Alumni Updates: Class Years 1990-99
Archive
Below are archived updates for alumni graduating between 1990 and 1999. Visit the main Alumni Updates page for more updates received this year. Month and date update received shown in parenthesis.
James Morris '90 (BS - Biology) Recently promoted to Professor of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. Group continues to resolve how the cause of African sleeping sickness monitors its environment to make developmental decisions. (10/12)
Jim Welch '90 (BS - Biology) Hi- Thanks for the news in the Niche! It's great to hear about the department. (2/09)
David Logan '90 (BS - Biology) After working in the wood preservation field after graduation, I started a renovation and restoration company in 1997 (of buildings!). We specialize now in historic structure restoration, with a focus on historic building materials in the work. (Lime mortars, lime paint, etc.) We especially enjoy troubleshooting timber decay and moisture migration problems in historic buildings. A lot of damage occurs to old buildings with the introduction of new methods and materials, due to incompatibility and moisture changes. Best regards! (12/09)
Jefferson Lyons '96 (BS - Biology)
- 2000 MD - Eastern Virginia Medical School
- 2000-2007 - General Surgery Residency, University of Cincinnati
- 2007-2010 - Cardithoracic Surgery Residency, Emory University
- Started Private Practice with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgical Specialists at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus Ohio.
- Married to Ellen Herrick of Grand Rapids, MI in 2005 and our son Jameson was born 11/29/2010 (10/11)
Martin Ohlinger '90 (BS - Biology) After graduating from W&M, I completed my Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) at VCU/MCV and a residency in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine at Detroit Receiving Hospital. I currently teach at the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and am a clinical pharmacy specialist on the Surgical Critical Care service at the UT Medical Center. Lisa (Savage), BS Computer Science '91, and I have four girls, ages 7-15. (12/09) Jennifer Hoyt '06 (BS - Biology) After graduation in 2006, I performed prostate cancer research at Massey Cancer Institute and received my M.S. in Physiology at VCU School of Medicine in 2008. I am currently a second year medical student at VCU SOM, expecting to graduate 2012. (12/09)
James Morris '90 (BS - Biology) Currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. Folks in my lab work on nutrient sensing in the African trypanosome. (9/09)
Chris Thomson '90 (BS - Biology/Psychology) I am surrounded by William and Mary alumni as Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia. My colleagues and fellow Biology alumni include Mike Dunlop, Neil Buckley, and Laura Bauer. My niche interests include the LEAN transformation of medicine and global health; with an international group of physicians from Canada, the United States, and China, we are currently developing trauma and critical care capabilities throughout mainland China, in addition to developing assessment criteria for the standardization of hospitals throughout the world. (12/10)
Carolyn Eaton-Nowinski '92 (BS - Biology) I will be giving a lecture at the Houston Primary Care Summit in October on "The Wonderful World of Generics" (9/09)
Angie Wonsettler Ridgel '92 (BS - Biology) Since graduating from W&M, I received a M.S. degree from Villanova University and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Marshall University. After many years of post-doc training at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic, I am now an Assistant Professor in Exercise Science at Kent State University. My research interests include the benefits of exercise on motor and cognitive function in Parkinson's disease. I am so happy to be back in the university setting as a professor. I still try to emulate my biology profs at W&M when I am teaching, especially the late Dr. Coursen. I married my W&M sweetheart, Jason Ridgel ('94) in 1996. He is a family practice physician with a thriving practice and will become the director of a medical residency program in Jan. 2010. (12/09)
Woo Kim '93 (BS - Biology) Currently an Emergency Physician at Sibley Memorial Hospital in DC. Engaged to Catherine Chu to be wed 2010. (9/09)
Sally Hunsucker '93 (BS - Biology and Anthropology) After graduation, I spent several years as a lab technician at USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center before changing my research focus from botany to pharmacology. I received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 2003 from the University of North Carolina, and I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Many thanks to my professors at W&M (especially Dr. Mathes and Dr. Wiseman) for their encouragement along the way. It is wonderful to see The Niche in its new online format! (2/09)
Amy Thompson Hark '94 (BS - Biology) I am an Associate Professor of Biology and Co-director of the Biochemistry program at Muhlenberg College, a liberal arts school in Allentown, PA. I am also currently serving as the Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching at Muhlenberg. I was deeply honored to receive the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2011. (10/12)
Holly Rawson '95 (BS - Biology) After graduating W&M I moved to Baltimore for graduate school -- changing gears and receiving a MA in Communications Design and Writing. I've spent the past 15 years working primarily as a web designer, IT project manager and information architect for consulting firms large and small. We're a green family and enjoy being outdoors and learning about animals and the environment (we're crazy green). Someday I'll wrangle my garden into something even Dr. Mathes would be proud of -- we named the new baby Violet :) (9/10)
Mathew Memoli '96 (BS - Biology) Currently an Infectious Disease physician and scientist in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Living in Mclean, Va with my wife of 3 years and we are expecting our first child in December. (10/12)
Joseph Leyda '97 (MA - Biology) Joseph earned his Professional Wetland Scientist certification in January 2008 while employed as Environmental Department Head at Jones Engineers in Bellingham, WA. He was hired as Natural Resource Division Manager at Alkai Consultants in February 2008 in Silverdale, WA. Since resigning from Alkai Consultants in the June of 2008 due to the company's flagrant violations of WA state labor laws, Joseph accepted a Senior Wetland Scientist position at PBS Engineering + Environmental in Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR in August of 2008. There he became a Certified Ecologist by the Ecological Society of America, and also became a Certified Permaculture Designer. He resigned from PBS Engineering in 2010 after drafting construction documents for a 70-acre wetland creation/enhancement for the Oregon Department of Corrections.
In April of 2010, he founded Leyda Consulting, Inc. (LCI) in Vancouver, WA. His design specialty is hydrology modeling for created wetlands. He uses a modified TR-55 stormwater model specially adapted to predict monthly (rather than event-driven) water depths in depressional wetlands. He further refined that model for integrating groundwater inputs common to wetland enhancement projects that include seasonal declines in water levels, as well as integration of sloped wetlands into the model. (10/10)
Diane Owens Wallach '97 (BS - Biology) I attended New England College of Optometry, and briefly returned to Williamsburg after graduation. For 5 years, I have owned my practice, Selden Optomtery, in Norfolk, VA. My husband, Josh Wallach 1996, teaches at ODU, and we enjoy our children, Eleanor and Evan. (2/09)
Kendall Powell Odorizzi '97 (BS - Biology) In May 2011, we welcomed our second child, a boy, named Ryan Braxton. Also, this summer, I was awarded a $43,000 grant from the National Association of Science Writers to put together a guide on freelance science writing with about 35 of my closest friends. (10/11)
Kendall Powell Odorizzi '97 (BS - Biology) After graduating from W&M, I attended grad school at UC, San Diego for cell biology and UC, Santa Cruz for science communication. Since 2003, I have been a freelance science journalist writing about research news for places such as Nature, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Los Angeles Times. I live near Denver, Colorado with my husband Greg, who is a professor at the University of Colorado, and our 2-year-old daughter Sally. (12/09)
Anne Pollard '97 (BS - Biology) I am currently a Forensic Scientist Group Supervisor with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. I do nuclear DNA analysis of items of evidence in criminal cases and supervise a group of other scientists and lab assistants who do the same. (2/09)
Matthew Wright '97 (BS - Biology) After finishing four years on active duty in the Air Force, I moved to Bozeman, MT in 2008. I am currently working as a physician specializing in hospital medicine. (9/09)
Nicole Johnson '97 (BS - Biology) After graduating in May of 1997, with my Biology degree in hand, I spent the rest of 1997 at NIH working in a C. elegans lab. I then headed off to New Zealand for all of 1998 for a Rotary Scholarship to study Bioethics at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Once I was back in the US I attended a joint NIH/Johns Hopkins graduate program for Genetic Counseling. I'm now finishing up my 7th year as a Genetic Counselor for the Center for Inherited Heart Disease in the Division of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins. Student contacts welcome. (2/09)
Amanda C. Kaye '98, '01 (BS, MA - Biology) I am currently four months into a postdoc with a small biotech company in Research Triangle Park, NC. My research focus is stem cells isolated from adipose tissue that can be differentiated to other cell lineages like liver or neuronal cells. It's a big change from plant pathology (which is what my PhD research was about), but I'm learning a lot of new molecular techniques and getting industry experience. (12/09)
Elizabeth Francis '98 and '00 (BS and MA - Biology) I'm so very happy to be back at my Alma Mater, working closely with many of the people who promoted my intellectual development as a student. It's a privilege to support the Biology Department in its effort "to encourage and facilitate independent thinking and creative investigation in both the laboratory and classroom." I'm having a lot of fun planning events with the Biology Club, working with pressed plants in the Herbarium, exploring new subjects like viral ecology, overcoming problematic freezers, and remembering why I've always loved biology! (1/10)
Karen Lewis Resendes '99 (BS - Biology) Since graduating from W&M I obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Brown University and have been working the past few years as a Post-doctoral fellow in the IRACDA (Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award) Program in San Diego. This program involves both teaching, Non- Majors Biology at San Diego State University and research, I am studying nuclear transport in the lab of Dr. Douglass Forbes at UC San Diego. Beginning in the Fall of 2009, I will be working as an Assistant Professor at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. My husband, daughter and I will miss California but look forward to being back on the east coast! (2/09)
