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Dr. Matt Howell

Dr. Matt Howell

Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science
 CSC 216
Department(s): Biology and Environmental Science


Current Position:

  • Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science

Education

  • Ph. D. 2018, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
  • B.S. 2012, Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri

Professional Interests:

Dr. Howell’s area of expertise is in Microbiology, with professional interests in microbial morphology, physiology, and genetics. Dr. Howell has a particular interest in how bacterial cells coordinate cell division and new cell wall synthesis with precise timing and cellular localization.

Other Positions:

  • Faculty Advisor, Tri-Beta Biological Sciences Honor Society, Iota Kappa chapter
  • Committee appointments: Faculty Personnel, Engaging Men to End Violence

Background

Dr. Howell received a B.S. in Biology from Columbia College in 2012. After graduation, Dr. Howell worked as a microbiology research technician at Unilever. He then went to the University of Missouri where he earned a Ph.D. in Biology in 2018.

Dr. Howell joined Westminster as a faculty member in the Fall of 2019. While at Westminster, he has taught several courses including; Biological processes, Biodiversity, Microbiology, Virology, Immunology, Genetics, and non-majors Anatomy and Physiology. He lives in Columbia with his wife and two sons. When away from science, Dr. Howell enjoys family time spent outdoors and sports of all kinds.

Select Publications:

  • Figueroa-Cuilan WM, Howell M, Richards C, Randich A, Yadav AK, Cava F, Brown PJB. Induction of AmpC-Mediated β-Lactam Resistance Requires a Single Lytic Transglycosylase in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2022 May 31:e0033322. doi: 10.1128/aem.00333-22. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35638841.
  • Aliashkevich A, Howell M, Brown PJB, Cava F. d-canavanine affects peptidoglycan structure, morphogenesis and fitness in Rhizobiales. Environ Microbiol. 2021 Apr 8.
  • Lariviere, Patrick & Mahone, Christopher & Santiago-Collazo, Gustavo & Howell, Matt & Daitch, Allison & Zeinert, Rilee & Chien, Peter & Brown, Pamela & Goley, Erin. An Essential Regulator of Bacterial Division Links FtsZ to Cell Wall Synthase Activation. Current Biology, 2019
  • Howell, M., et al., Agrobacterium tumefaciens divisome proteins regulate the transition from polar growth to cell division. Molecular Microbiology, 2019.
  • *Flores, S., *Howell, M., J.J. Daniel, Piccolo, R., and P.J.B. Brown. Absence of the Min system does not cause major cell division defects in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2018.
  • Howell, M., J.J. Daniel, and P.J.B. Brown, Live cell fluorescence microscopy to observe essential processes during microbial cell growth. Jove, 2017
  • Howell, M., et al., Absence of the polar organizing protein PopZ results in reduced and asymmetric cell division in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Journal of bacteriology,2017.
  • Howell, M. and P.J.B. Brown, Building the bacterial cell wall at the pole. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 2016.
  • Figueroa-Cuilan, W., et al., Mini-Tn7 Insertion in an Artificial attTn7 Site Enables Depletion of the Essential Master Regulator CtrA in the Phytopathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2016.