Research Interests
Current Research
Brief Professional Biosketch
Selected Publications
What We Do

 
 
Donna L. Bedard
Research Professor
 
Ph. D. University of Chicago
B. S. Jackson College, Tufts University
Molecular Environmental Biology
Microbial Molecular Ecology
Department of Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th St.

Troy, NY 12180

 
Office: MRC 236
Phone: 518-276-2912
e-mail:bedard@rpi.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1995 Dr. Bedard won the American Chemical Society's prestigious Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. The citation on the award reads: "For her fundamental research on the aerobic and anaerobic microbial metabolism of PCBs and for her leadership in developing field bioremediation technologies for PCBs."

Brief Professional Biosketch

Career Highlights: Donna L. Bedard earned a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Chicago. She carried out postdoctoral studies in the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University, and briefly taught at Bennington College. She was employed at the GE Corporate Research and Development (CRD) from 1982 to 1999 where she was Senior Scientist and Group Leader in the Bioremediation Research Program of the Environmental Laboratory. She joined the Department of Biology at Rensselaer in September of 1999.

Fulbright Schlolar to Czech Republic: Dr. Bedard was awarded a highly competitive fellowship to teach and carry out research in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic, from September 2005 through June 2006. While there she taught upper level courses in Microbial Diversity and Environmental Biochemistry. She also initiated research on cultivation of anaerobic bacteria that dechlorinatie polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This research concentrated on bacteria enriched from PCB-contaminated sediments in the Slovak Republic.

Mini-Sabbaticals and Research Workshops:

  • Mini-sabbatical in Microbial Diversity, 1999, Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole, MA
  • Mini-sabbatical in Molecular Microbial Ecology, 2000, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
  • Workshop in Molecular Evolution, 2000, Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole, MA

Honors and Awards: While at GE Corporate Research and Development (CRD) she won three CRD technical awards between 1989 and 1992. These included the Dushman Award, CRD's most prestigious award for research teams. She was the Principal Investigator for the first successful field test of anaerobic dechlorination of PCBs. For this and other related research, in 1995 she won the American Chemical Society's Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. Other honors include her selection as a Foundation for Microbiology Lecturer (1996-1998) by the American Society for Microbiology and her appointment as Distinguished Scientist and Faculty in the United States - European Union Theoretical and Practical Course on Molecular Approaches for in situ Biodegradation held at Rutgers University in 1998.

Professional Service Highlights: Dr. Bedard served as Chair-elect and Chair of the Division of Environmental and General Applied Microbiology of the American Society for Microbiology from 1991 to 1993 and served on the Editorial Boards of Microbial Ecology (1993-1996) and Applied and Environmental Microbiology (1996-1999). She was appointed to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology in 1999 and appointed as a Project Shepherd for SERDP (Strategic Environmental Research & Development Program) in 2000.

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