Two University of Notre Dame faculty who are members of the Eck Institute for Global Health were featured on National Public Radio’s Science Friday.

Listen to Jeanne Romero-Severson, PhD, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, as she explains the important role of bacteria in seed growth and development. The EIGH supported her research, which is in collaboration with Shaun Lee, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, titled: The Role of Commensal Bacteria in Host Plant Susceptibility to Foodborne Pathogens. Funding of this two-year project helped support postdoctoral scholar Susan Pandey Joshi, PhD.

Also featured was David Lodge, PhD, Galla Professor of Biological Sciences, who is the founder and Director of Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative. He addressed the threat of invasive species to our Great Lakes as a result of globalization.  Tracking the invaders via their DNA and developing preventions is key to protecting our environment. This has a direct economic impact on all of us. Lodge is currently serving as a Jefferson Science Scholar in the United States Agency for International Development in Washington, DC.

NPR’s Science Friday traveled to Notre Dame for a live show on October 15, 2014. The auditorium in DeBartolo Performing Arts Center was packed. The October 17, 2014, broadcast can be seen and/or heard here: http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/10/17/2014/live-from-south-bend-indiana.html