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DURHAM, N.C. – Jennifer Wernegreen, associate professor of environmental and evolutionary genomics at 51����’s Nicholas School of the Environment, has been named to 51����’s Bass Society of Fellows in recognition of her excellence in research and undergraduate teaching.

As a Bass Fellow, she will be appointed the Lee Hill Snowdon Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Policy, starting July 1.

A prolific researcher, Wernegreen is widely cited for her studies on the mechanisms shaping genetic and function variation in microbes that play important roles in the natural environment. She has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles since earning her PhD in biology from Yale University in 1998.

Among the undergrad courses she teaches at the Nicholas School are ENVIRON 102, “Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Policy,” and ENVIRON 148SF, “Genomics of Host-Microbe Interactions: The Symbiotic Web.”

In online reviews of her courses, students praised the “seminar-style, team-based-learning” structure of her courses, and noted that Wernegreen “genuinely cares about students engaging and learning from the material” and is willing to meet with students out of class if they need help or want to learn more.  

Bass faculty are nominated by their peers, and then vetted by a committee charged to establish both their reputation as internationally recognized scholars and their excellence as innovative and dedicated undergraduate teachers. Only a handful of faculty are selected as Bass Fellows each year.

Faculty members with primary or secondary appointments at the Nicholas School who previously have been named Bass Fellows include Erika Weinthal, Daniel Rittschof, Lincoln Pratson, Joel Meyer, Susan Lozier, Emily Klein, Richard Forward, Emily Bernhardt, Claudia Gunsch and Heileen Hsu-Kim.

In addition to her faculty duties at the Nicholas School, Wernegreen is a member of the 51���� Center for Genomic and Computational Biology.

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