The GRAD Office Externship Program, or “take a grad student to work day,” gives active graduate students an opportunity to shadow a Dartmouth graduate alumni and live a day in the life at their occupation. In late February, I had the pleasure of observing Dr. Jeff Byers (PhD Chemistry ’84), a faculty member at Middlebury College.
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The Dartmouth Graduate Alumni Research Award has been instrumental in my graduate research this year. In the Guerinot lab, we study how essential nutrients are “eaten” by and stored in plants. For many of the nutrients that we study the only way to visualize their localization in the plant is to use a giant X-ray to conduct Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (SXRF) microanalysis, which allows non-destructive multi-elemental imaging of plant tissues. The support of this award allowed me access to collaborating synchrotron beam lines.
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Humans have a remarkable capacity for processing spatial information, allowing us to maintain a sense of direction and location as we navigate within our environment. This ability is largely employed unconsciously and thus often taken for granted; however, individuals suffering from chronic spatial disorientation due to brain or vestibular system damage are painfully aware of the vital contribution spatial processing makes to our quality of life.
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Mercury is a toxic metal that is negatively impacts the health of humans and wildlife that consume fish throughout the northeastern United States. Humans have increased the loading of mercury to aquatic ecosystems in this region through combustion of coal, incineration of waste, and other industrial processes. Soils act as a strong accumulator and ‘natural barrier’ preventing much of the human-derived mercury from entering lakes and rivers. However, exotic and invasive earthworm species threaten the stability and retention of mercury in the forest soils.
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I am very pleased to provide an update on my ongoing exploratory work supported by the Dartmouth Graduate Studies Graduate Alumni Research Award. Serious mental illnesses including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder are among the leading causes of disability in the United States and worldwide.
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