BIO ACNovember 18, 2004

Division of Integrative Organismal Biology

Outreach Activities

Melina HaleUniversity of Chicago

CAREER: Reticulospinal control of alternative startle behaviors

• Identification of a new form of startle behavior and startle neural circuit.

• Ecological and evolutionary implications for predator-prey interactions.

• Use of genetic approaches, combined with functional imaging, to suggest mechanisms for evolution of the startle circuit.

10 ms 12 ms 14 ms 16 ms 18 ms

0 ms 2 ms 4 ms 6 ms 8 ms

C-Start

35.535.133.131.229.2 s

37.5 39.5 43.4 45.4 47.3

Physiology of neurons with in vivo imaging Behavioral analysis of the startle response

Melina Hale Outreach: Sisters4Science

The Sisters4Science program provides minority middle school girls with scientific and leadership skills.

• Creates a safe space for girls to explore science and develop leadership skills

• Exposes girls to the wide variety of roles played by women in science

• Improves girls’ overall school performance by developing goal setting, decision making, and communication skills

Melina Hale Outreach: Sisters4Science

• The Scientific Toolbox: “Tools” scientists use to address questions.

• Research: Combining neurobiology & biomechanics to understand how animals move.

• Using state-of-the-art technology to address hypotheses on how we move.

Joel SnodgrassTowson University

Collaborative-RUI: Cellular, Physiological, and Life-history responses of a stream fish, Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atromaculatus), to Urbanization

Overall goals:1. Understand the response of

blacknose dace to watershed urbanization

2. Evaluate the role of rapid evolution in the adaptation of dace to the environment of urban streams

3. Promote the involvement of undergraduate students in research

4. Promote undergraduate interest in pursuing interdisciplinary research at the graduate level.

Joel SnodgrassObjectives for Undergraduate Involvement

• Ensure undergraduate involvement in all aspects of research

• Target underrepresented minorities in recruitment

• Promote long-term involvement– Exposing undergraduates to both

field and laboratory work– Frequent meetings where

undergraduates are involved in planning and discussions

Daniel Martinez, Pomona CollegeDiane Bridge, Elizabethtown College

Collaborative-RUI: Developmental Bases of Body Plan Diversity within the Phylum Cnidaria--A Comparison of Polyp and Medusa Development

Scientific Focus:– Examining development in the cnidarian (i.e., jellyfish, corals, hydra)

species Podocoryna carnea to test hypotheses about parallels and differences between polyp and medusa formation

– During the summer groups work together as a larger, collaborative laboratory, enhancing undergraduate training.

Daniel Martinez, Pomona College,Diane Bridge, Elizabethtown College

Collaborative Outreach supported by this award:– Project has involved 6 undergraduates who co-

authored two publications and a total of 6 presentations.

– Two undergrads attended the International Workshop on Hydra and the Evolution of Signaling Pathways, in Tutzing, Germany

– Of the undergrads involved, one is in graduate school, three are applying to graduate school, one to MD programs, and one to Vet/PhD programs.

Prior recruitment in the Martinez Laboratory:Of 33 undergraduate students taught, 12 are minorities. Of the

9 that have already graduated:– two are in graduate school, – one is in an MD/PhD program, – four are in medical school, one is applying, – one is studying abroad on an Avery Fellowship.