Jillian Walton Email & Phone Number

Knoxville, Tn, Us

Knoxville, Tn, Us

As a Gilliam Fellow, I receive funding for my graduate school education as well as DEI and mentorship training yearly through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Knoxville-Tennessee Environmental Soil and Stream Testing (K-TESST) is a citizen science program dedicated to educating Knoxville residents about soil and water quality. Through this program, we hand out free soil and water testing kits to community members, run environmental quality testing labs with middle school students in Knox County, and conduct community workshops to educate people about soil and water quality in Knoxville. See our website for more information:… Show more Knoxville-Tennessee Environmental Soil and Stream Testing (K-TESST) is a citizen science program dedicated to educating Knoxville residents about soil and water quality. Through this program, we hand out free soil and water testing kits to community members, run environmental quality testing labs with middle school students in Knox County, and conduct community workshops to educate people about soil and water quality in Knoxville. See our website for more information: https://sites.google.com/vols.utk.edu/k-tesst/home. Show less

As a graduate student at UT, I work in Dr. Alison Buchan's lab. My research focuses on marine bioremediation using bacteria. In particular, we are interested in the bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine environments. Currently, we have discovered new bacteria that possess the ability to degrade these pollutants, novel pathways used to degrade these pollutants, and the impact of co-metabolism on the degradation of these pollutants.

I worked as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Alison Buchan's lab working on a project separate from my graduate work. I studied prophage induction in marine bacteria and how stress of pollutants and toxic compounds might cause prophage induction.

As the Outreach and Engagement Chair for GSA, I planned events for graduate students to gain outreach experience and advertised outreach opportunities for students.

I taught the Introduction to Microbiology Lab course (BIO 229) at the University of Tennessee. In this role, I created lectures, wrote assignments (homework, quizzes, and exams), administered assignments, and set-up and cleaned-up each lab. I was the sole instructor for my laboratory sections.

I assisted a current graduate student in Dr. Alison Buchan's lab in a series of quorum sensing and synthetic community experiments.

As a writer for Clemson University's scientific magazine, I wrote several articles synthesizing research articles from a variety of journals. In addition, I assisted in editing other articles and assisting with the magazine layout.

I worked as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Barbara Campbell's lab. Here, I worked on two projects: host-microbe symbiosis on a species of Lucinid clam and drinking water microbiomes in sustainable buildings.

I worked Clemson's Residential Learning Department to increase undergraduate knowledge of campus sustainability resources. I conducted a campus-wide assessment on recycling knowledge and created passive programming and signage for dorms. I also worked alongside Aramark to advocate for locally grown foods in the dining halls and supported the creation of an on-campus farmer's market.

In this role, I assisted with planning, organizing, and setting up GLA's annual book sale that funds the organization. Specifically, I was involved in scanning, processing, and packaging used books for the sale as well as marketing the event through social media and in the local community.

I received an American Society for Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowship during my time at Clemson University. During this fellowship, I was able to continue my research on host-microbe symbiosis in a Lucinid clam as well as learn bioinformatics skills, such as Mothur and Qiime 2.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Microbiology, General

Microbiology, Minor In Sustainability And Biological Sciences