Rider University's Natalie Baggett of Frederick Receives Prestigious Microbiology Fellowship

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Natalie Baggett

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ (05/21/2010)(readMedia)-- Natalie Baggett of Frederick, Md., a junior Biology major at Rider University, recently received an American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Undergraduate Research Fellowship. In fact, Baggett is the fifth student in Dr. Kelly Bidle's lab to receive this prestigious award in the last six years.

The ASM fellowship is reserved for the nation's best and brightest rising young scientists, and comes with a generous $4,000 stipend to support research in microbiology. More than 70 undergraduate students from across the nation apply for the fellowship each year.

Bidle, an associate professor of Biology at Rider, has reviewed applications for the award in the past. From her perspective, she knows the competition her students face when they apply.

"The fellowship is prestigious because only 10 to 15 percent of applications are awarded annually," she explained. "These awards are well deserved, but I feel really fortunate that my students are able to receive these scholarships."

As a freshman, Baggett was accepted into the freshman Biology Honors program at Rider, which allowed her to begin working in Bidle's laboratory during her second semester. Baggett recently began studying how a particular protein, caspase, might trigger cell death in Archaea, the second major prokaryotic domain of life. These microbes exist in extreme environments. Preliminary research, "Tantalizing evidence for caspase-like protein expression and activity in the cellular stress response of Archaea," conducted by Bidle, Baggett and three other authors was recently published in the May 2010 issue of Environmental Microbiology.

"Further research will allow us to understand these extremophiles more. The more we understand them, the more we can comprehend what kind of impact we have on these microbes," explained Baggett, who will continue the research this summer on Rider's Lawrenceville campus.

Prior to working in Bidle's lab, Baggett gained research experience during her junior and senior years of high school. She spent her after-school hours and summers studying antiviral protein to treat FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) inside the research laboratories at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick in Maryland.

"I had always been interested in science," explained Baggett, wearing a homemade "Science is Awesome" T-shirt, which she adapted from the film, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. "My brother had the same experience at NCI four years earlier. After I expressed an interest in science, my mom suggested that I apply, so I spoke to my school guidance counselor and became involved. It was a really great experience."

In addition to her research, Baggett is a tutor in the Rider's Student Success Center, where she assists students in BIO-117 Biology of Cells. She is also a mentor in the Science Learning Community, a program where upper-classmen help freshmen who have questions regarding academics and social life.

"She's outstanding as both a student and as a researcher," Bidle said. "I was really happy when she decided to work in my lab."

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