The awardees and honorable mentions for the 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) competition were recently posted and several Biology graduate students were recognized. Biology PhD student Emerson Conrad-Rooney of the Templer Lab was awarded with a 3-year graduate research fellowship. Biology PhD student Christine Carroll of the Fiszbein Lab and Biology MS student Benjamin Recchia of the Spilios Lab received honorable mentions.
Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and land-use change release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, leading to climate change. Across North America, carbon dioxide uptake by terrestrial ecosystems offsets ~40% of these annual carbon (C) emissions, but this C sink may be threatened by climate change. It is unknown how the combination of increased growing season temperatures and a smaller snowpack in winter impacts rates of net C sequestration by forests. Emerson will utilize the Climate Change Across Seasons Experiment (CCASE), which was established at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire in 2012, to study the effects of climate change across both the growing season and winter on temperate forest ecosystems. This experiment includes two reference plots, two plots that are warmed 5°C during the growing season with buried heating cables, and two plots that are warmed during the growing season and experience soil freeze/thaw cycles caused by removal of snow in winter. They will utilize dendrometer bands (metal bands loaded with a spring and placed around trees) to measure radial growth of trees and, using allometric equations, will scale up radial growth to total aboveground biomass and ecosystem level C in tree biomass over time. Together, their work will allow them to determine whether there is a significant effect of changing temperatures in the growing season and winter on net C sequestration in temperate forests over time.
In the Fiszbein lab, Christine aims to understand how a multi-promoter architecture evolved and what rules govern its mechanisms of regulation. The lab has produced data across many cell lines that show downstream promoters having a higher relative usage than upstream promoters. In the lab, she uses CRISPR-based technology and related genetic engineering methods to perturb promoters both endogenously and exogenously in order to assess the effects on transcription at surrounding promoters. Using a combination of experimental and computational tools, she works to define new mechanisms governing AP usage.
Zoos and aquariums have a sordid history, but modern zoological centers are striving to fulfill newfound missions focused on conserving endangered species. Many zoos and aquariums promote conservation through signs, videos, and live presentations. These passive learning opportunities have become staples of the zoo/aquarium experience, but they have limited educational value. While many active learning opportunities already exist in zoos and aquariums (e.g. observing foraging behaviors, developing enrichment, deciphering animal communication), they have not yet been curated for visitors, which has thus far prevented studies of their educational value. Benjamin’s research focuses on assessing the educational value of online zoology modules that connect learners to these unique active learning opportunities at zoos and aquariums. He is currently working with Dr. Kathryn Spilios of BU’s Instructional Biology Office to design four online animal behavior modules connected to active learning opportunities at the New England Aquarium and Zoo New England. Their goal is to give BU students taking Biology I and Animal Behavior opportunities to engage with these modules prior to completing an animal behavior laboratory challenge. He will be analyzing student engagement with the modules with respect to their mastery of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for his master’s thesis.
Congratulations to the awardees and honorable mentions on your hard work and this well-deserved honor.