Dr. Xia Xuhua, Univeristy of Ottawa Feb. 19, 2009

Dr. Xia Xuhua, of the University of Ottawa, hosted a workshop and colloquium on Feb. 19th and 20th, respectively, at the New Mexico State University campus. Sponsored by the CREST Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, the workshop focused on phylogenetics. Dr. Xia gave an introductory lesson to software he has written to aid in phylogenetic studies. His Software Package for Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution (DAMBE) is used to demonstrate molecular sequence data and is available for free download on Dr. Xia’s webpage, dambe.bio.uottawa.ca. The workshop was the first sponsored by The CREST Center to be opened to high school and middle school teachers as well as NMSU students. Twelve local high school and middle school teachers as well as 17 NMSU students attended the workshop. Xia also gave an introductory lesson on software he has written to aid in phylogenetic studies. His Software Package for Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution (DAMBE) is used to illustrate molecular sequence data, and is available for free download on his webpage, dambe.bio.uottawa.ca. Teachers were offered a stipend to participate and students were eligible to win door prizes. One student participant and door prize winner, Erick Rosas, a computer science major, said that the workshop wasn’t too complicated and was presented in a way that those who had not studied bioinformatics could understand. Xia also hosted a colloquium during his visit to NMSU. At the colloquium, Xia had the chance to speak with NMSU faculty and some students in a more intimate setting in Science Hall Room 124. Although the colloquium was scheduled to run from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., 10 of the more than 30 participants stayed to hear Xia speak for almost two more hours. For more information on Dr. Xia and his research visit dambe.bio.uottawa.ca.