This summer, I will be in Mumbai, India, researching the effects of behavior change approaches to public health issues. As a member of Haath Mein Sehat (HMS), a water and sanitation-based student organization, I will be an active participant in the creation of an intervention intended to increase rates of handwashing amongst children in slum communities. My research will focus on assessing the consequences of HMS’ focus on behavior change, and how this approach is perceived by the communities in which HMS works. Through this analysis, I intend to address the following broader question: What it useful and promising about behavior change-based approaches to public health, and what is limiting and problematic about them?

--This research fellowship has given me a chance to pursue a question that could have a big impact on what I decide to do after graduation. I am very interested in behavior change interventions, and have considered applying for jobs in related fields. However, until now, I have not had the opportunity to devote this much time and energy to analyzing the strengths and limitations of a behavior change intervention. Through this research, I hope to gain insights into the intersections of development and health that will allow me to make a more informed decision about what kind of career I choose to pursue. In addition, this research will hopefully help me to understand how HMS can continue to evolve as an organization.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that his was a nihilistic age, one in which the question “why,” in relation to issues of morality, ethics, and meaning, “finds no answer.” Using Nietzsche as well as Martin Heidegger’s writings as points of departure, I will consider the following questions, among others: In what sense might our age be understood as nihilistic? How did this come to be? What can or should be done to cope with this situation? In so doing, I will bear two considerations in mind: First, what it would mean to conceive of a mode of existence in which individuals no longer think in terms of values; and second, what the consequences of conceiving of nihilism as something problematic—as a ‘problem’ to be ‘solved’—might be.

--This summer, I have been given the terrific opportunity to begin working through the many difficult issues that rise out of Nietzsche and Heidegger’s writings. I have benefited a great deal from the classes I have taken, but this is the first time in the course of my education that I have been given the opportunity to focus all of my attention and energy on a single project; and the fact that I am receiving such support to do so is pretty unbelievable. I look forward to spending a great deal of time reading, discussing, and generally working out my thoughts on these texts and the questions that animate them.

Biofuels have received much attention lately as the need for a renewable and carbon-neutral source of energy becomes increasingly important. We have assembled a biosynthetic pathway in Escherichia coli that produces butanol, a second generation biofuel, in six overall steps. However, there is a significant bottleneck at crotonyl-CoA reductase (Ccr) in the pathway that limits butanol production, which may be attributed to the observation that Ccr suffers from low solubility. The overall goal of my project is to carry out directed evolution of Ccr and generate a library of mutants that can be screened for increased solubility and assayed for improved activity. In the future, the mutants generated in this work will help us to understand fundamental issues related to pathway flux as well as increase production of butanol in engineered E. coli.

--In my molecular biology and chemistry classes at Berkeley, I have always found it fascinating when there is a discussion of the scientists and the experiments they conducted that have led to our current understanding of particular phenomena. My undergraduate research experience in synthetic biology has been an outstanding complement to this coursework. It has allowed me to gain hands-on experience by learning the techniques commonly used in the field. I am very thankful to the sponsors and coordinators of SURF for organizing a great forum for undergraduate research. I am looking forward to conducting full-time research over the summer and presenting my findings alongside my fellow SURF participants.

This summer I will be exploring the origins of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community spaces in the Bay Area. I am exploring primary sources such as newsletters and organizational records as well as doing oral history interviews with people closely involved in these centers. My study will span from the early 1950s, when many of the first homophile organizations opened offices in San Francisco, to the early 1980s, when local groups opened community centers throughout the Bay Area. Through this research, I hope to better understand the community wide effects of having a public space, besides the numerous gay bars. I also hope to show the importance of community centers to increasing awareness and acceptance of alternative sexual identities

--I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that SURF affords me to pursue my research with undivided attention. I look forward to learning from the other fellows in the program and developing a better understanding of the diversity of research that takes place on this campus. This fellowship allows me to devote my attention to the project without having to worry about providing for my basic necessities or transportation costs to do my interviews and research. I am extremely excited about this summer of intensive and rewarding explorations and was so eager to begin that I started reading microfilm just days after finishing my finals.

My current research takes advantage of the empathic, approach-oriented facets of compassion to investigate the broader concept of prosociality. My SURF project explores the neural basis of prosocial emotion by examining individual differences in dispositional traits in context of both central (with functional brain imaging) and peripheral (with measurements of vagus nerve activity) nervous system response to compassion inducing stimuli. The ultimate goal of my research is to identify both the dispositional traits that influence compassion, and the physiological factors that support prosocial behavior, and study how impaired compassion can affect healthy social interaction.

--I have been involved in several psychology and neuroscience labs around campus the past couple years and have helped graduate students, post docs, and professors with their research along every stage from data collection to submitting papers for publication. Through this process, I have discovered that research is my passion. The SURF award has given me the chance to engage in my own independent research, which is a rare opportunity for an undergraduate student. I want to go to graduate school for my Phd in affective neuroscience, and my long term aim is to be a professor at a research university. Conducting my own independent research project is the first step in this process and I feel so fortunate to have been provided this opportunity!

One of the most surprising conclusions to emerge from whole genome sequencing projects in the last decade is that all animals have roughly the same number of genes. Initially, this seems contradictory to the idea that higher organisms have more genes to account for higher levels of complexity. However, one potential explanation is alternative pre-mRNA splicing, through which different exon combinations are incorporated into mature transcripts, thereby increasing the number of proteins encoded by a limited number of genes. Although there have been extensive studies in vitro concerning the biochemical basis of what determines these combinations, in vivo studies have been much rarer. For my project, I will examine which RNA binding proteins (RBPs) regulate the alternative splicing of a particular gene, Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 (FGFR2). More specifically, I will examine the effects of different RBPs, whether as enhancers or silencers, on splicing in Xenopus laevis frog embryos. The two resulting isoforms, FGFR2b and FGFR2c, have very different ligand binding properties, with the variant I am interested in functioning primarily in mesoderm induction.

--It is difficult during the regular school year to focus my time on research and the SURF program allows me that exact opportunity over the summer. For this new project I am beginning, there are many laboratory procedures and protocols to learn. With this program, I am able to devote my time to learning these skills faster and more thoroughly. In addition, through applying for the program, I wrote my first research proposal, a challenging task that really forced me to understand and consider every aspect of the project. As I follow my proposed plan and hopefully obtain results throughout the next year, I will have the unparalleled experience of a research project in its entirety.

All musical compositions borrow some material. It is not always easy for the law to draw the line between theft and inspiration. Recent changes in copyright law point to new systems of valuation of musical elements, both cultural and legal. This summer I’ll be tracing these changes through a musical and legal analysis of music written for television and commercials, focusing on compositions which seek to copy elements of other, original works. I’ll spend one month in Washington, D.C. using archives at the Library of Congress, and will also conduct a series of interviews with composers, producers, and musicians. My project will culminate in a Senior Honors Thesis for the Interdisciplinary Field Studies major.

--SURF gives me the chance to devote a whole summer to a single project, to dig deeper and wander around inside issues I am curious about. It also gives me the chance to engage directly with my studies by giving me the time to conduct interviews. I am thrilled about this opportunity, and deeply grateful to SURF and to my mentors for their support.

I am working in a field of public finance that aims to develop a model indicating the optimal level of redistributive taxation in a given community. Assuming that public preference to redistribute income is determined by some combination of self-interest and civic altruism, the model must take into account the community's various social, behavioral, and economic attributes. Using surveys, I will be gathering data on the effects of social factors, such as group cohesion, and behavioral factors, such as aversion to risk, on the tax policy decisions of kibbutzim - a network of approximately 300 membership-based socialist communities in Israel. The recent shift of a number of these communities away from high levels of income redistribution provides an excellent opportunity to gain insights regarding the factors governing tax policies in cities and states around the world.

--Simply put, SURF has allowed me to do economics, and the process of doing economics - as opposed to simply studying it - has forced me to learn more in the span of a few months than I had in the previous two years. In order to develop precise and relevant conceptual definitions and the means by which to measure them, I've had to become an "amateur expert" on a whole host of topics - from decision theory to factor analysis - that I'd never expected would play a part in my research. Academically, I'm gaining a much deeper understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of my field, and professionally, I'm gaining invaluable experience in developing, organizing, and managing a large survey project and in the techniques of data analysis.

International tourism provides tourists with a physical space that allows them to encounter new experiences, exotic places, and unfamiliar cultures. For the most part, these experiences abroad stimulate inter-cultural contact, which results in the formation of an ethnic relation between strangers. My research aims to identify the different affinities, misunderstandings, and stereotypes that can characterize this relationship in the tourist setting of San Jose, Costa Rica. I will study two groups: tourists from the United States who come to San Jose for short-term vacations and tour-guides from Costa Rica who partake in the commodification of culture that comes along with most, if not all, tourist endeavors. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews, I will explore how the commercialization of native culture and the differences in class and race affect and determine the kind of relationship that develops between these two globalized actors.

--Like many undergraduates, I have spent much time writing papers, summarizing theory, and compiling case studies to produce something relatively new, but unlike many undergraduates, I will now be given the opportunity to really produce knowledge. I am talking about leaving the country, going out into “the field,” and truly experiencing a preliminary idea of what it means to be an anthropologist. I will spend the summer in Costa Rica, interviewing strangers and making contacts with people of another culture. I could never have compiled the money to independently fund a research experience like this, but with SURF, it is all possible. Thank you SURF!

My research will focus on the effects of stress on neurogenesis (the birth of new neurons) in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the adult rat hippocampus. The hippocampus is essential for memory and learning function. Interestingly, chronic stress has been shown to decrease cell proliferation in the DG and reduce the effectiveness of hippocampus’s memory function. My project will investigate one potential factor that may prevent stress-induced reduction of neurogenesis: controllability. Studies have shown that animals that can control the onset/offset of stress do not show many negative effects of uncontrollable stress. I will try to recreate the data, found in previous research, in the presence of controls for the stress effect that other studies did not have.

--Working in a lab over the summer will provide me an opportunity to work in a laboratory for full-time, without any other academic responsibilities. A quick eight months of research in my current laboratory has made me readily appreciate the amount of work put into and the challenges needed to overcome for even the tiniest breakthroughs. I believe that learning the method of discovery is as important as learning the material, which further motivates me to learn and perfect more research techniques this summer. I welcome the opportunity to go through an extended period of time dedicated to research, so I can understand and practice experimenting in an unhindered, independent manner. If successful, I would love to do a senior thesis on my summer topic.

This research explores three pulp novels by 20th century American writer James M. Cain and their subsequent film adaptations of the 1940&Mac226;s: The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity. These three movies are a few famous examples of film noir, an American cinematic style that reached its heyday in the 1940&Mac226;s. My research explores the text of these novels in comparison with their film translations, along with theoretical, historical and other secondary resources. I hope to better understand how instruments such as syntax, narrative structure and point of view create a distinct textual style, and how that translates into a distinct cinematic style, despite different directors, in their film noir adaptations. This research will provide the basis for my English undergraduate thesis.

--This opportunity grants me the time to put a significant amount of background work and thought into research for next year's English thesis. I am incorporating some quite different and interesting areas of study, such as visual theory, literary criticism and Hollywood history. In the end I hope this interdisciplinary aspect of the research will lend itself to newfound ideas concerning the process of adaptation itself, and the limitations and abilities of novels versus films. The relationship of literature to film is what I plan to further study in grad school, sothis fellowship offers me valuable practice and experience in the field I hope to pursue in the future.

My research project revolves around the population genetic structure of the white-ruffed manakin, Corapipo altera, a species of passerine bird native to Costa Rica that has been previously studied to determine the effects of deforestation and habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of bird populations. By sequencing 15 microsatellite DNA loci from blood samples of individuals of different subpopulations, we hope to detect some genetic structuring indicating an absence of gene flow as expected by theoretical population genetics models. This result, if actually observed, would contradict previous research in this area and provide useful insight into the dynamics of habitat fragmentation and its consequences on the viability of wild avian populations. After the preliminary planning is complete, the necessary fieldwork will be carried out in Costa Rica between August 25th and October 7th.

--This research opportunity is for me a unique chance to get to see and study Nature in its grandest forms in the regions of the Tropics, where the fundamental processes of evolution can be readily observed and scientifically tested and measured using the modern tools of population genetics. By being personally responsible for all of the steps of this project I’m also gaining useful research skills that will help me in my graduate studies, and I’m making important contacts that will help set me on the right path to a career in biological research. The SURF grant made it possible for me to focus full-time on the planning of the project, which is in and of itself an absorbing undertaking that requires all of one’s attention and dedication.

I am studying how birds time their reproductive systems in response to local environmental changes. For instance, the European great tit has expanded northward as temperatures have increased and these northern populations have delayed the timing of breeding, an advantageous adaption because spring conditions come later in the year with increasing latitude. It is thought that the delay occurs via an increase in the photoperiodic threshold to induce gonadal growth. We think that a delay in the activation of genes that regulate photoperiodic response in the northern population is responsible for this variation. I will investigate the timing of gene expression patterns in two populations of the great tit from different latitudes via molecular techniques such as qPCR and ICC. The ability of animals to respond to stresses in their environment will greatly shape the makeup of future communities. This study may elucidate crucial insights on species preservation and management efforts as the effects of human disturbances and consequent rising global temperatures are intensifying worldwide.  

--SURF has given me the opportunity and the resources to spend the summer concentrating on a project that I am excited about. I am grateful that I can spend the majority of my time immersed in my work without financial burdens. Not only do I hope to gain amazing intellectual and personal growth, but this opportunity reinforces my commitment to research and enables me to explore and expand my future career goals. I am really looking forward to this summer.

CtrA is a central regulatory protein controlling cell cycle progression in Caulobacter crescentus. The active phosphorylated form of CtrA directly controls the transcription of at least 95 cell-cycle-regulated genes as well as binding to sites near the origin to prevent initiation of chromosome replication. CtrA consists of receiver domain and DNA binding domain. CtrA activity is regulated by phosphorylation and degradation. My project is to elucidate the degradation mechanism of CtrA. We hypothesized that there are specific amino acid residues on CtrA receiver domain that are essential for its proteolysis. Thus, I will employ Genetics, Molecular Biology and Biochemical approaches to uncover the identity of these residues, and to determine how they mediate the effects of other factors which are known to be necessary for CtrA degradation.

--Working in a lab will allow me to put the knowledge that I gained from my coursework into practice. Studying the various genetic, molecular and biochemical techniques that can be employed to characterize a regulatory pathway is one thing, but to actually design and carry out experiments, trouble shoot technical problems and in general bear with the “ups and downs” of laboratory research is a totally different experience. This summer research opportunity will give me a taste of what to expect during the next step of my academic path, Graduate School. Thanks to SURF, I can now enjoy my summer research experience without worrying about my fundamental biological needs: food!!

Neural Prosthetics is a newly emerging field with many potential applications for patients who have lost one of their five senses. At the core of this technology, electrical microstimulation of neurons is used to artificially generate and restore lost senses. For my project, I will be targeting the visual cortex, and developing a rodent visual model for microstimulation in order to explore stimulation patterns that mimic natural neural activity. The goal of this project is to develop a more safe and effective way to elicit visual response and perception in the animal. Through the course of this project, I will be considering effects from the surgical procedure and animal behavior to properties of electrical circuits and its effect on individual neurons.

--This project gives me the chance to research in greater depth than I could imagine possible during the school year. It is a rare treat to be able to work on an individual research project, especially with support from my fellow lab members and SURF committee. I am excited to investigate to the best of my ability in the hopes of contributing to the scientific community while working towards a senior thesis for this coming year. Being a student bound for medical school, I also feel that this may be my last chance to delve into academic research, an opportunity that will train me for my future, wherever it may take me.

This summer I will be working in ion trap quantum computing. Quantum computing is an alternate form of computation that uses a quantum bit, called a "qubit", in place of the binary system. My professor, Hartmut Haeffner, isolates ions in radio frequency traps to create qubits. This trapping must take place in an ultra high vacuum so that air molecules do not interfere with the ion. My project entails building RC filters for the ion trap that are compatible with the vacuum. These filters need to remove any radio frequency pickup in DC electrodes in the trap. The main challenge, however, will be the vacuum compatbility which will involve rigorous testing and research in material science.

--Berkeley is above all a fantastic research institution and the opportunity to immersed in it for the summer is exciting. Thank you for providing your support and enabling me to focus on one project for an extended period of time. Especially because the semester can be overwhelmingly busy, I look forward to concentrating on the lab and being able to make contributions. This summer I hope to create a firm foundation to build upon throughout my senior year as well as develop research skills in general. I have also heard that Berkeley is beautiful in the summer and look forward to spending more time here!

In bacterial genomes, functionally related genes tend to be grouped together in operons, possibly to facilitate co-regulation and coordinated horizontal gene transfer. However, co-regulation and the formation of selfish gene clusters cannot explain the co-localization of regulators and their target operons. Yet this co-localization of prokaryotic transcription factor genes and their binding sites is widespread and is a driving force in the specific organization of transcriptional units on the chromosome. Thus in this study I will use the paradigmatic model of gene regulation, the lac locus, to address a fundamental question: why are gene regulators and their targets co-localized in bacterial genomes?

--I am incredibly grateful to SURF for providing me with the opportunity to continue doing research this summer. While I have always enjoyed my classes, doing research has truly enriched my learning experience here at Cal. In class we learn about past discoveries and experiments, but by doing research we can probe deeper into pre-existing concepts and theories and find completely new questions to ask and hopefully, one day, answer. With an open mind and determination, we can discover things about nature that no one else in the world knows, and then disseminate that information so that others may use that knowledge in ways that may have never even occurred to us.

Although considerable scholarship has debunked neo-Malthusian myths of "overpopulation," its specters and tropes continue to be invoked in environmentalist, anti-immigration, and 'development' discourses. However, little historical work has been done on the origins of these discourses. My project focuses on the genesis of a particular concept that raises specters of "overpopulation" -- 'human carrying capacity'-- whose various conceptual, political, and historical blind spots I will seek to elucidate and contextualize, and whose textual origins in late colonial Zambia place it at the cusp of a scientific revival of neo-Malthusian thinking. By understanding the political origins of this term alongside the interventions that it was invoked to justify, this project may provide an intriguing way to combat the still hegemonic ideas of Africa as a continent in a perpetual crisis of "overpopulation."

--To me, SURF offers a threefold opportunity: First, it has provided me the occasion to do primary source archival research crucial to my own project; an opportunity that very few undergraduate researchers have. Secondly, this fellowship has given me the opportunity to go out and actually see and experience the places I have only read about and imagined until now in the course of my research. And lastly, and perhaps most emphatically, SURF enables a researcher like me to produce work that could shed an authoritative light on the murky and highly contentious terrain of contemporary understandings of Africa. Certainly, this is more than any undergraduate could hope for.

This summer, I will find the precise location of a gene known as rmr4 in the Zea mays genome. This process is known as mapping, and will require me to spend time at the lab bench, in the greenhouse, and on the internet. I will use bioinformatics tools available online to design specialized markers in order to determine the recombination frequencies between known loci and my gene, enabling me to identify exactly where the gene resides. I will employ DNA extraction methods, PCR, and gel electrophoresis in order to gather most of the data for this project. Once I have located the gene, I will sequence it and begin characterizing its function in order to further understand the phenomenon of paramutation in maize.

--This summer, I will find the precise location of a gene known as rmr4 in the Zea mays genome. This process is known as mapping, and will require me to spend time at the lab bench, in the greenhouse, and on the internet. I will use bioinformatics tools available online to design specialized markers in order to determine the recombination frequencies between known loci and my gene, enabling me to identify exactly where the gene resides. I will employ DNA extraction methods, PCR, and gel electrophoresis in order to gather most of the data for this project. Once I have located the gene, I will sequence it and begin characterizing its function in order to further understand the phenomenon of paramutation in maize.

To the European mind, conditioned by the Renaissance ideals of linear perspective, the two-dimensional patterns of the indigenous people of colonial-era Peru proposed a very different conception of space. In an attempt to qualify a process that defies traditional Renaissance visual standards, art historians termed the indigenous artists’ conversion of three-dimensional forms into flat patterns planimetricism. Through an examination of a colonial Peruvian tapestry and its relationship with Inca textiles and contemporary colonial church façade decoration I will address both pre-Conquest and European influences and ultimately, suggest that these two-dimensional patterns, as forms of non-figural representation, transcend the merely decorative. A historical perspective can provide the means to thoroughly deconstruct the significance of planimetric pattern in Peru and subsequently, reconstruct the purely decorative as the narrative of a bygone era of cultural exchange.

--Participation in the SURF program will allow me to pursue more in-depth research for my senior thesis in History of Art and gain experience conducting extensive research. I am very excited to pursue a research project of my own design in a relatively unexplored area of History of Art. The additional time and funding provided by this program will facilitate my trip to Boston to examine several of the Peruvian textiles that I have studied. Through this work, I hope to make a contribution to both my discipline and the greater UC Berkeley research community.

Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe behind hydrogen and helium. However, measuring its abundance in stars is surprisingly difficult. This is because oxygen transition lines are weak, hard to model, or contaminated with other lines. Recently, new techniques for measuring the oxygen content from stellar spectra have been developed. I will apply these techniques to the nearest 1000 solar-type stars and measure their oxygen content. The oxygen content in stars plays an important role in planet formation. Specifically, the ratio of carbon to oxygen is critical in determining whether rocky planets are composed primarily of silicates (like ours) or carbon compounds. This work will shed light on how the earth compares to the over 300 extra-solar planets discovered to date.

--Astronomy has been a life-long passion of mine, and I’m excited to finally get my hands dirty with some astronomy research. Extra-solar planets are one of the most interesting fields in astronomy, and it’s great to be a part of that. I am especially excited to work with Professor Geoff Marcy, who, in addition to being a world-class astronomer, has a kind and patient personality that makes him an ideal mentor. I am grateful for the SURF program for its support in this amazing project.

Cell responses are mediated by signal transduction pathways that involve protein and lipid kinase cascades. One of the two essential PtdIns 4-kinases in the budding yeast (S. cerevisiae), encoded by the PIK1 gene, localizes both to the Golgi and in the nucleus and has an essential function in both compartments. Pik1 in the Golgi functions in regulating secretion from the Golgi to the cell surface, but the processes that Pik1 helps regulate in the nucleus are not well understood. In an effort to understand the essential role of Pik1 in the nucleus, I have proposed a selection for dosage suppressors of the lethal phenotype of cells that lack nuclear Pik1 activity. Dosage suppressors are genes that, when over-expressed, are able to rescue the viability of cells that lack an otherwise essential gene function. Identifying the protein products of such dosage suppressors may allow me to discern what role PtdIns4P production, specifically by Pik1, plays in the nucleus and what processes this lipid regulates

--By becoming immersed in a multidisciplinary community such as SURF, we will each be able to further our knowledge and understanding of other disciplines, and in turn, achieve personal and intellectual growth in an environment free of financial worry. My interest in meeting others that are similarly motivated will allow me to learn how to better communicate with my peers and work as a tight-knit family, striving to reach a common goal, that of intellectual understanding and cooperation. Through this common interest and eagerness, we will undoubtedly grow as young individuals and gain a sense of confidence that will make it even easier for us to lead ourselves, and others, with a clear sense of direction.

9-cis-retinoic acid (9cRA) is one of the many derivatives of vitamin A. Although vitamin A derivatives are most known for their involvement in sight, they are involved in many physiological process such as the immune response, the development of many organs, and the maintenance of normal internal conditions like blood glucose. Normally, glucose levels are closely regulated by hormones of the pancreas such as insulin and glucagons. However in the case of diabetes, this tight regulation collapses. 9cRA has shown potential in correcting the hormonal imbalance characteristic of diabetes. How 9cRA does this is a bit of a mystery. This summer, I aim to shed some light on this interesting mystery which may yield valuable information for the development of drug treatments for diabetes.

--For me, this is an opportunity to make the best of my undergraduate experience. Being involved in research as an undergraduate is an exciting, challenging, and incredibly rewarding experience: it opens up a perspective on science that I would not have seen if I simply attended classes (as interesting as they may be). SURF encouraged me to pursue an ambitious and wildly interesting research project for my last summer and has already helped to focus my project through the research proposal writing process. I look forward to being able to add my small but precious piece to the ongoing scientific puzzle.

Circadian rhythms, generated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain, are found in a wide range of organisms, and play an important role in the generation and maintenance of many biological processes. Chronic disruption of the circadian rhythm, as seen in flight attendants and other shift workers, has been found to be correlated with increased cancer rates. My project will examine the impact of jetlag on immune function, and use cell sorting methods to examine whether there is a change in the amount produced or time of production of cells and cytokines that have immunosurveillant properties. Additionally, I will examine the means by which the brain relays information about the circadian rhythm to the periphery, by looking at the interaction between a proposed intermediary protein messenger prokineticin 2 and select immune markers.

--This summer I will have an opportunity to conduct an experiment in its entirety, and be extensively involved in the problem solving, trouble shooting and data analysis aspects of research, something that students cannot learn in classes. I will also have a chance to learn new lab techniques, and a great deal about the immune system and cancer development, areas of research that I am interested in. I am looking forward to contributing my own little portion of research to the scientific community, and hope that what I find will benefit someone else in the future.

My research project is designed to tease apart the contribution of circadian irregularities on reproductive performance. Circadian rhythms are essential for the maintenance of ~24 hour cycles in behavior, physiology, and neural function required for normal health. In humans, chronic or acute loss of synchrony between the circadian clock in the brain and the environment through shift work, jet lag, poor sleep hygiene, etc., leads to numerous health problems.  Of great concern, many studies show that disruptions in circadian function lead to infertility, spontaneous abortion, and low birth weight in humans, although cause-effect relationships cannot be established due to limitations of human experimentation. Using an animal model of experimental jet lag, I will explore the specific hormonal, molecular, and cellular mechanisms responsible for such impaired reproductive performance.

--Participating in research for the past two years has engaged my love for learning, inspired my own curiosities, and sparked a far-reaching commitment to exploration for the answers. This summer’s research opportunity allows me to expand upon my experiences so far at Kriegsfeld Lab with my own independent research, something I have been unable to do with the stresses of the regular school year. The SURF grant allows me to work full-time at the lab this summer, so I can hopefully complete my project in time to develop a senior thesis next year. I am thrilled at this chance to pursue and lead an individual project and at the prospect of contributing my findings to the scientific community.

Muscle fibers are lined with small, non-fiber cells that reside between fiber bundles. These cells are called satellite cells. They are muscle stem cells which repair muscle upon injury. Satellite cells are important for use in stem cell therapies as they can self-renew and maintain their numbers following transplantation. Pax7 is a protein that has previously been reported to be uniquely expressed in satellite cells. As such, it is often used to verify the identity of cells collected from whole muscle biopsies. My project aims to show that Pax7 is not expressed in satellite cells but is instead expressed in more differentiated myoblast cells. I also aim to show that many different cell types transcribe the Pax7 gene without necessarily translating it. The results are expected to address existing discrepancies in currently reported experimental results from studies that depend on Pax7 to identify satellite cells.

--Most of the science classes at Berkeley focus on theory. In classes, we are taught the various facts and models that have stemmed out of knowledge garnered through research. Some classes even attempt to address experimental design. However, there is a big difference between thinking “What if?” and actually following through on those thoughts by pursuing laboratory research. My SURF award provides me with the opportunity to dedicate an entire summer to research, without having to worry about taking on another job to pay the bills or make the rent. It allows me to focus on applying the knowledge I’ve garnered in classes to practical use and allows me to experience and learn from the discrepancies between theory and practice.

My project investigates the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a paramilitary group that holds monthly border-watch operations with the ostensible purpose of stopping illegal immigration from Mexico and Canada. The far-right patriot movement of the 1990s has been resurging since the nomination of President Obama, and the recent acts of domestic terrorism show that this movement is growing. According to the camp facilitator, the MCDC is just one of three hundred distinct organizations using a variation on the Minuteman theme. This summer I will transcribe interview recordings from two trips to Camp Vigilance. The transcriptions will be turned into weighted diagrams, or word clouds to reveal patterns in concept association. This will reveal the frames and metaphors that structure members’ conscious understanding of their own ideology.

--Winning this grant has been very meaningful to me. It will allow me to devote myself full-time to examining a question that is at the intersection of my two fields of interest: Gender and Women’s Studies, and Linguistics. This is also very important to me personally because this past year, I have had to adjust to a chronic pain condition. Without the financial support from SURF, I would not be able to spend the summer preparing for my senior thesis with the freedom to be flexible given my health constraints. Designing and pursing my own research project has been exciting, challenging, and very rewarding, and I feel incredibly lucky to attend a university that supports me and gives me opportunities like this.

My experiment examines two possible models of how the brain determines which arm to use during reaching movements. Under the non-competitive model, the motor areas in each hemisphere formulate a plan and race until one has reached some threshold level of activation for movement, while the competitive model has the two hemispheres race while sending inhibitory signals to each other. I'll be giving subjects a simple reaching task in which they must respond to cues on a screen, but occasionally withhold their movement in response to a later stop cue. While this is ongoing, I will be intermittently applying TMS, or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, to a region on the parietal lobe. TMS at the frequencies I will be using induces a temporary disruption of local functions, resulting in a virtual lesion of the affected area. The two models make different predictions about how these virtual lesions should affect one's ability to inhibit movements after the stop cue, so hopefully this experiment will shed light on what is going on during these sorts of movement.

--I've been a research assistant in Professor Rich Ivry's Cognition Action lab for almost four semesters now, but a busy academic schedule has limited the scope of my involvement. With classes during the school year and a job during summer, I haven't had a chance to pursue any independent or original research. SURF has given me the chance to stay for the summer and gain experience with the whole process of designing an experiment, gathering data, and performing analysis. As a Computer Science major who would like to study cognitive neuroscience, it's really important to me that I have a chance to learn about the field outside of my usual coursework.