A broad interest in biology leads Professor Collmer to learn and teach about a variety of specialties – genetics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and the ethics of the Human Genome Project. She has been involved in collaborative research with her Wells students since 1992, beginning with the examination of the interactions between a resistance gene in beans and a plant virus. She has also been working with students studying courtship and mating behavior in fruit flies and parasitic wasps, and most recently has directed students working on the annotation of genes implicated in virulence of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas Syringae. Professor Collmer is widely published and has been active in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

Education:
1970     B.S. Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia,             Biology (with Honors)
1972     M.S. Cornell University, Human Development and Family Studies
1982     Ph.D. Cornell University, Plant Pathology (plant virology)
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Select Publications:
Collmer, C.W., Perna, N.T., D’Ascenzo, M.D., and Collmer, A. (2004). “The development of new Gene Ontology (GO) terms for annotation of genes of bacterial pathogens implicated in plant pathogenesis.” Phytopathology 94:S20. Publication no. P-2004-01310AMA.

Venezio, T.A., Loero, A.M., Vawter, A.T., and Collmer, C.W. (2003). “Courtship and mating behaviors of four hybrid-inbred strains of Nasonia wasps in comparison to the two parent strains.” Abstracts of the 17th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of Utah, March 13-15, 2003: 235.

Collmer, C.W., Martson, M.F., Taylor, J.C., and Jahn, M. (2000). "The / gene of bean: a dosage-dependent allele conferring extreme resistance, hypersensitive resistance, or spreading vascular necrosis in response to the potyvirus Bean common mosaic virus." Molec. Plant-Microbe Interact. 13: 1266-1270.

Yun, J.J., Wahl, C., Vawter, A.T., and Collmer, C.W. 2005. Role of vision in mating behavior of male Nasonia vitripennis. Abstracts of the 19th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Lexington, VA, April 21-23, 2005.

Courses Taught:
Principles of Biology I: The Biology of Cells
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Introduction to Genomics and Bioinformatics
Human Genetics and DNA Technology
WILLS 102 – Genes and Ethics: Who Owns Life?
Ethics and the Human Genome Project

Last updated: 09/26/2007