Faculty member strives to inspire students
Nigerian native researches algae

By MELANIE LUTZ
Collegian Science Writer

Distracted by a blinking screen saver on his computer in South Frear Building, Ola Sodeinde, dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, remembered when he was in high school and decided it was time to expand his horizons and see the world. That was why he left his home in Nigeria to study in London.

Even though he was very young, he was not scared at all to leave his home.

"I was too stupid to be scared," he said, laughing.

Sodeinde has a sense of humor and a laid-back personality that make him seem more like a fellow student than the professor who just turned 38 last Saturday. But in spite of his sense of humor, Sodeinde, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and biology, is very serious about his research and about getting students interested in science.

Sodeinde, who has only been at Penn State for about six months, spent much of his life jumping around from country to country. After high school, he moved again -- this time to Scotland -- where he studied human anatomy at the University of St. Andrews. Like many undergraduates in this field, Sodeinde thought he would go to medical school. But as a senior, he had the opportunity to work in a lab -- an experience that changed his plans.

"That was how I got turned on to doing research," he said. "That was pretty much it for medical school."

In his lab, Sodeinde studies photosynthetic mechanisms in green algae. He isolates genes in order to understand the mechanisms that are involved in turning the genes on or off in response to light and other signals.

When he is not in his lab, Sodeinde likes to play the guitar -- a talent that he taught himself -- and he enjoys reading. As a kid, he loved reading Marvel comics -- especially X-Men -- and now he loves Lewis Carroll, Salman Rushdie and Shakespeare. At one time he even considered majoring in literature.

Sodeinde spends a lot of time coming to terms with his Macintosh, doing experiments, setting up his lab and spending time in the lab with students. He would like to start brewing his own beer again, but he just has not been able to find the time.

"Pretty much every night I think about starting up my home brewing again, which I haven't done in about a year," he said.

Sodeinde does not get to see his parents, who live in Nigeria, very often, but he plans to take time out of his busy schedule to visit them this summer.

"My parents are just wonderful people. They have been extremely supportive of everything I've done," he said.

Just as his parents have supported his decisions, Sodeinde encourages students' interest in science.

Because Sodeinde's undergraduate experience in a lab was what made him decide on his career, he is very enthusiastic about getting the chance to work with undergraduates in his own lab. Although he does not teach any classes this semester, he is getting ready for the ones he will teach next semester.

"One of my big passions is to get undergraduates involved in the research," he said.

Melanie Fowler, a student who worked in Sodeinde's lab, said she thinks Sodeinde stands out from other professors because when he explains his research he always makes sure that students understand it every step of the way.

"He'll stop and ask you questions to make sure you understand," said Fowler (graduate-biochemistry and molecular biology). "He challenges you."

When Sodeinde finished his college education at St. Andrews -- a university that he recommends to anyone because he had so much fun there -- he moved to the states for graduate school. He received his doctoral degree in microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester in 1990 and then went on to do postdoctoral work at Cornell University until last August. In August he came to Penn State.

Sodeinde explained that he went into microbiology and molecular genetics because at the time he graduated, recombinant DNA -- the cloning and analysis of genes -- was at the frontier of genetic analysis. Because he was interested in disease process, he saw this field as an opportunity to study it from a genetic approach.

Sodeinde loves what he does because it is never boring.

"A lot of the stuff you do is new," he explained. Even though many of the techniques he uses are sometimes repetitive, the meaningful results are very different and exciting.

It may seem unusual that he uses algae for his research rather than plants, but algae are much easier to use. They are easier to grow, don't take up much space and are cheaper. He is also able to get many cells from the algae in a short period of time, and the photosynthetic mechanisms in plants and algae are almost identical.

Surprisingly enough, after moving to so many different countries, his most difficult move so far has been his shortest and most recent one -- to Penn State. Sodeinde thought about a reason for having a hard time adjusting, but he admitted that he did not really have an explanation.

He said one possibility was that moving around "gets more difficult the older you get," maybe because people get more set in their ways.

Sodeinde said what he likes most about his new home in Pennsylvania is living in a university environment where he is surrounded by smart people.

"If you open your ears and open your eyes, there's a wonderful resource of information for learning," he said.