News

2026

April

• Laurie Spencer successfully defended her dissertation.
• Adam Baldocchi presented his research at the NIU CURE Symposium, DeKalb, IL.
• Adam presented on Shiga Toxin–Producing E. coli at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Richmond, VA, and the Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement at NIU
• Dr. Singh was a panelist on the NIU CITL-organized Turning Student Feedback into Teaching Improvements workshop

March

• Ph.D. candidate, Barsha Bhattarai, awarded the Ellwood and Ruth Briles Research Fund award
• Graduate students Barsha Bhattarai and Paula Luengo Carretero received an NIU Graduate School Travel Grant to present at ASMMicrobe 2026

February

Ritesh Ray defended his dissertation and started his position as Quality Engineer at Butterball Farms, MI

January

• Adam Baldocchi joined the lab as a Research Technician to work on the bison and gut-brain axis projects.
• Dr. Singh received a DeKalb County Community Edible Garden Seed Grant supporting community outreach.

2025

December

• Adam Baldocchi graduated with an Honors BS.
• Adam Baldocchi presented on Shiga Toxin–Producing E. coli in bison at NIU Honors Day, DeKalb, IL.

November

National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates student Daniela De Souza Ferreyra presented at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS), San Antonio, TX.

September

• PhD student Adam Nuccio defended his dissertation.
• Dr. Singh delivered invited talks at Northern Exposure and the Leading Boldly panel, NIU, DeKalb, IL.
• Dr. Singh chaired the IIN Sustainability and Social Innovation Research Conference, DeKalb, IL.
  • Graduate Student Ritesh Ray and Dr. Singh presented a talk at the conference
  • Lab members Barsha Bhattarai, Paula Luengo Carretero, and Adam Baldocchi presented posters on bison microbiome and AMR surveillance across Illinois.

August

• Dr. Singh was awarded the NIH funding of $553,000 for studying the gut-brain axis
• Dr. Singh was selected as a Mentor for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship.
• NIU Student Engagement Fund of $2,900 awarded to the lab to support undergraduate research on antimicrobial resistance surveillance.

July

Ph.D. student, Barsha Bhattarai, passes candidacy exam

June

• Dr. Singh spoke about AMR on the NIU STEAM podcast
• Ph.D. student, Barsha Bhattarai, was invited to give a talk on her project at the Northern Illinois University NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates 2025.

May

• Undergraduate students Aleena Kallan, Vrinda Brahmbhatt, and Luke Ademoski graduated with a B.S. with Honors.
• Undergraduate students, Whitney Vanman and Kylie Bresley, with a BS.
• Lab was featured in the second annual Huskies Trek talks.
• Dr. Singh was selected as a Mentor for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship.

April

Presidential Leadership Awards

• Aleena Kallan with Steven R. Agee II and the President's Student Service and Leadership Awards
• Vrinda Brahmbhatt with the President's Student Service and Leadership and the Senior Leadership Awards
• Dr. Singh serves as the Faculty Advisor of the Phi Sigma Honors Society, which was recognized as the outstanding Student association.

University And Departmental Awards

• Vrinda Brahmbhatt was awarded the Outstanding Capstone Award
• Dr. Singh was awarded the Outstanding Capstone Mentor and the Outstanding Faculty Advisor award
• Ph.D. student Paula Luengo Carretero was awarded the Biology Research Award ($2,500).
• Ph.D. student Ritesh Ray received the Biology Research Award ($2,500) and the Dennis Larsen Biological Sciences Award ($2,500).
• Ph.D. student Barsha Bhattarai received the Terwilliger Family Graduate Award ($1,000) and the Ellwood and Ruth Briles Research Fund award ($2850).
• All undergraduate Lab members presented their research at the NIU Phi Sigma Symposium and the CURE Symposium.
• Singh gave an invited talk to the NIU Foundation Grants Committee and at the NIU Earth Fest outreach activities on the lab's AMR and microbiome research.

January

• Singh was awarded the NIU Student Engagement Fund of $2,400 for research on bison health in the Illinois conservation herd and $2,700 awarded for undergraduate work on antimicrobial resistance detection.
• Singh was interviewed for a Northern Star article.

2024

October

• Lab members Barsha Bhattarai and Kylie Bresley presented posters at the IIN Research conference at Illinois State University, Normal, IL
• Dr. Singh delivered an invited research talk at Loyola University Chicago and at the NIU Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy.

September

Dr. Singh delivered a Notables Talk at the NIU Lifelong Learning Institute.

August

Ph.D. student, Paula Luengo Carretero, joins the lab to work on the AMR project.

June

Graduate Students Laurie Spencer and Ritesh Ray presented their work at the ASMMicrobe 2024 conference in Atlanta, GA.

May

• Lab members present at the Midwest Microbiome Symposium at Purdue University, Lafayette, IN
• Singh gave a talk on the bison microbiome
• Ritesh Ray, Barsha Bhattarai, Laurie Spencer, and Mark Figueroa presented posters
• Undergraduate Lab members Mark Figueroa, Aleena Kallan, and Whitney Vanman presented their research at the NIU Phi Sigma Symposium and the CURE Symposium.
• Mark Figueroa won the research presentation award at NIU CURE
• Undergraduate student Mark Figueroa graduated with a BS.
• Singh received the Ideas in Motion Award and funding of $12,500 and presented at Huskie Trek Talks.
• Singh was also awarded several intramural funding from CLAS, OSEEL and T-RISE to fund research on AMR and gut microbiome and train undergraduate students in close to $38, 000

April

Ph.D. student Ritesh Ray delivered a talk on his research at the Nachusa Science Symposium, Franklin Grove, IL

March

Undergraduate students Luke Ademoski and Adam Baldocchi join the lab to work on the bison pathogen project.

February

Undergraduate student, Kylie Bresley, joined the lab to work on the AMR project.

January

• Ph.D. student Barsha Bhattarai received a department grant, the Bacillus Research Excellence Fund ($7500).
• Undergraduate students, Vrinda Brahmbhatt and Kanza Arshad, join the lab to work on the bison pathogen project.

2023

December

Undergraduate students, Yousuf Khan and Liliana Banuelos, graduated with a BS Honors.

October

Ph.D. students Ritesh Ray, Barsha Bhattarai, and Gary van Breda presented research at the Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference (MMPC), Chicago, IL

June

Ph.D. student Ritesh Ray presented at ASM Microbe, Houston, TX.

May

• Undergraduate student Samantha Mallinder graduated with a B.S.
• Dr. Singh was awarded $30,000 the IIN Sustaining Illinois Seed Funding for AMR work

April

• Undergraduate students, Whitney Vanman, Aleena Kallan, Mark Figueroa, and Liliana Banuelos, join the lab to work on the AMR and bison pathogen project.
• Undergraduate students Samantha Mallinder and Yousuf Khan presented research at the NIU CURE Symposium; Yousuf Khan received 3rd place in the undergraduate poster competition.
• Lab members presented at the NIU Phi Sigma Symposium and the Nachusa Science Symposium, Franklin Grove, IL where Laurie Spencer gave a talk.

January

• Ph.D. student, Barsha Bhattarai, joins the lab to work AMR project.
• Singh received the Friends of Nachusagrant funding.
• Undergraduate students were awarded Funding for their proposals to the Spring Student Engagement Funds, NIU!
  • Yousuf Khan for his research on the detection of Clostridium​
  • Sam Mallinder for her work on Salmonella detection

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2022

December

Ph.D. candidate, Laurie Spencer, presented her work on Bison microbiome at the departmental Fusion seminar.

October

Ph.D. student Ritesh Ray presents a poster on UPEC Biofilms at MMPC in Madison, WI.

July

Paula Luengo Carretero graduated with her B.S.

June

• Lab members present at the virtual ASM Microbe conference.
  • Laurie Spencer presented a poster on enteric parasites in Bison​
  • Adam Nuccio presented a poster on gut-brain axis work.
  • Gary van Breda was unable to present his work on the accepted abstract on STEC biofilms.

May

• Undergraduate student, Halee Tyszka, was awarded the Gladys M. Gunther Scholarship for Women in Science and Research from CLAS, NIU!
• Undergraduate students were awarded Funding for their proposals to Student Engagement Funds, NIU!
  • Halee Tyszka for research work on enteric parasites during summer and fall
  • Paula Luengo Carretero for work on Salmonella detection during the summer

April

• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, passed the candidacy exam!
• Undergraduate student, Halee Tyzska presented a poster on the identification of enteric parasites in Livestock. NIU CURE symposium.
• Lab members present at the virtual Nachusa Science Symposium.
  • Dr. Singh presented a talk on Bison intestinal microbiome
  • Laurie Spencer presented a talk on the prevalence of enteric parasites​ in Bison
  • Ritesh Ray presented a poster on STEC prevalence in Bison.
• Lab members present at the Department of Biological Sciences Phi Sigma Research Symposium.
  • Laurie Spencer presented a poster on Bison enteric parasites​
  • Ritesh Ray presented a poster on STEC prevalence in Bison.

March

• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, received the NIU Outstanding Graduate student award.
• Dr. Singh received the NIU Research and Artistry funding from the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships, to continue work on Bison gut microbiome.

February

Ph.D. student, Adam Nuccio, received the Department of Biological Sciences, Elwood and Ruth Briles award for his work on gut-brain axis.

January

• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, received the Friends of Nachusa grant funding, to continue research work on Bison enteric Parasites.
• Dr. Singh received the Student Engagement Fund from NIU. These funds will support enteric parasite work by undergraduate student, Halee Tyszka.

2021

December

Dr. Singh was awarded the Department of Biological Sciences Jerrold and Carol Zar Faculty Research Excellence award.

June

• Lab members present at the ASM Microbe 2021 conference.
  • Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, presented a poster on her work on Enteric Parasites in Wild Bison
  • Ph.D. student, Adam Nuccio, presented a poster on his work on Metabolome Variation in Blood and Feces as Indicator of Social Stress in Female Prairie Voles.

May

• Undergraduate student, Chloe` Harvey, graduates. She will continue in the lab as Research Assistant.
• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, received the Department of Biological Science Dennis Larsen award.

April

• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, presented a poster on her work on Survey of Enteric Parasites in Wild Bison at the virtual Nachusa Science Symposium.
• Undergraduate students present their work at the virtual NIU CURE.
  • Chloe` Harvey, presented a poster on Metabolic Characterization of Bison Intestinal Microbial Community
  • Tina Sison, presented a poster on Molecular Detection of Direct Fed Microbial Bacillus species.

March

Dr. Singh received the Research and Artistry funding from the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships at NIU.

January

• Dr. Singh received the Friends of Nachusa grant funding.
• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, received the Friends of Nachusa grant funding.

2020

May

• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer, received the Department of Biological Sciences, Elwood and Ruth Briles award.
• Ph.D. student, Laurie Spencer's abstract on the foodborne pathogen in Bison was accepted at ASM Microbe 2020. Conference canceled due to COVID-19
• Ph.D. student, Adam Nuccio's abstract on the Effect of Social Stress On Behavior and Intestinal Microbial Communities of Female Prairie Voles was accepted at ASM Microbe 2020. Conference canceled due to COVID-19

2019

November

Undergraduate Student, Alex Hoover, presented a poster at MAC lab-NIU on Bison intestinal metabolites.

October

Dr. Singh presented a poster at Nachusa Science Symposium.

August

Undergraduate Student, Kyi Zay Min graduates.

May

Undergraduate Student, Eddie Allen graduates.

March

Undergraduate Student, Alex Hoover, received the Department of Biological Sciences August M Gorenz award.

January

Dr. Singh received the Friends of Nachusa Grant Funding.

2018

December

Undergraduate student, Bhumi Shah, received the Undergraduate Special Opportunities in Artistry and Research Program award.

August

Singh Lab opens the door!