Taylor Harwood worked with Dr. Gary Mabbott at the University of St. Thomas. His research was on pollutants in Minnesota lakes. He developed and carried out a procedure to isolate and identify pollutants using gas chromatography. He was invited to present his paper at the University of Minnesota Symposium.
Rebeka Ndosi worked with Jane Phillips at the Center for Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota. She isolated DNA from three species of yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces sp, and Candida albicans. She grew and isolated these yeasts, which meant that she had to make up petri dishes and media, as well as mixed reagents. She used centrifugation to isolate the DNA from the cell, and then she lysed the cells with hot water and reagents. In order to separate the DNA she used electrophoresis to observe the DNA strands.
Nicole Nelson worked with women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer on a new procedure to biopsy the cancer. The new procedure is a stereotactic large core 14-gauge needle biopsy of the breast versus the conventional open biopsy. The conventional biopsy has a larger incision with more tissue removal, which results in a larger scar. Nicole designed an outcome analysis and ran the survey on 100 sample women patients who had a double study of both procedures. From the patients, she found that the table needed revisions and more anesthesia should be used. The women preferred the stereotactic needle biopsy three to one. At the end of the survey, 100 women were invited back to discuss the results of the analysis and the double study and to discuss reactions of other patients. Nicole coordinated this event as well.
Kate Nickel worked at the Grand Metropolitan Technology Center with Dr. Patricia Sackett. Her project involved studying packing material, which would help retain b-carotene in foods. She studied how light affected the b-carotene contents of foods when wrapped in three different plastic films. She found that light in a grocery store was not strong enough to have a significant effect on b-carotene in foods. She concluded that any type of packaging could be used.
Dan Pakonen worked with Professor Al Yonas at the Institute of Child development at the University of Minnesota. He studied depth perception using similar and different figures to see which created a larger depth effect. Dan says that working with a University professor was a wonderful learning experience. He especially liked designing his own apparatus and testing procedure. He plans to pursue a science related major as a result of his experience.
Murisiku Raifu worked Research Apprentice Program at the University of Minnesota. He worked with Dr. Joseph Yost in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroanatomy. Muri studied the effects of b-aminopropio-nitrile fumerate on the embryonic development of spinal cord in the African Toad, Xenopus laevis. He found that it causes a condition known as bent-axis, which is improper formation of the spinal cord in the tadpole.
Rochelle Thomas worked with Dr. Hank Fekoi in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. Rochelle conducted an experiment using fruit flies where she determined their longevity under different environmental conditions. She was the first person to use some new equipment, which made her experiment more accurate, and less time consuming.
Tatiana Slingeland worked with Dr. Gary Reineccius at the Food Science and Nutrition lab at the University of Minnesota. She sought to find the activation energy for 2-acetyl-1-pyroline, which gives an aroma of popcorn that is present in many foods. She took a sugar solution of an amino acid and heated it for different lengths of time, concentrates the extracts and then uses gas chromatography to find the areas of the peak to determine the activation energy of forming compound.
