Kathleen M. Sandman received her B.A. in Biology from La Salle University and her Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology from Harvard University. She was inspired to a career in science by her older brother's experience as an organic chemist and by the developing technology in recombinant DNA in the 1970s. Her graduate work used a transposable element as a mutagen in Bacillus subtilis to study gene expression during endospore formation. She continued in the genetics of Gram-positive bacteria with a postdoctoral year studying Bacillus thuringiensis at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Another postdoctoral opportunity at The Ohio State University provided an introduction to the emerging field of archaeal molecular biology, where Dr. Sandman discovered archaeal histones and continued research in the structural biology of archaeal chromatin for about 20 years. She served the National Science Foundation as a research grant reviewer and panelist for the Life in Extreme Environments program, and has organized conference sessions on archaeal molecular biology and proteins from extremophiles. Dr. Sandman has taught microbiology to hundreds of students, at both the introductory level and in an advanced molecular microbiology laboratory.
Dr. Sandman has worked as a consultant in a variety of industries, including industrial microbiology, environmental geomicrobiology, and technical publishing. She lives with her husband in Columbus, Ohio, and has two grown daughters. She enjoys biking, fabric arts, reading, and genealogy, and can be reached at kathleenmsandman@gmail.com.
