Intern Research Projects

Intern Research Projects

Eric Sibanda

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF A FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR IN THE REDUCTION OF OFF-FLAVOR IN ATLANTIC SALMON

Raising Atlantic salmon in recirculating aquaculture systems has led to significant economic growth in the fishing industry to improve sustainability.  These systems sometimes release compounds which unfortunately cause filets to acquire an off-flavor described as “earthy” or soil-like.  Currently, we are investigating, constructing, and testing a fluidized bed reactor to sequester these off- flavors, and determine its efficiency as opposed to the commonly used method called depuration in reducing these compounds (geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol).

Advisor: Matthew Stromberg (PhD student)

Julia Moya

SUMMER 2019 BIODIVERSITY OF INVERTEBRATES IN THE PATAPSCO RIVER

I am working to extract DNA from sessile community samples that were collected from 6 different sites along the Patapsco River. I am then using PCR so we can analyze the DNA sequences of all the invertebrate organisms in each sample. We will compare the sequences to one another to determine how similar or different they are, which will tell us if there is high biodiversity (more differences) or low biodiversity (few to no differences) in these areas.

Advisors: Dr. Eric Schott and Dr. Tsvetan Bachvaroff

Libby Gilmore

THE EFFECT OF ARAGONITE ON BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES IN CHICKEN LITTER

I am looking at the observed differences in bacterial species diversity in chicken litter that is treated with different levels of aragonite in order to describe a community of bacteria, using sequence data from a gene called the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, that contributes to ammonia production in chicken litter.

Advisors: Dr. Ernest Williams and Dr. Allen Place

Jacqueline Rogers

CREATING STERILE FISH BY DEAD END KNOCKDOWN IN THE PRIMORDIAL GERM CELLS OF ZEBRAFISH

I'm researching the stage at which dead end knockdown occurs during development. Dead end is a protein responsible for primordial germ cell migration which are precursors for sperm and eggs.

Advisor: Dr. Ten-Tsao Wong

Andrea White

GENDER SPECIFIC GENE EXPRESSION OF THE BLUE CRAB

I am working with blue crab antimicrobial peptides, more specifically crustins, to differentiate the antimicrobial peptide expression levels in the various body systems of the blue crab. I retrieved crustin DNA sequences from the blue crab genome, aligned them and amplified them for cloning.

Advisors: Dr. Tsvetan Bachvaroff and Dr. Sook Chung

Emma Yockman

A CHARACTERIZATION OF SUMMER MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN THE INNER HARBOR

This project looks to examine the biodiversity of microalgal species in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore MD. The sample being characterized is from the summer and will be compared to samples taken in the winter to further examine biodiversity changes across seasons.

Advisor: Dr. Feng Chen

Zoma Atnafou

TESTING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE BACTERIA FOUND IN HARBOR MUSSELS AND WATER

We are culturing bacteria found in mussels and the waters of Baltimore Harbor, and testing their antibiotic resistances. We are exploring the possibility of using mussels to filter out harmful bacteria, and make the harbor safe for recreational swimming. To do that, we are first looking at how successful the mussel is at filtering this species and how resistant the bacteria is to several antibiotics. Once we culture and select for antibiotic resistant bacteria, we use PCR and bacterial analysis to determine what type of antibiotic resistant bacteria inhabit the harbor, and how we might go about reducing their numbers.

Advisors: Dr. Khaled Geba and Dr. Eric Schott