Biology Research

Around Mason: Bugs, insects, and invertebrates of the Mason Nation

Lauren Reuscher — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:12:41 +0000

Around Mason: Bugs, insects, and invertebrates of the Mason Nation Lauren Reuscher Thu, 07/13/2023 - 09:12

The Marvel universe isn't the only place where insects and other invertebrates have superpowers. Mason faculty, staff, and students are studying and explaining the many roles these creatures play on our planet, learning more about a bug's life—and the big world surrounding them—every step of the way. Here's a recap of some of those stories.

SMSC student Spencer Harman (left) holds a monarch butterfly for tagging with guidance from Professor Joshua Davis. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh/Strategic Communications

Monarch butterflies teach us how to protect them through their grand migration

Many creatures migrate to warmer habitats for the winter, but no insect does so quite as uniquely and spectacularly as the monarch butterfly, an endangered species. Undergraduates from the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation‘s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation program tagged monarch butterflies on their journey south to help researchers better understand their grand migration. Read more.

Mason's honeybee apiary. Photo by Sierra Guard/Creative Services

Honeybees and their honey could help solve crimes

An unlikely collaboration between Mason’s Honey Bee Initiative and the new outdoor Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory could yield critical advances in forensic science. Read more.

The image on the left shows approximate human perception of flower color, and the image on the right depicts the bee-perceived color. Photo provided by Anna Siegle.

Bees can see ultraviolet (UV) colors, which are invisible to the human eye

When a bee sees a flower, it knows where to land thanks to its ability to see UV color patterns on the petals. A team at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation helps reveal what pollinators see, and why it matters for the future of conservation. Read more.

Ren Guerriero (left) and Mason student Matthew Perez study fruit flies in a neuroscience lab. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Fruit fly behavior may reveal the impact of genes and disease on sleep

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience Ren Guerriero's teaching lab in the College of Science is using fruit flies to learn about the impact of genes and disease on sleep. Undergraduate researchers are investigating novel sleep-related genes by manipulating them genetically to see how they affect sleep and activity behavior. Researchers are also increasing and decreasing sleep in Alzheimer's disease model flies to determine how this impacts their Alzheimer's symptoms.

Worms are soil magicians

Worm bin composting in Mason's Greenhouse and Gardens turns biodegradable waste into healthy soil. Watch the video tutorial featuring Doni Nolan, Greenhouse and Gardens program manager.

What's the Patriot's favorite dance move? The worm.

Photo credit:

Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

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Around Mason (E-Files)

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation

College of Science

Honey Bee Initiative

Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory

Forensic Science Program

Greenhouse and Gardens Program

Sustainability

Biology Research

Environmental Research

Alessandra Luchini honored by SCHEV with Outstanding Faculty Award

Melanie Balog — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:50:17 +0000

Alessandra Luchini honored by SCHEV with Outstanding Faculty Award Melanie Balog Thu, 01/12/2023 - 16:50

��AV’s Alessandra Luchini is among the 12 educators statewide set to be formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with a 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award.

Alessandra Luchini
Photo by Creative Services

Luchini, a professor in Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) within the College of Science, is Mason’s 28th faculty member to be so honored since the award’s inception in 1987.

“This has been unbelievable,” said Luchini, the director of the Biosciences PhD Program within the School of Systems Biology, “because it is the highest honor in Virginia, and there are so many thousands of faculty with huge impact in their research. It is a complete honor, and I am incredulous.”

Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize faculty at Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service. The award includes a $7,500 gift from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation when they are formally recognized at an in-person ceremony in Richmond on March 7.

Mark R. Ginsberg, Mason’s provost and executive vice president, lauded Luchini for her efforts.

“Professor Luchini is an exemplary member of the Mason faculty,” Ginsberg said. “I am delighted she has been recognized for her dedication to the education and development of her students and her outstanding and higher consequential research. She exemplifies the Mason spirit and is setting an example for future educators and scientists who will no doubt stand on her shoulders.”

Luchini’s research interests include developing technologies that improve current diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases, including cancer and inflammatory and infectious diseases.

She is a co-founder of Ceres Nanosciences Inc., which was created in 2008, and Monet Pharmaseuticals, created in 2019. In 2011, Luchini was named one of Popular Science’s Brilliant 10.

Most recently, Luchini contributed to the fight against Lyme disease by help leading a team of CAPMM researchers that was named one of 10 Phase 1 winners of the LymeX Diagnostic Prize by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

“Lyme disease is probably what I have been closer to,” Luchini said. “I interact with doctors who recommend patients for our clinical trials, I interact with patients and I hear their stories and, hopefully, my research allows them to understand a little bit more about what they have and how they can improve their health. It is a good reality check and a good reminder of why we do what we do—which is to help people.”

Outstanding Faculty Award nominees are selected by their institutions, reviewed by a panel of peers and chosen by a committee of leaders from the public and private sectors. SCHEV received 74 nominations this year before the group was narrowed to 24 finalists and the 12 eventual winners.

Learn more about systems biology at Mason

Visit the CAPMM website

CAPMM's mission is to create new technologies and make basic science discoveries in the field of disease pathogenisis and apply these discoveries and technologies to create and implement strategies for disease prevention, early diagnosis and individualized therapy.

Topics

SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award

College of Science

Lyme disease

Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM)

Road salt gets rid of ice, snow…and ecosystems? New student research addresses community-based solutions.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:47:36 +0000

Road salt gets rid of ice, snow…and ecosystems? New student research addresses community-based solutions. Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 04/28/2022 - 11:47

Learn more about SMSC

Road salt has been touted as a lifesaver when it comes to combatting icy roads. Yet using this snow-melting mineral has a dark side once it enters waterways. Graduating senior Maggie Walker, through the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC), is gathering data at local streams to influence change.

“When excessive road salts get into streams, they can have devastating effects on the ecosystems in the streams,” said Julia Sargent, director of programs at Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. “The salts impact vegetation and very small river life, and that in turn can have effects on larger life, like fish, and in high concentrations, those salts may not be filtered out by our water treatment plants.”

Maggie Walker, Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation student, collects water samples in Strasburg, Virginia to measure road water pollution. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/��AV

The Impact of Road Salts

Chloride pollution, which mainly comes from road salt, can also lead to corrosion, changed soil compositions, fish die-offs, algae blooms, and more, said Walker, who is partnering with Sargent’s organization for her SMSC practicum. “For people that need to be on low salt diets, they can actually exceed their daily salt requirement just from their drinking water, so that can end up being a health concern.”

Walker’s research is assessing the scope and impact of road salts locally.

Walker, an Honors College student studying biology, selected four streams near urban land cover, including sidewalks, parking lots, and cities, that are likely to be vulnerable to chloride pollution. For five weeks this semester, she has been heading to those streams to record the water temperature and collecting samples of stream water to measure chloride levels.

“It’s important that we establish what are the baseline levels of chloride in our waterways,” Walker said. “That way we can test it throughout the years, throughout the seasons, see when levels fluctuate, when they’re highest, how road salting events impact the water quality.”

Walker measures the chloride levels using a QuanTab strip. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Engaging the Community

There’s also a community aspect to the project that Sargent said Walker helped inspire.

“I’m creating a survey about people’s attitudes and behaviors toward road salt and road salt usage,” said Walker, which aligns with her interest in the intersection of conservation, human well-being, and community involvement. “We’re hoping to disseminate it to people who live in the North Fork… and then ultimately, using the data, determine one behavior to target for change.”

Though changing behavior and reducing road salt usage is outside the scope of this semester, Walker said the research is an important first step.

Walker, who is originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she chose ��AV because she wanted to attend a school with excellent research opportunities, like SMSC.

“This program is helping me develop a lot of skills in a wide variety of areas within conservation that I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Walker said. “My experience at SMSC has been really awesome.”

“Getting to hear from and work with so many different conservation professionals is really inspiring,” Walker said, adding that they actively engage with students.

It’s rewarding for mentors, too.

“It’s been inspiring to get to know and work with these young people who are just getting their start along their career paths in conservation,” Sargent said. “Seeing their passions and being a part of that process is a big honor.”

SMSC is not an opportunity to pass up.

“If you are even remotely interested in conservation, you should definitely make every effort you can to come out and enjoy SMSC,” Walker said. “It really sets you up for success in conservation [by] introducing you to all the opportunities and allows you to explore things while you’re still in college.”

“If you’re a conservation-minded person, this is definitely the place to be.”

Maggie Walker collects water samples in Strasburg, Virginia to measure salt water pollution. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/��AV

Topics

Smithsonian

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation

Conservation

Conservation Biology

Undergraduate Education

biology

Biology Research

College of Science

experiential learning

Campus News

Students

What’s in a cell? Mason team analyzes genomes to support conservation, cloning project

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 22:05:47 +0000

What’s in a cell? Mason team analyzes genomes to support conservation, cloning project Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 04/15/2021 - 18:05

Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned black-footed ferret at 48-days old. Credit: USFWS National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center

Black-footed ferrets were once thought to be extinct, until a small population was discovered in Wyoming in 1981. The species is still endangered, but scientists—including a ��AV researcher and students at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC)—are coming to the rescue.

In December 2020, Willa, a black-footed ferret who died in 1988, was cloned using her cells that had been frozen. That clone, Elizabeth Ann, is now the first North American endangered species to be cloned in the United States. Senior Research Scientist Klaus-Peter Koepfli conducted critical research on her genetic cell line.

“As conservation geneticists, we try to understand how much variation there is and inform conservation breeding best practices,” Koepfli said. “This really is a revolution in terms of how we can use new tools to help endangered species.”

Revive and Restore, the organization that spearheaded the cloning project, sequenced and analyzed the genetic material (or genome) of Willa’s cell cultures. The cell cultures serve as a way to grow and study cells outside their native environment, and are used to help scientists better understand the species’ physiology and biochemistry.

Klaus-Peter Koepfli

Recognizing Koepfli’s extensive expertise in applying genomics to conservation, the organization asked him and SMSC to further analyze that data, compare it to the previous genome of Willa’s cells, and to other black-footed ferrets.

“What we found is that Willa is contributing variants that we don’t see in any other black-footed ferrets [through Elizabeth Ann],” Koepfli said. “That’s where the cloning is becoming important—if we can clone other cell lines, we can contribute additional new variation to the black-footed ferret population.”

“This research is everything to me,” said senior biology major Marcus Dooley, who assembled the mitogenome of 49 ferrets to compare genetic differences within their sequences. “Being able to live my childhood dream by helping support an endangered species is priceless.”

In the future, the genomic data could potentially be used for other conservation efforts, Koepfli said, such as understanding and minimizing the presence of damaging genetic mutations, and even reengineering a species’ immune system to become resistant to deadly diseases.

Marcus Dooley. Photo provided.

“That sounds like blue-sky thinking, but with gene-editing technology and the tools we have today, it’s in the realm of possibility,” Koepfli said. “There’s still a lot of research that needs to be done to understand this, and we’re trying to help with our genome analysis program.”

Koepfli said he began working with black-footed ferrets in 2017, and started the genomic analysis program when he worked at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. He’s since brought the program to SMSC, where students can be part of this research that helps save endangered species.

Dooley, who attended SMSC in Fall 2020, said he plans to pursue a career in conservation. He feels Mason’s program is setting him up for success.

“The best part is how immersive the [SMSC] courses are,” Dooley said. “Everything you learn is applicable to the conservation profession and you are constantly out in the field performing hands-on activities to help prepare you for that line of work.”

He adds: “If you’re passionate about the environment and conservation, and truly want to pursue a career in this field, SMSC is the best option.”

Topics

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)