Dr. Jacalyn Newman

Genetics
K. Arndt
T.-L. Ashman
G. Campbell
D. Chapman
G. Hatfull
J. Hildebrand
L. Jacobson
S. Kalisz
J. Martens
V. Oke
W. Saunders
B. Stronach
S. Tonsor
R. Wood

Microbiology
G. Hatfull
R. Hendrix
J. Lawrence
V. Oke
J. Pipas
M. Popa
I. Campbell
R.L. Duda
S. Godfrey

Molecular Biology
K. Arndt
J. Franzen
P. Grabowski
G. Hatfull
R. Hendrix
L. Jen-Jacobson
J. Martens
C. Peebles
J. Pipas
J. Rosenberg
A. Schwacha
C. Walsh

Plant Biology
T.-L. Ashman
W. Carson
S. Kalisz
V. Oke
C. Partanen
S. Tonsor
B. Traw

Science Education
A. Bledsoe
K. Curto
L. Daniels
S. Godfrey
N. Kaufmann
C. LaFave
J. Newman
E. Polinko
M. Popa
L. Roberts
T. Seiflein
R. Sherwin
A. Slinskey Legg

Structural Biology
M. Grabe
J. Hempel
R. Hendrix
L. Jen-Jacobson
J. Rosenberg
A. VanDemark

Former Faculty

Photo of Dr.
Newman

Science Education; Writing in the Biological Sciences

Lecturer

Dr. Newman received her Ph.D. in 1999 with Richard J. Frisque at the Pennsylvania State University and joined the Department in 2002.

Currently, Dr. Newman is not accepting graduate students in her laboratory. Dr. Newman is not accepting undergraduate researchers, and does sponsor students in other laboratories.

Professional Interests - Publications - Contact Information - Lab Personnel

Professional Interests of Jacalyn Newman

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."
-Chinese proverb

Although I have a strong background in molecular biology and an interest in virology, I characterize myself primarily as a teacher. I was a teaching assistant during my graduate school years at Pennylvania State University and greatly enjoyed exposing students to both the joys and frustrations that exist in a laboratory. After leaving "Happy Valley" for the Washington, D.C., area, I joined the technical services department of Life Technologies, Inc., (which later merged with Invitrogen) and spent two years troubleshooting experimental problems over the phone. I had the privilege of speaking with scientists from a wide assortment of backgrounds and experiences in molecular biology. I quickly realized that a large part of my day was being spent teaching; the main difference from a traditional course of study was that the students were in charge of setting the curriculum.

When outside circumstances led me to leave Invitrogen, I was fortunate to be granted the opportunity to return to western Pennsylvania and teach full time. Although I enjoy working at the bench, my heart lies with exposing the next generation of potential scientists to this exciting field of biology.

My goal is to help science students of all levels discover (or rediscover) all of the excitement and fascination that comes from studying the world around us. For the Foundations of Biology students, I plan to make science accessible and interesting regardless of their majors. Science impacts our daily lives. I will be satisfied if the Foundations students realize that they have the tools they need to understand the stories behind the science headlines.

For my writing students, I will aid them in their growth as critical readers of the literature and guide them towards better writing habits. A critical function of a research scientist is to convey his findings to his peers. Individuals who have left the bench need to write research proposals, company reports, or departmental newsletters. We may think of ourselves as scientists, but we cannot escape the demand for excellent writing. Since even the best writers can find ways to improve, I know that my students' experience in Writing in the Biological Sciences will make them better communicators.

Publication Archive
1 Citations
1 Abstracts
0 PDFs

Recent Publications of Jacalyn Newman

Newman, J.S., G.B. Baskin, and R.J. Frisque (1998) Identification of SV40 in brain, kidney and urine of healthy and SIV-infected rhesus monkeys. J. Neurovirol. 4:394-406

How to Contact Jacalyn Newman

US Mail
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Biological Sciences
A252 Langley Hall
4249 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone, FAX, Internet
Office : (412) 648-7654
Lab : (412) 648-7654
FAX : (412) 624-4759
Email : jsnewman@pitt.edu
Web :

This Site is maintained by the Bioscience Webmaster; this page was last modified 27 April 2008