Incoming faculty member publishes new frog-killing fungus study

Dr. Andrew Swafford will be joining the Biology Department in Fall 2024. Dr. Swafford is an evolutionary cell biologist who studies the frog-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Recently Dr. Swafford and colleagues published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describing genetic tools they developed to manipulate the genes of the Bd fungus. Up to this point such tools did not exist. These tools will allow Dr. Swafford and others to better understand how Bd infects and kills frogs. Congratulations to Dr. Swafford for this incredible publication and we are looking forward to when he joins the department in fall!