was no need for division.

By housing science and math majors together in their first year of college, Explore hopes to foster a community and create an identity around science and mathematics.

Jennifer Leavey, Explore’s faculty director, was a Tech undergrad herself. “I had no idea there even was a College of Sciences,” she says. “For such a long time the campus was so dominated by engineers, there wasn’t much of an identity for science and math majors.” Explore, she says, is for “the kids who are curious, the kids who like to wear NASA T-shirts.”

Explore hosts 280 students who want more from dorm life than the usual first-year experience. By joining Explore, science- and math-oriented students can live together, take classes together, and distract themselves from their studies together. It’s also a place of discovery where students can find the field that fits them best, which is why the new name is particularly apt.

 “To think that a 16- or 17-year-old is going to stick with the major they chose when they applied is unrealistic and a little stifling,” says Emma Blandford, Explore’s assistant director. “To see them step back a little bit and see the other things out there and explore other opportunities is a breath of fresh air.”

A Place of Discovery
When Hudson Moss began his freshman year, he was sure that he wanted to major in biochemistry. But when Moss watched Kim Cobb give a talk on her 2016 expedition to Holiday Island, he knew immediately that he wanted to work with her.

Cobb is a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “It was really cool, the way that she talked about paleoclimate and how we can approach climate changes as a community and as a country,” Moss says. His chance came when he had to interview a professor for his SMaRT GT 1000 class. He knew exactly whom to choose.

“I managed to slip in that I wanted to work for her at some point,” Moss says, and that first meeting ignited a research path that continues today. He started attending Cobb’s lab meetings.  By the end of his second semester, Moss had started working in Cobb’s lab and officially switched his major to Earth and atmospheric sciences. He still works there today and is on his way to becoming the first author of a study mapping the 19th-century climate of the equatorial Pacific.

“That initial bump that SMaRT gave me to go interview a professor, to get out there and talk to faculty – that was huge,” Moss says. It forced him to be comfortable talking to an expert like Cobb. Now, he says, he can strike a conversation with any faculty member.

Living, Learning, and Thriving
In addition to offering LLC-specific first-year seminar classes for their students, the LLC reserves chemistry labs and even English sections so that their students are connected with the community throughout the day.

When they come home from class, the students organize stress relief activities, like cookie and milk breaks and Halloween parties. Recently, 30 students went to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn about the refugee crisis through the lens of public health.

At the start of every school year, the students go on a retreat where they climb ropes, solve escape rooms, and attend panels for advice about undergraduate research.

“They can go out and go to class and do work and they can come home – it’s their own little oasis,” Blandford says, “My hope is that the community they’re developing here is not isolating them from the rest of Tech, but helping them to feel supported to go out and try new things.”

Because Moss is now a second-year student, he is no longer officially part of the LLC, but he still goes back to give talks to the students, helping them figure out their own paths. 

Alumni can also work as student assistants in the program, helping to coordinate activities, and as team leaders.

The biggest indicator of the program’s success, Blandford says, is the fact that 50% of students signed up to continue living with “smarties and sharpies” in the Eighth Street apartments across the street from Folk and Caldwell.

“They liked each other enough that they wanted to stay in this community again for another year,” Blandford says. She sees this preference as a sign that these students truly feel supported by one another.

All Together Now
“I didn’t expect everyone to come together as quickly as they did,” Bryan Gomez, a biochemistry and neuroscience major in what was formerly SHaRP, admits. “The first couple weeks, everyone was still getting to know each other, but once classes hit the ground and midterm week hit, it was like we’re all in this together.”

Gomez is still in his first year, but he started as a summer freshman. Now he works as a marketing student assistant for Explore.

He credits the LLC for the ease of his transition to college life. “They provide resources to get help when I’ve needed it and when everyone else has needed it,” he says.

Leavey wishes Explore were around when she was a Tech undergrad. “My son wants to be in the program when he goes to college,” Leavey says, laughing.

Georgia Tech scientists with expertise in microbial chemical ecology, evolution, and quantitative modeling have formed the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection. The center will investigate the mechanisms and consequences of microbial community dynamics in the environment and during infection. Researchers will study how microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions are shaped by the environment and how they affect human health and ecosystem services.

“Georgia Tech has one of the nation’s strongest collection of faculty interested in understanding how microbial communities assemble and function,” says the center’s director, Marvin Whiteley, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences. “We will focus on acute societal problems, including antibiotic resistance, the onset of infection and disease, and altered biogeochemical cycles and environmental function under global change.”

Many of the most widespread chronic health problems in the U.S. – including allergies, asthma, and obesity – have been linked to an imbalance in the body’s native microbial flora. How these imbalances affect health remain largely unknown and may be the result of complex interactions between microbes. The center aims to understand these interactions.

The growing recognition that microbial communities – or microbiomes – play key roles in human health has given rise to many microbiome research centers in the U.S. “None has a goal of manipulating communities to control functional outcomes,” says Frank Stewart, the center’s associate director and an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences. 

Whiteley and Stewart are members of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.

“Our goal is to optimize the balance of interacting species to bring about positive ecological outcomes,” Stewart says. Examples of functional outcomes are breakdown of potentially harmful waste products in natural and engineered ecosystems and production of microbial chemical cocktails that serve as an animal’s defense against disease-causing bacteria.

The center hopes to be a focal point for microbial sciences in Atlanta through collaborations with academic institutions such as Emory University, federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and private institutions such as the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. 

Center members already are collaborating with other researchers in the Atlanta area. For example, Stewart’s team has partnered with Georgia Aquarium to examine microbe-fish-health relationships. Whiteley is associate director of the Emory-Children’s Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Airways Disease Research.

The immediate goals are “to synergize microbial sciences on campus and provide a focal point for outreach to the Atlanta community,” Whiteley says. “Then we will leverage this expertise to develop a comprehensive framework for addressing microbe-driven problems facing humanity.”

The center accentuates the “tremendous momentum for microbial sciences at Georgia Tech,” Whiteley says. “The next few years will be a lot of fun.”  

You could say that Avery Skye Zickar has Georgia Tech in her genes. Her mother, two uncles, and one brother are alumni. That affinity – and knowing that academics at Georgia Tech would be top-notch – cemented her decision to attend Tech after graduating from Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs, Georgia.

Avery comes from a family that highly values education. In high school, she took Advanced Placement courses for a taste of college academics. “They prepared me well for Georgia Tech by instilling a good work ethic and minimizing procrastination,” she says.

At Hillgrove High, Avery performed with the marching band and the wind symphony. She was also a horseback rider, participating in a few competitions but mostly riding recreationally. “Looking back,” she says, “I did a decent job of balancing my commitments to school, work, family, and friends. 

Avery is graduating with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Biology. She tailored her academic program with the intent to continue her education in the medical field. Throughout her undergraduate years, she says, “the Institute made me feel right at home.”

What is the most important thing you learned at Georgia Tech?
Georgia Tech honed my ability to solve problems. Throughout my time at Tech, I’ve had to find solutions to problems with homework, exams, personal conflicts, and community-wide issues.

My problem-solving skills will serve me well when I enter the working world. I am confident in my ability to tackle whatever life throws at me, thanks to my time at Georgia Tech.

What are your proudest achievements at Georgia Tech?
I received a bid from Tau Beta Sigma, the National Honorary Band Service Sorority, during spring 2015. Through that organization, I participated in service projects to benefit the School of Music and the Atlanta community.

I served as teaching assistant (TA) for Introductory Biology and Organic Chemistry 2.

I worked as a student assistant in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences’ office for over two years.

I was elected president of the Band Club and served the Georgia Tech Band program during the 2017-18 school year.

I was one of five finalists for Ms. Georgia Tech. Selection was based on interviews, grade point average, campus leadership, service, and love for the Institute.

These achievements contributed to my happiness and success at Tech.

Which professors or classes made a big impact on you?
I took CHEM 1211 and 1212 with Dr. Kimberly Schurmeier, who was also my advisor. She pushed me to be the best I can be in chemistry, even though I came to Tech without a strong chemistry background. She played in key role in my success in chemistry and in college.

Dr. Michael Evans helped me with Organic Chemistry 1, a well-known “weed out” course in my major. Although he wasn’t my professor, he went out of his way to help me understand the material.

Dr. Shana Kerr was also influential. She taught one of my favorite classes – Introduction to Organismal Biology. She was also the professor for the section of Biological Principles for which I was a TA in fall 2016. She taught me how to be an effective teacher, and I still use those concepts today.

I enjoyed working with Dr. Cameron Tyson as part of the BEST Study Abroad Program, first as a student and then as one of his TAs. A great professor, he taught us the foundations of Organic Chemistry 2. He also gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach in France!

Finally, I recognize the two teachers I’ve had every semester since day one: Chris Moore and B.J. Diden, my band directors. They are extremely supportive of my own and other band members’ endeavors, always pushing us to perform to our highest levels.

These wonderful people made a big impact on my life, and I’m very grateful for them.

What is your most vivid memory of Georgia Tech?
The Georgia Tech versus University of Georgia (UGA) football game in 2014.

We stood in Sanford Stadium, surrounded by red and black, just three points from moving into overtime. Harrison Butker (now a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs) scored a field goal from 53 yards, tying the game and putting it into overtime.

The band players were screaming; the drum majors were scrambling for us to play the fight songs. Within minutes, the Yellow Jackets intercepted the ball from UGA, and the game ended.

The stadium fell silent, except for the sliver of Tech fans, who went wild.

We ran to the buses and got out of Athens fast. It was such an unforgettable moment. I think about that game every time I look at the score on my RAT cap.  

In what ways did your time at Georgia Tech transform your life?
I became a well-rounded individual, one more prepared to tackle life than the person I was in high school.

The “real world” seemed daunting. I thought it meant having to take care of myself without help from anyone. Tech taught me not only how to solve problems, but also that that we don’t have to solve problems alone. We can rely on loved ones, family, friends, coworkers, or peers for support.

I met incredible people on campus, many of whom I call my friends. Nothing seems insurmountable with them by my side. I hope to maintain these relationships for the rest of my life.

What unique learning activities did you undertake?
I participated in the BEST Study Abroad Program in summer 2016, taking Organic Chemistry 2, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Synthesis Lab. The program is eight weeks long, and courses are taught at CPE-Lyon University, in Lyon, France. I got a second summer abroad, when I returned to Lyon as a TA.

Between studying and gallivanting across Europe, I had many great experiences and learned a lot. The world extends beyond the U.S. borders; there are so many wonderful people, cultures, and histories to discover.

I learned about myself and what I can overcome – such as balancing the “study” with the “abroad,” navigating the Paris Métro system, or fumbling through several languages just to order lunch.

I came back stronger, wiser, and better.

What advice would you give to incoming undergraduate students at Georgia Tech?After my first year at Tech, I posted on Facebook what I felt summed up my experience:

“Say hello. Don't be afraid. Challenge yourself. Meet one professor. Find a passion. Pursue your passion. Make a friend. Define your values. Care about your appearance. Take a chance. Follow your heart. Fall in love. Lend a hand. Join an organization. Find your sphere of influence. Lift the fallen. Monitor your actions. Fail. Cry. A lot. Get mad. Get driven. Strive for your goals. Succeed. Give thanks. Relax. Breathe. Say goodnight, not goodbye.”

I think that says it all.

Where are you headed after graduation?
I will continue to work as an emergency medical technician (EMT) to accrue patient care hours in preparation for physician assistant (PA) school. Most PA schools require at least 1,000 hours. While I log those hours, I plan to get my Advanced EMT (AEMT) certification, which allows me to place intravenous (IV) lines and give other medications to patients.

I’d love to work in obstetrics and gynecology as a PA. Georgia Tech helped me complete all the courses needed for PA school. It also gave me important life skills to be a successful PA – problem solving, working in groups, and one-on-one interactions, which were instilled in me at Tech.

Sarthak Sharma hails from the small city of Meerut, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. After going to school there, he moved to the state of Assam to pursue a Bachelor of Technology degree in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. 

As an undergraduate student, and using computational approaches, Sarthak worked on the evolution of CRISPR-Cas systems. These systems form the innate immune systems in bacteria. “It was here that I learned about molecular biology and bioinformatics,” Sarthak says.

In IIT Guwahati, Sarthak joined the robotics club, participating in various intercollegiate robotics events. He also played for the institute's football club.

In his second-year at IIT Guwahati, Sarthak came across a piece of news: Georgia Tech researchers had combined biology and machine learning to seek biology-inspired – bio-inspired – solutions to various problems.

“This single article drove me to research various courses at Georgia Tech,” Sarthak says. “I found that the bioinformatics program at Georgia Tech was flexible and highly computation-oriented. It was perfect for someone like me – interested in computer science and biology. Not only was I impressed, I was inspired to join Georgia Tech.”

Sarthak started the Master of Science program in Bioinformatics in August 2017. In early 2018, he received the J. Leland Jackson Fellowship in Bioinformatics for the outstanding master’s student in the program.

For his research, Sarthak studied the nervous system of tunicates, “our closest living invertebrate relatives,” he says. His work resulted in first use of a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the gene expression profiles of neurons in tunicates.

Sarthak has been working with Alberto Stolfi, an assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences and a member of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. “Sarthak’s accomplishments speak for themselves,” Stolfi says. “He so quickly and fundamentally elevated the research in the lab in such a short time. In addition, Sarthak is a courteous, kind, and mature student. Mentoring him has been a joyous experience.”

Sarthak graduates with a Master of Science in Bioinformatics.

What is the most important thing you learned at Georgia Tech?
The most important thing I learned at Georgia Tech is management – managing multiple projects simultaneously, managing stress, managing group work, and managing time.

I was aware that Georgia Tech is a tough school. I was also certain that it would be an enriching, albeit challenging, experience.

Georgia Tech met my expectations and then some! Instructions are excellent and instructors are very approachable. They are willing to attend to your problems almost anytime. Everyone at Tech is willing to give their time to you if you are interested in learning.

What are your proudest achievements at Georgia Tech?
Within one year, I submitted a paper as first author in the peer-reviewed journal Developmental Biology, and I received the Outstanding (Master’s) Bioinformatics Student Award. I am proud of these achievements because working on publishing a paper while taking difficult courses and maintaining a GPA of 4.0 was really challenging.

Which professor(s) or class(es) made a big impact on you?
Dr. Alberto Stolfi has been my research guide and mentor ever since I came to Georgia Tech. I was the first student in his lab. He has been a perfect leader for me. He clearly stated his research goals and his expectations of me. And then he gave me utmost freedom to deliver results.

Not only has he been understanding throughout, but he has also been extremely supportive of my career choices and aspirations. If ever I hold a leadership position anywhere in life, I hope I can be half as good a leader as he has been for me.

What is your most vivid memory of Georgia Tech?
I witnessed the first snowfall of my life at Georgia Tech. I was in Dr. Stolfi's office. We were discussing some project when he abruptly pointed toward his office window. It was snowing! We quickly finished the discussion, and I left for home early.

I walked in the falling snow for more than a mile, slipping almost five times on the way. In the evening, when the entire campus was covered in snow, I got together with a few friends and made my first snowman.

It's still as clear in my memory as if it happened only yesterday. It was a special day. Although I fell ill the next day, it was all worth it!

In what ways did your time at Georgia Tech transform your life?
I have made significant contributions to various projects, developed skills that I had never even imagined, and evolved work ethics that had seemed impossible to me.

Georgia Tech drove me to push myself and get out of my comfort zone. I am a very different person today from who I was before attending Georgia Tech.

What unique learning activities did you undertake?
I took a special-problems course to do research alongside my studies. This enabled me to apply my classroom learning to real-world problems and to devise new methods and tools for answering intriguing questions.

What advice would you give to incoming graduate students at Georgia Tech?Manage your time. Otherwise, you will be in a sea of problems.

Do not take anything for granted, especially your health. At times, you'll have deadlines, exams, and presentations in a single week. Make sure you give yourself enough time and space to unwind. It’s not always be possible, but do the best you can.

Challenge yourself by taking a tough course, if you find one that interests you, without worrying about the grade. You might never get the opportunity to study those subjects again. 

Where are you headed after graduation?
I will not immediately go for a Ph.D. I’m looking for a bioinformatics software engineer position.  

Georgia Tech stresses ethical behavior in the workplace. These principles will guide me in making tough decisions. 

Georgia Tech has equipped me with a unique combination of technical and soft skills. My experience at Georgia Tech has made me capable of handling multiple projects simultaneously and work efficiently in both collaborative and independent work settings.

A new study demonstrates the physics that elephants use to feed themselves the massive quantities of leaves, fruit and roots needed to sustain their multi-ton bodies. 

A human can pick up multiple objects at once by squeezing them together with both hands and arms. An African elephant also picks up many items at once but with only one appendage—its soft, heavy trunk. How the elephant solves this challenge could provide inspiration for future robotics. 

A wild African elephant eats rapidly, consuming 190 grams of food a minute, to provide adequate fuel for its vast bulk. “Elephants are in a rush when they are eating,” said David L. Hu, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The elephant diet consists of large volumes of plant materials such as leaves, fruit and roots. To eat these, elephants sweep loose items into a pile and crush them into a manageable solid that can be picked up by the trunk. 

“They don’t just use the trunk’s strong muscles to squeeze the plants together,” said Hu. “The elephants also use the weight of the trunk, and they do that by forming a joint in the trunk. The trunk below the joint becomes a stiff pillar that applies weight to the pile of plant materials.” 

About 30 percent of the applied force is derived from the pillar’s weight alone, and about 70 percent from exerting muscular effort, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface by Hu and colleagues at Georgia Tech, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta. 

The African elephant can raise or lower the trunk joint’s height by up to 11 centimeters to increase or reduce the applied force. “When elephants need more force, the joint is higher up on the trunk,” Hu said. Elephant trunks weigh about 150 kilograms and have 40,000 muscles. “The huge number of muscles in the trunk allows the elephant great freedom for where it puts this joint.”

Hu and his colleagues studied a 34-year-old female African elephant (Loxodonta africana) over several weeks in the summer of 2017. All experiments were supervised by the staff at Zoo Atlanta. Food was arranged by hand into a pile in the center of a force plate to measure how much force the animal generated. 

The elephant’s trunk is similar to other boneless organs in nature such as the octopus’s arm and the human tongue. But unlike an octopus’s arm, an elephant’s trunk is heavy enough to provide significant force on an object without muscular pressure. This is the first study to show that an animal can use the weight of its own appendage to help apply force and the first with a live elephant to understand forces that it can apply to materials. 

Using mathematical models, the researchers found that the greater the number of objects to be squeezed and picked up, the greater the force that must be applied. 

“Picking up two objects requires very little force to press them together, while picking up 40,000 objects requires a lot of force,” Hu said. This principle was tested experimentally with the live elephant by presenting multiple food items varying in number from four to 40,000 in number. The experiments showed that the elephant could vary forces applied with its trunk by a factor of four depending on the number of food items to be picked up.

This research could have applications in robotics, where heavier machines would appear to have few advantages over smaller ones. But, in the future, heavy robotic manipulators could be designed with several adjustable joints that use the device’s own weight to provide adjustable pressure and save energy. There are currently no commercial robots designed to apply their own weight to objects, Hu noted. 

“You could have future robots with several joints, which could apply various weight pressures below joints to help compress objects together for lifting them efficiently,” said Hu. “This would allow you to use the weight of the joints themselves to provide force instead of relying on batteries and extra motors to apply these forces, and that would mean using less energy. For instance, you could have a heavy robot with four joints, and by bending the top joint, the weight below it could apply a load. If you wanted to provide less weight pressure, you could instead bend the second-from-the-top joint. This study shows that there are some advantages for robots in being big and heavy.”

African elephants like the ones in this study have two muscular extensions at the tip of their trunk resembling a pair of fingers that also could be studied as models for future robotics. It’s not well known that elephants have such projections, and this understanding could inform work that is already underway. “The elephant’s technique with these extensions might be used to develop soft robotic grippers that can pick up delicate items such as fruit without damaging them,” Hu noted.

This work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office Mechanical Sciences Division, Complex Dynamics and Systems Program, under contract W911NF-12-R-0011.

CITATION: Jianing Wu, et al., “Elephant trunks form joints to squeeze together small objects,” (Journal of the Royal Society Interface 15, 2018) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2018.0377

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Episode 7 of ScienceMatters' Season 1 stars Jennifer Leavey.  Listen to the podcast here and read the transcript here.

Jennifer Leavey is a principal academic professional in the School of Biological Science. She also serves College of Sciences as the coordinator of the  Integrated Science Curriculum and director of Georgia Tech Urban Honeybee Project.

The Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project is an interdisciplinary educational initiative to recruit and retain students in STEM careers through the study of how urban habitats affect honey bee health and how technology can be used to study bees. 

Leavey is also the faculty director of the Science and Math Research Training (SMaRT) and Scientific Health and Related Professions (SHaRP) Living Learning Communities of the College of Sciences.These communities aim to create lasting connections among College of Sciences majors who are interested in research (SMaRT) or intend to pursue additional education and training health-rleated fields. 

In Episode 7 of ScienceMatters, Leavey shares her long-lasting passion for both science and rock music. By day, she’s an academic professional; but when she straps on a guitar , she mutates to Leucine Zipper, leader of the rock band Zinc Fingers.

For a change of pace, ScienceMatters samples the band’s science-inspired songs. Leavey shares how the band uses music and other media to make science concepts fun and accessible.  

Take a listen at sciencematters.gatech.edu.

Enter to win a prize by answering the question for Episode 7: 

In episode 7, what is the name of the song that Jennifer Leavey says sounds like a love song but is actually about bacteria living together in biofilms?

Submit your entry by 11 AM on Monday, Oct. 8, at sciencematters.gatech.edu. Answer and winner will be announced shortly after the quiz closes.