Faculty

Kathleen M. Susman
Professor of Biology on the J. P. Giraud, Jr. Chair
Kathleen M. Susman wearing a yellow shirt, light green jacket with lab equipment in the background.

Scholarship Interests

As important as the actual discoveries made through experimental research is sharing those discoveries and that new knowledge through science communication. My current work, through my website, Modern Marinade, and public lectures and podcasts, informs about the myriad ways that human activities like chemical pesticides, excessive noise, night time light and many others, impact our health and that of the wildlife around us.

Trained in cellular neurophysiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I earned my M.S. and Ph D. in Physiology, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the American Heart Association at Stanford University, my research spanned studies of stroke biochemistry, cytoskeletal dynamics and environmental neurotoxicology. I also published articles on science pedagogies, including the 2015 book, Discovery-Based Learning in the Life Sciences, with Wiley Press. I pivoted my research focus to the toxic behavioral and neural effects of common pesticides in soil organisms in response to growing concerns about links of neurodegenerative diseases and pesticide use. My research program has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. I served on numerous grant review panels and on the Board of Directors of the Dutchess County/Ulster County American Heart Association.

I am currently on the Environmental Management Council for the Dutchess County Legislature and write and podcast extensively for multiple audiences through my website, Modern Marinade.

BS, College of William and Mary; MS, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
At Vassar since 1991

Contact

kasusman@vassar.edu
845-437-7311
Olmsted Hall of Biological Sc
Box 189
Hours
By appointment
Website

Research and Academic Interests

Neuroscience and Behavior; Stress Physiology; Evo-Devo; Science Communication

Selected Publications

  • Raley-Susman, K.M. and Jones, R. (2024) Vassar College Artifact Project: Preserving Vassar’s History through Material Culture and Storytelling. AALAC Middlebury Conference.
  • Raley-Susman, K.M. (2024) Getting the Word Out: Communicating Science in the Liberal Arts Context. Association of Science Communicators Conference.
  • Raley-Susman, K.M. (2022) Examining the effects of pesticides in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons. J. Vis. Exp. https://www.jove.com/t/63845/examining-the-effect-of-pesticides-on-caenorhabditis-elegans-neurons
  • Zhang, S.G., *Singhvi, A., Susman, K.M., Hastings, H.M., and Magnes, J. (2022) Dynamic markers for chaotic motion in C. elegans. Nonlinear Dynamics Psychology and Life Sciences 26: 21-43.
  • *Bradford, B.R., *Whidden, E., *Gervasio, E.D., Checchi, P.M. and Raley-Susman, K.M. (2020) Neonicotinoid-containing insecticide disruption of growth, locomotion and fertility in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0238637. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238637
  • Magnes, J., Hastings, H., *Hulsey-Vincent, M., *Congo, C., Raley-Susman, K.M., *Singhvi, A., *Hatch, T., *Szwed, E. (2020) Chaotic markers in dynamic diffraction. Applied Optics 59:6642-6647. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.397618
  • Song, Y., Cao, C., Qiu, R., Hu, J., Liu, M., Lu, S., Shi, H., Raley-Susman, K.M., He, D., Uptake and adverse effects of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics fibers on terrestrial snails (Achatina fulica) after soil exposure, Environmental Pollution (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.envpol.2019.04.066.
  • Magnes, J., *Congo, C., *Hulsey-Vincent, M., Hastings, H. and Raley-Susman, K.M. (2018) Live C. elegans diffraction at a single point. Open J. Biophysics 8: 155-162. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbiphy.2018.83011
  • Lei, L., Wu, S., Lu, S., Liu, M., Song, Y., Fu, A., Shi, H., Raley-Susman, K.M. and He, D. (2018) Microplastic particles cause intestinal damage and other adverse effects in the zebrafish Danio rerio and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Science of the Total Environment 619-620: 1-8. www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv
  • Rossi, M., *Kwok, L., *Lee, G., *Caruso, A., Belli, S.L., Raley-Susman, K.M., Caruso, F., Filipsky, T., Candelotti, E., Tofani, D., Pedersen, J. and Incerpi, S. (2017) Protection by extra virgin olive oil against oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo. Chemical and biological studies on the health benefits due to a major component of the Mediterranean diet. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189341. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189341
  • Magnes1, , J., Hastings2, H.M., Raley-Susman3, K.M., Alivisatos1, C., Warner1, A., Hulsey-Vincent1 , M. (2017) Fourier-Based Diffraction Analysis of Live Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Vis. Exp.
  • Xu, T., Li, P., Wu, S., Li, D., Wu, J., Raley-Susman, K.M. and He, D. (2016) Chronic exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate reduces lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans through insulin/IGF-1 signaling. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (BECT). DOI 10.1007/s00128-016-1808-5
  • Discovery-Based Learning in the Life Sciences. Wiley-Blackwell Press. (2015)
  • Raley-Susman, K.M. (2014) “Like a Canary in the Coal Mine: Behavioral change as an early warning sign of neurotoxicological damage.”
  • *Brody, A.H., *Chou, E., Gray, J.M., Pokrywka, N.J. and Raley-Susman, K.M. (2013) “Mancozeb-induced behavioral deficits precede structural neural degeneration.” Neurotoxicol. 34: 74-81.
  • Magnes, J., Raley-Susman, K.M., Melikechi, N., *Sampson, A., *Eells, R., *Bello, A., and *Lueckheide, M. (2012) “Analysis of freely swimming C. elegans using laser diffraction.” Open J. Biophysics Vol. 2(3): 101-107. DOI: 10.4236/ojbiphy.2012.23013
  • Banta, L.M., Crespi, E.J., Nehm, R.H., Schwarz, J.A., Singer, S., Manduca, C.A., Bush, E.C., Collins, E., Constance, C.M., Dean, D., Esteban, D., Fox, S., McDaris, J., Paul, C.A., Quinan, G., Raley-Susman, K.M., Smith, M.L., Wallace, C.S., Withers, G.S. and Caporale, L. (2012) “Integrating genomics research throughout the undergraduate curriculum: A collection of inquiry-based genomics lab modules.” Cell Biology Education: Life Sciences Education 11(3): 203-208. [Our article was chosen for the cover of the issue]
  • Magnes, J., Raley-Susman, K.M., *Khakurel, R., *Sampson, A., *Kinneberg, M., *Eels, R. (2010) “Diffraction Patterns of Live C. elegans: Acquisition and Analysis.” Biophysical Journal 98: (3, Suppl 1) 746a.
  • Raley-Susman, K.M. and Gray, J.M. (2010) “Exploration of gerontogenes in the nervous system: A multi-level neurogenomics laboratory modules for an intermediate Neuroscience and Behavior course.” JUNE 8(2): A108-A115.
  • Ronsheim, M.L., Pregnall, A.M., Schwarz, J., Schlessman, MA and Raley-Susman, K.M. (2009) “Teaching Outside the Can: A New Approach to Introductory Biology.” Bioscene 35:12-22.
  • Pokrywka, N.P., Payne-Tobin, A., Raley-Susman, K.M., and Swartzman S. (2009) “Microtubules, the ER and Exu: New associations revealed by analysis of mini spindles mutations.” Mech. Dev. 126:289-300.
  • *Gordon, P., *Hingula, L., *Krasny, M.L., Swienckowski, J. L., Pokrywka, N.J. and Raley-Susman, K.M. (2008) “The invertebrate microtubule-associated protein PTL-1 functions in mechanosensation and development in Caenorhabditis elegans.” Dev. Genes Evol. 218: 541-551.
  • Buddle, M., E. Eberhardt, L.H.,*Ciminello, T. *Levin, R. *Wing, and K.M. Raley-Susman. (2003) “Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) associates with the NMDA receptor and is spatially redistributed within rat hippocampal neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation.” Brain Research 978: 38-50.
  • Raley-Susman, K.M., I.S. Kass, J.E. Cottrell, R.B., *Newman, G. Chambers and J. Wang, (2001) “Sodium influx blockade and hypoxic damage to CA1 pyramidal neurons in rat hippocampal slices.” J. Neurophysiology 86: 2715-2726.
  • *Monje, M.M., J. *Chatten-Brown, S.E. Hye, and K.M. Raley-Susman, (2000) “Free radicals are involved in the damage to protein synthesis after anoxia/aglycemia and NMDA exposure.” Brain Research 857: 172-182.
  • Wang, T., K.M. Raley-Susman, J. Wang, G. Chambers, J.E. Cottrell, and I.S. Kass (1999) “Thiopental attenuates hypoxic changes of electrophysiology, biochemistry and morphology in rat hippocampal slice CA1 pyramidal cells.” Stroke 30: 2400-2407.
  • Gray, J. and K.M. Raley-Susman, (1998) “Effects of tamoxifen, fluphenazine and estradiol on ATP levels in preoptic area and hypothalamic slices from ovariectomized rats.” Brain Res. 798: 223-231.

* student author

In the Media

A group of adults of various ages stand by a fence in a sunny field.

Getting to the Heart of Human Physiology

Students enrolled in Professor of Biology Kate Susman’s Human Physiology class learned real-life applications to their work by volunteering for four community-based organizations.

Photos

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Kathleen M. Susman wearing a yellow shirt, light green jacket with lab equipment in the background.
Credit
Buck Lewis / Vassar College