s u s ta in a b ility - dornsife.usc.edu · hawai i an b ob tai l s q u i d . 2 017 ge m s tu d e n...
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Eric Johnson
Nick Orchanian
Bonita Lam
Ivan Demianets
Dr. Josh Troll examining the newly hatched
Hawaiian Bobtail Squid.
2017 GEM Students
The GEM students walking from the lab to the
dock to get their water samples.
GEM and REU students recording all the plants
and animals along our cove as part of the Snapshot
CalCoast program which records California's
coastal biodiversity.
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July 30, 2017
UPDATE FOR SUPPORTERS OF THE
USC WRIGLEY INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Summer is in full swing and the USC Wrigley Institute is hosting a vibrant and diverse community of
researchers, educators and students from around the country at the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center.
Undergraduates from the Global Environmental Microbiology course benefited immensely from this
collaborative environment as they spent three weeks learning about microbiology and what it means to be a
research scientist. The Wrigley Marine Science Center is also proud to host its newest resident, the Hawaiian
Bobtail Squid! These adorable tiny creatures are shedding some light on the dynamic relationship between
animals and bacteria. Exciting things are happening at USC's University Park campus as well. The Norma
and Jerol Sonosky Sustainability Fellows are hard at work reimagining how we produce energy and
developing solutions for a healthier planet. Thank you for joining us on this journey!
Sincerely,
Katie Chvostal
Development Director
Friends of the Wrigley Institute
SUSTAINABILITY
Norma and Jerol Sonosky Sustainability
Fellowship
The Wrigley Institute’s ‘Norma and Jerol Sonosky Sustainability
Fellowship’ supports summer research by students pursuing applied
solutions to today’s most pressing environmental challenges. We are
excited to be able to support four graduate students at USC’s
University Park campus. This year’s cohort is researching an
impressive range of issues. The cutting-edge advances they work on
are helping to build a more sustainable future for us all.
Eric Johnson
USC Department of Chemistry
Eric Johnson is studying fuel cells as an alternative to combustion
engines in cars. He is working on oxygen fuel cells (as opposed to
the more commonly known hydrogen fuel cells), designed to run
based on water. By making them viable both energetically and
economically, he hopes to help reduce fossil fuel-based
transportation and achieve a cleaner, cooler world.
WIES Blog Post: Fuel Cells for the Future >
Nick Orchanian
USC Department of Chemistry
Nick Orchanian, is also working to minimize carbon emissions,
inspired by the greatest energy resource we have: the sun. He is
working to produce “artificial photosynthesis” that turns carbon
dioxide into energy, much like the natural process done by plants.
Nick is creating catalysts that convert CO2 into a huge range of
important chemicals, including synthetic petroleum.
WIES Blog Post: Creating Artificial Photosynthesis >
Bonita Lam
USC Department of Biological Sciences
Bonita Lam studies the use of environmental bacteria to naturally
break down pollutants. Such bacteria could play a role in
bioremediation - the use of microorganisms to clean up toxic
materials and wastewater products. As an added benefit, the bacteria
she’s identified generate small amounts of energy during
metabolism, offering a promising way to treat wastewater while also
generating energy.
Ivan Demianets
USC Department of Chemistry
Ivan Demianets is studying the conversion of CO2 to methanol, a
reaction that has the potential to “recycle” CO2 from the atmosphere
or other sources and convert it to fuel. The global demand for
methanol as an alternative fuel is increasing. Ivan hopes that
optimizing this process could ultimately help promote the capture
and recycling of our CO2 waste as part of global carbon
management.
RESEARCH
Hawaiian Bobtail Squid
Dr. Scott Fraser (USC Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and
Biomedical Engineering and USC Director of Science Initiatives) and
his research associate Dr. Josh Troll are studying the beneficial
relationship between the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid and a
bioluminescent (light-producing) bacterium, Aliivibrio fischeri. The
dynamic between these species serves as a model to understand how
animals and bacteria establish and maintain such positive
relationships.
Currently, the research team is establishing a breeding colony of the
squid in the WMSC greenhouse. They will use the animals to
examine what animal genes are involved in the selection and
tolerance of beneficial bacteria. The squid are healthy, feeding well
on pacific white shrimp, and have even displayed mating behavior.
Their first juvenile squid offspring have now hatched, and a second
clutch of eggs is due to hatch in the next few days. Scott and Josh are
hopeful that by this fall, WMSC will be home to a much larger cohort
of bobtail squids, and the research team can begin efforts in earnest
to establish a full breeding colony.
Along with this program, Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU) student Ivan Langesfeld is undertaking an experiment to
determine the role of temperature on the squid-bacteria relationship.
He will test at what temperatures juvenile Hawaiian Bobtail Squid
initiate a heat-shock response, and determine whether their
symbiotic bacteria remain with them under those stressful
conditions. This undergraduate’s research has important
implications because this bioluminescent symbiosis is vital to the
bobtail squid’s survival in the wild. If he finds that the symbiosis is
unable to persist at high water temperatures, then it is possible that
rising seawater temperatures could imperil this relationship -
particularly because the squid lives in shallow near-shore waters
which are likely to warm even higher than the ocean average.
Ivan's WIES Blog Post: The Summer of Squid >
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
Global Environmental Microbiology (GEM)
Course
Every summer, the WMSC hosts the Global Environmental
Microbiology (GEM) course offered though USC’s Center for Dark
Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI). Funded by the National
Science Foundation, C-DEBI is a Science and Technology Center on
campus with the mission to explore life beneath the seafloor and
make transformative discoveries that advance science, benefit
society, and inspire people of all ages and origins. (Note: we are
bragging a bit since our own Dr. John Heidelberg is a senior
scientist in C-DEBI and the co-instructor of the GEM class!).
Beyond the great science that happens in C-DEBI, the program seeks
to inspire a diverse generation of undergraduates to pursue careers in
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). C-DEBI is
committed to improving access and support for underrepresented and
marginalized groups to STEM fields, and the GEM class is a central
part of that commitment. The GEM class typically includes 16 mostly
freshmen and sophomore students from across the U.S. About half
are from four-year universities and the others from community
colleges, and the vast majority are members of an underrepresented
minority, first-generation college students, female, and/or low
income households.
While the GEM course is an introductory microbiology field course
(since this is John and co-instructor Dr. Eric Webb’s forte...), the
real purpose of the course is to create a unique, supportive learning
atmosphere. At the island the class combines classroom time, field
research and maybe most importantly, peer guidance as students
from diverse backgrounds and institutions study together. They also
receive “near-peer” advising as they get to know our Teaching
Assistant who will have just transitioned from undergrad, and of
course, mentorship from the Co-Instructors. It is hard to imagine a
place better suited for this class than the WMSC where the science
and social activities are so integrated and where the students, TA,
and professors live and eat together all day every day for the entire
course! Hopefully the students leave knowing that the research world
has been a bit ‘demystified’, and that they can see themselves as part
of the rich and exciting global science community.
For more information on how you can support Friends of the
Wrigley Institute or other giving opportunities, please contact
Katie Chvostal at [email protected] or (310) 510-4015.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
May 27, 2017 - September 2, 2017
Saturdays at the Lab
The Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center hosts an open house Saturdays at 10:00 am, Memorial through
Labor Day weekends, for visitors who want to see the inside of a working marine lab. This two-hour tour,
open to the public, begins in the lecture hall of the Wrigley Marine Science Center, two miles east of Two
Harbors on Catalina Island. Visitors can check out a touch tank, research exhibits, a science presentation by a
Wrigley Summer Graduate Fellow and a tour of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber (unless the chamber is being
used for treatments). Can't make it out to the island? Presentations will be archived on the Saturdays at the Lab
webpage. SATURDAYS AT THE LAB PRESENTERS AND ARCHIVED PRESENTATIONS >
September 2, 2017
Friends of the Wrigley Institute Social
Please join us at the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center at 4:00 pm, Saturday, September 2nd. Educators
along with Wrigley Summer Fellows will demonstrate activities highlighting the capabilities of our new
Catalina Outdoor Education Center. This invitation is open to Friends of the Wrigley Institute and their guests.
Please RSVP to Katie Chvostal at [email protected] or (310) 510-4015 by August 25th.
USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies | 3454 Trousdale Parkway, CAS 200 | Los Angeles, California 90089-0153
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