- Biology Department
- Pre-Health Advisory Committee
- GIS Center
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Museum of the Earth Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
- REALISE
- Chemistry Department
- Radford University Planetarium
- Department of Physics
- Anthropological Sciences
- Geology
- Selu Observatory
- Center for Information Security
- Forensic Science Institute
- Biomedical Science
- Geospatial Science
- School of Computing and Information Sciences
- MS in Data And Information Management
Dr. Georgia A. Hammond
Professor
Office: 280 Center for the Sciences
Lab: 268 Center for the Sciences
Box 6931, Radford University
Radford, VA 24142-6939, U.S.A.
Tel:(540) 831-5146
E-mail: ghammond@radford.edu
Courses Taught:
- BIOL 334 - Microbiology
- BIOL 408 - Principles of Microbiology
- BIOL 450 - Molecular Biology
- BIOL 105 - Biology for Health Sciences
About:
Genetic Characterization of Environmental Bacteria from An Arsenic Mine
My study site is an old arsenic mine in Floyd County. Approximately, 100 years ago between 75 and 100 tons of arsenic was mined and fired in kilns there. The site erodes into a headwater stream that flows through tributaries into the Roanoke River and ultimately, into the Chesapeake Bay.
I collect sediments containing bacteria from a set of sites near the old mine and in the headwater stream and bring them back to lab to establish pure cultures of the bacteria. From the pure cultures my students and I isolate DNA with which to characterize the arsenic resistance genes for each of the cultures and RNA to look at expression of the arsenic resistance genes.
Current projects in my lab include:
- Analysis of bacterial DNA for the presence of the following arsenic resistance genes: arsC, arrAB, arsB, and aoxAB
- Analysis of gene expression for arsC when grown in arsenate-containing growth media
- Analysis of arsenate and arsenite output of bacterial cultures grown in arsenic
- Identification of bacteria isolated from sediments
If you are interested in my research, I would be happy to discuss it with you. Feel free to contact me at ghammond@radford.edu.