Thesis Thursday

Hello! My name is Ciara Himes and I'm a rising junior majoring in molecular and cellular biology, with minors in astrobiology and biochemistry. I have been working in the Baltrus lab for about a year now, researching horizontal gene transfer in megaplasmids. Not much is known about the horizontal transfer of certain genes in the family of megaplasmids that I'm studying, so my research aims to uncover the importance of one of these genes and how deleting it from the megaplasmid might affect the host's phenotype. Working in the Baltrus lab and being in the Undergraduate Biology Research Program has taught me valuable skills in conducting research and in communication. When I'm not in the lab, I like to have fun with my friends and explore Tucson. On my own, I like to read (usually Sci-Fi), make my own jewelry, or hang out at the Scented Leaf on East University.

Hello! My name is Esha Mathur. I am a rising junior at the University of Arizona. I am majoring in Biology with an emphasis in Biomedical Sciences, and minoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Since the summer of 2022, I have been working with Dr. Julie Armin to understand how policies affect cancer care access for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD). My time in Dr. Armin’s lab inspired me to do my part to aid this marginalized community. Last year, I began working with autistic children as a behavior technician. I have gotten to see first-hand the challenges individuals with IDD and their families face. I hope to continue to make a positive difference in the IDD community both in and outside of the lab! In my free time, I love exploring Tucson’s hiking trails with my dog, Buddy. My favorite is Tanque Verde Falls, where there are almost always pools of water to enjoy! I also love making jewelry. You can often catch me making a pair of earrings at a local coffee spot!

My name is Veronica Hode, a Biochemistry major at the University of Arizona. It's been almost a year now since I joined the Porreca and Navratilova lab through UBRP. Our lab focuses on understanding the factors that bring about pain, with emphasis on neuropathic pain, visceral pain, and pelvic pain. We particularly focus on understanding the prevalence of pain in females because women are prone to experiencing pain more often than men. The project I work on focuses on elucidating the role of prolactin in endometriosis-associated pain. Endometriosis affects women in the reproductive age group and can cause severe pelvic pain. Figuring out the part that prolactin plays in endometriosis-associated pain may help in developing treatment solutions for women affected by this condition. When I am not in the lab, I enjoy staying home, watching various tv shows, reading books and webtoons, cooking, and dancing with my sister.

My name is Allan Paxson. I am of the Hopi and White Mountain Apache Native American tribes in Northern and Eastern Arizona, respectively. I am currently in my third year at the University of Arizona majoring in Physiology and Medical Sciences with a minor in Educational Psychology. My current research project is within the Cress Lab at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Right now, I am working on identifying compounds that will eradicate smooth muscle-invasive tumor cells using cell viability assays. In my free time, I enjoy working with student-athletes at the Kasser Sports Medicine Center as an Athletic Training Technician and enjoy trying new art techniques such as pottery, drawing, painting, and writing. Also, I can’t forget to mention that my other favorite activity is trying out local Tucson coffee shops and restaurants #supportlocal!

Hello! My name is David Jurkowitz and I am a junior studying biochemistry and Hebrew. I work in the Wheeler lab, which applies computational biology tools to genomics, biological sequence annotation, and drug discovery. My current project looks at computationally predicting binding pockets in proteins, which is done through comparing measurements of amino acid sequence conservation with known or predicted structural data. Through my lab, I have learned to code in Python, manipulate protein structures with pymol, and run scripts on the university's high performance computing cluster. When not in classes or lab, I am often at the Hillel building or Olami house, two of the Jewish centers on campus, on a hike or bike ride, or planting trees around the city with Tucson Clean and Beautiful.

My name is Ariel Cheng and I am a junior majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Theater. I have been working with Dr. Jana U'Ren at the BIO5 institute on campus for almost a year now. With her lab, I have been able to travel to Toolik Field Station, an isolated research station in Alaska, where I conducted fieldwork for my independent project! I am currently working on identifying the fungal community found in Alaskan wild berries. These berries benefit both indigenous people and native wildlife. With my project, I hope to raise more awareness about how these communities may or may not protect these berries against climate change. When I'm not conducting research, I am out and about exploring the world around me! Currently, my hobbies consist of mushroom scavenging, paleontology, modeling and acting!

Hello! My name is Christopher Sterzinar, and I am a Senior majoring in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science at the University of Arizona. I work in Dr. Carol Barnes' lab, where we focus on understanding how the brain changes across the course of aging and how this influences the processes of learning and memory. My current project involves identifying the age-related differences in brain activity between young and old rats as they complete a cognitive task. In my time outside of the lab, I enjoy baking, drawing, and hanging out and chatting with friends. Additionally, I organize gaming tournaments for individuals across Arizona!

Hi there, my name is Ryan Bowser and I'm currently an undergraduate studying Molecular and Cellular Biology, with a minor in Biochemistry. I joined Dr. Carol Gregorio's lab through the Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP), and I immediately fell in love with our research! The Gregorio lab studies interactions of cardiac muscle proteins such as leiomodin (Lmod), to better understand the regulation of muscle contractions. Although it can sound complicated, we are really just trying to better understand how our hearts work, so we can help more people with cardiovascular disease. Outside of the lab, I enjoy running, baking sourdough bread, and coding fun projects with Python!

My name is Alexis Henderson, and I am a Junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. On campus, I volunteer in the Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center (ASTEC), work as an Athletic Training Technician with McKale Center, and perform research. I have been researching biomechanics with Dr. Kristen Renner for over a year, and participated in the Undergraduate Biology Research Program through her lab during the past summer. In the lab, I use motion capture to gather kinetic and kinematic data on human movement, which can then be analyzed and applied to predict injury risk. My main focus is applying this knowledge to athletes, as my goal is to enter an MD/PhD program to become an orthopedic surgeon with a sports medicine emphasis. This summer, I will be researching abroad in Canada with the BRAVO program, investigating injuries in disc golf athletes, and how studying their full-body mechanics can prevent further damage. I am very excited to learn more about the field of sports medicine and apply my skills as a future surgeon and researcher to help athletes prevent and recover from injuries.

My name is Summer Blunk and I am a current senior undergraduate in the department of molecular and cellular biology. I am originally from Southern California and moved to Tucson for college. Some of my hobbies include cooking, dirt bike riding, off roading and playing video games. I originally came to UA as a biomedical engineering major, but within my first year I realized I was much more interested in Biology than the engineering. I changed my major to MCB and have been excited about Biology ever since. I currently work in the Nagy lab on campus and we are most interested in developmental biology and evolution. I am currently applying to graduate schools and have three interviews coming up! I am very excited to continue my career as a scientist.

Hello, my name is Jacqueline Larson and I am currently a junior majoring in Public Health with a minor in Studio Art. In high school, I had a lot of fun planning and participating in community events in my hometown Nogales, Arizona. I designed and helped paint a mural in a newly built community center in Winchester Heights, and collaborated with the local art gallery at an event my high school healthcare club hosted that’s purpose was to improve communication between teens and their parents. Through this, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in which I would help improve the lives of others and that art expression is a way to bring a community together, so my goal is to be able to combine my love for art with public health. I joined UBRP in the summer of 2022 and it has been an adventure of being exposed to and learning many different things. I am part of EHS-TRUE and joined Dr. Beamer’s lab focusing on her EPA Soil and Dust Ingestion in children study where we complete surveys with parents of children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years to determine how much soil and dust is ingested during children’s natural play. We also complete in-house visits where we set up audio and visual recording for the child’s natural playtime and then we also collect an initial and final hand rinse, dust samples, vacuum sock sample, soil samples, and hand tracing to measure the surface area of the child’s hands. I am also working on my own project of finding a standardized mouth surface area among adults. In my free time I enjoy reading fictional books, watching movies, and spending time with loved ones.  

Hi! My name is Suetmui (“Suit-moi”) Yu, and I am a junior majoring in Physiology at The University of Arizona. I joined Dr. Ningning Zhao’s lab at the beginning of the Spring 2021 semester. Since then, I have been working in the Zhao lab to study the metabolism and homeostatic regulation of manganese–a nutrient that is essential for life. My current project involves using an animal model to understand how changing the levels of manganese intake might alter the expression of a manganese transport protein in the body. Results from this project may give a better understanding of this protein’s function and how a defect in this protein leads to dysregulated manganese metabolism. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, reading books, watching Asian dramas, and working on projects for The TEA Proposal (a community organization that aims to help high school students from underserved areas gain access to resources).

Tomasz Wlodarczyk is a PhD student pursuing a degree in Environmental Science at the University of Arizona with a minor in Renewable Natural Resources. His research focuses on the identification and study of native plant species that accumulate and tolerate heavy metals. In his PhD program, Tomasz is collaborating with researchers from The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the intersection of phytoremediation and green chemistry. He also conducts research within the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining at the University of Arizona (CESM) and is a recipient of the Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society (SAEMS) scholarship.

The University of Arizona’s Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) is an apprenticeship-style training program that teaches students the conduct of scientific research by pairing them with faculty in the biological sciences. Students are paid, to help support them through college, and they present their research findings at the annual UBRP Conference, which will be held this year on Saturday, January 21, 2023 in person, on campus.  For details and to RSVP, please visit https://ubrp.arizona.edu/. UBRP Director Jennifer Cubeta has always found beauty and wonder in the natural world around her.  As a first-generation college student, Jennifer completed a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in General Biology, as well as one in Science Education, which has enabled her to share her excitement about biology with others as an educator.  Jennifer taught seventh-grade life science, served as an academic advisor for the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and was originally introduced to UBRP as an undergraduate participant.  Jennifer joined the program as Assistant Director in 2013, became Director of UBRP in January 2018, and continues to enjoy helping college students learn science through the conduct of biological research.  In her spare time, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, cook, travel, and play music at her church.

My name is Jessika Mesa and I am a Graduate student in the Environmental Science department. I am extremely passionate about science communication and exploring environmental issues. I cannot wait to complete my research on Project Harvest and explore more opportunities in my career field. The soil shop @ Project Harvest  

“Hi everyone, my name is Cristobal, a senior at The University of Arizona studying Physiology and Medical Sciences. Although I was born in Tucson, I spent most of my childhood in Oaxaca, Mexico with its unique environment which stimulated my curiosity and led me to pursue research in Environmental Health. Fortunately, while at the UofA I was able to join Dr. Paloma Beamer’s lab where we study the environmental effect of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) released from Beauty Salons and Mechanic Shops in Tucson, Az. While at the university, my involvement in her lab and being part of the MexZona organization have cemented my ideas of pursuing a career in Medicine”

Hi! My name is Jaeman Kim, and I am a junior at the University of Arizona studying Physiology and Medical Sciences. I joined Dr. Kuhns’ lab in the Immunobiology Department in May 2022 through the Undergraduate Biology Research Program where I am currently working on an assay that helps identify T-cells via their interactions with peptide-specific major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs) with the hopes of being able to provide a more effective way of identifying T-cells than the widely used tetramer assay. Outside of research, I am also involved in the Pre-Health Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association as its Treasurer, and our club provides pre-health opportunities for undergraduates as well as advocating for Asian cultural awareness. During my free time, I enjoy spending time with friends, playing games, and singing my lungs out in the car.  

Hi, my name is Sun Woo Kim and I’m a junior this year majoring in Physiology as well as Molecular and Cellular Biology with minors in Biochemistry and Emergency Medical Services. I am currently in a behavioral neurophysiology lab with Dr. Gothard. We are studying brain development during adolescence by tracking behavior, hormonal, and physiological changes in Macaca mulatta. Some of the questions that I’m asking are: how much are they willing to wait for a bigger reward? How much are they willing to be generous to others? How do their impulses and prosocial behavior change during adolescence? In my free time, I like to play clarinet and ukulele and make a vlog of my day! I also love star gazing and camping!

Kira Zeider is a Tucson native who obtained double bachelor’s degrees in chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Arizona (UA) and then continued into the UA’s chemical engineering graduate program, where she is a third-year doctoral student. She has been selected as a Herbold Fellow, Richard A. Harvill Fellow, and Superfund Research Training Core Trainee for her multi-disciplinary research in aerosol-cloud-meteorology interactions and mining impacts on local communities. Her 2021 community science publication on utilizing plant leaves as low-cost air quality monitors was selected as one of 35 NIEHS Papers of the Year.  

Hi my name is Will Peterson! I’m a proud Tucson local born and raised up in the Foothills. I spent my first year of college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I realized I can’t stand the cold and transferred back home to the U of A. I am now in my fourth year here at the university studying Biomedical Science in the College of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Applied Biotechnology. I was super fortunate to join the Sutphin Lab in early 2021 where we use the model organism C. elegans to study the aging process and potential genetic and pharmaceutical interventions to delay the onset of the aging process. Outside of the lab I recently began working with KEYS research program recruitment through the BIO5 ambassadors internship to get Arizona high schoolers involved in biological research. I like to spend my free time hanging out with my dog Leo, cheering on the Packers and Bucks, and training for my first half-marathon in December!