Governor Jan Brewer has appointed a new student representative to the Arizona Board of Regents.

Jennifer Ginther, a graduate student in biology at Northern Arizona University, comes with an impressive resume. We can't tell you how she'll do as a regent, but the 4.0 student knows a thing or two about microscopic organisms. Her research focuses on:

... the pathogenic evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei, a soil-dwelling bacterium and the causative agent of melioidosis, a pulmonary or bloodstream infection and a major health concern in northern Australia and southeast Asia.  Her ultimate goal is to merge computational and experimental comparative genomics to gain a better understanding of the emergence of disease-causing microbes from their non-disease-causing genetic relatives.

The Board of Regents typically has two student regents serving two-year terms. Student regents can vote on board matters in their second year.

Click here for the governor's news release on Ginther.

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