Dr. Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann, professor of biology, earned her B.A. in biology at Berea College and her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Medical Microbiology and Immunology. She furthered her studies through post-doctoral training in gene expression at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences at the University of Kentucky before taking a faculty position at MTSU. Dr Seipelt-Thiemann teaches general genetics, human genetics, and bioinformatics while pursuing research in molecular biology and in genetics education. Her basic science research interests focus on using next generation sequencing data (RNA-seq) to inventigate alternative mRNA splicing in various eukaryotic species. Her education research interests focus on identifying misconceptions, developing assessment tools (concept inventories), and constructing hands-on model analogies for undergraduate genetics.

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• Seipelt-Thiemann RL. 2024. Cryptococcus neoformans Transcriptome Analysis to Identify Differentially Expressed Genes Using the STAR Pipeline in CyVerse Discovery Environment. Methods Mol Biol. 2775:109-126. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3722-7_8. PMID: 38758314.
• Subramani A, Hite MEL, Garcia S, Maxwell J, Kondee H, Millican GE, McClelland EE, Seipelt-Thiemann RL, Nelson DE. Regulation of macrophage IFNγ-stimulated gene expression by the transcriptional coregulator CITED1. J Cell Sci. 2023 Jan 1;136(1):jcs260529. doi: 10.1242/jcs.260529. Epub 2022 Jan 3. PMID: 36594555.  
• Wasendorf C, Reid JW, Seipelt-Thiemann R, Grimes ZT, Couch B, Peters NT, Massimelli Sewall J, McCombs A, Armstrong PI, Boury N. 2022. The development and validations of the Mutation Criterion Referenced Assessment (MuCRA). Journal of Biological Education. doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2022.2100451 .  
• Grimes ZT, Boury NM, Wasendorf C, McCombs AL, Reid JW, James O, Couch B, Armstrong PI, Seipelt-Thiemann R. 2022. An Assessment to Investigate Student Conceptions of Pedigree Analysis.  American Biology Teacher. 84(9):535-544 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2022.84.9.535..   Boury N, Alvarez KS, Costas AG, Knapp GS, Seipelt-Thiemann RL. Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Creation of a Digital Internship to Develop Scientific Thinking Skills and Create Science Literacy Exercises for Use in Remote Classrooms. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2021;22(1). doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2433. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 33884056; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8011875.  
• Merryman M, Crigler J, Seipelt-Thiemann R, McClelland E. A mutation in C. neoformans mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase results in increased virulence in mice. Virulence. 2020 Dec;11(1):1366-1378. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2020.1831332. PubMed PMID: 33103620; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7588220.  
• Ali MF, Tansie SM, Shahan JR, Seipelt-Thiemann RL, McClelland EE. Serial Passage of Cryptococcus neoformans in Galleria mellonella Results in Increased Capsule and Intracellular Replication in Hemocytes, but Not Increased Resistance to Hydrogen Peroxide. Pathogens. 2020 Sep 5;9(9). doi: 10.3390/pathogens9090732. PubMed PMID: 32899539; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7559301.  
• Subramani A, Griggs P, Frantzen N, Mendez J, Tucker J, Murriel J, Millican GE, McClelland EE, Seipelt-Thiemann RL, Nelson DE. Intracellular Cryptococcus neoformans disrupts the transcriptome profile of M1- and M2-polarized host macrophages. PLoS One. 2020;15(8):e0233818. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233818. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 32857777; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7454990.
• Stefanski K, Gardner GE, and Seipelt-Thiemann, RL. (2016) Development of a Lac Operon Gene Regulation Concept Inventory (LOCI). CBE-Life Sciences 15:1-11.
• Rajaraman E, Agarwal A, Crigler J, Seipelt-Thiemann R, Altman E, Eiteman MA. 2016. Transcriptional analysis and adaptive evolution of Escherichia coli strains growing on acetate. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 100:7777-778 5.
• K.B. Maynard, S. A. Smith, A. C. Davis, A. Trivette, and R. L. Seipelt-Thiemann (2014) Evolutionary analysis of the mammalian M1 aminopeptidases reveals conserved exon structure and death. GENE. 552(1):126-32.
• R. L. Seipelt-Thiemann (2012) Analogies for Teaching Mutant Allele Dominance Concepts. Creative Education. Creative Education. 3(6A): 884-889.
• J. D. Leblond, J. Dodson, M. Khadka, S. Holder, R. L. Seipelt (2012) Sterol composition and biosynthetic genes of the recently discovered photosynthetic alveolate, Chromera velia (Chromerdia), a close relative of Apicomplexans. J. Euk. Microbiology 59(3):191-7.
• R.L. Seipelt, F. C. Bailey, A. Schaible,M. W. Thompson (2010) Asparagine362 is essential for zinc binding and catalysis in the peptidase reaction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae leukotriene A4 hydrolase. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1804(10):2070-6.
• M. W. Thompson, K. A. Beasley*, M. D. Schmidt*, R. L. Seipelt (2009) Arginyl aminopeptidase-like 1 (RNPEPL1) is an alternatively processed aminopeptidase with specificity for methionine, glutamine, and citrulline residues. Protein and Peptide Letters. 16(10):1256-66.
• A. L. Newsome,J. P. Johnson*, R. L. Seipelt, M. W. Thompson (2007) Apolactoferrin inhibits the catalytic domain of matrix metalloproteinase-2 by zinc chelation. Biochemistry and Cell Biology 85(5):563-72.
• R. L. Seipelt (2006) Cookie-ases: Interactive Models for Teaching Genotype-Phenotype Relationships. American Biology Teacher. Published electronically May: 9-14.
• M. W. Thompson, E. D. Archer, C. E. Romer, and R. L. Seipelt (2006) A conserved tyrosine residue of Saccharomyces cerevisiae leukotriene A4 hydrolase stabilizes the transition state of the peptidase activity. Peptides. 27:1701-1709.
• J. D. Leblond, J. L. Dahmen, R. L. Seipelt, M. J. Elrod-Erickson, A. B. Cahoon, R. Kincaid, T. J. Evens, and P. J. Chapman (2005) Lipid composition of Chlorarachniophytes (Chlorarachiophyceae) from the genera Bigelowiella, Gymnochlora, and Lotharella. Journal of Phycology 41:311-321.
• J. M. Haynes, P. P. Lee, R. L. Seipelt, and S. M. Wright (2005) Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sequences in a biopsy from a Tennessee patient. J. Tenn. Acad. Sci. 80(3-4):57-9.
• M. Rutledge, R. L. Seipelt, and P. M. Mathis (2004) Making Quantitative Genetics Relevant: Effectiveness of a Laboratory Investigation that Links Scientific Research, Commercial Applications, and Legal Issues. Bioscene. 30(4):9-13.
• N. Dembla-Rajpal, R. Seipelt, Q. Wang, and B. C. Rymond (2004) Proteasome inhibition alters the transcription of multiple yeast genes. Biochemica et Biophysics Acta: Gene Structure and Function. 1680(1):34-45.
• R. L. Seipelt and D. C. Clark. Student Study Guide to Accompany Principles of Genetics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
• R. L. Seipelt, B. Zheng, and B. C. Rymond. (1999) U1 snRNA is cleaved by RNase III and processed through an Sm site dependent pathway. Nucleic Acids Res. 27(2):587-495.
• S. Lybarger, K. Beickman, V. Brown, N. Dembla-Rajpal, K. Morey, R. Seipelt, and B. C. Rymond. (1999) Elevated levels of a novel snRNP protein, Spp381p, rescue a mutant defective in spliceosome maturation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19(1):577-584.
• R. L. Seipelt, B. T. Spear, E. C. Snow, and M. L. Peterson. (1998) A non-immunoglobulin transgene and the endogenous Ig m gene are coordinately regulated by alternative RNA processing during B cell maturation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 18(2):1042-1048.
• Y. Takagaki, R. L. Seipelt, M. L. Peterson, and J. L. Manley. (1996) The polyadenylation factor CstF-64 regulates alternative processing of IgM heavy chain pre-mRNA during B cell differentiation. Cell 87:941-952.
• R. L. Seipelt and M. L. Peterson. (1995) Alternative RNA processing of the IgA gene to produce as and am mRNA responds like the IgM to alterations in the efficiency of the competing splice and cleavage-polyadenylation reactions. Molecular Immunology 32(4):277-285. 

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• 2023 University Excellence in Teaching Award
• 2007-2008 CBAS Excellence in Teaching Award
• 2007-2008 CBAS Excellence in Grantsmanship Award
• 2004-2005 CBAS Excellence in Teaching Award
• 2004-2005 MTSU Outstanding Achievement in Instructional Technology Award
• 2003 MTSU Faculty Leadership Academy
• 2003 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology
• 2001 Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable Award Nominee
• 2000-2001 Golden Apple Award Nominee
• 2000-2001 MTSU Outstanding Achievement in Instructional Technology Award Finalist
• 2000-2001 MTSU Outstanding Achievement in Instructional Technology Award Nominee
• 1998-1999 AAUW Post-doctoral Fellowship

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BIOL 3250H/1H, Honors Genetics and Lab. 4 credit hours. MT Engage course designation. Course features: Flipped classroom style with spaced practice and backwards design, focus on problem-solving “Dig In” worksheets, weekly quizzes, course undergraduate research (CURE) project for lab with every student having their own real research project that utilizes an electronic lab notebook (OneNote)or paper notebook and culminates in a scientific research poster preparation and a poster presentation session I make open to the public

• Fall 2022-4 CURE project: Biodiversity analyses using environmental DNA in the Stones River Watershed, additional faculty collaborator – Dr. Cole Easson    
• Fall 2021 CURE project: Macrophage alternative splicing in response to Cryptococcus neoformans– additional faculty collaborators – Drs. Erin McClelland and David Nelson ·        
• Fall 2020 CURE project: Stress-regulated alternative splicing in age-related genes in nematodes. additional faculty collaborator – n/a
• Fall 2019 CURE project: Maize genome annotation using next-generation sequencing data analysis, additional faculty collaborator – Dr. Doreen Ware of the Maize Genome Database  

BIOL 3250, General Genetics. 4 credit hours. Course features: Flipped classroom style with spaced practice and backwards design, focus on problem-solving “Dig In” worksheets, weekly quizzes, weekly mini-concept maps

BIOL 3251, Genetics Lab. 0 credit hours. I am the course designer and lab coordinator for this lab, which is designed as a Course Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) project with every student having their own real research project and culminates in a scientific research poster preparation and a poster presentation session I make open to the public.  The Course Learning Objectives were derived directly from the Genetics Society of America  Learning Framework - Core Competencies (2015), which is available at: https://genetics-gsa.org/education/genetics-learning-framework/ The student should be able to:

1. locate and comprehend primary literature papers in genetics.
2.  generate testable hypotheses.
3. gather and evaluate experimental evidence.
4. generate and interpret graphs displaying experimental results.
5. communicate experimental results effectively including writing and giving presentations ·   

• Taught by GTAs (Fall 2019 – present): Approximately 10-11 sections of 24 students each for fall semesters and approximately 8-9 sections of 24 students for spring semesters for a total of more than 2000 course-based student research projects

BIOL 4460/1; 5460/1, Human Genetics and Lab. 3 credit hours. MT Engage course designation. Course features: Flipped classroom style with spaced practice and backwards design, focus on problem-solving “Dig In” worksheets, course undergraduate research (CURE) project for lab with every student having their own real research project that utilizes an pape lab notebook and culminates in a scientific research poster  preparation and a poster presentation session I make open to the public

BIOL 6760, Bioinformatics. 4 credit hours. Course features: Application-focused course where students learn to use existing bioinformatics tools, a coding language, and a bioinformatics platform (CyVerse; Galaxy); students also work on a “big research project” based on their own thesis or dissertation research projects which students present on the last day of class  

BIOL 6770, Issues in Biotechnology. 2 credit hours. Course features: Engaging with biotechnology companies and business skills; we travel to local biotechnology businesses and during COVID we also utilized the Business Concepts for Life Sciences materials for a portion of the course: https://ibiov2.herokuapp.com/catalog/BCLS/SP/  

MOBI 7100, Experimental Design. 3 credit hours. Course features: Problem-solving and critiques of actual experimental designs  

MOBI 7105, Experimental Techniques. 3 credit hours. Course features: Students utilize MURAL collaborative notetaking to generate conceptual maps and notes on molecular tools  

MOBI 7300, Scientific Literature in Molecular Bioscience. 2 credit hours. Course features: Students work on presentation skills by presenting research papers and building summary presentations.  Students get to choose a focus topic for practical application, such as data skills, open science skills, etc.

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