Hello, everyone! My name is Caroline Kopack and I am a sophomore research assistant this year in Dr. Young’s Locomotion Lab at SMC. For the past few months, I have been collaborating with senior lab member Megan Saunders on her senior composition project. This project centers around using a phylogenetic tree and femur and humerus measurements to understand limb bone shape differences across turtle species. This project pulls data from 88 species across three families (pleurodires, softshells, and emydids). For my part of the project, we utilized a software called Mesquite, which allowed us to compile our data into tables and generate independent contrasts, which will allow us to make shape comparisons between the species studied, independent of genetic relationships. Megan will be presenting part of this work in the spring as her senior comp presentation.
As I am a bio/pre-med major, I originally joined Dr. Young’s laboratory because I was interested in the anatomical side of biology, specifically human anatomy. Given the current circumstances, I have not tried to ascertain the subject of my own project, whether it will be an independent project or will be a continuation of the project I am currently working on. Regardless of what I decide to do, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Megan on this project. It has given me valuable research experience and has also deepened my appreciation for the researching STEM communities, with which I previously had very little experience. It has been a joy to be a part of this lab and I look forward to seeing what I will be accomplishing in this lab in the future. Hi everyone! I cannot believe how much has changed since my last blog post. I am nearing the end of my last fall semester of undergrad and I have never been more ready for this long winter break. My pleurodire scaling project underwent a few delays this semester due to technological difficulties, but that is the joy of science experiments! However, the pleurodire phylogeny was finally completed a couple weeks ago and the independent contrasts for the data are almost done, which will allow me to begin analyzing the results of the project very soon! Things were slightly delayed once again as I conveniently contracted coronavirus last week, but I am in recovery as I type this blog post while sipping on my chicken broth that I cannot even taste—ah the joys of college during a pandemic!
Outside of my research project, I am currently in the process of finishing physical therapy graduate school applications and beginning interviews. Currently, I have been accepted into one program and have interviews for a couple others, so I am really thankful for the opportunities I have had so far! I am looking forward to exploring my options over Christmas break as well as enjoying some down time after the craziness of this semester! Hi everyone! I am currently in my senior year here at Saint Mary's and in the middle of working on my senior comprehensive project. In my post from last semester, I stated that my project would be an expansion of Alli and Madeleine's projects by measuring left knee flexion angles of injured and non-injured college-aged female students in our tri-campus community of Saint Mary's College, Holy Cross College, and the University of Notre Dame. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to change my project to just Saint Mary's students to ensure everyone's safety. Megan G., Megan W. and I just finished collecting data and I am now analyzing the videos to see if there is a statistical difference in left knee flexion between students who have had a knee injury compared to those who have not had a knee injury. I will finish my paper before the semester ends on November 20th, which will be here before we know it! I am nervous, but excited to wrap things up as my time at Saint Mary's comes close to an end and present my completed research next semester!
Wow, so much has changed since my last update! Previously, I was supposed to attend UNDERC East to conduct research on behavioral responses to predator scent cues in small carnivores. Unfortunately, UNDERC East for the summer of 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My enrollment to the program has been deferred to the summer of 2021, but my senior comprehensive research subject had to change to accommodate my Fall 2020 graduation timeline. So, I am now expanding Kam and Hannah’s fox squirrel research!
Also owing to the pandemic, I was unable to collect additional field data. However, Dr. Young and I posed a new research question that could be explored using Kam and Hannah’s data from 2019. This question is: Do fox squirrels exhibit sexual dimorphism in tail length based on sex-specific differences in stability and balance during arboreal locomotion? I predicted that female fox squirrels would have longer tails due to increased mass during periods of gestation and lactation that would require greater need for balancing mechanisms during aboreal locomotion. As of now, I have completed the first full draft of my comp research paper, and I submitted my abstract for the SICB conference! The results of my study indicated that there is no significant difference in tail length between male and female fox squirrels, but I would encourage future Locomotion Lab students to expand the research further by expanding the sample size or exploring comparisons of the balancing abilities of male and female fox squirrels during arboreal locomotion. Despite all the unprecedented changes in the past seven months, everything seems to be falling in line as my time at Saint Mary’s comes to an end. As I reflect on my educational journey at Saint Mary’s, I cannot help but think of all the times I thought I would never overcome certain challenges. I have a great appreciation for the faculty and staff that have guided me through these obstacles and helped me to find my strengths and face my weaknesses. My time as a part of the Locomotion Lab during a pandemic has challenged me to be adaptable and resilient. These are valuable qualities as a biologist that I am certain I will be putting to use as I move forward. However, education during a pandemic is still not my forte, so I have decided to take a year off before applying to graduate programs. During this gap year, I hope to gain field experience and explore my interests more to help narrow in on the graduate programs I want to apply for. Farewell for now! |
AuthorsAlok Agwick Archives
February 2024
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