Education and Training

BS: Microbiology. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

Publications

Smith, J. C., Varriano, S., Roach, K., Snipes, Z., Dawson, J. L., Shealy, J., Dunn, L. L., Snyder, W. E., & Shariat, N. W. (2023). Prevalence and molecular characterization of Salmonella isolated from wild birds in fresh produce environments. Frontiers in microbiology, 14, 1272916.

Fu, Y., M’ikanatha, N. M., Lorch, J. M., Blehert, D. S., Berlowski-Zier, B., Whitehouse, C. A., Li, S., Deng, X., Smith, J. C., Shariat, N. W., Nawrocki, E. M., & Dudley, E. G. (2022). Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Isolates from Wild Birds in the United States Represent Distinct Lineages Defined by Bird Type. Applied and environmental microbiology, 88(6), e0197921.

Fu, Y., Smith, J. C., Shariat, N. W., M’ikanatha, N. M., & Dudley, E. G. (2022). Evidence for common ancestry and microevolution of passerine-adapted Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in the UK and USA. Microbial genomics, 8(2), 000775.

Presentations

Characterization of complex Salmonella populations in Southeastern watersheds (poster). Southeastern Branch – American Society of Microbiology. September 2024. Tampa, FL.
Won 3rd place for Graduate Poster Presentation

Characterization of complex Salmonella populations in Southeastern watersheds (poster). Department of Population Health Graduate Student Research Symposium. August 2024. Athens, GA.
Won 1st place for Poster Presentation

Salmonella prevalence and serovar populations in surface waters are driven by proximal land use (talk). International Association for Food Protection. July 2024. Long Beach, CA.
Developing Scientist Finalist
Recipient of Student Travel Scholarship

Complex Salmonella populations in surface water and identification of weather variables that predict Salmonella prevalence (poster). Center for Food Safety. March 2024. Atlanta, GA
Won 2nd place for Graduate Student Poster Presentation

Salmonella prevalence in wild bird feces on fresh produce is correlated to fecal moisture (poster). Southeastern Branch-American Society for Microbiology. November 2023. Auburn, AL
Won 1st place for Graduate Student Poster Presentation

Salmonella populations in surface water are dependent on neighboring land-use (talk). Southeastern Branch-American Society for Microbiology. November 2022. Savannah, GA
Won 1st place for Graduate Student Oral Presentation

Proximal Land-Use Drives Salmonella Population Dynamics in Surface Water (poster). International Wildlife Disease Conference. July 2022. Madison, WI

Do wild birds pose a risk for transmitting Salmonella and Campylobacter? (poster). Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. January 2022, Savannah, GA

Role of wild birds in pathogen transmission and food safety (talk). Southeastern Branch-American Society for Microbiology. November 2021, Virtual.

Awards

• Recipient of Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. University of Georgia Department of Microbiology. 2025.
• 3^rd place for Graduate Poster Presentation. Southeastern Branch – American Society of Microbiology. September 2024.
• 1^st place for Graduate Poster Presentations. Department of Population Health Graduate Student Research Symposium. August 2024.
• Recipient of Student Travel Scholarship. International Association for Food Protection. July 2024.
• 2nd place for Graduate Student Poster Presentations. Center for Food Safety. March 2024.
• 1st place for Graduate Student Poster Presentations. Southeastern Branch Conference – American Society of Microbiology. November 2023.
• 1st place for Graduate Student Oral Presentations. Southeastern Branch Conference – American Society of Microbiology. November 2022.
• Recipient of Graduate School Summer Research Grant. April 2022.

Teaching Experience

• TA for MIBO3510L (Advanced Microbiology Laboratory). Spring 2023.
• TA for MIBO3510L (Advanced Microbiology Laboratory). Spring 2024.