OSCAR Student Olga Kukudzhanova Builds a Web Tool to Help Students Understand How Genetic Information in Large DNA Sets can Diagnose Diseases

My name is Olga Kukudzhanova, and I am a rising sophomore pursuing a Computer Science degree in the Volgenau School of Engineering. For my Summer Impact project, I am working to build a web tool that can help students understand how genetic information in large DNA data sets can be used to diagnose diseases. This requires our team to design a basic undergraduate course structure and incorporate that into a web tool that can act somewhat like a virtual lab. In short, the goal of this project is to develop a disease model based on bioinformatics identified in blood from patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a rare lung disease.

The concept of writing a webtool got me interested in this project. I wanted to have a hands-on experience coding a webtool by connecting different programming languages and statistical programs to provide the students with a tool that can help them with their studies in bioinformatics. I was also interested to work with analyzing big data.

During this project, I often delve deep into the code for the web tool, working to ensure that it accurately reads the user input files. With the proper read, the code can then continue to identify the associations of genes in the input file and output calculations done on the genes based on the user’s preferences. In addition, I also work on the user interface portion of the webtool. Furthermore, I test and analyze the code to find ways to make it run more efficiently.

While writing the program, I discovered the basic construction of genes and how they operate in the presence of a disease. I learned the importance of understanding the basics of genetics and the concerns for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis before preparing to write the code. With the discoveries I had, I am able to understand more about the applications of Computer Science and how it can be utilized to make progress in research.

OSCAR Student Christopher Martin Analyses Stable Isotopes of Aquatic Species in the Potomac River

The research project I am currently engaged with is a stable isotope analysis of aquatic species between two separate tidal water embayments of the Potomac River.  To run stable isotope analysis, tissue samples were needed from each species.  Vegetation was taken from the leaves of aquatic plants, muscle tissue from fish, feet from clams, and the bodies of snails.  To retrieve muscle tissue from fish, we spent several days boating on the water to collect the fish using sein nets and trawling.  We euthanized them by over anesthetizing them, then returned to the lab where we cut muscle tissue from along the back and near the tail.  We then dehydrated it over several days in an oven, powdered it with a mortar and pestle, then shipped it off to another lab for processing.

The snails involved a particularly interesting method for extraction, as they were too small to simply be pulled from their shells. To acquire their bodies, I had to grind up dozens of tiny snails with a mortar and pestle (shells and bodies together), then use hydrochloric acid to burn away the sodium bicarbonate shell material. The acid reacted with the shell material at a far more rapid rate than the organic material, making it a simple solution for acid washing the unwanted material away and leaving behind the purely organic matter I needed to run stable isotopes. 

OSCAR Student Zeyn Faddoul Participates in Unique Filmmaking Opportunity

One of the main reasons I moved to the United States three years ago was to pursue my passion for filmmaking as a career. With summer approaching, I was looking for an opportunity that would ideally include the three things I adore - documentary filmmaking, producing, and traveling - which is why my heart skipped a beat when I read the job description for this Summer Impact Grant. I applied without hesitation and shed tears of joy when I got chosen for the project.

The project we are developing is called “Vibrations”, a documentary series profiling contemporary singer-songwriters and practitioners of traditional musical forms while revealing regional music scenes around the world. The character-driven series emphasizes the positive power of music on a global scale. We spent three weeks traveling throughout Southeast Asia in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia in order to film musicians and bands who create original music including traditional and modern sounds.

My main focus on this project was production managing, which consisted of preparing our travel details and contacting the bands and musicians. Although I had done producing and production work before, this project required a higher level of professionalism and work. I ended up arranging full schedules for our team on a daily basis, and we somehow managed to get all the footage we needed in the small amount of time we had abroad.

I learned a lot of things throughout this summer, but the main thing I discovered was my love for international filmmaking. I found myself enjoying making connections with new people, and excelled at adjusting with every new situation thrown at us. This project definitely made me want to focus on a career that includes documentary filmmaking on an international scale. I wish I could hold this job forever, as it seemed to me that there will never be enough time to cover all of the amazing and talented artists that we have met during our trip. I feel so inspired.

OSCAR Student Brian Kim Assesses the Diets of Fish and Determines Differences between Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) and Non-aquatic Submerged Vegetation (NSAV) at Various Locations

My name is Brian Kim and I am a member of the OSCAR fish team at the Potomac Science Center (PSC). Over the course of this summer, I have been going out to Gunston Cove and Hunting Creek located within the Potomac River to collect fish species. My research focuses on assessing the diet items of the fish species and determining if there is a significant difference between the two locations as well as any differences in submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and non-aquatic submerged vegetation (NSAV) areas within each location.  The most enjoyable part of this experience has been the process of the actual fish collection. There have been two separate trips for each location where we would use a series of seine nets, fyke nets, and trawls to catch fish from as little as 10 mm to as large as 530 mm. The trawls were the most thrilling method because we usually caught the largest specimens during each trial. As each trawl was hauled onto the boat, there was a rush of excitement as to see which specimens we caught and how many. Once we had recorded all required data on each fish, the samples were taken back to the Potomac Science Center to begin the process of answering the question “What exactly has each fish species been eating?”

The majority of my time at the PSC has been spent dissecting the stomachs from the fish samples and opening them up to see what was inside. Each stomach from the fish species differed in some way both internally and externally. The most exciting stomach contents that I have found so far came from a Yellow Perch that had eaten five juvenile fish within the last day it was caught. I was able to identify the five juveniles as three White Perch and two Spottail Shiners. There have been various different prey items in the stomachs such as amphipods, chironomids, gastropods and aquatic insects that must now be analyzed. Using the stomach contents from each fish species, I will be able to determine which prey items are the most impactful as well as how location, habitat and fish species differ in diets. My time at the PSC and with OSCAR has been the most exciting summer during my undergraduate years and I hope that in the future I will be able to return and continue to work on related projects. 

OSCAR Student Emily Bohr Studies the Flow and Fate of Pharmaceuticals in the Potomac River

For my summer impact project, I am on a team of 10 amazing OSCAR students, 6 chemistry students and 4 ecology students, studying the flow and fate of pharmaceuticals in the Potomac River. I am on the ecology team, and more specifically, I study the invertebrates in the Potomac River! I first learned about this project when one of my favorite professors, Dr. Amy Fowler, told us about it during a lecture. As an environmental studies student, I was immediately interested in the opportunity of a paid research summer term under a professor that I looked up to! Since I am directly working with the environment, learning how to do field work and lab work that would be related to my degree, this summer is a great learning experience for what I want to do long-term with my career.

Each day at work is always different, which is another plus to my job! Since I work at the brand new Mason campus, the Potomac Science Center, I always have a beautiful view from any room I’m working in. On a daily basis, I’m either on a boat, working with my partner Alex to look through benthic (dirt from the bottom of the river that we collected earlier in the summer) or other samples we collected to log the invertebrates found in them, or helping the other two grad students, that also work in our lab, with their projects! Also, each week, we get really cool Mason faculty or even people outside of Mason that give us seminars about what they do and the projects they have!

One thing I learned this term is how much I love field work. Being on a boat or putting on waders to go out and collect snails directly from the water were the highlights of my summer, and definitely made the summer great (and some interesting looking tan lines too!) I definitely look forward to my career after Mason!

To check out more about my summer, go to https://vsco.co/emilyatpsc/images/1 & look at images & journal!