Natural Sciences

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Wed, 12/04/2024 - 14:35

Scientists used to think acids in our bodies were mostly for building things up or breaking things down. But new research from ��-Dearborn faculty Kalyan Kondapalli and Suvranta Tripathy is pointing to a new fundamental role for pH in our cells.

Associate Professor of Biology Kalyan Kondapalli (far right) and Assistant Professor of Physics Suvranta Tripathy (far left) in the lab with undergraduate researcher Mariam Duhaini (second from left) and graduate student Lanqin Cao. Photo by Annie Barker

The mysterious impacts of head trauma on the blood-brain barrier

lblouin — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:22:39 +0000

The mysterious impacts of head trauma on the blood-brain barrier lblouin Mon, 09/30/2024 - 07:22

For people outside the world of cell biology, the term blood-brain barrier tends to conjure images of a large singular membrane surrounding our brains, as if it were a stone wall protecting a medieval castle. But rather than encasing the brain, the blood-brain barrier exists within it, winding its way through the brain as a tightly packed network of blood vessel cells and tissues. Moreover, since our brains, just like any other organ, must be nourished by nutrient-rich blood, this barrier can’t only keep harmful things out. The secret to the BBB’s effectiveness is its semipermeability: It works its magic by selectively allowing vital nutrients, like oxygen and glucose, to reach our brains, turning away pathogens and toxins, and funneling other things, like waste, away.

It’s a complex system that consists of many types of cells and processes, and it’s one that still presents many mysteries for scientists, says Elena Zhang, an MD and associate professor of neurobiology. One of the most exciting research frontiers is the relationship between the BBB and an arguably even more enigmatic cerebral feature called the neurovascular unit. The NVU, like the BBB, isn’t so much a discrete part of the brain as it is a system. A relatively new concept in neuroscience, the NVU generally describes a set of neurons and blood vessel cells that work together to support the metabolic needs of the brain at vital locales where substances are moved to or from the bloodstream and surrounding cerebral tissue. As such, it’s not surprising that the NVU is thought to play a critical role in regulating the BBB. But Zhang says it actually wasn’t that long ago that scientists thought neurons really didn’t play an important role in the BBB. “Now we understand that the NVU is this complex team of cells that orchestrate the two-way traffic across the blood-brain barrier,” she explains. “And it’s not just one process. Sometimes molecules might diffuse across the barrier. Other times they might need transport. So it takes an incredible amount of cooperation between all the cells on the team.”

Neurobiologists are still working out the particulars of all the mechanisms that are vital to the NVU’s functioning, and Zhang is hoping a new $465,000 National Institutes of Health-funded project with Assistant Professor of Biology Jie Fan could help scientists untangle a few of the key mysteries, particularly how the NVU helps regulate the BBB. To accomplish this, they’ll be looking at an instance when the BBB is particularly vulnerable — namely, after a head trauma. Zhang, who’s done previous work on pediatric head injuries, says even small traumas, including quick accelerations and decelerations of the head, can damage cerebral tissue, including the NVU. And her previous research indicates that this damage does indeed threaten the integrity of the BBB, though what exactly is going haywire within the NVU after injury isn’t yet clear.

For Zhang and Fan to understand what might be going on, they have to start with some pretty involved science. Direct observation in the brain at this neurovascular level after an injury is simply not possible — you can’t just cut people’s heads open and look at what’s inside. Nor is that even possible in the mice models they’re using for this stage of their research. To peer this deeply into the brain, Zhang and Fan will actually first have to get tissue out of it — extracting samples from mice that have sustained head trauma. They then have to meticulously separate the different types of cells in the sample, isolating all the most important cell types of the NVU and culturing each one so they have enough to study. Then it’s time to start looking for answers. Zhang will be using a variety of techniques to look for ways trauma may be expressed at the cellular level, including testing for genetic markers. “A trauma can cause our cells to turn on or off different genes as they try to respond to the injury, and they can even change into different cell subtypes,” she explains. “Some ‘good’ cells might turn into ‘bad’ ones, and it’s even possible for the same cell to sometimes be ‘good’ and sometimes be ‘bad.’ So we can look for these genetic markers to see if, for example, certain proteins are being made or a certain cell type has become overactive.”

Another thing Zhang and Fan are interested in is a phenomenon called cell chirality. This refers to the slight helical twist that’s characteristic of the endothelial cells that make up the walls of blood vessels. This twist allows the cells to lock together very tightly, and Fan’s earlier work on cancer metastasis has found that a loss of chirality can lead to leaky vessels. Given the crucial role endothelial cells play in the NVU, Zhang and Fan want to know whether chirality may be playing a role in the malfunctioning of the BBB after injury.

Since the NVU is really a team of cells, Fan and Zhang will also be trying to observe changes in how the cells work together post-trauma. To do this, they’ll culture the different cell types and then reintroduce them to each other in a Petri dish to see how well they play together. “This is probably the most challenging part of the project, because when we isolate the cells and put them together and observe their interactions, whether their interactions are true, or represent how they would function in the body, is difficult to say for sure,” Fan says. “But this is how you have to start. You look for interactions that seem interesting and go from there. Unfortunately, you can’t put everything back in the brain, because everything is mixed together and you can’t see it.”

If successful, this research could be a significant contribution to scientists' quest to more adequately describe the various processes of the NVU. But in many ways, Zhang and Fan say it’s just the starting point. The ultimate goal is to develop therapeutics that could help the brain regain healthy function after injury. And to do that, scientists first must have a thorough understanding of how the NVU works and what processes are malfunctioning post-trauma. Zhang, whose background also includes nanomedicine development, says the best therapeutics will likely be ones that target restoration of specific processes — and can get past the blood-brain barrier, which is what makes nanomedicine a promising option. One unfortunate side effect of the BBB’s effectiveness in keeping pathogens and toxins out of our brains is that it also keeps most medicines out. “There are many pharmaceutical companies trying to develop drugs for the central nervous system, but many of the clinical trials haven’t been very successful — primarily because of this challenge of the blood-brain barrier,” Zhang explains. “We’re seeing very little bioavailability or uptake in the areas we want, so they’re not performing as they should. Nanomedicines may have more success not only crossing the blood-brain barrier, but, if you design the medicine correctly, they can repair the specific cells and tissues. But before we reach this amazing future, we need to figure out what’s really going on. Only then can we target the specific receptors, transporters, cells or cell-cell interactions that our body needs to heal itself.”

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Story by Lou Blouin

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Mon, 09/30/2024 - 11:22

With a new NIH-funded project, Associate Professor Dr. Zhi “Elena” Zhang and Assistant Professor Jie Fan are going deep within the brain to learn how head injuries impact one of our body’s most vital systems.

Associate Professor Dr. Zhi “Elena” Zhang (right) and Assistant Professor Jie Fan

From collaborative research to a Ph.D.

lblouin — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:21:40 +0000

From collaborative research to a Ph.D. lblouin Mon, 02/19/2024 - 11:21

When Professor of Geology Jacob Napieralski published a new study last month, it grabbed headlines in a host of local and national outlets, including Bridge Detroit, Michigan Radio and Next City (stay tuned for that one). But there is another notable aspect to the project, which examined the impact of buried “ghost streams” on flooding in Detroit’s historically redlined neighborhoods: Napieralski’s co-authors — both master’s students at the time — are currently pursuing doctoral degrees. Napieralski, who chairs the M.S. in Environmental Science program, says the program primarily attracts working students who stay in their fields after graduation. But not only did Cat Sulich and Atreyi Guin both decide to continue their studies, their interests dovetailed so well with Napieralski’s work that the three became a research team.

Sulich and Guin took very different paths to the master’s program. Sulich completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Madonna University. She works as a clinical research coordinator at Michigan Medicine, and U-M’s generous tuition reimbursement, plus a partial match from ��-Dearborn, made pursuing her master’s at Dearborn a no-brainer. Going on for a Ph.D. didn’t take a lot of deliberation either. “It had been my childhood dream,” Sulich says. “I remember the first time I sat down with Jacob, I told him that, and he was, like, ‘Oh, yeah, we can get you set up.’ He was very encouraging.” She is pursuing her doctorate in public health with a concentration in environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Guin came to ��-Dearborn as an international student after receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in biotechnology from Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, India. “I don't think I ever thought that I'd do a Ph.D.,” she reflects. “But then, through the course of this program and working with Dr. Napieralski, I realized how much I really liked it. So I think a Ph.D. was automatically the next course of action for me. I just wanted to stay in this field longer and do more research.” She is pursuing her doctorate in geographical sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Sulich and Guin’s research interests were, naturally, influenced by Napieralski, who was their advisor. But they proved a perfect complement to his ongoing work as well. “Cat and I published a paper where we looked at surface water inequities in Phoenix and there were lots of different concepts and data that were brought into that. One of them was redlining, which fascinated us,” Napieralski explains. “My previous research focused a lot on the Rouge watershed, and Atreyi’s thesis focused on comparing flood risk from different models. So our collaborations came from overlapping projects and required the integration of collective expertise, creativity and persistence.”

The project the trio worked on together used historical maps to identify once-active, now-buried waterways in Detroit. They then correlated those waterways with flood risk data and historic Home Owners’ Loan Corporation maps that graded neighborhoods on perceived financial risk, a now outlawed, highly discriminatory practice known as redlining. The team confirmed that flooding disproportionately impacts historically redlined neighborhoods and that the buried waterways contribute to flooding risk. They published their results in the January 2024 issue of City and Environment Interactions.

Their hope is that their research will be used to direct resources to the communities that need them the most. “Cities should begin mapping their ‘hidden hydrology’ so that residents know they are at increased risk of flooding and can make informed decisions and prepare,” Napieralski says. “We need to step back and evaluate how we manage water in urban environments, and also think about the people and history and mitigating factors that we invest in one community and not the other. All these things add up and people who have the least bear the greatest burden.”

Professor Jacob Napieralski poses for a photo on the banks of the Rouge River in Lola Valley Park, Redford, Michigan.

The process leading the group to look at ghost streams was iterative. “Anytime you map real world entities, you can always learn something new. And then that leads to further questions,” says Napieralski. “If you have people like Cat and Atreyi, who are smart, ambitious and have creative ideas, you just lay it out on the table. We would have a number of brainstorming sessions where we would just flesh out the key ideas. For many students, that works better than me telling them what to do, just because you never know what ideas someone else has that could be really valuable.”

Sulich and Guin both say their ��-Dearborn research experiences prepared them well for their next academic step. “If you want to know which parcels flood more, if they're redlined or not, you can't just open Google and search it. You have to just solve the problem yourself,” Sulich observes. ”That was what my master's thesis was like. Whenever there was a problem, because it’s original work, you can't just look it up. You have to find a way to solve that. And that's literally what a Ph.D. is.”

Guin says the research project helped her become more selective — a key skill for an academic. “All the work that we did during the research, we did not present all of it,” she observes. “To understand what to choose and what not to, what would be the most important thing to tie into this paper, that was also a big takeaway for me.”

Napieralski says he learned from Sulich and Guin as well. “I can just sit around at home and spitball great ideas, but it takes a team to see it through,” he explains. “I don't know if I ever saw it as mentoring so much as just collaborating. It was always sharing ideas and tasks, and we all had the same final goal. It wasn't for a grade, it was, ‘Let's get this published. Let's go to a conference and present this.’”

Napieralski has a long history of involving his students in his research, and he’s found they tend to form strong bonds. “There's a connection that lasts much longer,” he says. ”I don't like it when students just pack up and leave and I never see them again. I think it's healthy for faculty members to lean heavily on talented students and then also have that long-term partnership that lasts well beyond this stay on campus.”

Proving that point, Sulich recently enlisted her former advisor as a collaborator in her doctoral research. “I get to sit on the other side of this,” Napieralski reflects. “Just like our research evolves, so does the partnership that I share with them.”

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Article by Kristin Palm

Graduate Research

Student Success

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Mon, 02/19/2024 - 16:14

Two M.S. in Environmental Science grads are taking what they learned working with Professor Jacob Napieralski into prestigious doctoral programs.

Jacob Napieralski, far right, and his students at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in Denver in 2023. From left: Atreyi Guin, graduate student Renato Marimon, undergraduate student Audrey Taylor and Cat Sulich.

Kristen Dage explores how the universe works

lblouin — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 18:10:03 +0000

Kristen Dage explores how the universe works lblouin Thu, 08/10/2023 - 14:10

As a ��-Dearborn undergrad, Kristen Dage asked Astronomy Associate Professor Will Clarkson if there were any openings for research work. After receiving a list, Dage chose a project where she would measure the effect that a neutron star — a compact stellar remnant with extreme properties like gravitational pull — has on the movement and appearance of a relatively normal stellar companion near it.

“This particular neutron star has about the same mass as the sun but it’s about the size of Dearborn. If it were any more compact, we’d get a black hole,” Clarkson says. “There’s a lot of really compact exotic nuclear material. We wanted to see how the system works.”

That was a decade ago. Dage graduated from ��-Dearborn in 2014. But her observation and data collection with Clarkson is ongoing — as is Dage’s interest in astronomy, astrophysics, neutron stars and black holes. Dage earned her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Michigan State University in 2020 — her acceptance letter is hanging in Clarkson’s office. She recently completed an independent fellowship at McGill University in Montréal.

Now she’s working with NASA. Dage was named one of the 24 people internationally that NASA selected for its prestigious annual postdoctoral NASA Hubble Fellowship Program.

As a 2023 NASA Einstein Fellow, a subset of the award, Dage is designing research around the question, “How does the universe work?” Her study will explore how compact objects evolve in dense stellar environments. Her work will enable, for the first time, the creation of a catalog of putative — or presumed to exist — intermediate mass black holes in young star clusters.

“Neutron stars hold so much information. They are a key to unlocking the universe’s secrets,” says Dage, noting that neutron stars are rich laboratories to understand physics, including gravitational physics, nuclear and particle physics, and plasma astrophysics. Dage says since the processes that happen in a neutron star cannot be replicated in labs on Earth, researchers study them where they are.

The NASA fellowships, which are limited to individuals only a few years post-doc, provide three years of independent research support. Because the applicant needs to be sponsored by an institution, only top candidates are put forward.

For her NASA fellowship, Dage will work out of Wayne State University. She says this will give her the opportunity to stop in at ��-Dearborn’s campus and see some of her favorite people. She says doors were always open to her as a student and that continues today.

And, in one of those offices, there are now two papers hanging up with her name on them. After she read her NASA acceptance letter, she sent it over to her mentor. “I wrote, ‘Print this and put it next to the other letter’ to Will,” she says. “I am where I am today because of Will. I feel very lucky to have gone to ��-Dearborn. I met wonderful people who opened doors. Those opened doors made opportunities like this happen
for me.”

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Story by Sarah Tuxbury

Student Success

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Thu, 08/10/2023 - 18:09

Dage was one of the 24 internationally selected researchers for the postdoctoral NASA Hubble Fellowship Program.

Photo by Michigan Photography

Helping solve the mystery of world's largest gecko

stuxbury — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 17:16:01 +0000

Helping solve the mystery of world's largest gecko stuxbury Mon, 07/17/2023 - 13:16

For nearly 200 years, a mysterious giant gecko sat in a French natural history museum’s storage area. No one knew anything about it except that the Natural History Museum of Marseille’s records show it had been there since at least the 1870s and the style of taxidermy pointed closer to the 1830s.

Its size got the attention of researchers who wanted to know more. Larger than any gecko known today, its main body was 380 millimeters or nearly 15 inches — and with the tail, it’s nearly two feet long. Giving a comparison, today’s largest gecko species is in New Caledonia, the archipelago east of Australia. The largest known of those measured about 10 inches, minus the tail.

Helping uncover the mystery is noted herpetologist and CASL Professor Matthew Heinicke. Heinicke said a frequent research collaborator of his, Villanova University Biology Professor Aaron Baur, learned about the gecko from the French museum in the mid-1980s. But DNA analysis wasn’t advanced enough at that time to get conclusive results. About a decade ago, Baur reached out to Heinicke to get involved with this extensive research project.

“For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the broader scientific community didn't have knowledge of this specimen’s existence until one of my colleagues became aware of it,” said Heinicke, who reached out to the museum with Baur and asked for tissue samples. “We hoped that DNA technology, which they obviously didn’t have at that time, would be able to tell us a lot more about it.”

Known in the scientific community for his reptile DNA analysis work, Heinicke received the specimen’s femur from the museum so that he could extract and analyze its DNA makeup in his ��-Dearborn lab.

Researchers originally thought the gecko was from New Zealand based on similar physical characteristics–like toe pads and color patterns – to the country’s geckos. In addition, it resembled a lizard known in folklore from the Māori, the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Herpetologists felt so confident in their hypothesis that they scientifically named it Hoplodactylus delcourti. Hoplodactylus refers to geckos originating from New Zealand and Delcourt is the last name of the museum worker who rediscovered it.

So did this giant gecko, which is presumed to be extinct, come from New Zealand?

To answer this question, Heinicke, his co-researchers from across the nation and his ��-Dearborn undergraduate student research assistants created a dataset that included DNA from 160 species of gecko, essentially creating a family tree. Heinicke then dropped the giant gecko’s DNA sample into the dataset to see where it falls.

They learned the mystery gecko is not from New Zealand. Instead, it’s related to those large — but not as giant — geckos from New Caledonia. The team’s findings were recently published in Scientific Reports and featured in ScienceNews. Heinicke and his colleagues are proposing a change in the lizard’s scientific name. They have dubbed it Gigarcanum, or “giant mystery.”

The importance of this new finding? Heinicke said it helps us understand how different species evolve.

“It’s really nice to live on a planet that has so much variety,” he said. “One of the big questions in the evolution of biology is what are the big factors that promote the evolution of diversity? What causes organisms to change and differentiate from one another? Isolation, when there is a lack of competition, seems to be one of these things. We want to better understand these evolutionary processes because they help explain where biodiversity comes from.”

“Now that we have identified its closest living cousins, we can start to investigate how it adapted to become so large compared to other geckos,” he added.

Also, if there are any more giant geckos out there, researchers and reptile enthusiasts now know where to look.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury and contributor Kristin Palm.

Off

Mon, 07/17/2023 - 17:14

Professor Matthew Heinicke extracted DNA from a femur to clarify origin of the almost 2-foot-long lizard.

Professor Marilee Benore receives honor from American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

stuxbury — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 13:44:30 +0000

Professor Marilee Benore receives honor from American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology stuxbury Mon, 03/27/2023 - 09:44

In Biochemistry Professor Marilee Benore’s office, there are custom printed 3D models of protein structures and copper pipes shaped and painted to look like DNA strands. Near these science sculptures, there are several whimsical pictures featuring the characters of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

It seems like juxtaposition, but Benore says what they represent complements each other.

“Things are not always as they seem. When you look at me, you don’t see chromosomes, genes and proteins. But they are all there,” she said. “You can’t see anything in biochemistry with a naked eye. You have to believe it and be open to learning. That’s where these models come in. They introduce us to this world that’s under the surface.”

Listening to Benore talk with students about biochemistry substances and processes, it’s obvious that she values labs, practice-based learning, research work and those 3D models.

As she snaps a vitamin into an alpha ribbon niche on the protein model, Benore says many of her students go into medicine. She wants them to understand how things work so they can pass information along to others.

“I tell them, ‘Let’s pretend you are a physician and you have to tell a parent about a genetic disease. I want you to show me where the mutation might be on the chromosome and explain it to me,” she says. “When you are looking someone in the eyes and giving them news about something they cannot see, you need to be more than a doctor. You need to be a trusted source and educator.”

Benore has taught at ��-Dearborn since 1989, and she explores different ways to educate her students. That has built trust. Just a few examples, among many: Benore mentors scores of students in her lab, and she is organizing a study abroad experience to Italy for students to learn from an ancient medicinal garden, and she created custom take-home lab kits for students during the pandemic.

For her work, Benore was named a 2023 Fellow by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The honorific program recognizes 20 scientists annually who’ve made outstanding contributions to the field through their research, teaching, mentoring or other forms of service. She was named along with faculty from institutions that include U-M Medical School, Yale, UC-Berkley and Rutgers.

“Because biochemistry is considered challenging to teach, biochem educators have ways — like the ASBMB — to collaborate with leaders in the field and make sure that our lessons remain relevant and student-centered,” said Benore, who’s been a member of the society for 20-plus years. “A recognition like this means my work is appreciated, has value and it opens doors.”

Benore said the ASBMB supports innovative science education and promotes the diversity of individuals entering the scientific workforce — something she’s passionate about.

As a young chemical lab researcher in industry, Benore experienced harassment and discrimination from male colleagues. And when she graduated with an advanced degree in chemistry at the University of Delaware, she was in a class with only four females. “In my journey, I’ve learned that opportunity doesn't exist for everyone. I wanted to ensure that girls and women had access to STEM careers.”

Before Benore was a professor, she was a girls’ basketball coach, a feminist newsletter editor and a domestic violence shelter advocate. As a professor, Benore organized and ran a Girl Scouts STEM summer camp, advised the ��-Dearborn chapter of Women in Leadership and Learning and team-taught with colleagues in the Women and Gender Studies program.

Students use copper alembic stills in Benore's biochem lab.

Benore said female representation in biochemistry has made huge strides in the 30-plus years since she entered the field (2022 data shows that 44% of U.S. biochemists are women). But she says there are still gaps in representation that need to be addressed, specifically for people of color. Looking at 2022 biochemist demographics, 9.9% identify as Hispanic/Latinx and 6.6% identify as Black.

“Everyone likes to talk about DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and I’m glad we do. But there needs to be more action, more movement,” said Benore, who teaches a biology-oriented diversity in healthcare course at ��-Dearborn. “And this lack of diversity goes beyond biochemist professionals. It’s in our drug discovery process and in healthcare policies too.”

With ASBMB colleagues, Benore helps run workshops that focus on anti-racism practices in biochem labs and courses, gives advice during panels on how to respond to harassment, shares practices that help eliminate bias from hiring (like screening out applicant names and locations), and conducts research reviews to support biochem researchers. On campus, Benore is part of the team that landed a $1.44M National Science Foundation grant to start the STEM Scholars program, which is in its first year. The program tailors impactful education practices — like research, cohorts and professional development — to connect underserved and underrepresented populations to STEM futures.

Benore is at a point in her career where she could retire. But she’s not ready for that yet. She says there’s still work to do.

In her office, Benore shows a student how to set up a copper alembic still. She uses a computer program for a colleague to see how a prescription drug they are taking impacts complex molecules in the body. Still using visuals to explain the unseeable, Benore gestures to her Alice in Wonderland art and back to the biochemistry papers and books around the room.

“We are all a little mad around here,” she says with a smile. “But there is a method in this madness. We, as faculty, want our students to learn about how things affect them, even if it’s something that can’t be seen. Because once you know it’s there, you can learn about the impact that it has. Awareness is always a good first step.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Awards

Office of Research

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Mon, 03/27/2023 - 13:42

Biochemistry Professor Marilee Benore is among 20 scientists who’ve made outstanding contributions to the field. She's named along with faculty from institutions that include U-M Medical School, Yale and Rutgers.

Photo of Professor Marilee Benore holding a 3D model of a protein structure. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

'Art is a bridge to learning'

stuxbury — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:41:04 +0000

'Art is a bridge to learning' stuxbury Wed, 03/15/2023 - 13:41

Dental students often take art classes, like calligraphy, for finger dexterity. Engineers and architects use illustration to visually highlight their projects to audiences. And studying art improves bedside manner — research found that medical students who study art are better able to interpret the emotional expressions on patients' faces.

“Art is a bridge to learning. These are just a few examples to show that you do not need to be an art major to benefit from studying art,” said Lecturer Madeleine Barkey, who teaches in the applied art/art history program. “Art also has a wellness component that will benefit you at work and at home. It gives us ways to express ourselves and alleviate stress.”

In short, art benefits everyone. And so does nature. Thinking about these two universally available mental health boosters, Barkey wanted to connect them to show students how closely aligned the two are.

To do this, Barkey created the course ART 327: Scientific Illustration. Students worked closely with subjects related to geology, biology and botany. For their last project, they created a layered anatomy of an animal.

“Students in the class majored in biomedical engineering, environmental science, psychology, pre-health disciplines and more,” Barkey said. “They didn’t all see themselves as art students and were concerned that they wouldn’t deliver. By the end of the course, they were amazed at the level of work they produced."

Art in the Scientific Illustration Showcase by Bella Porbe and Keziah Eggert. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

Barkey, who wanted to expand her student’s experience beyond the university’s art studio, worked with ��-Dearborn’s Environmental Interpretive Center. The EIC provided the students with resources when they needed samples and references. Barkey and EIC then partnered with the class to showcase the work. The art exhibit “Scientific Illustration” is on display in the EIC’s lobby now through the end of April. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

EIC Program Supervisor Rick Simek said he’s impressed with the caliber of work in the show and encourages the campus community to take a look.

Simek also wants ��-Dearborn community members to know that EIC staff is available to share hands-on nature and environmental studies lessons and the EIC team welcomes ideas for course collaboration. “We are here as a resource for professors and students. We have classroom space, an observation room and acres of natural areas. Our natural areas have lessons that change by season, so there’s a lot of ground we can cover.” Interested? Let the EIC staff know.

Senior Alexis Kott is a student in the Scientific Illustration class. The urban and regional studies major dreams of designing cities and neighborhoods. And she is especially passionate about bringing green spaces to heavily developed areas.

Growing up in northern Michigan, Kott said the woods were just steps from her home. She’d birdwatch with her grandmother and hike with her father. And sometimes she’d be inspired to draw. A lily pad painting in grade school ended up in an art show at her local museum.

With her dad’s military career, Kott moved around a bit. With each move, she began to realize the lakes and woods that inspired her as a child weren’t a universal experience. She saw factories that lined bodies of water and neighborhood streets that had much more gray than green.

“We need nature to live. If we embrace it, nature can provide a lot. It reduces pollution and improves mental health. If you don’t consider the environment when planning, there are consequences like poor air quality, flooding and decreased health outcomes,” Kott said. “Everyone should have access to parks, trees and greenspaces. One of my professional goals is to help make that happen.”

Kott, an applied art minor, said she uses art skills she’s learned from Barkey’s classes in her work. In addition to the Scientific Illustration course, Kott also took Barkey’s intermediate drawing class that allowed her to focus on her own interests, like architectural and perspective drawing.

Alexis Kott draws birds that she sees outside of the EIC observation room.

Kott said potential employers in the city planning industry have told her that they like how she merges art and function. At a recent Michigan Association of Planning Conference, Kott interacted with city managers and planners. She’d talk about green infrastructure ideas for a community and share some of her artwork.

“Art is important in the urban planning field because it’s a language that helps people understand future projects no matter your age or background,” Kott said. “Even if your community members speak different languages, art can help communicate an idea clearly.”

But until graduation comes, Kott connects communities with nature by serving as a student naturalist at the EIC. She takes out elementary student groups to teach them about the land and nature’s benefits. She birdwatches with them in the observation room and even shows them her sketches.

A group of children on a field trip to the EIC recently told Kott that they’d never seen the woods. She said there was wonder in their faces as they looked for wildlife and viewed tapped maple trees that dripped sap for syrup.

Kott said she’s proud to be on a campus that provides that type of education and experience. After graduation, Kott’s goal is to take the lessons she’s learned from her time at ��-Dearborn and meet communities where they are by creating spaces outside of their homes that will evoke wonder, promote wellness and possibly even inspire a future career.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Arts

Nature or Environment

Environmental Interpretive Center

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Social Sciences

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Wed, 03/15/2023 - 17:40

In the new Scientific Illustration art course, Dearborn Wolverines created pieces that focused on biology, botany and geology — and discovered how art can advance careers in health, conservation and more.

Senior Alexis Kott has multiple works of art on display in the Scientific Illustration Showcase, which is up through the end of April in the EIC lobby. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

��-Dearborn offers three new Study Abroad excursions

stuxbury — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 18:31:04 +0000

��-Dearborn offers three new Study Abroad excursions stuxbury Wed, 02/22/2023 - 13:31

In 1545, Italian educators created a garden to teach botanists how to identify true medicinal plants and conduct research to discover their useful properties. In 2023, ��-Dearborn pre-health students will visit the nearly 500-year old botanical garden at the University of Padua as part of a new study abroad experience.

Developed and organized by Chemistry Associate Professor Simona Marincean and Biochemistry Professor Marilee Benore, the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Cultural Practices program will teach biochemistry students how historic natural medicine was practiced — botanical gardens often were located outside of European hospitals — and how it evolved into modern healthcare.

“Students will learn about medicinal plants that have traditionally been used in various cultures to treat disease and illness, and how these same plants and their compounds are now used to create modern therapeutic medicines,” said Benore, who said the experience is part of the three-credit Biochemistry 113 course.

Marincean continued, “It’s important for students to have experiences outside of their culture to see how other people live. It’s also beneficial to learn how medical practices in other areas of the world often are a blend of both traditional alternative therapy with modern knowledge and technology.”

This is just one of the new study abroad offerings for ��-Dearborn students. There are also faculty-led experiences that will travel to Spain and Mexico.

Earth and Environment Professor Ulrich Kamp’s Summer Sustainable Studies Program is a month-long summer experience to observe how different places around the world incorporate sustainable systems into their communities. In 2023, he will lead an experience in Guadalajara, Mexico, where students will visit city sites and attend courses at ITESO (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente).
For 10 days over Thanksgiving break, Spanish Professor Jorge Gonzalez del Pozo and Philosophy Associate Professor Imran Aijaz will lead students through Spain, visiting historic sites that show Christian, Islamic and Jewish contributions during Spain's “three cultures” era. Sites include the Alcázar of Toledo, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, the Alhambra and the Royal Palace.

These courses complement the more established faculty-led journeys going this year to Poland, Canada, Italy and Norway. Norway is a new location for Geology Professor Jacob Napieralski's Field Methods course — previously that study abroad experience rotated locations between Iceland, Cyprus, Puerto Rico and Montserrat.

Global Engagement Director Scott Riggs said a key component of ��-Dearborn’s Study Abroad Programs is that they are faculty-led. This model was implemented and expanded on campus because many students haven’t traveled internationally before or haven’t traveled alone, which makes it a more supportive experience for students.

“With faculty-led trips, students have someone there that they know and trust who will help them navigate a new country,” Riggs said. “But we have noticed that by the end of the study abroad experience, students become more independent because their confidence has grown. That is the goal — we are there to support our students so they are comfortable to try something new. And we step back into a support role when the students are ready to navigate a new culture on their own.”

Riggs said ��-Dearborn’s study abroad offerings continue to grow — and so does its student enrollment. He attributes this to interesting programs, great program leaders, and increased financial support.

“If a student wants to have a learning experience in another country, we want them to have that,” he said. “But we know finances can be a barrier. So we look for ways to make it possible. So far this year, we’ve awarded $90,000 in need-based study abroad scholarships and aid. We offer a variety of lengths and offer programs at different times of year so that students can find an option that works for their family and work schedules. Our students have noticed and the programs are growing steadily. It’s exciting to see.”

Riggs said he hears from employers how important it is to have different cultural experiences to move up in large companies with a global presence. He said it’s beneficial so students can see the world, challenge stereotypes, learn from others and grow as a person.

“Seeing life outside of what we know helps us see how the world comes together. Having lived in another country and immersed yourself in a different culture is a key asset to solving global issues,” Riggs said. “It’s not only a huge asset for career trajectories, it’s also important for our development as human beings.”

Interested in having a ��-Dearborn study abroad experience? Check out the M-Navigator portal and reach out to Scott Riggs for a personalized advising session.

Text by Sarah Tuxbury.

Campus Life

Student Life

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Wed, 02/22/2023 - 18:30

Experiences in Spain, Italy and Mexico will explore how cultures come together to shape a city’s history, how today’s prescriptions evolved from medicinal plant use, and sustainable solutions for waste products in communities around the world.

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters grad Muhammad Osto aims to advance medical research, provide care to Michigan residents

rudmehta — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 16:51:39 +0000

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters grad Muhammad Osto aims to advance medical research, provide care to Michigan residents rudmehta Wed, 12/14/2022 - 11:51

Muhammad Osto didn’t like doctors. That’s not something he likes to share, but it’s what has driven him to work hard so he can become one.

“My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was young. I remember going with her to doctors’ appointments and seeing some doctors treat her badly. I knew there had to be a better way,” said Osto, who graduated as the Honors Scholar of Biochemistry on Sunday. “I’ll be the change I want to see.”

Osto said he’s seen a fair share of uninvolved doctors. But he’s also appreciated the ones who did take the time out to help his family. Osto saw the effect a positive physician interaction can have in someone’s life.

“In the past 20 years due to my mom’s illnesses, I personally have only come across a few doctors that I aspire to be like out of the couple dozen we have met,” he said, sharing that one doctor took the time to listen and provide information and feedback instead of just a prescription, and another shared resources to help with financial burdens. “From these experiences, I learned that I want to treat my future patients not as mere clients or customers, but as human beings who deserve a good quality of life and where the role of the doctor has a positive image.“

To advance his relationship-building skills and genuinely learn more about others, Osto has spent his time at ��-Dearborn looking for opportunities to get involved and meet people from different backgrounds.

Osto volunteers at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Hospice, where he’s seen everyday life joys—like singing while on a walk—from people who are facing death. He’s served as a campus supplemental instruction (SI) leader for both chemistry and business courses to learn how to best help students—people of various ages who are from all around the world—understand a problem. He’s worked in Professor Krishna Bandyopadhyay’s lab for the past three years, where he researched neurotransmitter properties in an effort to develop a dopamine biosensor. And he’s gotten involved with Circle K as a way to meet people in the southeast Michigan community by volunteering.

In addition, Osto served as a mentor for ��-Dearborn Pre-Health program. He was elected the Pre-Professional Health Society president. And he presented his research Two Dimensional Assemblies of Palladium Nanoparticles at the American Chemical Society national conference’s poster presentation.

Osto plans to attend medical school at Wayne State University in the fall. He said ��-Dearborn readied him for his next step—one that gets him closer to his goals of advancing medical research and providing care to Michigan residents.

“I am a life-long learner and through that learning process, I want to leave a positive impact on my future patients, students and colleagues. I want to be an excellent physician so that people like me will say ‘I like doctors’ instead of saying and feeling the opposite like I did.”

Commencement

Environmental Interpretive Center

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Osto, who graduated Sunday, is set to begin medical school this fall.

Contributing to 'A River Revived'

stuxbury — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 21:32:15 +0000

Contributing to 'A River Revived' stuxbury Mon, 11/07/2022 - 16:32

The Rouge River flows side-by-side with the careers of ��-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center educators Dorothy McLeer and Rick Simek. And it has for nearly 30 years.

The EIC may be where they teach the public about the river and the other natural features of the land around campus. But it’s not where they were first introduced to the Rouge, which connects to the Detroit River.

Prior to arriving at ��-Dearborn, EIC Program Coordinator McLeer would spend lunch breaks from her retail job near the river in an effort to catch glimpses of wildlife — she recalls seeing trash and debris. As a teenager, Environmental Study Area Manager Simek heard negative comments about the high levels of pollution in the waterway.

“People once believed that you could wash everything away. But where exactly is away?,” McLeer asked before singing a folk song that ponders the question.

She continued, “But there isn’t an away. A popular saying 40 or 50 years ago regarding sewage waste and other pollutants was “the solution to pollution is dilution.” Well, we’ve all learned that’s not true. That thinking took this beautiful place and turned it into what was once considered one of the most degraded urban rivers in the country.”

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is “a model for river restoration.”

The story of this dramatic environmental turn-around is told in a new edited volume, “Rouge River Revived: How People are Bringing Their River Back to Life” (University of Michigan Press, 2022). “Rouge River Revived” is edited by environmentalist scholars John H. Hartig and Jim Graham — both of whom have spoken at ��-Dearborn — with chapters written by environmentalists, community activists and others intimately involved in the day-to-day process of river restoration. McLeer and Simek were invited by Biology Professor Emeritus Orin Gelderloos, the EIC’s founding director, to join him in penning a chapter for the book reflecting on the shift in paradigm about the historical neglect and abuse of the Rouge.

Current EIC Director Claudia Walters said the book raises awareness on the river revival and needed next steps to reach long-term ecosystem health and sustainability goals. “We are very excited and honored to be part of this project to share the story of the revival of our urban-industrial river that literally caught on fire in 1969 and is now a natural resource that is celebrated and cherished.”

Simek said awareness is important at all ages. Through EIC-hosted school field trips, Simek and the EIC staff have spoken with school children (between 10,000 to 12,000 children attend EIC educational programming in any given non-COVID year) who do not realize that they have a river flowing in their town. “To get people to care about protecting and restoring it, they need to know it’s here first. And they need to know who lives in it and around it — like the turtles, the herons, the beavers and others. They begin to connect to this place in their community,” he said. “Through awareness, you can see that light go off and then the questions start. That’s why books like ‘Rouge River Revived’ and educational programming are so important.”

To help people learn more about the river running through their communities, copies of the book will be in all libraries along the Rouge River watershed. The book’s contributors are available to lead lectures and book discussions with students and community organizations.

For example, an upcoming “Rouge River Revived” virtual discussion organized by Friends of the Rouge and the EIC will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Book co-authors will be panelists during the online event.

Schools, libraries, community organizations, or businesses interested in scheduling a presentation on “Rouge River Revived” can contact co-editors John Hartig or Jim Graham. For schools interested in hands-on programming to learn more about the river, contact the EIC by reaching out to Rick Simek.

Funding to provide copies of the book to libraries in the watershed was provided by the Colina Foundation to the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Additional funding for presentations and lectures was provided by the Americana Foundation.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.