Changing the way we think about life

About Us

Board of Directors

President/Director
Albert P. Kausch, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Rhode Island
Department Cell and Molecular Biology
530 Liberty Lane
West Kingston, RI 02852
Ph. 401.874.7121 Fax: 401.874.7124
e-mail: akausch@lifeedu.org

Dr. Albert Kausch is a Professor at the University of Rhode Island in the Department of Cell and, Molecular Biology with a research focus on molecular improvement and gene discovery in grasses and cereal crops.

After completing a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Iowa State University, Dr. Kausch accepted an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Rockefeller University in New York working in the laboratory of Dr. Tony Cashmore on early gene transfer methods to plants. He also did postdoctoral work in collaboration with Dr. Marc Van Montague’s laboratory in Ghent, Belgium, where they conducted seminal research on chloroplast protein targeting in transgenic plants that resulted in several landmark publications and four international patents. This technology is now utilized in all commercial varieties of Round-up Ready plants, which includes seventy percent of last year’s US soybean crop.

He then joined the plant molecular biology group with DeKalb Genetics Corp., at that time in association with Pfizer Inc., to work on gene transfer technologies for genetic engineering of corn. During that time, Dr. Kausch worked with a team that developed the first genetically modified corn plants. He has directed diverse research areas in agricultural biotechnology of corn, rice, alfalfa and other crop plants including: herbicide and insect resistance, drought tolerance and yield stability, nutritional improvement, gene regulation, transformation technology development, site specific recombination using FLP/FRT and Cre/lox systems (and a range of other projects). Albert Kausch has over eighteen years experience in commercial agricultural biotechnology. His broad industry experience includes: management, research, intellectual property rights and patents, licensing, regulatory affairs, marketing and public perception. He has been involved with three biotechnology start-up companies, and maintains several active research collaborations world-wide on genetic modification of crop plants.

Dr. Kausch has extensive academic experience and has taught at Mount Holyoke College, The University of New Hampshire, The University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, and the University of Rhode Island, where he currently teaches a new general undergraduate course titled “The Way We Work With Life: Issues in Biotechnology” and a two semester project-based training program titled “Modern Techniques in Plant Biotechnology”. This latter course, “Modern Techniques in Plant Biotechnology” is unique in the United States and provides each student with experimental genetic constructs to introduce and evaluate in transgenic grasses and rice. With HybriGene, Inc. and the University of Rhode Island, Dr. Kausch has also developed a paid, or for-credit, undergraduate student internship program for hands-on training in plant biotechnology. Dr. Kausch has founded a new nonprofit organization, called lifeedu.org to create and produce educational materials, workshops, and programs on biotechnology. Lifeedu has developed CDs as educational teaching tools for DNA, Genetics and Biotechnology for General Undergraduate, K-12 teachers and the General Public. He has authored or co-authored numerous research papers, book chapters and review articles and is an inventor or co-inventor on over 20 U. S. and world-wide patents in various stages of issuance in fields of molecular and agricultural biotechnology.

Dr. David M. Moss is currently holds a tenure-track faculty appointment in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education, Storrs, CT. His primary responsibilities within the nationally recognized integrated Bachelor's/Master's teacher preparation program are to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in science education, supervise field experiences of preservice teachers, facilitate university/school collaboration, and maintain an active research agenda in science education. His current research interests are in the areas of standards-based science education reform and teacher education. As both a science educator and scientist, Dr. Moss has published approximately 20 articles in the areas of environmental science and science education on such diverse topics as student understandings of the nature of science, technology and education, and regional forest health monitoring utilizing satellite capabilities.

At the University of Connecticut he currently offers courses in science methods and qualitative research methodologies, along with a series of courses which deal with various issues in science education reform. He also mentors doctoral candidates, works on several curriculum and professional development initiatives, and consults for school districts engaged in the reform process. His most recent service to the State of Connecticut Department of Education has come as a team leader responsible for the revision of the "Guide to Curriculum Development in Science" publication widely adopted throughout the state.

Associate Professor T. Page Owen received his Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside. He joined Connecticut College in 1992 and is currently the chair of the Botany Department. In addition, he directs the Keck Undergraduate Science Program, which provides students a paid summer research opportunities with faculty, coupled to an academic-year program of research. He runs the electron microscopy facility for the college and was PI on an NSF-ILI grant to install a new scanning electron microscope with x-ray microprobe to add to the existing transmission microscope. His major research interest is in structural plant cell biology, with a particular emphasis on membrane vesicle flow. Working closely with undergraduate students, his research uses developing xylem cells and carnivorous plant glands for model systems. Additionally, he maintains an active research association with the plant biotech industry, using microscopy to examine targets of biotransformation in grasses.

Marta Gómez-Chiarri joined the faculty of the Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science at the University of Rhode Island (URI) as an Assistant Professor in 1997. She is responsible for teaching courses related to biotechnology and aquatic pathology, her main areas of expertise. Dr. Gómez-Chiarri is an active participant of the Environmental Biotechnology Initiative and the Partnership for the Coastal Environment, and is involved in the creation of new curricula that emphasizes the "hands on" learning experience through engagement of undergraduate and graduate students in research projects. In collaboration with Dr. Kausch, she is currently involved in the development of a general education course entitled "Issues in Biotechnology", that was successfully taught at URI as an experimental course in 2000 and 2001. Dr. Gómez-Chiarri is also involved in the development of a teaching module in Marine Biotechnology. Her research interests include the use molecular approaches for the prevention of infectious diseases in aquaculture. Examples of ongoing research projects in her laboratory include: the elucidation of the molecular immune responses of the Eastern oyster to the parasite Perkinsus marinus; the development of antimicrobial peptide expression systems for the enhancement of disease resistance in shellfish; and the development of novel vaccines against bacterial diseases in fishes. Previous to joining URI, Dr. Gómez-Chiarri was a postdoctoral fellow at Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, where she worked in the development of DNA vaccines for fish and studied gene regulation in several aquatic species.

John Longo, Jr. recently finished his degree from the University of Rhode Island in Environmental Plant Biology with an emphasis in laboratory skills in biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology. While engaged in his studies he was invited into Dr. Joel Chandlee's lab with a summer internship awarded from the USDA-Higher Education Challenge Grants Program titled "Providing Undergraduate Experiential Learning Opportunities in Plant Biotechnology". As a team they worked with molecular trait improvements for Turfgrass and Arabidopsis thaliana. Working for the summer in Collaboration with Dr. Albert Kausch and Dr. Chandlee enabled Mr. Longo to be eligible for the Rose Environmental Biotechnology Undergraduate Student Internship Program in the fall of 2000 titled "Laboratory experiences in plant biotechnology". He is currently working as senior intern at HybriGene, LLC, and has excited interests in what lifeedu could develop for educational opportunities.

In the past Mr. Longo has owned and operated a landscape and garden company in the Watch Hill and Westerly Rhode Island area for six years. As part of the effort to finance his education, Mr. Longo had a unique opportunity to view the American culture from a waiter's point of view. He has estimated that he has served more than one hundred thousand people in his twelve-year experience. Summed together, Mr. Longo brings to lifeedu a unique view for molecular genetics education. Among other life experiences, Mr. Longo includes three years as a stage technician for Tweeter, Center for the Performing Arts, Mansfield, Massachusetts, where he was able to view behind-the-scenes productions of today's top selling musical acts. Add his own personal touch to a love of personal computing and Mr. Longo believes his efforts in lifeedu fit well in what needs to be accomplished from the multimedia points of production.

Lawrence Rothstein is Professor in the Political Science Department and Associate of the Labor Research Center, University of Rhode Island. He is presently coinvestigator on the Genethics and Employment Legislation Project funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy Human Genome Project. He is also an attorney and member of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Illinois bars. He holds a B.A. in Government, Carleton College (Northfield, MN), 1966; a J.D., University of Illinois College of Law (Champaign-Urbana), 1969; and a Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Massachusetts (Amherst), 1976. He has published on privacy, workplace rights and politics. He is a fellow of the John Hazen White, Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service. He is also a member of the R.I. Health Department Genetic Screening Advisory Board, the American Society for Law, Medicine & Ethics and the New England Region Genetics Group (NERGG) Social and Ethical Concerns Subcommittee.

Lynn Pasquerella is a Professor of Philosophy and recent Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Rhode Island. In addition, She is a Fellow in the John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service and was a professor of medical ethics for two years, from 1993-95, in the Brown University Medical School's Affinity Group Program.

Dr. Pasquerella is a magna cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College (A.B., 1980) and Brown University (Ph.D., 1985). She is a past recipient of the University of Rhode Island's Teaching Excellence Award and has Published extensively in the areas of theoretical and applied ethics, Public policy, medical ethics, and the philosophy of law.

In 1998, Professor Pasquerella was honored by Change Magazine and the American Association of Higher Education as one of forty "Young Leaders of the Academy." Her leadership includes service on several departmental, college, and university committees, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation team, membership on Day Kimball Hospital's Ethics Committee and Institutional Review Board, Membership on the advisory board for the Women's Adult Correctional Facility in Rhode Island, chair of Uri's IRB, and service as President of the Beta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Professor Pasquerella is a skilled facilitator and has conducted Numerous workshops and community conversations on ethics and public Administration, critical thinking, instructional development, Multiculturalism, and medical and legal ethics. She has received Funding at the national level through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Bar Association, and the Department of Energy.

Dr. Pasquerella lives with her husband John Kuchle, who is a biologist and photographer, and their eleven-year-old twin sons, Pierce and Spencer, in Woodstock, Connecticut.