LU science students present summer research
Four 51ĀŅĀ× students and three faculty members recently presented their research at the Summer Research Program Poster Symposium at Marquette University.
Students Gretchen Augustine, Serena Brunner, Mary Johnson and Meghan MacPhee and science faculty members Andrew Karls, Paul Pickhardt and Greg Smith conducted their research through Lakeland Undergraduate Research Experience (LURE), a summer research program that has students and faculty working together. Lakeland LURE students have been presenting at the Marquette event regularly since 2005.
Augustine, a junior biology major from Kiel, Wis., worked with Pickhardt and his collaborators at Oak Ridge National Labs.
They looked at how trifluoroacetate, a so-called "forever chemical" in the PFAS family, makes its way into food webs and the effects it has on growth and reproduction. Their work refined preliminary experiments that were conducted in last year's LURE program and her experiments investigated the impacts of trifluoroacetate (TFA) on aquatic organisms at more environmentally relevant concentrations than in previous work.
Augustine is currently interested in doing graduate level research once she completes her Lakeland degree.
Brunner, a senior biology and chemistry/biochemistry double major from Glenbeulah, Wis., and Johnson, a senior biology and chemistry/biochemistry double major from Sheboygan, Wis., worked with Smith and his collaborator at Marquette. They examined how cells deal with stress by preferentially expressing genes involved in that stress response and sequestering others that are not involved.
Johnson is currently looking at physician assistant programs for her post-graduation plans. Brunner is currently exploring multiple science career options, and she so impressed a Marquette faculty member that she was told there is a spot for her in the research lab there if she would like to work toward a Ph.D.
MacPhee, a junior biology major from Marquette, Mich., advised by Karls, studied the frequency that deer ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. They found that at least 70% of those sampled carried the bacteria. MacPhee is considering a career in medicine and she will continue to work with Karls on a more cellular-focused project.
Learn more about the LURE program at the programās website.
