Eileen F. Thatcher

Professor of Biology
Ph.D. University of California (Davis), 1988
Voicemail: (707) 664-2931
Email: eileen.thatcher@sonoma.edu
Office: Darwin 211
Webpage

Research Interests:

Applied Immunology & Bacteriology.

Research Program:

Currently, the primary focus in my lab is surveying microbial populations in vernal pools. We are in the process of completing a two-year seasonal study of one vernal pool, located at SSU's Fairfield Osborn Preserve. We are just beginning to look more closely at some unusual isolates of bacteria which are found frequently in this particular pool, but which are not generally considered to be aquatic bacteria. A second project of interest is the isolation of halophilic bacteria found in salt ponds. As work progresses in both of these projects, molecular probes of representative organisms will be developed. These probes will be used for comparison surveys among different sites. Both of these project areas include undergraduate and graduate students working on various specific studies. One graduate student is currently preparing a manuscript on a comparative study of Bacillus stearothermophilus isolates from different geothermal sites in California.

In addition to studying bacteria living in unusual habitats, we are also involved in developing projects which will benefit students in future offerings of some of my courses. Currently there is opportunity to develop short projects which integrate bioinformatics into a variety of lab-based studies.

Representative Publications:

Johnson, M., E. Thatcher, and M. Cox. 1995. Antimicrobial susceptibility test for anaerobic bacteria by the disk diffusion method. Clinical Infectious Diseases 20:S334.

Johnson, M., E. Thatcher,and M. Cox. 1995. Techniques to control gram variability in obligate anaerobes. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 33:755-758.

Thatcher, E. F. 1995. The Solution is Dilution (Mathematics problems on dilution and applications in biology). In She Does Math (M. Parker, editor). Mathematical Association of America. [This is a supplemental text for junior high, senior high, and entry-level college students.]

Course Offerings:

Molecular and Cell Biology; Medical Microbiology; Virology; Immunology; General Microbiology; General Bacteriology; Introduction to Bioinformatics.