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Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP)

Assisting faculty and staff to engage in research and scholarly & creative endeavors

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) / Archives for St. Mary’s Project

SMCM Student Dillon Waters Awarded Funds from Cove Point National Heritage to Support St. Mary’s Project

March 30, 2020

Dillon Waters, senior biology major, was recently awarded funds ($1,020) from Cove Point National Heritage to support his St. Mary’s Project titled, “Comparison of Traditional Freshwater Sampling Methods versus eDNA Water Sampling to Assess Aquatic Biodiversity in Maryland Streams.”

Dillon’s St. Mary’s Project under the mentorship of Sean Hitchman, visiting assistant professor in biology, will research more efficient ways to monitor changes in aquatic biodiversity. Conservative estimates indicate that freshwater environments provide habitat for at least 126,000 plant and animal species. Unfortunately, freshwater ecosystems are experiencing declines in biodiversity. Continuous monitoring of species composition in freshwater habitats is essential for proper conservation practices. While there are many traditional freshwater monitoring methods for biodiversity they tend to vary in efficiency, are time consuming, and costly. Dillion will specifically investigate and compare a more efficient method of aquatic biodiversity monitoring, environmental DNA (eDNA) collection. Comparison of a more efficient method will assist with future conservation efforts.

Filed Under: Awards, Biology, Current Sponsored Research Tagged With: awards, biology, research, smcm, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Professor of Biology Karen Crawford Presents “CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing in the Cephalopod Doryteuthis (Loligo) pealeii” at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

February 6, 2020

Professor of Biology Karen Crawford’s presentation was selected as an oral presentation in a complementary session in the 2020 SICB Symposium “Building Bridges from Genome to Phenome: Molecules, Methods and Models,” held January 3-7, in Austin Texas.

This presentation represents an important breakthrough for her research and impacts the work of many scientists studying the development, neurogenesis and evolutionary relationships of cephalopods, animals including: squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. It is an important “proof of concept” study demonstrating the first successful use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to employ genome editing in a cephalopod species. In this study, Crawford used the CRISPR-Cas9 system with specific RNA guides to the Tryptophan 2,3 dioxygenase enzyme (TDO) to specifically knock out the first step in the ommochrome pigment pathway in squid embryos. In English, this means that she successfully knocked out one gene to generate completely normal embryos lacking only reddish brown pigmentation. This work is in preparation for publication. Expanding the study of cephalopods to include predictable genome editing, the knocking out and knocking in of specific genes, opens an important door to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive normal development, neurogenesis, and behavior in cephalopods; a group of diverse and evolutionarily successful organisms that possess not only a camera like eye similar to our own along with the largest and most complex invertebrate brain on the planet, but also our imagination for their extraordinary life histories and complex cognitive behaviors.

While most of this work is performed at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, students working on their St. Mary’s Projects, often choose to explore fundamental questions of developmental biology of cephalopods by working with preserved embryos in the Crawford laboratory at SMCM. Last year, Sylvia Klein explored the role of Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) on two cephalopod species. As part of her SMP work, Sylvia was the first to observe the conservation of MAPK expression in the Pajama squid embryo, complementing studies Crawford had done with embryos of the long-finned squid, Doryteuthis pealii. Before graduate school, Sylvia, is expanding her experiences as a research assistant in the laboratory of Karen Echeverri at the MBL, where she is studying regeneration in both invertebrate and vertebrate species.

This work has most recently been supported by fellowships from the MBL to Crawford (2018, 2019), as well as a National Science Foundation – Enabling Discovery Through GEnomic Tools (EDGE) Grant to the MBL for which Crawford is a Principle Investigator. That grant supports the Cephalopod Strategic Initiative at the MBL.

Filed Under: Biology, Current Sponsored Research Tagged With: biology, nsf, research, smcm, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Danielle Spaulding ’20 Awarded Research Grant from Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid Research Program

September 4, 2019

Danielle Spaulding with her SURF posterSt. Mary’s College of Maryland student Danielle Spaulding ’20 was awarded a research grant from the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Program for her research titled “Can Glyphosate and Polyethoxylated Tallowamine Inhibit Cytochrome P450 Enzymes?” Spaulding, who is a double major in biology and chemistry, is pursuing this research question for her St. Mary’s Project (SMP) under the guidance of Shanen M. Sherrer, assistant professor of biochemistry. Her work, which stems from summer research conducted in 2019 with a St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, is investigating the biochemical consequences of glyphosate, an active ingredient of herbicides such as Roundup®. The enzyme studied is important for drug metabolism. Results from Spaulding’s SMP can help provide new insights on negative health outcomes after herbicide exposure.

Filed Under: Awards, Biochemistry & Chemistry, Current Sponsored Research Tagged With: awards, chemistry, sigma xi, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

SMCM students present at 2019 National Conference on Undergraduate Research

April 23, 2019

Katie Gross, Alejandra Diaz, Rachel Yates, Alana Demones, and Katherine Kempton

From left to right: Katie Gross, Alejandra Diaz, Rachel Yates, Alana Demones, and Katherine Kempton

SMCM International Languages & Cultures students Kathleen (Katie) Gross, Alejandra Diaz, Rachel Yates, Alana Demones and Katherine Kempton presented their research projects at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA, held from April 10-13, 2019. Katie Gross and Rachel Yates were awarded the Geneva Boone Award to support presenting their St. Mary’s Projects (SMP) at the conference. The Geneva Boone Award for Outstanding St. Mary’s Projects is given annually to support students who will present work from their SMP to a wider audience beyond the College.

NCUR is an annual conference promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity done in partnership with faculty or other mentors and is sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). As part of SMCM’s enhanced institutional membership with CUR, all students, staff, and faculty can become members and have access to CUR publications, webinars, and reduced rates for conferences and events such as NCUR.

Katie Gross’s SMP is titled: “Racial Discourse and Why it Matters: White Privilege, Race and Colorblindness in France and America”. Alejandra Diaz presented: “The Cultural, Economic and Educational Impact in Latin America of Technology in the Age of Globalization: Latin America as Adopter and Agent of Technology Development”. Rachel Yates’s SMP is called: “The Académie française vs. Anglicism: Franglais and the politics of language in France’s Fifth Republic”. Alana Demones is researching: “Black and White: How language reflects Colorism in China”, while Katherine Kempton’s SMP is titled: “I am from the Gutter Too”: Institutions, Power, and Identity Formation in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables”.

Dr. Brandon Guernsey, Visiting Assistant Professor of French, stated that the International Languages & Cultures Department is very proud of these students’ accomplishments – a sentiment broadly and strongly shared across campus. Keep up the great work!!

Tagged With: awards, ILC, research, smcm, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Katie Robey ’19 Awarded $992 Research Grant from Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Program

March 7, 2019

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) student Katie Robey was selected to receive a research grant for her SMP by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society. Sigma Xi’s mission is to help foster the next generation of researchers and that is what they have done for Katie. With her SMP titled “Antidepressant Efficacy of L-655,708 Following Infusion into the Medial Prefrontal Cortex”, she hopes to uncover more about the neural circuitry that is responsible for the etiology of depression.

Katie’s project measures baseline depressive-like behavior by the novelty-suppressed feeding test, social interaction test, sucrose preference test, and open field test in a rodent model of depression. Robey will surgically implant treatment animals with guide cannulas and they will receive direct infusions into the medial prefrontal cortex of either the L-655,708 antidepressant or the drug vehicle. The drug vehicle is the solvent used to transport the drug into the system and when delivered on its own, serves as an experimental control. Robey hypothesizes that rats receiving L-655,708 will show significantly reduced depressive behavior when compared to the control group. All research involving vertebrate animals must be approved by the St. Mary’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Robey, a biochemistry major and neuroscience minor, is working with fellow student Brooke Steinhoff ’19 under the guidance of Professor of Psychology Aileen Bailey. When asked about her research Robey stated: “I have been doing research with the same fast-acting antidepressant (L-655,708) for a couple of years and have studied its effect on several brain regions including the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens”. However, she wanted to extend the investigation by also looking into the medial prefrontal cortex since that region of the brain also plays a role in reward processing. Ultimately, the goal of Robey and collaborators’ research is to identify a safe, fast-acting antidepressant without the negative side effects of other alternatives.

Robey hopes that after she graduates from SMCM, additional future SMP students will continue working with L-655,708 in order to help further expand our understanding of its efficacy as a fast-acting antidepressant.

This article was written by St. Mary’s College of Maryland student and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Fellow Mackenzie Brooks ’21.

Tagged With: awards, psychology, research, smcm, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Two SMCM Students Win Beta Beta Beta Undergraduate Research Grants

December 5, 2018

Undergraduate Researcher Brooke Steinhoff

Undergraduate researcher Brooke Steinhoff ’19

Two SMCM students were recently awarded Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) Undergraduate Research Grants to help fund their St. Mary’s Projects. Brooke Steinhoff was awarded $500 for her SMP titled: “Evaluating the efficacy of L-655, 708 direct injection into the medial prefrontal cortex”. Steinhoff is working in Professor of Psychology Aileen Bailey’s lab.

Livia Schuller holds a white-throated sparrow

Livia Schuller ’19 holds a white-throated sparrow

Livia’s Schuller was also awarded $500 from TriBeta to help fund her SMP: “Effect of migration distance on body condition and response to physiological stressors in White-throated Sparrows”. Schuller is working with Assistant Professor of Biology Jessica Malisch.

TriBeta is a national biological honor society for students, particularly undergraduates, dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research. The SMCM community sincerely congratulates both students on these latest accomplishments and very much appreciates the support from TriBeta.

Tagged With: awards, beta beta beta, biology, psychology, smcm, smp, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Marilyn Steyert and Max Madden awarded funding for SMP research

February 8, 2018

Two students conducting their St. Mary’s Project research with Dr. Aileen Bailey, professor of psychology and Aldom-Planseon Honors College Professor, have received grants to support their work. Marilyn Steyert was recently awarded a $918 grant through the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society to support her research and in recognition of her academic achievement. A graduating senior, Marilyn is majoring in Biology, with minors in Neuroscience and Music. She is continuing past research on the project entitled “Understanding the action of novel fast-acting antidepressant, L-655,708 in the brain” under the guidance of Dr. Bailey. Another student working on research in Dr. Bailey’s lab is graduating senior Max Madden, a double major in Biochemistry and Psychology. He has received $1,500 in funding through the Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grant to support his St. Mary’s Project: “Examination of the Mechanism of the Fast Acting Antidepressant L-655,708.” Since July 2015, Dr. Bailey’s research lab has been primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health, via a subaward with University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Using rats as test subjects, Marilyn and Max are analyzing the effects of a specific drug on synapse strength within neurons in certain areas of the brain. The grant money received from Sigma Xi is being used to visualize and study certain proteins within cells. Changes in behavior and synaptic strength will be analyzed to see the effects of L-655,708 in the rats brain. Marilyn hopes to show the potential of this drug for future use in humans, due to its rapid neurological changes in rats. As with all research conducted on vertebrate animals at St. Mary’s College, Marilyn and Max’s work was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Marilyn is the President of Tri Beta, the Biological Honor Society at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and is also involved in BioPump, a program that supports Biology students’ academic success. After graduation, Marilyn hopes to continue her academic education and become a professor. Max was a member of the St. Mary’s men’s Swim Team and plans to continue his education in graduate school after leaving St. Mary’s College. Marilyn and Max are two of many talented students to receive a grant through an honor society here at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Filed Under: Awards, Biochemistry & Chemistry, Biology, Current Sponsored Research, Natural Sciences & Math, Psychology Tagged With: awards, psychology, research, St. Mary's Project, undergraduate research

Goats tackle invasive kudzu on campus

July 20, 2016

Kudzu is an aggressive invasive plant species found all across the United States, including on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Research has shown that goats can be used as an effective biological control agent against kudzu.

St. Mary's student holds a goat on campusThis was the focus of a St. Mary’s Project (SMP) by Brooke Bartko ’16. Bartko’s research aimed to manage the invasive species in a way consistent with the College’s sustainability efforts, while educating the community about biological control. Her faculty mentor was Professor of Biology Robert Paul. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Biology, Current Sponsored Research, Natural Sciences & Math Tagged With: biological control, invasive species, kudzu, paul, smcm, St. Mary's Project

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  • St. Mary’s College Environmental Studies to Receive Grant to Spur Civic Learning in Major Design June 1, 2018
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