While I worked in Dr. Booms lab I designed my own experiment on how to inhibit the pathogen known as the amphibian chytrid fungus. To do this cultured two Bacillus bacterial species separate from each other for 24 hours. After the 24 hours I centrifuged and filtered out any bacterial cells to make a conditioned media. I then exposed the fungus to this conditioned media via the use of sterile paper disks. Zones of inhibition were then observed and measured over a ten day period.

As a research student in the Orloske lab, I studied the effects of urbanization on local wetlands. Specifically, we looked at the anthropogenic effects of phosphorus and nitrate on fresh water snails. Fresh water snails serve as intermediate hosts to trematodes, parasitic worms, that affect birds, mammals, and amphibians. The focus for this project was how are parasite populations within these snails affected by chemical concentrations found in wetlands. I am trained in field collection methods, water chemistry and analysis methods, bird necropsy, damsel fly larvae and snail collection and identification using speciation keys, microscopy, and molecular biology. My role in the lab was to collect and screen fresh water snails for aquatic parasites and conduct water chemistry analysis. I am also trained in proper snail care procedures used in maintaining infected and uninfected snail colonies.