Badger Talks
Bringing the UW to you.

Julia Nepper

Postdoctoral Trainee

Wisconsin Institute for Discovery l Microbiome Hub

Hometown: Burgaw, NC

Dr. Nepper earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina–Wilmington, where she majored in biology and chemistry. She completed her PhD in Biophysics in 2017 at UW–Madison. She worked with Prof. Doug Weibel, and her research focused on the effects of cell-membrane composition on biofilm development in the model organism E. coli. After working as a science writer at Promega Corporation, she decided to return to academia to pursue a postdoc with Prof. Jo Handelsman. She now investigates the chemical and genetic regulation of soil microbe communities, as well as perceptions of race in academic settings.

Talks:

  • Research on biofilms is only a few decades old, and there is still much left to learn. This talk addresses what we know now, then share information about some relatively recent developments on the function of the cellular envelope in biofilm formation.

  • Dr. Nepper will talk about the challenges of developing hands-on activities to explore areas like ecology and microbiology. She also describes the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and nematodes, and how we can use microfluidics to investigate this in the classroom.
  • The rhizosphere, the area on/around plant roots, harbors an incredible diversity of microorganisms. Learn about how crucial soil is for our way of life, and how the microbes that make that possible speak to each other.

Additional Resources: