Spring 2002 -- Vol. 19, No. 1

FACES OF PENN STATE

J. Gregory Ferry
Stanley Person Professor of Molecular Biology

Biochemist J. Gregory Ferry studies methane-producing microbes that live in anaerobic environments in an effort to discover novel enzymes and track their role in fundamental cellular function.

Alarge picture on the office wall behind Greg Ferry’s desk reveals his not-so-secret formula for success. Once visitors get to know Ferry, they can appreicate how his combination of dedicated laboratory work and a sense of perspective enable him to thrive. As a result, they understand how the map of the Outer Banks represents the latter part of his equation for success.

A talented and respected scientist who studies methane-producing microbes that live in anaerobic environments, Ferry produces quality and quantity in the classroom and the laboratory.

He has authored one book and authored or coauthored more than 120 scientific papers and publications. He has presented dozens of invited lectures and seminars and serves as director of the Center for Microbial Structural Biology at Penn State and editor of the Journal of Bacteriology. He also serves as a member of several international committees and societies. Earlier this year, he was honored with a teaching award from the American Society for Microbiology.

He balances all that effort with exercise. In fact, he schedules time away from the laboratory and his office every day as a means to keep himself fresh—and that often leads to additional insights.

“My approach is to step away from the lab and office daily, probably more than most other professors, and that works well for me,” says Ferry, who lists running and surfing among his hobbies and owns a beach house on the Outer Banks. He enjoys his laboratory work—often a combined challenge of intellectual and technical hurdles when dealing with microbes that must be examined and maintained in an oxygen-free environment—just as much as he enjoys the regular physical activity that fills his lungs with oxygen every afternoon. He believes the activities complement each other and increase his productivity.

“Often, those times away from the laboratory are the times when everything comes together in my mind,” Ferry says. “After focusing on a problem for a while, it seems like getting away from it allows everything to fall into place. A lot of times different approaches or answers come to mind when you least expect it.”

In addition, Ferry possesses a valuable ability to conduct cutting-edge research and also convey his work to a general audience. He selected anaerobic microbiology as a field of study almost 20 years ago because of its fundamental nature and because he envisioned it as a growing field. Today, advances in genomics and proteomics have expanded the possibilities of his efforts to discover novel enzymes and track their role in fundamental cellular function.

“I would like to think that our research on anaerobic life has opened the door to a big room and these new approaches have made it even bigger,” Ferry says. Of course, he plans to examine all he can in that room—and make time to step outside from time to time as well.

-- Steve Sampsell

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