Biology Professor Awarded Second NSF Grant
In June, Principia College biology professor Dr. Chrissy McAllister (C’93) and her research colleague Dr. Toby Kellogg from the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to build on their 2015 NSF-funded research on the evolutionary history of an ecologically and economically important group of grass species.
A portion of the three-year, $850,000 grant, titled "Integration and modularity in grass diversification,” will benefit Principia College students in particular. As McAllister explains, “The grant specifically earmarks funds for involving Principia undergraduates in the collection, analysis, and presentation of samples and data, including the potential for international travel to research herbaria and botanical gardens, as well as travel to national scientific meetings to present research.” Another College faculty member, Dr. Karen Eckert (C’80), chair of the Sustainability Department and director of the Center for Sustainability, will support this NSF grant, as she did the previous one, through her nonprofit, managing the portion of grant funds that supports McAllister and her students.
McAllister is thrilled about “strengthening our ties with the plant science research community in St. Louis and beyond” and hopes this leads to other opportunities for students. “I'm looking forward to working with everyone at Principia to continue to find creative ways to support undergraduate work in research programs like this,” she comments, noting how instrumental the College’s Summer Research Assistantship program was to the success of her previous grant. “Toby and I were grateful to be able to highlight in our grant proposal the many ways in which Principia has supported undergraduate involvement in research over the past few years.”
Engaging students in this manner is not new for McAllister. During her 2015 grant, students conducted research in the lab and the field, including at Kew Gardens in England, and presented that research at regional and national scientific meetings. In addition, one student co-authored an article that was published in an international, peer-reviewed scientific journal.
This emphasis on involving students in research explains, in part, McAllister’s selection as the 2019 recipient of the College’s Horace Edwin Harper Jr. and Evelyn Wright Harper Award for Teaching Excellence. Her study abroad trips and classes are also popular, and she consistently encourages students to pursue their curiosity, reassuring them, “It’s okay to embrace the geek in yourself and to love challenging academic material.”