Assistant Professor of Research

Dr. Giancarlo Lopez-Martinez (GC) joined the Fargo ICE group at the beginning of the Fall 2018 semester. He moved from New Mexico to North Dakota after accepting an Assistant Professor of Research in the Biological Sciences department at  North Dakota State University. His expertise is comparative stress physiology with a focus on oxidative stress and earlier this year he authored a paper in Science!

Believe it or not, GC was halfway through his post-doc when he realized he wanted to be a scientist, even though he already had a MS and a PhD, sometimes you just need extra time. After getting his PhD he took a year off and taught general biology and during this job it finally hit him that he wanted to be a scientist. His favorite part of science, and what finally convinced him to take the dive, was the ability to “come up with the wackiest of ideas and then design experiments to test them.” While in Antarctica GC designed his wackiest of experiments, how fast should you run to outrun a fur seal? He was taking pictures of a fur seal and thought he was using 30X zoom, meaning he’d have plenty of distance between him and the fur seal, but he wasn’t. He was almost bit by the fur seal as he struggled through knee-high snow.

Currently GC is working on translational treatments for Parkinson’s disease, the hormesis of x-ray and ultraviolet radiations, the cost of hormesis, the trans-generational effects of low oxygen hormesis, neuroprotection via anoxia hormesis, and what brought him to NDSU, overwintering bees! When asked about his dream project, he answered time travel, however his backup is understanding aging and how to manipulate the process in any given direction. GC has only been with the group, in Fargo, for a few months but his diligent and resourceful character has already benefited many in the group. We are excited to have him with us and have already seen that he is a great asset!

Written by: Korie Debardlabon and Elisabeth Wilson