CLICK HERE TO READ ON IGB'S WEBSITE Children are encouraged to follow their interests and think about what they want to be when they grow up. But the scope of the careers they imagine might be limited if they don’t have exposure different possibilities, especially for those less represented in certain fields. In an effort to expose young girls to different career opportunities, Campus Middle School for Girls has been running an event called “Forum Week” since the school’s establishment in 1994. During the event, the girls study a topic in depth for a week, meeting with local experts in the field and often getting hands-on experience in jobs in that field. The event is organized by Tami Adams, the current director of the middle school. “Because this is an all-girls school, it’s important to expose them to all sorts of different things,” said Adams. “We try to do different topics and say, hey, go look at all this cool stuff that you could be doing in the future! Because you never know what's going to spark, right?” This year’s topic was nanotechnology, which is the manipulation of atomic-sized objects in order to create new technologies that can be used in electronics, medicine, and more. Faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign led various activities to demonstrate to the students different uses and techniques in nanotechnology. This included members from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Beckman Institute, the Grainger College of Engineering, and the Nick Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. In the classroom, the girls built Lego sets while wearing oven mitts to demonstrate the necessity of tools for working in the atomic scale. They used a mirror and laser to “move” a concrete wall at an atomic scale too small for the naked eye. Using beads and pipe cleaners, they learned how PCR amplifies nucleic acids in DNA. Brian Cunningham (CGD Leader/MMG), Intel Alumni Endowed Chair of the Grainger College of Engineering, and his graduate students led a number of activities in the classroom that demonstrated how scientists manipulate and measure light and florescence. One of the lessons even showed how gold nanoparticles can be used to detect molecules for cancer diagnostics. “The students were extremely curious and asked us questions we did not expect, like ‘why are rainbows round?’, and ‘Is my shirt really red? What color is it if the lights are off?’” Cunningham remarked. “The graduate students shared their stories about how they became interested in science and engineering when they were in middle school, and I unfortunately had to tell the kids how I was not such a great student when I was in 7th grade.” In addition to instructors coming to their classrooms, the students also spent one day visiting the University of Illinois campus. At the Beckman Institute, the girls learned about the history of the building and the original MRI machine, and got to use the Bugscope, an electron scanning microscope, to see bugs close up and in great detail. In the NHMNTL, the girls viewed the cleanrooms where transistors used in phones and laptops are produced, and got to try on the protective gear, known as bunny suits, that engineers wear when working in these rooms. They also interacted with a replica for an atomic force microscope that demonstrated how the probes create such small, precise scans. When asked about their campus visit during Forum Week, the students enthusiastically described their favorite activities: “One of my favorite things was putting together a Lego police car while wearing oven mitts! It showed it’s hard to work with little things if you don’t have the right tools. Oh, and seeing the bugs up close!” said one student who wished to remain anonymous. “My favorite part was learning about the history of the Beckman Institute, and seeing the original MRI machine,” said Evie. “We got to use these touchscreens to click true or false things about stuff in the institute, and we went around searching for the information to answer them.” “It was cool to learn how they measure things that are super super small,” said Abby. “And getting to interact with things like that [points to the atomic force microscope replica] helped me visualize it.” When asked if she would now consider doing science like this in the future, Abby said “yes, it’s pretty cool.” Past years have focused on a variety of other topics, ranging from art, history, science, law and more. Adams described how the first year she was director they learned about crime scene investigation, and how to identify fingerprints and bones. In a later year students talked with a lawyer at the federal courthouse and got to argue a case in front of a judge. And in another year, they designed their own podcasts and apps. Last year they visited local female-owned small businesses, and then created their own businesses to pitch to their parents at a mini-conference. “We really want to help students develop their sense of self and recognize their place as a global citizen,” said Adams. “It's all about exposure, taking them outside their little bubble and showing them the bigger picture, how they can make an impact in the bigger world.” Adams says she has seen the success of Forum Week firsthand during her tenure at the middle school: “I’ve been in this position long enough that I have students now that have graduated college, and it's exciting to hear what they are doing, knowing that we exposed them and helped set them on that path.” The Campus Middle School for Girls is currently taking applications for new students, and Adams encourages all interested parents of young girls to apply.
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CLICK TO READ ON IGB'S WEBSITE Many animals have evolved to tolerate extreme environments, including being able to survive crushing pressures of ocean trenches, unforgiving heat of deserts, and limited oxygen high in the mountains. These animals are often highly specialized to live in these specific environments, limiting them from moving to new locations. Yet, there are rare examples of species that once lived in harsh environments but have since colonized more temperate settings. Angel Rivera-Colón, a former graduate student now postdoc in the lab of Julian Catchen (CIS/GNDP), an associate professor in the department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, explores the genetic mechanisms underlying this anomaly in Antarctic Notothenioid fish. Antarctic notothenioids, or cryonotothenioids, have evolved to live in freezing waters around Antarctica, where most fish would otherwise freeze solid if exposed to such cold temperatures. However, cryonotothenioid fish are able to survive in these waters due to antifreeze glycoproteins they produce in their cells. The AGFPs bind to any ice crystals that form, preventing them from growing and the cells from freezing. Antarctic icefishes, a family within cryonotothenioids, are even more specialized to live in the icy waters. Icefishes also are the only vertebrate that has adapted to live without hemoglobin in their blood cells, causing their cells and tissues to be translucent/white in color. Hemoglobin is a protein in blood cells that helps increase oxygen uptake and results in the red coloration of cells. Normally animals need hemoglobin to get enough oxygen, but in the cold, oxygen-rich waters around Antarctica, icefishes have developed morphological changes, such as bigger hearts for pumping blood, that they no longer need hemoglobin to get enough oxygen. Despite this extreme specialization, one species of icefish called Champsocephalus esox, or the pike icefish, has escaped Antarctica and now lives in warmer, less oxygenated, South American waters. “The movement of this species to warmer waters posed an interesting evolutionary mystery that I wanted to try to solve,” Rivera-Colón said. “If you’re specialized to only live in very cold environments, how do you survive and adapt to this new warmer environment?” To understand how the genome of the fish changed as it migrated into warmer waters, Rivera-Colón compared the genetics of the pike icefish to that of an Antarctic species of icefish, C. gunnari. The team took tissue samples collected by collaborators and fishermen from southern Chile, South Georgia, and the Sandwich Islands to sequence the genomes. “This is the first time we’ve looked at a genome of a notothenioid species that escaped Antarctica into this new temperate environment. A big part of that is because the pike icefish is very rare and elusive, so the help of these fishermen as well as collaborators for gathering samples was indispensable.” Rivera-Colón said. The researchers used continuous long read sequencing to generate a chromosome-level genome for each fish species. After comparing the genomes, they found that while the genome was highly conserved between the species, there was divergence in areas of the pike icefish genome associated with the physiology that would need to change as the fish moved to warmer waters. Surprisingly, the pike icefish genome still contained multiple copies of the gene that codes for AGFPs, but the genes were full of mutations that may render it non-functional. “Most of the genes had stop codons inserted in,” Catchen explained. “Assuming everything works as we'd expect, we wouldn't see them transcribed into AGFPs. But the genes are still there and presumably could still active. We’re not sure.” The researchers say that while mutations in this gene in cold water cryonotothenioids could spell death if the gene no longer works, in warmer waters the selection on this gene in pike icefish would’ve loosened, as the fish would no longer need to prevent themselves from freezing. Researchers also found the pike icefish genome displayed chromosomal inversions — when part of the chromosome becomes flipped in orientation. “We know that inversions and other chromosomal changes can be very important for mediating adaptive processes as well as creating barriers between species,” explained Rivera-Colón. “So finding them here suggests that they could be important for adaptation to the warmer environment in South America.” Rivera-Colón further explained that inversions could make it more difficult for the two species to mix, speeding up speciation between the sister species, despite only splitting less than 2 million years ago. In addition to evolving to live in warmer waters, the pike icefish would’ve also needed to adapt to a different light environment. The sea around the Antarctic is dark much of the year, and the surface ice blocks much of the light. But in temperate waters, pike icefish experience a more normal day-night cycle. The team is currently examining gene expression in related fish to see how their physiology and circadian rhythms have adapted to these new light cycles. The researchers also plan to look at the genomes and mitochondria of another pair of related species, Trematomus borchgrevinki and Notothenia angustata. Similar to this study, T. borchgrevinki lives in the cold Antarctic waters, while N. angustata has secondarily transitioned to live in warm waters on the coast of New Zealand. The current study, as well as this planned study on the other species pair, will help researchers better understand how species highly specialized to live in certain environments can escape and adapt to new environments. “I think one of the really interesting aspects of this study is that it challenges how we tell stories about ‘why evolution acted the way it did’,” Catchen described. “We use the classic story of the icefish to explain loss of hemoglobin due to the cold, oxygenated waters it specializes in, but then you have this species that escaped back to normal temperatures and is managing fine. Selection pushed an organism to the extreme in this direction, and then the environment shifted, and now it's being pushed in a different direction.” Rivera-Colón added “Our study just goes to show that this specialization for extreme cold is not an evolutionary dead end, and it helps explain how these transitions happen in nature.” The study, titled “Genomics of secondarily temperate adaptation in the only non-antarctic icefish” was supported by NSF and is published in Molecular Biology & Evolution. Town hall spurs conversation and new ideas for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion at the IGB2/17/2023 CLICK TO READ ON IGB'S WEBSITE
The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology recently held a town hall meeting to introduce new changes to improve diversity and inclusion at the IGB. Attendance was high, with faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and students alike filling both meeting rooms to capacity in order to ask questions and weigh in on proposed changes. The meeting was led by IGB Director Gene Robinson and guest moderator and Director of Campus Culture and Climate Kaamilyah Abdullah-Span, along with Co-chairs of the DEI Task Force Julia Pollack and Sara Pedron-Haba, who moderated questions submitted anonymously online. “Today marks an important next step in the process to address concerns and improve conditions in the IGB so that everyone feels welcome and connected in every way possible to the important activities that are going on at this research institute,” said Robinson in his welcoming address. Diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of the IGB’s mission. As such, the IGB has two committees which work together towards this effort. The Committee on Diversity (now the DEI Advisory Group), established in 2018, acts as an advisory committee that develops ideas for promoting a more inclusive community. The DEI Advisory Group is comprised of theme leaders and faculty in the IGB. The second committee, the DEI Task Force established in 2020, is co-chaired by Julia Pollack, IGB Creative Program Manager, and Sara Pedron-Haba, a research professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. It is comprised of members of the IGB community, including staff and postdoctoral researchers. The DEI Task Force takes ideas from the Advisory Group and helps bring them into action. Since their inception, they have created multiple programs, workshops, and initiatives to diversify both the science and the scientists at the IGB, and address any inequities that those at the IGB still face. “We have been fortunate to be served by two very important committees, the Advisory Group and the DEI Task Force, who have worked in a very dedicated way over the past several years, and we really salute their efforts and thank them for everything that they've done.” Robinson said. Proposed changes discussed at the town hall included new DEI trainings for faculty and staff, beginning with theme leaders and office directors, exit surveys for postdocs, faculty and staff, new language in IGB faculty and theme appointment/reappointment letters, and a more transparent process for reporting grievances. Robinson and Abdullah-Span also clarified current DEI measures in place in response to questions regarding them, such as gender-neutral bathroom locations and routes for grievance reporting, and took suggestions for other DEI initiatives from the audience. The proposed changes follow a climate survey conducted in Fall 2021, which aimed at understanding the current work environment of the IGB. The responses were encouraging overall, as a majority of respondents expressed satisfaction with their work environment. However, this response was more common in those further along in their career or in more privileged positions, while those in positions more vulnerable to imbalances in power or preference expressed higher rates of dissatisfaction. Alarmingly, there were also a few reports of bullying, gaslighting, racism, and sexism, highlighting the need for action. “I was very heartened by the strong sense of shared purpose and commitment witnessed today, with outstanding attendance and excellent suggestions,” said Robinson. “Too often we think of diversity, equity, and inclusion as buzz words; however, these are action-based concepts that must be operationalized in order to have the intended effect,” said Abdullah-Span. “The interest and response of the IGB community to the report and the town hall meeting are encouraging indicators that there is strong community support and alignment with the direction in which the IGB is moving, which is important because achieving the goal of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive working and learning environment within the IGB requires the commitment and contributions of everyone.” The IGB is currently reviewing questions and comments submitted on their form, as well as the feedback received during the town hall, and hopes to continue the discussion after thoughtful consideration. Anyone who wants to get involved with DEI efforts can join the Task Force, which meets online biweekly on Fridays. Information about DEI events and Task Force meetings can be found in the IGB weekly emails, or those interested can email [email protected] for more information. Anonymous concerns or suggestions can also be placed online via https://www.igb.illinois.edu/webform/diversity_suggestions_form. CLICK TO READ ON IGB'S WEBSITE Mapping parental behaviors to genotypes in stickleback fishIt would be challenging to find someone who became interested in animal behavior at a younger age than Colby Behrens, a current PhD candidate in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior department. Growing up on a dairy farm in northeast Iowa, Behrens says he learned early on the importance of understanding the behavioral cues of animals. “I like to read classic books in my spare time, and there’s this quote from Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ that I really like, that goes ‘Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.’” “If you're going to be around cattle, you have to know when it’s safe to stand behind them, or which direction they'll move, or if they’re ok with people approaching them, otherwise they will kick and wreck you,” described Behrens. “So, I became very interested in behavior when learning about the behavior of our farm animals and how to interact with them properly.”
To learn more about animal behavior, Behrens attended Iowa State and obtained his bachelor’s in biology, with the goal of working with animals in a zoo when he finished. However, after a summer internship at the Omaha Zoo during college, he decided it wasn’t exactly what he wanted. “The zoo was great, but I realized working there was basically just farming all over again.” Behrens said. Though he was involved in many projects at Iowa State with a variety of animals, he became inspired by a project he conducted on paper wasps, led by his advisor Amy Toth, a professor of entomology. The project involved studying the wasps’ personalities at the individual level, and examining how genomics influenced their behaviors. This experience drove Behrens to apply to the graduate program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with Alison Bell (GNDP leader), a professor of evolution, ecology, and behavior, who specializes in studying the mechanisms of personality and behavioral differences among stickleback fish. Behrens’ doctoral research looks specifically at two different populations of Gasterosteus aculeatus, the three-spined stickleback: The common morph and white morph. These two populations are genetically very similar, and often overlap in the habitats they preside in, but they display drastically different parental behavior. “Commons provide parental care, and will fan their eggs, defend their nest, and care for the embryos for a week or two,” Behrens explained. “White just grab eggs with their mouth, spit them out to disperse them, and then are essentially done with them. This is a massive shift in behavior, between heavy parental care and complete absence within two populations that are very closely related and often live in the same place.” Behrens says these differences make stickleback fish an excellent system to test the interplay between genomics and behavior. Using transcriptomics and QTL mapping, he can measure expression of genes in the brains of the fish, and then associate genotypes with phenotypic behaviors. The two populations of fish can also interbreed in the lab, which allows Behrens to see how changes in parental care across generations changes with the mixing of genotypes from the two species. When the species are bred together, the F2 hybrids, or the offspring of that pairing, display everything across the spectrum of parental care. “Some F2s just disperse the embryos and they’re done, even though they look like commons. Some build a nest and take care of the eggs for while, and some only build a nest but then just disperse the eggs. Some look like white sticklebacks but display all the parental care. So we get this really nice split in the variation that is really necessary if you want to map the phenotype in the population.” In his current research he has found that in addition to parental care, there are also differences in courtship, type of nest built, and even egg traits, such as size and ovarian fluid coating, between the species and among the mixed-species F2s. He has also found that hundreds of genes are differentially expressed between the species and F2s, and across the stages of nesting within the same male. However, the intensity of breeding and maintaining multiple generations, as well as securing a big enough sample size for QTL mapping, can make it difficult to conduct these experiments, and Behrens says it’s not without the occasional failure. But he also explained that he doesn’t let failure get him down, because it’s always worth the risk of trying. “I like to read classic books in my spare time, and there’s this quote from Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ that I really like, that goes ‘Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes,’” said Behrens. “Basically, if you want to live a good life you have to take some risks every now and then and be willing to make mistakes. And I also think it relates to research well. Like I don't always know if this is gonna work but let's just go ahead and put these fish in a tank and try it to see if this experiment works out.” In addition to reading, Behrens also enjoys woodworking with his wife Lindsey, who he met in Spain during a study abroad trip through Iowa State. She also recently graduated as a masters student at Illinois in the department of Cell and Developmental Biology. Together in their woodworking they have built a couch and multiple desks, and his next goal is to carve a model of every research organism he has worked on. Behrens also likes to spend time with his dog, a pitbull-mix named Dice. “He mostly just sits on the couch all day and is afraid of the rain, but he is a good dog.” Behrens joked. Behrens plans to graduate this year, and will be seeking a postdoctoral position in academia to continue exploring genetics and behavior. |