Students run research projects as part of scholars institute
Whether in hot springs or at a laboratory, 20-year-old Spring Valley resident Julienne Paraiso spent her summer like a professor.
Paraiso, a graduate of Durango High School, 7100 W. Mesa Vista Ave., and a senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was one of 15 undergraduate students who participated this summer in the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Scholars Institute. She and other students paired with professors in their fields of interest to carry out research projects.
A few of the projects included: health status effects on human female mate preferences; stationary phase mutagenesis in bacillus subtilis; transcriptome analysis of glue secretion in drosophila; and archael lipid analysis.
Maybe it is confusing, but it is important work, said microbiology professor Brian Hedlund.
Paraiso and Hedlund conducted archael lipid analysis by collecting more than 40 algae samples from eight hot springs in Northern Nevada and California. They sent the samples to a lab in Shanghai. Paraiso followed the samples and spent six weeks in a lab analyzing them.
Lipids are a kind of molecule that can be used as a biomarker, Hedlund explained. They allow scientists to make interpretations about environments, present and past. They can be used in fossil records to reconstruct the earth’s past climate, which is a hot topic presently. These lipids can also be used to diagnose diseases.
Hedlund said they sent the samples so far away because UNLV has a partnership with several labs in China, and the Shanghai lab is one of the best in the world for this kind of analysis.
The trip to Shanghai was Paraiso’s first trip outside of the country since moving here from Guam in 2004. In Shanghai, Paraiso and another American student arrived at the lab at 9 a.m. and met with their adviser and Chinese students.
"They would teach us a little Chinese, we would teach them a little English," Paraiso said.
From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., they were "lab rats," she said, adding that Chinese students work harder than their American counterparts and are more punctual.
The federally funded McNair program is for minority and first-generation students and coordinated through the UNLV Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach. Organizers hope this experience will inspire students to attain a doctorate and teach at the university level.
Ronald E. McNair was an astronaut who died in 1986 during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
These students are "the best and brightest that UNLV has to offer," said Keith Rogers, deputy executive director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach.
Students must be at least a junior in standing and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. Since the program’s inception at UNLV in 1999, nearly 140 students have been involved. Nearly 60 percent of McNair students enroll in graduate school, and more than 25 percent have obtained doctoral degrees, according to UNLV.
Students in the program will travel to conferences throughout the United States this school year to present their research, Rogers said.
When asked what Paraiso learned most from her experience this summer, it was not scientific.
"Just to travel, go to a different place," she said. "Keep your eyes open, keep your mind open and be willing to learn from everyone."
Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.
