Koski Family University Fellowship

As part of the Koski Family University Fellowship, I conducted research on neurodegeneration using the nematode worm C. elegans as a model to study α-synuclein aggregation, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease. Over the course of the summer, I developed an imaging and analysis workflow involving confocal microscopy, fluorescence imaging, and quantitative assessment using ImageJ and RStudio.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s affect millions worldwide, with no known cure. These diseases are characterized by extensive neuronal loss, and despite there being multiple contributing factors to this loss, a phenomenon known as oxidative stress appears to be a key driver of pathology. Oxidative stress arises when there is an imbalance between the production and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells and tissues, and the ability of a biological system to employ antioxidative strategies to detoxify these ROS.

Polar Amplification (PA) has caused a significant warming trend in Alaska, with temperatures rising by 3°F compared to a more modest 1.8°F increase in the contiguous United States since approximately 1900 (Stewart et al., 2022). In the context of this escalating impact on delicate ecosystems, tree-ring studies in boreal forests can serve as invaluable tools for decoding regional climate patterns.

My summer fellowship investigates caregiver and child engagement by investigating potential factors that boost enjoyment and attention during the joint experience. Joint booking reading experiences can be seen as a three-way interaction between child, caregiver, and book content. Data was collected from a self-reported online survey, distributed by Prolific, a UK-based online research platform.

A limited bedding and nesting (LBN) paradigm, rodent model for chronic early-life stress (ELS), was conducted during postnatal day (PND) 2-9 with 4 litters of Sprague Dawley rats (n = 51). On PND 24, weaning, one litter from LBN and Control were combined by sex and were put into Extra Enrichment (EE) housing (n = 27) and the other LBN and Control litter were pair housed by sex and litter and had Normal Enrichment (NE) housing (n = 24).

The purpose of this project was to analyze and digitize information pertaining to the collection of Mesopotamian burials held at St. Lawrence University under Dr. Mindy Pitre, excavated from Tell Leilan, Syria between 1979 and 1991 under the direction of Yale professor Dr. Harvey Weiss.

In this project, I wrote functions for scraping data from SLU student evaluation PDFs, created an interactive Shiny app displaying this data, and performed ordinal logistic regression to examine the relationship between student evaluations and student class year and sex.

Domestic dogs, with their complex olfactory system, are used for a variety of detection work. The application of detector dogs for wildlife data collection is extremely beneficial in areas where traditional methodologies, such as visual encounter surveys, may not be efficient. In many research projects involving these canines, the dog handlers belong to consulting agencies and are not tasked with publishing methodologies.

Early life stress (ELS) is considered a risk factor for the development of psychiatric conditions, including depression and anxiety disorder. Individuals living in adverse environments are exposed to multiple stressors simultaneously, such as neglect, maltreatment, and limited resources.

Characterized by a gradual disintegration of the neuronal network, neurodegeneration lies at the crossroads of numerous pathologies such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disorders, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and others. While the cause of neurodegeneration is often multifactorial in nature (e.g., genetic, age, environmental factors), oxidative damage tends to be a common denominator in the process.

Thanks to the generosity of St.

The overall goal of the summer research project is to write a literature review with annotated bibliography on the effects of thyroid hormone and cortisol on the amphibian immune system.