Curricula Vitae in UPS Natural Sciences & Eng

Name	Personal Focus	Summary
Dr. Bradley Baumgarner Associate Professor	Molecular Physiology, xenobiotic and nutrient metabolism in skeletal muscle cells	Dr. Bradley Baumgarner earned a Ph.D. from Purdue University. He teaches human anatomy and physiology and comparative animal physiology. His lab conducts research on xenobiotic and nutrient metabolism in skeletal muscle cells.
Christopher Bender Associate Professor		Dr. Bender teaches General Chemistry lectures and labs as well as Inorganic Chemistry. His interests include inorganic chemistry, materials science, and chemical education with research focused on creating nanoparticles of various morphologies.
Kim Brewitt Senior Instructor	Biology	Dr. Kim Brewitt graduated from Dartmouth College and received a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of California Santa Cruz. She primarily teaches human anatomy and physiology, but her professional interests also include fisheries ecology.
Sarah Caldwell Senior Instructor	development of new products for polyester resins and fibers	Dr. Sarah Caldwell is a graduate of Duke University, where she earned both a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina Upstate, she was employed as a research and development chemist for the polymer industry, focusing on the development of new products for polyester resins and fibers. She has been with USC Upstate since 2012, and teaches general and organic chemistry lecture and labs.
Dr. Briget C. Doyle Associate Professor	Geology	Her research and teaching interests are as follows: Engineering geology, environmental geology Geologic and human-induced hazards and their impacts to infrastructure and society
Dr. David K. Ferris Associate Professor	Red imported fire ant impacts on native wildlife, Ecological modeling (computer simulations)	Dr. David Ferris' research interests include the study of red imported fire ant impacts on native wildlife and ecological modeling (computer simulations).
Kathleen Ferris Senior Instructor	Biology	Ms. Kathleen Ferris earned a Master of Science in wildlife and fishery sciences from Texas A&M University. She has taught microbiology, introductory biology, human biology, and society and environmental science. She is the microbiology laboratory director responsible for culturing bacteria for lab courses and set-up for microbiology laboratories. She has a broad range of professional interests in biology ranging from microbiology to ecology, and the importance of scientific literacy in society.
Amandela R Harris Instructor		Ms. Amandela Harris earned a Master of Science in biomedical sciences from Liberty University. She has taught introductory biology, human physiology, anatomy and physiology and exercise physiology. She teaches and coordinates anatomy and physiology II labs.
Andrew Leonardi Senior Instructor	Physics	Instructor, Ph.D., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Dr. Leonardi teaches Astronomy, Physical Science, General Physics, and University Physics. He is the coordinator of the Pre-Engineering program.
Benjamin R. Montgomery Associate Professor	Biology	My research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of plant reproduction and plant pollinator interactions. I currently focus on the partitioning of pollinators among different species of Silene, a genus of wildflowers with a wide array of floral traits and multiple pollination syndromes. Additionally, I am interested in delayed self pollination as a mechanism that allows for cross pollination while also providing reproductive assurance.
Chad Eric Mueller Senior Instructor		Mr. Chad Mueller graduated with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara and with a Master of Science in chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He taught a mix of introductory, general and organic chemistry as a professor at Bluegrass Community & Technical College in Kentucky from 2000-2016, but also has experience teaching at the University of Colorado, Birmingham-Southern College, Maysville Community College, University of Kentucky.
Dr. Anita Nag Assistant Professor	Protein biochemistry, RNA biochemistry, Molecular virology	Dr. Anita Nag is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Natural Sciences & Engineering, University of SC Upstate.
Anselm Omoike, PhD Associate Professor	chemistry	His research interests include Analytical and Environmental Applications of Magnetic Nanomaterials Interactions of Nanoparticles with Biofilms Biotransformation of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Dr. Melissa Ann Pilgrim Professor	Natural Sciences and Engineering
Dr. Astrid Rosario Associate Professor	Synthesis and characterization of polymer composites	Her research interests include Physical and Kinetic Measurements of Crosslinked Polymer Systems, and Investigations of High Performance Polymeric Nanocomposites
Dr. Joshua Vincent Ruppel Professor	Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry	Dr. Josh Ruppel teaches organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, organic spectroscopy, and undergraduate research courses. His research interests include the development of transition metal catalyzed organic transformations, the synthesis of a new class of porphyrinoid compounds to study their interaction with proteins associated with certain types of cancer, and chemical education.
Dr. Kimberly Renee Shorter Associate Professor	Biology, Epigenetics, Neurobiology	Dr. Kim Shorter graduated from Converse College with Bachelor of Science degrees in biology and chemistry. She attended the University of South Carolina where she earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences and did postdoctoral research at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Kim teaches several courses at USC Upstate, including introductory biology I, introductory biology I lab, cell and molecular biology lab, histology, and neurobiology.
Julie Smoak Senior Instructor	reservoir shoreline restoration and enhancement	Ms. Julie Smoak earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and French from Wofford College and obtained her Master of Science in botany from Clemson University, where her research focused on reservoir shoreline restoration and enhancement.
Dr. Jonathan Storm Professor	Animal behavior, Conservation biology	His research interests include the urban ecology of small mammals and anti-predator behavior. His research on white-nose syndrome in bats has been featured on National Public Radio and his cricket anti-predator work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC Wildlife Magazine, and the Discovery Channel Canada.
Melissa Storm Senior Instructor	Biology	Ms. Melissa Storm earned her Master of Science from Indiana State University. She teaches and coordinates the laboratory for human anatomy and physiology I.
Dr. Scott Tanner Assistant Professor		Dr. Scott Tanner is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Natural Sciences & Engineering, University of SC Upstate.
Dr. Ginny Webb Professor	pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungi responsible for the most-common cause of fungal men	Dr. Ginny Webb graduated from Francis Marion University with a bachelor’s in biology and earned her Ph.D. In microbiology and immunology from the Medical University of South Carolina. She teaches microbiology and biology courses at USC Upstate. Her research focuses on the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungi responsible for the most-common cause of fungal meningitis. Her lab studies mechanisms this fungal organism uses to survive in the host to cause life-threatening infections