Uncategorized
Feb. 9, 2018
Patrick Nittler #IAmScience
Patrick Nittler, a Ph.D candidate in molecular plant biology at MU, stands near his lab station in the Liscum Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I push through failures knowing that eventually something will work out.” Breaking things apart and putting them back together has been engrained in Patrick Nittler’s life for as long as he can remember. Growing up, Nittler served as his dad’s sidekick as he salvaged parts of a broken computer to boost performance in their new one. Moments like those were bonding experiences that…
Feb. 2, 2018
Rohit Rao #IAmScience
Rohit Rao, a junior biology and psychology double major, works in the Sarafianos Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I get to apply knowledge from the classroom to my research.” There are a number of ways to get involved in research, but tennis probably doesn’t come to mind. Rohit Rao was practicing his serve alongside Kamal Singh in 2015 when the two began talking about science. The junior biology and psychology double major expressed his interest in working in research, and Singh offered for him to join…
Jan. 26, 2018
Ashten Kimble #IAmScience
Ashten Kimble works in Walter Gassmann’s lab in Bond LSC studying plant pathogens. | Photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I am constantly learning and questioning. We try to understand life in order to improve it, but every answer brings on new questions and new areas to advance.” If you walked into Ashten Kimble’s apartment, you’d notice immediately that it’s filled with plants. While some plant biologists refrain from caring for plants on their days off, the graduate student embraces being surrounded by life. As a part of Walter Gassmann’s Lab in Bond…
Jan. 19, 2018
Braden Zink #IAmScience
Braden Zink, a biology major at MU, stands near his lab station in the Angelovici Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I have learned to think critically and approach scientific unknowns in a way that will prepare me for a career as a successful physician.” Labs aren’t born in a day. Neither are researchers. Braden Zink, a senior biology major, could tell story after story about just that. He came to Mizzou with little knowledge of university research but…
Jan. 12, 2018
Carson Broeker #IAmScience
Carson Broeker, a biochemistry junior at MU, works in the Angelovici lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because learning and chasing my innate curiosity about the living world with them makes me excited to work in lab each day.” Science can be about serendipity that leads to better discoveries and opportunities that researchers don’t expect. Carson Broeker knows this all too well. “I wasn’t always interested in research,” said Broeker, a junior biochemistry major. “I took the three science classes my high…
Jan. 9, 2018
From undergrads to scientists
Soybeans are used to screen for genes connected to traits that resist soybean cyst nematode. Recent progress by the the Mitchum lab explores how the plants combat the parasite and how the parasite sidestep genetic protections. Samantha Kummerer | Bond Life Sciences Center It might not sound like a traditional undergraduate experience, but Elizabeth Prenger and Andrew Ludwig found success studying a tiny parasitic worm. It’s called the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and it sucks more than a billion dollars a year from American soybean farmers. While farmers have used resistant soybeans…
Jan. 5, 2018
Suman Gurung #IAmScience
Suman Gurung, a Developmental Neurology Ph.D candidate, stands in front of the zebra fish he studies. Gurung works in the Chandrasekhar lab at Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center #IAmScience “because it allows me to get involved in our quest to understand how the brain develops.” The smallest discoveries often yield the greatest rewards when it comes to science. Suman Gurung, a Ph.D. candidate in the Division of Biological Sciences, is well aware of that. Gurung works to uncover those small discoveries through the movement of…
Jan. 3, 2018
Embracing similarities
Alexander Franz presents his research on arboviruses and mosquitoes to the Host/Pathogens Research Network. The network brings researchers from across campus together to foster cross-discipline research. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Bond LSC connects scientists in “hot topic” research By Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC An immunologist, a plant biologist and a biochemist enter a room. No, that’s not the start of a geeky science joke, but rather is the start of a conversation meant to spur ideas. As a group of scientists crowd a conference room in the Bond Life Sciences Center in…
Dec. 29, 2017
Madison Ortega #IAmScience
Madison Ortega, a junior biology major, works in the Rosenfeld lab at Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because research gives me an avenue to explore my curiosity and possibly discover something groundbreaking.” Research is all about discovering the answers to the unknown, pushing boundaries and exploring the depths of the field. As a junior biology major, Madison Ortega is already getting a taste of that. Her freshman year, Ortega got a brochure for the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity program (IMSD). This program encourages…
Dec. 18, 2017
The business of proteins
Proteomics Center associate director Brian Mooney holds up a sample before using a machine to collect data on its proteins. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC The Proteomics Center runs on proteins. This research core facility is like a small business and is situated in the Bond Life Sciences Center. It has helped improve agriculture, opened doors for new medical applications and lead to greater insight into human diseases. Proteins are some of the most plentiful and common building blocks of all living organisms, making structures in cells but also…
Dec. 15, 2017
Janlo Robil #IAmScience
Janlo Robil, a Ph.D. candidate in Plant Developmental Genetics, admires one of his plants. Robil works in the McSteen lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because adding a small puzzle piece to the bigger picture is my source of joy.” Janlo Robil found himself with a difficult decision when he entered a master’s program at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. His passion for insects made him want to pursue entomology, but the lack of coursework in the area made him consider…
Dec. 11, 2017
Bond Life Science Investigator honored with two distinctions
Chris Pires in his greenhouse in the Bond Life Sciences Center. By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC “If you told me when I was an undergrad at Berkley or when I was working at a consulting firm in San Francisco when I was 22 that I would be a professor in Missouri working on broccoli, I would have laughed my ass off,” Bond Life Sciences investigator Chris Pires admitted. But that work on broccoli has taken him far. Pires recently received the 2017 Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Research and Creative Activity in Biological Sciences. Pires…