Wonderful World of Neuroscience

Heather Milliken, a 26-year-old biology major at the University of Arizona, has been given the chance to take a glimpse at the wonderful world of neuroscience. She participates in UBRP, which allows students to gain valuable hands-on laboratory experience and to get paid for it at the same time.

Under the direction of Dr. Carol Barnes and Dr. Bruce McNaughton at the Neural Systems Memory and Aging (NSMA) lab, Heather participates in an experiment that involves recording neurons in live rat brains while they are sleeping and running in mazes. The purpose of this experiment is to test the influence of stress on strengthening memories in a certain part of the brain called the hippocampus. During her time at the NSMA lab, Heather has learned how to handle and train rats and is learning a great deal about analyzing data. This experience has taught her a great deal about the brain and what it is capable of doing.

This opportunity for Heather Milliken has opened a whole new world for her. She would never have considered working in a neuroscience lab if it had not been for UBRP. Her experiences at NSMA have sparked her interest in neuroscience and have helped her on her pathway of discovery. Heather plans to continue working in this field of science. Support for Heather’s work comes from a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and from NSMA.

Heather Milliken, UBRPer in Dr. Carol Barnes and Dr. Bruce McNaughton’s lab, Neural Systems, Memory and Aging

The Story Behind Clean Water

Clean water is something that is becoming more and more precious all the time. As populations and the presence of industry increase, water use rises along with water pollution. Thankfully, new research being done at UA by Dr. James Field and Dr. Reyes Sierra, with the help of their students Fernanda Guerrera, Jeremy Adams, and Pieter Rowlette, is producing great results in the area of water pollution cleanup.

Drs. Field and Sierra study a process called “chemolithotropic denitrification,” which is being employed to remove nitrates, sulfur and other harmful organic compounds from water supplies. This process involves a bacteria called Thiobacillus denitrifican that operates using the harmful components in polluted water to produce environmentally benign compounds and clean safe water. These bacteria have successfully been found to convert nitrates and sulfides, along with other harmful organic compounds, into benign forms such as nitrogen gas and sulfate. The denitrification process has specific applications to the clean up of drinking water and petrochemical wastewater, which has caused algae, resulting in the massive death of marine life
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Thanks to the funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NASA, and the National Science Foundation, this research will soon provide us all with safer, healthier water.

Pieter Rowlette, UBRPer in Dr. James Field and Dr. Reyes Sierra’s lab, Chemical and Environmental Engineering