My third and final URS presentation was about my senior project in the Kaeberlein Lab. A UCLA study made a new version of Green FLuorescent Protein (commonly GFP) that acts as an ATP sensor, allowing us the visualize cellular energy in the form of light. I worked with my mentor, Dr. Jason Pitt, to put this into C. elegans so we can watch their lifetime energy levels in response to genetic and environmental change. While we did not finish this project by the symposium, there was still a lot of promise and interesting aspects of the study to talk about.
The entire symposium was online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so my presentation was pre-recorded. You can watch it here:https://youtu.be/bBLl_qG0h6I
2019 Presentation
2019 marked the first year that I presented on a project in the Kaeberlein Lab, and I showcased the biggest project I have undertaken to date. Our research team was looking at combinational kinase knockdown/knockup effects in C. elegans to determine their role in longevity pathways. This required running more than 120 seperate lifetime assays, with an immense amount of time and organization needed to keep the project going smoothly. I was able to present on some interesting preliminary results and payoff what was over a year's worht of work.
2018 Presentation
My first URS presentation was in a field that I never thought I would be presenting in: rhetoric. After becoming fascinated by my work on a final project in HONORS 393 for Fall 2017, I extended that into something I could showcase in front of an audience. The project focused on the changes over time that occurred in how scientists speak to the public, and I used the show Cosmos, which aired in 1980 and then in 2014, to draw comparisons. It was exciting to formulate new claims that challenged old beliefs on the topic, and I was excited to be able to share that with an audience at the symposium.
Look at my HONORS 393 page here to read my paper that this presentation is based on here.