Explorations in Chemistry and Biology

Two Beloit and Beyond presentations took place during the block of Explorations in Chemistry and Biology, moderated by Chemistry department head Dr. Kristin Labby. The first presenter, Marta Zholnerchyk’27, described her research experience with the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in Cardiovascular Sciences (SureCV) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this year. Zholnerchyk’s presentation was titled “Investigating Smooth Muscle Cell Changes in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA).” Her working hypothesis under principal investigator Dr. Bo Liu assumed that the KAT2B protein in the abdominal aorta promoted the inflammatory response leading to weakening of the aorta, swelling of blood, and eventual rupture. It turned out that KAT2B protein expression decreased during the progression of the induced AAA, so the experiment did not provide the results that Zholnerchyk and the rest of her team were expecting. In her own words, Marta said, “I learned how to be okay with your research not working out … That’s what research is for!”

The second presenter, Malaika Parpart’28, described her work with the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program of Ecology in Human-Dominated Landscapes at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio during this past summer. Working with mentors Dr. David Berg and Dr. Andrew Cannizzaro, Parpart studied amphipod phylogenetics and biogeography of small freshwater crustaceans of the Sicifera genus. Parpart and her team hypothesized that the named species Sicifera bifurca actually contained multiple distinct species which were genetically distinct from one another. That primary hypothesis was supported by the genetic analysis that she conducted, and in fact the team identified eight new species of amphipod which were previously all thought to be part of the bifurca species. The study also led to a new hypothesis of genus movement from south to north across North America, because the discovery of the new species allowed for new taxonomical evaluation of speciation. Finally, Malaika recommended to any budding researchers in the room that they should “take every opportunity you can get to do a crazy sidequest,” as she greatly appreciated learning about and assisting with the research that peer undergraduates were also conducting throughout the program.

_{Featured image: Beloit College}