in thAs I’m writing this, I’m sitting at the airport waiting to fly home. Ytzae and I went to UO main campus with Nicole after dropping everyone else at the airport because our flights were later in the afternoon. I’m excited to go back home but at the same time a bit sad to leave my summer in Oregon behind. I know I will see some of my friends again because we live near and I’m happy for everything that I accomplished during my stay at OIMB. I mean I completed a research proposal, poster presentation, experiments, video analysis, professional development, and much more. This summer was full of discoveries, learning, and self-development and I couldn't be more proud and happy. This last week was pretty relaxed, I didn’t have much lab work to do other than labeling my data, sharing my notes, and helping set future projects in my lab. We went to Hall Lake on Wednesday which was one of my favorite summer days here. The place is beautiful and the weather was nice as well so we got to swim in the lake, play in the sand dunes and enjoy nature. We also had our posters symposium and although I enjoyed talking to everyone about my research, it was a bit awkward and tiring as it was my first time presenting at a poster session. I'm planning on presenting at future conferences too so it serve me as practice to know what to expect. To end the week we had a goodbye potluck with all of the mentors at Richard’s house. We ate tuna, some delicious quinoa salad, and cranberry pie. I said goodbye to George and Erin as well and it was a bit emotional but I’ll make sure we stay in touch. And just like that, my 9 weeks in Oregon are gone. I know all the knowledge and connections I made will stay forever and I’m excited to see what everyone does in the next chapter of life. Thank you so much NSF and OIMB for the support and for giving me this experience. I can’t think of a better way to combine learning, research, and adventuring than here.
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My main memory from week 8 is merely doing computer work for my poster. It involved a lot of editing photos with imageJ and organizing my thoughts. I also repeated the same experiment of fixing and staining barnacle embryos in their peristaltic stage but with CytB and Pronase-treated cells. Even though the posters are ready to review, we are still actively conducting research and planning experiments for next week. We are thinking of making a good timeline of the CytB treatments we did early this summer for reference in future projects, and to keep raising treated embryos till Friday. Outside of the lab, we had a very interesting professional development session about imposter syndrome and defining your identity. I learned a lot about myself, my social circle, and about my personality. I also learned that I identify myself with several things, but I dont fit in any of the imposter syndrome identities because I have a bit of each one. This workshop is helping me grow and understand myself better. On the fun side, this week my whole lab went to grab dinner at 7 devils, which seems to be everyone's favorite spot. We mainly discussed letters of recommendation, graduate school, and how to properly cook lobster mushrooms. We also did a crab boil with the Sought Slough interns on Saturday where we cooked around 50 invasive green crabs! Colleen and Sebastian have been collecting these crabs all summer for their studies so it was time to try them. It was so much fun to connect with everyone after a long week doing poster things. The girls and I also hit the food truck music festival in Charleston, and even though we got there at the end, almost every food truck there gave us free food. We ate spicy clam chowder, mini shrimps, ice cream, and fried bread. After that we had a spa night with snacks, face masks and good movie. Monday marks the beginning of my last week here. I have so many mixed feelings because I will miss this place and my cohort, but at the same time, I am ready to go back home and share my gained knowledge with my community. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Since I started drafting my poster and comparing pictures, I needed to go back and check what experiments I was missing to document. In between repeating experiments for the stages missing, preparing the CMLC presentation for Saturday, having the weekly REU sessions, and raising my embryos, we decided to start with a new experiment. We fixed embryos at their peristalsis stage and stained their DNA, actin, and myosin filaments. For visualization we used the confocal scope, which is similar to what Gina has been doing. This treatment was not new to us but it was the first time trying it with embryos at a very early stage, so we are still analyzing results and ways to mount slides without damaging the cells. I know this sounds like a lot and it was, but I enjoy having a productive week and with the arrival of a new scientist in the lab, Bill, the whole lab was very busy. I forgot to mention that Nicole and I helped Colleen with some field work too. We went to the South Slough estuary to set some traps for crabs in her project, and let me tell you, mud can be very fun, but not when you are stuck and you lose a boot. Still, that experience was amazing, memorable and fun. edTo end the work week, OIMB organized the invertebrate ball, and I'm gonna let you guess what Chloe and I dressed as (see picture below). Lisa and Debbie prepared some awesome treats and the PhD students decorated the dining hall with an under the sea theme. Now that I mention it, the girls and I went into town to celebrate Chloe`s 21st birthday which was so fun! This week we also celebrated Colleen`s birthday and we were able to go and listen to some live music at 7 devils. Some of us even participated in Coos Bay activities like the wine walk where we visit many small shops in downtown and had wonderful conversations with locals
For the CMLC presentation, Gina, Annika, and I dissected barnacles and showed the different stages of the embryos and larvae under the microscope. We showed a couple of videos from our projects and it was a really good practice of scientific communication and interaction with the public. Thanks to that, I feel more confident in public speaking and explaining science to general audiences. I`m so excited to have my poster ready and share it with you in 2 weeks! As promised, this work week went really nice, and I was more motivated and productive too. Part of this is because on Saturday Gina and I went on an incredible adventure to the Umpqua river and the sand dunes near Reedsport. The weather, the place, and even the music from the radio station were on point which made it very enjoyable. I'm still amazed to see the different landscapes Oregon has to offer like the beach, the sand dunes, the river, and lakes next to the green forest in the mountains, WOW! Also, on Sunday some of the REUs and I went to the wildlife safari in Bandon for a very cute experience with goats, deers, and other species, and to end week 5, we watch the iconic White Chicks movie. Having a fun weekend boosted my energy to start again on the right foot and with the return of Erin to the lab, everything started to get back in place. I've been getting lots of broods from the barnacles to do my experiments. I continue doing similar treatments (now working with PABA and pronase mainly) but in bigger groups and I've been growing them with penicillin and streptomycin as antibiotics to prevent the cells from getting bacteria. I also change the water every day and cover them to prevent dehydration. Some of the raised cells have achieved gastrulation successfully but there is no sign of a significant change yet. I believe we have to wait until the larvae stage to notice how the removal of the eggshell or the stop of the peristaltic contractions affects their biology. Although we didn't have a seminar on Wednesday, I engage myself with some library books about botanic plants and invertebrates. This will help me prepare for the upcoming invertebrate ball next week. I also started drafting my poster and taking stills from videos to use on it. To do that I learned how to use Fiji on ImageJ and some other computer skills. I am really looking forward to the last 3 weeks of my internship as there will be some different activities to do and in between that, I'll continue enjoying my time at OIMB, exploring the coast, and learning something new every day. See you next Monday! Halfway through our program, wow! As I'm writing this, I am monitoring barnacle embryos under a new drug treatment, which is Latrunculin. Latrunculin is another actin inhibitor but I’m still unsure about the effect it has in the cells because they are not behaving like they do with Cyt-B, nor having a consistent effect. I started treating bigger groups in dishes to raise them to their larvae stage and I’m waiting to see the results. I didn't consider all the things that can affect the cells when raising them like dehydration, bacteria, etc, so some of the treatments were purely experimental. The barnacles that I had this week weren't active enough and I ended up postponing a lot of my work because I`m pretty much dependent on their matings. To keep me busy, I checked sperm released under the microscope to see the form of the filaments. Luckily, Thursday I got new barnacles from the docks and I was able to set some time-lapses with their embryos. This week was kind of quiet and calm because all of my mentors were out of the city so Gina and I were working while listening to some music, practicing our presentations (they ended up being great), and decorating our lab with plants. Not being able to do my experiments effectively and all the waiting time between them made me feel as if I didn't progress much and that pushed my mental health down a bit. On to the fun side, the past weekend J`mie and I embarked on an unexpected adventure to North Bend where we ended up having great Chinese food and hanging around in a parking lot (that also didnt go as planned haha). For Victoria, Annika, Chloe, and I, weekends also mean movie nights. We watch our all-time favorites movies with snacks, and it's always a great time. I am really looking forward to this weekend as I haven't been feeling my best lately. I've been taking lots of walks to appreciate nature as it's very different from where I come from and that has helped clear my mind a lot. I know when things don`t go as planned we tend to get overwhelmed very easily, but a lesson that I learned this week is to, no matter what, try to take advantage of your surroundings and the opportunities in front of you. I love that in this program, I am learning how science really is. You can't always get successful results because for new discoveries to happen, there have to be failed attempts too, so I am not mad nor upset on how the week turned out. I am actually grateful because it allowed me to learn new lab techniques and improve the ones I already had. All I can tell you for now is I will keep trying my hardest and have fun in the process <3 If you are wondering if I did anything fun during the past weekend, the answer is yes! Our REU mentor Richard took us on a wonderful boat trip in the Pacific Northwest waters. I've been on boat trips before but never to collect species from a 170ft deep. I met the decorator crabs, many types of brittle stars, some cute shrimps, and soft coral with baby anemones on them. The downside of it was that I got very seasick and my stomach was weak for a couple of days :( I've been making a lot of new UO friends and the vibe at the bonfires is always amazing. Watching the sunset at the beach after a really nice and productive week is always my favorite part. Week 4 public seminar with Dr. Jim Carlton on marine invasions and macroplastics has been my favorite seminar so far. He explained how the historical Japanese tsunami of 2011 lead to the migration of species all the way to the Oregon coast. On Friday the 15th we went tide-pooling with Nicole and Erin to Qovhyax island to visit a cave on a -0.5 low tide. I loved it! We had so much fun, felt a few times, and saw many types of marine species. My research is going well. I continue doing the same experiments describe last week and the results we are getting lead us to new questions like if peristalsis is delaying the meiosis II pattern. The ideal result would be for the cells to stay in a spherical shape after the treatment and to continue their contractions and normal development. This would show that peristalsis is actually shaping the egg. It would be cool to grow the spherical eggs to see if the shape has anything to do with the way organs develop. I feel very confident conducting research now under the guidance of my lab mentor George and Erin, and I'm motivated to keep making good progress to create an awesome poster. Talking about posters, we also had a fun workshop about making effective presentations which I'll be testing next week in our proposal presentation along with my public speaking abilities. Good afternoon everyone! As I was reflecting on this past week, I realized how much I've accomplished and how much is yet to come. I feel so grateful to be experiencing all these things, especially along with amazing people that inspire me to be better. Last weekend I did a lot of cool things that I have been wanting to do since I got here. I went to downtown Coos Bay for a nice walk and explore the museums with an unexpected but valuable company. We also made a trip to Sunset Bay beach with some UO friends and we finally got to check out Bastendrof beach too. The OIMB picnic for the 4th of July was so fun and I tried awesome local cooked oysters. One of my favorite parts of the week was the Wednesday lunch with a scientist where we met Dr. Aaron Galloway. Listening to him talk about his academic path gave me a new perspective of what I will like for my future. I still want to attend graduate school and pursue my research, but I dont feel pressure to follow a traditional path or to only focus on research. I am hoping this summer I`ll discover more about my scientific and life interests and how to achieve them. On Tuesday we started the experiments that I describe last week for my project and after a couple of trial and errors, I finally got an idea of how these peristaltic contractions work and what they affect. We treated different broods of embryos with 2 amounts of cytochalasin B for 5,10,15, and 20 min before washing them with filtered seawater. We find out that it only takes about 3 minutes for the drug to take effect and stop the wavy motion. Some cells recovered completely, going back to their divisions in meiosis II and others had an interesting development after where they stayed spherical with minor contractions. We are still looking to find a good protocol to wash the cells without killing them, time them and get effective results. My experiments are pretty dependent on barnacle matings as we have to dissect the egg sacs very carefully and hard to know exactly if the eggs are fertilized or not because of the internal fertilization they have. Today we didn't get many matings and I couldn't treat cells with the drug, so to stay productive I took care of the sand dollar larvae (from week 1) and they are doing pretty well with some of them already going to their juvenile stage.
Because the weather is pretty nice these days, Erin and I went to the docks to get more barnacles for next week. Lastly, I got to work a lot on my research proposal and abstract which hopefully you will get to read soon. Greetings dear readers! I can't believe it's already July and that another week of my time in Oregon has gone by. I finally got a nice and steady routine that allows me to take advantage of the OIMB facilities like the new gym and library, which also works well with my time in the lab. I'm trying to get into morning walks before getting ready to go to the lab where we spend time watching gooseneck and acorn barnacles mate to dissect their embryos and practice different pipette methods. We use this to create slides and take images or time-lapses that are helpful to compare and watch their divisions and different stages. This week we also learned how to fix and stain embryos with a dye to see their DNA in the confocal scope. This has helped me decide on what my research question is going to be. I plan to spend the summer researching the effect of the peristaltic contractions in the early stages of barnacle embryos and how they can affect the development of the egg shell and membrane. I already have some ideas for the experiments I could conduct in this research. For example, using a drug to inhibit the wavy contractions in the cell and another one to accelerate them. Then take time lapses or timed pictures to compare them to a control experiment with a nontreated cell from the same brood and grow them to see if there are any significant changes. As a side project, I want to continue working on identifying the formation of the gastrula and raise the sand dollar larva Gina and I got on our first day. This week was very calm and although some days I felt that I didn’t do as great with the lab techniques as I thought I would, I try to remind myself to take it easy, appreciate the moments and learn something meaningful from each day. That mindset really boosted me up and I ended up going on amazing walks with some new UO friends and exploring more of the local restaurants and spots in Charleston. Today, Friday, our REU advisors Nicole and Erin took us to a tide-pooling activity in South Cove where I got to learn more about sea stars and sea urchins. Seeing the beautiful landscapes that the forest creates when it connects to the cliffs and beaches is breathtaking. Last weekend we had an amazing time at the Cape Arago camping trip which has been my favorite activity so far and I can’t wait to go camping again with my mates. Since this next weekend is a 3 day weekend, I plan to visit the Charleston Marine Life Center, Bastendorf beach, join the OIMB 4th of July picnic, and maybe watch the fireworks in Coos Bay. I'll update you on that next week :)
Hi! I am Sherlyn Sanchez, I'm a Mexican American first-generation student from San Diego CA. I'm currently a sophomore transferring from community college to UCSD to major in molecular and cell biology. I`m a very outdoorsy person. I love being in touch with nature, having adventures, learning from other cultures, and being near the ocean. I also genuinely enjoy helping others, and I tend to volunteer in my local food bank and orphanages whenever I can. That also forms part of my scientific interest. I am very curious about how nature and other species can be used as medicine to help improve the quality of human life. I decided to join the OIMB summer REU to expand my scientific knowledge, gain lab experience, explore different biology fields and careers, make connections and step out of my comfort zone. So far, it has been excellent. My lab mentor George von Dassow and his Ph.D. student Erin, have made learning fun and interesting. This intro week, we started learning about embryology and developmental biology of barnacles and sand dollars. We got to see the different stages from fertilization to the larvae stage. We also practiced making slides, using the microscope, taking images, and we did a little field trip to the lighthouse beach to collect barnacle samples for future experiments. I also started thinking about my research project, and a great idea my lab mentors had was to understand how and what cells work during the first divisions after fertilization and how those specific cells take place in gastrulation. With the REU team, we have had some interesting seminars and social events. This weekend we went camping at Sunset Bay. and we did an incredible hike, which allowed us to explore more of the Oregon coast and bond with the other interns. Camping is one of my favorite activities, and being able to do that along with new people was amazing. After our hike at Shore Acres National Park on Saturday, we spent the day at the beach. The water was really cold compared to southern CA, but I got to swim along with my lab partner Gina, and it was so much fun. The weather was nice too, and I was surprised when a lot of people told us that it was one of the best summer days Coos Bay has had this year. Another goal I have for this REU besides learning about marine biology and my research project is to learn more about oceanography, natural sciences, and graduate school. I plan on achieving this by connecting with more faculty here and exploring the University of Oregon library books. I'm excited about what this summer and OIMB have to offer. I am sure this experience will help me grow personally and professionally to become more equipped in biology and to discover more of my scientific interests. |
Sherlyn SanchezHello :) I'm Sher, a first-gen biology student transferring to UCSD and passionate about science. This summer I'll be working in George von Dassow`s lab doing barnacle embryology research. In this blog, I'll be sharing some of my adventures and life updates at the OIMB. Archives
August 2022
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