Originally from Idaho, I'm a third-year graduate student in the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Oregon. During Extreme 2003, I will be collecting samples of the Pompeii worm and performing experiments.
What kinds of questions will you try to answer, and why?
Using bacteria from extreme environments has given us important insights about basic biological processes. But there are some processes which take place in the cells of higher organisms like humans and worms which don't happen in bacteria. Since the Pompeii worm may be the most heat-tolerant eukaryote on the planet, it is a source of heat-stable proteins for studying eukaryotic-specific processes.
In addition, I would like to determine, at the molecular level, what temperature the Pompeii worm is actually feeling in its normal habitat. In order to do this, I will be using DNA microarray technology to look at the expression of different genes in various parts of the worm, especially ones that respond to heat called (appropriately enough) heat-shock genes.
Why is this research important? What are the benefits?
Some scientists believe that life on Earth may have originated at hydrothermal vents, where organisms can thrive in what we on the surface consider quite extreme, toxic conditions. Determining how the Pompeii worm deals with extremes of heat, pressure, and chemistry will give us insights into how life can evolve to live at hydrothermal vents.
What's your background and what lured you into marine science/education?
I have been interested in science for quite a long time, and since fifth grade wanted to work in genetics — I visited a local biotechnology lab for a field trip and thought that loading DNA into agarose gels was just about the coolest thing ever. (I still enjoy doing it!) Growing up near the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem gave me many wonderful opportunities to learn about local biology and geology. In high school, I spent several summers working in a lab that tested and certified seed potatoes for viruses, and a few more summers in college were spent in fellowship positions in biotechnology at southern Idaho's national lab. This sort of experience is vital for determining what sort of work you actually want to do, and I recommend at least one internship for anyone who is interested in science. I earned my bachelor's degree in molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Idaho, where I was fortunate to do undergraduate research in chemistry and in genetics.
My Ph.D. adviser, Andy Berglund, first lured me to the world of the Pompeii worm while I was a first-year graduate student searching for a place for my third rotation. His presentation on his work from the Extreme 2001 expedition made me determined to study this fascinating critter! Most of my work in the Berglund Lab at the University of Oregon involves pre-mRNA splicing (an important step in the conversion of genes into proteins), and the Pompeii worm is one of several organsims whose splicing machinery I'm studying.
