Community College Students Completing Research Fellowships at Oak Crest
Eight local community college students, who were selected to become Rose Hills Research Fellows, began their studies at Oak Crest in January and are now more than mid-way through their fellowships. The Rose Hills Research Fellowships, offered exclusively to community college students, provide participants with 20 weeks of extensive laboratory experience as well as mentoring from Oak Crest scientists.
Funded by The Rose Hills Foundation, the environmental science research fellowships focus on microbial ecology, natural products research and atmospheric chemistry. Research in these areas build on the existing expertise and facilities at Oak Crest and leverage ongoing, funded research projects that are underway at the Institute.
The 2015 group, made up of Mackenzie Anderson, Efren Gonzalez, Carmen Guzman, Caroline Labib, Sareen Ourfalian, Jerrica Sabino, Kayla Stepanian and Arlette Valencia, spent the early weeks of their studies working on laboratory safety and skills training. The students then paired up in teams to work on the following environmental science research projects:
Group One: Nayeli Guzman and Jerrica Sabino
Project: Solvent Tolerance of Extremophilic Bacteria
Nayeli and Jerrica are studying the characteristics of bacterial strains that are able to tolerate high concentrations of organic solvents. The students are studying different mechanisms in bacteria that enable them to survive in these hostile environments, including at the genetic level.
Group Two: Caroline Labib and Sareen Ourfalian
Project: Anaerobic Soil Microbes and the Next Generation of Antibiotics
Oak Crest, in collaboration with The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, is working on a new project to study the antimicrobial agents present in the rhizosphere (the zone where plant roots interact with surrounding soil) of select plants. Antibiotic resistance in microbes is a major concern in the field of medicine today. As part of this study, Caroline and Sareen are purifying and isolating microbicides and the microbes that produce them as a natural defense mechanism for survival within plant rhizosphere.
Group Three: Mackenzie Anderson and Arlette Valencia
Project: Measurement of Uncharacterized Pollutants in Vehicle Exhaust Emissions
Mackenzie and Arlette are analyzing chemicals emitted in auto exhaust in the San Gabriel Valley area. This is an ongoing project at Oak Crest, which is generating a vast amount of analytical data and is contributing valuable information to regulatory institutions.
Group Four: Kayla Stepanian and Efren Gonzalez
Project: Biogenic Green Rust
Kayla and Efren are concentrating their studies on the bacterial production of “green rust”, a form of iron hydroxide believed to have been present on early Earth as an ancient catalyst.
At the end of their internships, these eight students will present their findings to members of the local science community during Seminar Day, Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
“We are very thankful to The Rose Hills Foundation for providing financial support to help us enrich the minds of future scientists,” adds Manjula Gunawardana, one of the research mentors. “The caliber of students in this program and the work they perform is very impressive. This is an outstanding program all the way around!
The success of the Rose Hills Fellowship Program at Oak Crest has been so extraordinary that several of the previous participants have been asked to extend their internships at Oak Crest. A number of others have gone on to graduate school or have secured full time employment in the field of science.