{"id":39263,"date":"2018-08-22T08:21:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T12:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39263"},"modified":"2018-08-22T08:21:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T12:21:30","slug":"siderhurst-research-team-returns-to-hawaii-for-pest-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/siderhurst-research-team-returns-to-hawaii-for-pest-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Siderhurst research team returns to Hawaii for pest projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hawaiian coffee growers used to have a leg up on much of the rest of the world: The number one insect pest for the industry \u2013 coffee berry borers \u2013 hadn\u2019t yet shown up on the islands.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that changed in the last decade, and this summer Eastern Mennonite University Professor Matthew Siderhurst and two students aimed to beat even \u201ccuppers\u201d \u2013 trained coffee tasters \u2013 at identifying the borers\u2019 impact on Hawaiian coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah Walker \u2013 she graduated in May with majors in biology and environmental sustainability \u2013 and Leah Lapp \u2013 a biochemistry major who will graduate in two years \u2013 were among the <\/span>five undergraduate students at EMU<\/span><\/a> who were awarded <\/span>Glenn Kauffman and Roman Miller Research Awards<\/span><\/a> of $2,500 each to support their research this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The awards, named for professors emeriti Glenn Kauffman (chemistry) and Roman Miller (biology), are sponsored by donors to the <\/span>Daniel B. Suter Endowment Fund<\/span><\/a> and the CT Assist Grant Fund. The financial support can be used for student summer research wages, research supplies, and travel and fees to present ongoing or past work at a scientific meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Hawaii, Walker and Lapp each used a different device to detect the coffee borer damage. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very interested in the quality control side of this,\u201d Siderhurst said. <\/span><\/p>\n

The instruments<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"\"
This summer was Hannah Walker\u2019s second researching with the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. She is a 2018 graduate of EMU.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Walker\u2019s tool was a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, a six-feet long, $200,000 lab bench behemoth they referred to as \u201cthe GC mass spec.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The instrument enabled them \u201cto see what volatiles are coming off damaged roasted coffee beans,\u201d to decipher the chemical fallout of coffee berry borers\u2019 destructive presence, she said. The GC mass spec took a lot of adjustment \u2013 \u201ca lot of trial and error,\u201d Siderhurst said \u2013 but that \u201cmessing around\u201d with equipment aspect of research was \u201cvery eye-opening, really cool,\u201d said Walker. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank goodness this man\u201d \u2013 she points to Siderhurst \u2013 \u201cknows instruments pretty well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read a Smithsonian magazine article about Professor Matt Siderhurst’s research.\u00a0<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Leah Lapp, here in the lab, spent part of her summer using with an “e-nose” device, which can detect borer damage in coffee beans.\u00a0<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lapp helped to establish standard operating procedures for new techniques using an electronic nose, a much less costly device that\u2019s small enough to carry. Once trained, the \u201ce-nose\u201d will be able \u2013 \u201ctheoretically,\u201d said Lapp \u2013 to indicate the degree of damage in masses of beans, say to test bags of coffee on a production line. <\/span><\/p>\n

But first it had some learning to do, through random \u201csniffing\u201d of vials filled with coffee beans, each vial containing a different percentage of borer damage. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a lot of time sorting coffee beans,\u201d said Lapp. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that you sort them correctly, because that will change all your results.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Lab blend<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Researchers Leah Lapp and Hannah Walker also helped maintain a fruit-piercing moth colony and trap longhorn beetles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Walker and Leah weren\u2019t only thinking coffee beans, though. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lab where the trio worked is also home to more than 50 other researchers and staff. For another project the duo helped maintain a fruit-piercing moth colony, harvesting leaves three times a week from Wiliwili trees for caterpillar feed and pupation locations. <\/span><\/p>\n

And once a week they checked a trapline for the subject of another Siderhurst study about longhorn beetles.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was, Walker said, \u201ca nice variety of being in the lab using different instruments and being out in the field and having to \u2018talk story\u2019 [a Hawaiian term for \u2018chat\u2019] with people who let us use their property for trapping.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They also got to know the area, Walker said, which was \u201ccool,\u201d except for the nauseating vog \u2013 volcanic fog \u2013 from the erupting K\u012blauea. The mountain was downwind from the lab, but not always from everywhere else they needed to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No wrong answers\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Lapp called this summer \u201can amazing experience\u201d because she learned what it\u2019s like to work not just in a classroom laboratory where \u201cthe professor\u2019s leading you towards a certain conclusion,\u201d but in a setting where there are \u201cno wrong answers,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt allowed for creativity, and we brainstormed a lot,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were always trying to figure out, \u2018Okay, what\u2019s next? This failed; why did it fail?\u2019 Or, \u2018This worked; how can we use what we learned from this to further our research?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Siderhurst said that for researchers like Walker and Lapp, the work is only partially finished at the end of the summer. Once back at EMU, they\u2019ll work together to write papers or create posters and presentations about their research. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

It must be, because this was Walker\u2019s second summer on the GC mass spec project, and she said she could see such lab research being part of her career or ongoing studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, she said, \u201cWe were kept on our toes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaiian coffee growers used to have a leg up on much of the rest of the world: The number one insect pest for the industry \u2013 coffee berry borers \u2013 ... read more about Siderhurst research team returns to Hawaii for pest projects<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":39265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5590,5643,17571],"tags":[9348,9491],"feature":[17423,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-39263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-environmental-sustainability","category-internship","tag-matthew-siderhurst","tag-roman-miller","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nSiderhurst research team returns to Hawaii for pest projects - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/siderhurst-research-team-returns-to-hawaii-for-pest-projects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Siderhurst research team returns to Hawaii for pest projects - 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