Undergraduate Research
Jennifer Fricke
e-mail Jennifer
Jennifer graduated with a double major in Biological Science and Asian Studies. She spent a semester and summer in China working on her language skills and enjoying the culture. Graduate student Anne Vardo-Zalik invited Jen into the lab to spend some time, and very quickly we found another convert to ecological and evolutionary parasitology. One summer Jen worked with Dr. Kurt Pickett on the phylogeography of an introduced wasp species, learning the necessary molecular techniques, and traveled to the Hopland site to collect California representatives of the species. (And also worked with Anne to collect lizards!) Jen chose to do her senior Honors project in the lab and is worked on the geographical pattern in genetic diversity of Plasmodium mexicanum in northern California using microsatellite markers. She is also used microsatellites in the lizard's genome (that she discovered herself!) to do a mirror analysis of the geographic structure in the genetics of the vertebrate host. Thus, Jennifer compared parasite and host population structure. To increase the sample size of sites, Jen traveled with undergraduate helper Alli Neal to the Hopland area for a long field trip in summer of 2008. The results of Jen's research are striking, and will appear in an upcoming publication. Jen graduated with high honors, and quickly found a position as a research technician in a laboratory working on HIV. She plans to attend graduate school, mostly likely doing research on infectious disease.
Neil Thompson
e-mail Neil
Neil was a Senior Biology major with an emphasis on environmental biology. He has had a life-long interest in the out-doors, especially wet places such as lakes and the sea, and wants to combine this passion with an academic program. He is now SCUBA certified and looks forward to spending as much time as possible under water. Neil spent a semester in Brazil, and enjoyed the diving, but even found happiness in the rain forest. Graduate student Ellen Martinsen connected with Neil when he inquired about a work-study position in the lab, and he worked with Ellen on her studies of avian malaria. Neil has become proficient at identifying parasites on blood smears. Neil did his senior research project in the lab, working with Ellen's collection of blood samples and stained smears from the Dominican Republic. For his senior research project, Neil looked at the phylogenetic relationship of Plasmodium from the endemic birds of the Dominican Republic (comparing results with the parasites of migratory birds with a broad distribution). This work will appear in an upcoming publication. Neil received competitive funding for his research from two university programs for undergraduate research, the Helix mini-grant and a large grant from the URECA program. He was so ambitious that he did TWO senior research project, the other on fish ecology with our Dr Ellen Marsden. After graduation, Neil returned to Vermont, first to take a position with Dr. Marsden working up microsatellite markers for a fish ecology project, and then to work on fish ecology with the state Fish and Game Department. Neil will begin a graduate program at the Oregon State University next year.
Julie Dao
Julie spent her senior year in the lab (just about every hour she was not in class!), working with graduate student Anne Vardo. Julie picked a very difficult project that combined many, many hours at the microscope counting parasite cells and working through some touchy PCR runs to genotype infections of Plasmodium mexicanum in the lizard host. She wanted to determine if clones of parasites, within individual infections, wax and wane in aboundance over time. This required genotyping parasites over several time periods, and counting parasite densities for those same samples. Her results were among the first documentation of changes in abundance of specific clones over time in an infection of any malaria parasite. Julie is now a research technician in in a Medical School laboratory, and plans a career in medicine or research.
Jessica Waite
Jessi is a true rural Vermonter, coming from the tiny town of East Snowflake near Rutland. She comes from a family of independent thinkers (her sister is on the West Point skydiving team!). Jessi was "discovered" in her first year at UVM by graduate student Ellen Martinsen who recruited Jessi as a summer field assistant on the bird malaria project. Jessi very quickly became a skilled field ornithologist, identifying scores of birds by sight and song, and becoming proficient at setting mist nets. Jessi returned the next summer to work with Ellen in the field and lab. During her Junior year, Jessi worked in the lab as a Research Apprentice, learning the molecular techniques. For her Senior Honors project, Jessi sought to determine if the described subgenera of avian Plasmodium parasites represent monophyletic groups. She scanned over 1000 blood smears, photographing all Plasmodium present, and obtaining sequences of the cytochrome b gene for the parasites. Jessi worked with Ellen to construct phylogenetic trees that revealed the current subgenera need revision. The work appeared in a paper in Parasitology. After graduating with highest honors, and being named one of our department's best students, Jessi traveled to Canada (within hours after graduation!) to begin a job in field ornithology. In Fall, 2006, Jessi joined the graduate program at the University of Utah to work with Dale Clayton, one of the leaders in the study of parasite-host ecology.
Thomas Collier Smith
Tom "joined" the malaria lab even while still a high school student! He contacted Schall to ask for help in identifying reptiles and amphibians while on a school trip to the Virgin Islands. Within days of arriving on campus as a first year Environmental Science student, Tom began working in the lab, serving as a Tom-of-all-trades, from slide scanning to molecular projects. Tom joined the field team for a trip to the El Verde site in Puerto Rico, and was paired with Andrew Wargo for field duties. Tom and Andrew became a minor sensation at the site for continuing to collect anole lizards on very rainy days, walking the trails in heavy rains, and still collecting good samples. For his senior project, Tom spent the summer at the Hopland site, working as a field assistant for Sarah Osgood, and collecting his own specimens and data. His senior project examined the lifespan of Plasmodium mexicanum in three blood-feeding arthropods to determine their possible role as vectors for the parasite. This work appeared as a paper in Journal of Parasitology. Since graduation, Tom has worked as a field and lab technician on a variety of projects, including the Hawaiian bird malaria project and a study of fungi that kill endangered amphibians in the American west. Tom began graduate studies this fall at the University of California.
Anja Pearson
Anja and her identical twin sister Alexa both pursued degrees at UVM, one in Environmental Science and the other in Biology. Although a few key field marks could distinguish them, the lab team could never be sure which Pearson twin was which. Anja (we think!) was the one who traveled with a field team to the Caribbean islands to collect anoles from the El Verde site (Anja is shown there in the photo catching a lizard), St. Martin, Saba, and Anguilla. Anja's senior project examined the long-term prevalence data for the El Verde site, a nine-year study (including her own sample). She scanned thousands of slides, finding parasites and identifying them to species. She found that the prevalence of the parasites was remarkably constant over the years despite major disruption by hurricanes. This work was published in The Journal of Parasitology. Anja also was coauthor of a paper on the effect of the parasites on lizard health. Anja was a teacher in the Boston area for several years, and then took a year of work (as a science museum teacher) and travel in New Zealand with her husband. Anja has now returned to Vermont and is a public school science teacher. With Anja's broad experience, her students are lucky kids!
Dan Wheeler
Undergraduate Student
University of Vermont
e-mail Dan
Dan was a Biology major who joined the lab only during his last semester. Along with an outstanding academic record (he was named one of our top five seniors), Dan was also captain of the varsity track team. Somehow he found time to spend long hours in the lab working on his senior project, during the regular week hours, but also in the evenings and weekends. Dan looked at the gametocyte sex ratio of Plasmodium mexicanum and the clonal diversity within each infection. He sought to test sex ratio theory which predicts there should be a female-biased sex ratio for single-clone infections, but a sex ratio closer to 1:1 for infections with multiple clones. His work required that he learn how to identify and count gametocytes in thin blood smears [and to identify male vs. female cells!], and to do the necessary molecular work to score microsatellite loci. Dan's work supported the predictions of sex ratio theory, and will lead to an important publication. Dan was been funded for this research with a grant from the Helix program. After graduation, Dan applied for five very fine positions in laboratories and field organizations, and received five offers!
Kim Kaufold
Undergraduate Student
University of Vermont
e-mail Kim
Kim was a Biology major who began working in the lab during her Junior year as a work-study student. She quickly became an important part of lab group, and in summer 2005 was a Research Assistant in the lab. Kim became proficient at finding and identifying from blood smears a variety of species of malaria parasite, and quickly learned a broad range of molecular techniques. Her summer projectsincluded genotyping infections of Plasmodium mexicanum from fence lizards collected at the Hopland site and developing methods to multiplex 7 microsatellite markers for analysis. Kim has played an important role in perfecting methods to extract DNA from these two decade old blood smears in the lab collection for the microsatellite studies. For Kim's senior project, she worked closely with graduate student Anne Vardo and looked at the ability of new clones of parasites to enter an existing infection, and she asked if exiting single-clone infections are less able to exclude an entering new clone than existing multi-clone infections. This research led to a publication co-authored with Anne in Journal of Parasitology. Kim was funded by the Helix program for her research. Kim is now taking courses in human anatomy and microbiology to prepare for entry into a Physicians' Assistant program.
Ben Blumberg
Undergraduate Student
University of Vermont
Ben joined the lab during his first year at the University of Vermont, and soon developed a keen interest in research, especially in evolutionary ecology, wildlife biology, and parasitology. He worked with graduate student Ellen Martinsen on the avian malaria project, and is now coauthor on a paper in press at Journal of Wildlife Diseases. He wrote a successful proposal to the university's Helix program to fund his Junior year research. His research centered on the diversity of malaria parasites at the Hopland field site. Ben then joined graduate student Anne Vardo for the summer at Hopland where he assisted on Anne's project on the role of clonal diversity on the life history of Plasmodium mexicanum in the fence lizards. In Ben's senior year he worked with Dr. Bill Kilpatrick on an attempt to identify mammals from their scat via. field technques and sequencing of genes (DNA recovered from scat). Ben is now at the National Institutes of Health on a research fellowship, and plans to attend graduate school.
Andrew Wargo
Andrew joined the laboratory during his very first weeks on campus! He offered to be a volunteer lab assistant and was quickly put to work measuring parasite cells. His results played an early role in graduate student Susan Perkins's discovery of a cryptic species of Plasmodium in the anoles of the Caribbean islands. Andrew was "rewarded" for his efforts with an invitation to assist during a field trip to the El Verde forest in Puerto Rico where he collected Anolis from steep, muddy trials, often during day-long rains. Apparently Andrew did not have enough of this relaxing field work, and so came along for a second trip, this time adding the duty of preparing a duplicate set of blood smears for study of an enzyme in white blood cells. This required many extra hours each night in the lab. Andrew then did his Honors thesis project on the sex ratio of lizard malaria parasites. He is coauthor on two publications in the Journal of Parasitology, not a bad result for an undergraduate! Andrew's studies were supported by grants from highly competitive programs at the university, and he was named the department's outstanding senior. After a few years as a research technician in a medical school laboratory, Andrew decided to pursue a PhD program and was admitted to a series of the very best graduate schools in the USA. However, he eagerly accepted an offer to join the Andrew Read group at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, one of the leading labs in evolutionary and ecological parasitology. Within 18 months of joining the group, Andrew coauthored a paper in PNAS - USA! He is now back in the USA doing a postdoc at the University of Washington.