In the News
![Cole Bordonie ’20 thanks the Baur family for their many contributions to his career path.—VMI Photo by Kelly Nye.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2021-22/BaurLab-Dedication-2021News_Headlines.jpg)
Family legacies at VMI are not uncommon, but most of them involve graduating from the Institute, passing down the family uniform, or even living in the same barracks room. The Baurs have a more direct legacy- A member of the family has taught a course on exercise physiology since 1989.
![Gabby Handford '24 and Maj. Molly Kent prepare sections of a rat brain for study under a microscope.—VMI Photo by Kelly Nye.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2020-2021/KentLab2021KN19WEB[1]-400x266.jpg)
Maj. Molly Kent’s neuroscience lab is a busy place this summer, with multiple cadets working on multiple projects split over the two summer sessions. But despite their wide-ranging projects, the cadets share a common bond: a desire to learn lab skills and grow as scientists.
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Lt. Col. Ashleigh Smythe, associate professor of biology, will discuss the migration of nematodes after the 2011 tsunami in Japan on public radio’s With Good Reason.
![Andrew Broecker, VMI Class of 2022, prepares to fly a drone while Dr. Hongbo Zhang looks on.—VMI Photo by Kelly Nye.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/SURISoybeans201917KN[2]-400x270.jpg)
An interdisciplinary project involving the biology and computer science departments could help a local soybean farmer produce higher yields.
![Mary Beth Manjerovic and Janice Friend discuss possible changes to the biology curriculum.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/ManjerovicBiology2019KN0010-1-400x266.jpg)
Maj. Mary Beth Manjerovic, assistant professor of biology, gave the cadets in her conservation biology class a new challenge: independent projects dealing with resource conservation.
![Lt. Col. Paul Moosman ’98 shows Bela Melendez ’20 and Hunter Sargent ’18 a salamander found in Pocahontas State Park April 14.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/MoosmanSwamp2018KN016-1-400x267.jpg)
Lt. Col. Paul Moosman ’98 recently led eight cadets into the swamps of Chesterfield County to look for look for species not found in the mountains.
![](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/EmilyLillyReptiles2018MLP41-1-400x267.jpg)
Lt. Col. Emily Lilly's Blue Ridge Reptile Rescue offers a safe haven for reptiles and is the only licensed nonprofit organization in the state dedicated solely to reptiles.
![Cadets examine soybeans in the lab.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/Soybeans2018AMW03-1-400x266.jpg)
Lt. Col. Anne Alerding, associate professor of biology, is working with a team of cadets in her lab and in soybean fields across the state to find a way to increase the plants’ production.
![A closeup of an eastern small-footed bat being studied and tracked by researchers](/media/content-assets/images/news/faculty-initiatives/2-Sherando-MYLE-w-transmitterB.jpg)
Lt. Col. Paul Moosman Jr. ’98, associate professor of biology, is attempting to learn more about the eastern small-footed bat to help determine if the species qualifies for endangered status.
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A summer project is organizing, stabilizing, and preserving part of the vast collection of nematodes at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.