Andrew Petzold, Ph.D.

Faculty, CLI
Specialty: Biology
Phone: 507-258-8027
Fax: 507-258-8066
Office: 318 Commons
Email: petzo002@umn.edu

Just ASK Hours

Education

Ph.D., Comparative and Molecular Biosciences, University of Minnesota, 2010
B.A., Biology, Hamline University

Background

Andrew Petzold received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2005. Following this, he began training as a molecular geneticist with a specialization in the nicotine response. This research led him to follow his advisor to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 2010. 

Teaching

Aside from developing his skills as a Molecular Biologist and Behavioral Geneticist, Andrew has also been greatly invested in an educational outreach program called InSciEd Out. This program, started in 2008, pairs researchers from the Mayo Clinic and surrounding institutions with cohorts of Elementary and Secondary school teachers. He was specifically involved with the teaching of the educators in the fields of Developmental Biology and Genetics as well as implementation of developed educational modules in the classroom. The InSciEd Out program has shown considerable promise with monumental changes in both culture and potential of students within the pilot schools. It is through this project that I was able to see the true value of a horizontally integrated and a vertically aligned educational program. Students are able to intellectually thrive in a situation where their educators are fully comfortable with a given subject and the same message is being given across grade levels. In a similar manner, UMR allows students to find their own intellectual niche by providing a wide base of knowledge, integrated both across disciplines and across educational levels thus creating a well rounded individual able to confront the challenges of an ever changing world.

At UMR, Andrew will be responsible for the delivery of Anatomy and Physiology and Integrated Biology as well as other courses within the Life Sciences core. He will also spend time directly interacting with students at the Just Ask Center. 

Research

Andrew's research focused on the development of the larval zebrafish as a model for the study of the nicotine response in humans. Specifically, he has developed two assays that can be used to examine the differential response to nicotine of groups of larval zebrafish. These zebrafish have been altered at a genetic level using a transposon based insertional mutageneisis approach that also molecularly and fluorescently tags the mutant chromosome. He continues to develop and refine the assays in conjunction with his former lab. 

Select Publications

Petzold, A. M., Bedell, V. M., Boczek, N. J., Essner, J. J., Balciunas, D., Clark, K. J., and Ekker, S. C. (2010) SCORE Imaging: specimen in a corrected optical rotational enclosure. Zebrafish, 7(2): 149-54. 

Petzold, A. M., Balciunas, D., Sivasubbu, S., Clark, K., Bedell, V., Westcot, S., et al. (2009). Nicotine response genetics in the zebrafish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(44), 18662-18667. doi:10.1073/pnas.0908247106.