{"id":34551,"date":"2017-08-22T14:39:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T18:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=34551"},"modified":"2017-10-09T12:21:25","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T16:21:25","slug":"crash-course-modern-field-biology-dna-salamander-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/crash-course-modern-field-biology-dna-salamander-internship\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting salamander DNA, intern gets ‘crash course’ in modern field biology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finding and catching salamanders might look like something Eastern Mennonite University senior Cerrie Mendoza would have done as a science-loving child, but in reality, amphibian hide-and-seek was just one aspect of her internship this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
In addition to finding and catching salamanders, Mendoza is learning research practices like DNA sequencing and publishing DNA barcodes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mendoza, a biology major from El Paso, Texas, is taking part in a collaboration pilot project between\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0Smithsonian Institution\u2019s National Museum of Natural History<\/a>\u00a0(NMNH), the U. S. Geological Survey<\/a>, Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and James Madison University (JMU) to gather genetic samples from certain North American species of salamanders that were first collected and described 50 years ago. The project is funded by the Smithsonian\u2019s Global Genome Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to finding and catching salamanders, Mendoza is learning research practices like DNA <\/span>sequencing and publishing DNA barcodes, said Dr. Daniel Mulcahy<\/a>, a NMNH molecular laboratory technician and one of Mendoza\u2019s supervisors. \u201cThis immerses Cerrie into the inner workings of many professionals in the museum, each conducting a variety of\u00a0different methods to accomplish their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exceptional experience<\/b><\/h3>\n

The placement is also giving Mendoza firsthand experience of the complexities of scientific research\u00a0<\/span>beyond what many interns undertake.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has to function as the project leader,\u201d said one of her<\/span>internship supervisors, <\/span>JMU professor William Flint<\/span><\/a>. \u201cShe has to actually think about and plan how to execute all of the steps. Many times, students at Cerrie\u2019s level or age are simply functioning as lab or field techs which requires very little leadership or planning. For this project, however, Cerrie cannot just show up to w<\/span>ork and wait to be told what to do. She has to figure all that out and then make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Researchers search for salamanders in Dixie Caverns in Salem, Virginia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not the first time Mendoza has figured something out and made it happen. She is attending EMU because she wanted to \u201cfind my faith again\u201d and searched online for \u201csmall Christian universities.\u201d After visiting, she said, \u201cI fell absolutely in love with the campus, Harrisonburg, the Valley and Virginia. I wouldn\u2019t want to go anywhere else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to many fun, new experiences (with healthy doses of \u201cOops,\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019d I just do?\u201d and \u201cWas I supposed to do that?\u201d moments), Cerrie has also been reaffirmed in her belief that science \u2014 her favorite subject since grade school \u2014 is a vital pursuit: \u201cI love learning how nature and animals connect and respond to our environment and how they impact our world and how we impact theirs. We live in a cycled world where many things use one another in order to survive, and having that information for everyone to see is important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sequencing DNA<\/b><\/h3>\n

In her internship, Mendoza is adding data to the descriptions of certain salamander species found in <\/span>Virginia.<\/p>\n

When a new species \u2014 of salamander, for example \u2014 is found and described by scientists, it becomes the\u00a0<\/span>\u201cgold standard\u201d against which all future comparisons of that species are made. In recent years scientists have begun including DNA evidence in the descriptions of these \u201ctype specimens,\u201d said <\/span>Dr. Rayna Bell<\/span><\/a>, another of Mendoza\u2019s mentors this summer and a research zoologist and curator of amphibians and reptiles in the NMNH <\/span>Department of Vertebrate Zoology<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past, though, DNA information was not known and so wasn\u2019t included in type specimen descriptions. Mendoza and fellow intern Greg Steffensen of JMU are working to collect genetic samples from some of those same species of salamanders \u2014 in the exact locations where the original type specimens are from \u2014 to add to records. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Mendoza helped to sequence the DNA from the collected samples and enter the sequences into the Global Biodiversity Barcode Network, and to curate those new specimens in the NMNH National Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mendoza has contributed to the project by researching species in journal articles, planning species collection trips to efficiently include multiple sites, packing supplies and choosing campsites. She has helped to sequence the DNA from the collected samples and enter the sequences into the <\/span>Global Biodiversity Barcode Network<\/span><\/a>, and to curate those new specimens in the <\/span>NMNH National Collections<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This kind of science can be thrilling for novice scientists, Mulcahy says \u2014 and he describes moments that could sound exciting even for the unscientifically minded who don\u2019t understand the technical terminology: running \u201c<\/span>PCR<\/span><\/a> results on an agarose gel,\u201d seeing \u201cbands of DNA (exposed under ultraviolet light) for the first time,\u201d and \u201crealizing they just amplified their first pieces of DNA.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not all, he says \u2014 because then they get \u201cthose sequence results back\u201d with \u201cthe actual DNA copy of nucleotides, As, Ts, Gs, and Cs, all in a unique order for that individual. Then it\u2019s exciting when they blast that sequence and find out how close it matches the representative specimens already in GenBank, 97%? 99%? Or is it not the species they thought it was?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, this summer was a crash course in how to be a modern field biologist,\u201d Bell said of Mendoza\u2019s experiences, and added that Mendoza\u2019s internship is giving her much more than time with salamanders. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of whether Cerrie ends up working on Virginia salamander taxonomy in her future,\u201d she said, \u201cshe now knows what it takes to organize a field expedition (including what to do when things don\u2019t go exactly as planned), some important research techniques like DNA sequencing and the importance of taking detailed field notes, and maybe most importantly, she now has a whole team of mentors to support her in whatever she decides to do next!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding and catching salamanders might look like something Eastern Mennonite University senior Cerrie Mendoza would have done as a science-loving child, but in reality, amphibian hide-and-seek was just one aspect ... read more about Collecting salamander DNA, intern gets ‘crash course’ in modern field biology<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":34556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5590,17562,5643,17571],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17423,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-34551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-biology","category-digest","category-environmental-sustainability","category-internship","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nCollecting salamander DNA, intern gets 'crash course' in modern field biology - 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