MAPS summer REU student from UMass studies fungal drought tolerance at KSU

Achala Narayanan

     Achala Narayanan traveled to Kansas State University (KSU) this summer from Amherst, Massachusetts to study Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems (EDGE) with Kansas NSF EPSCoR  OIA-1656006 RII Track-1: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) researcher Dr. Ari Jumpponen.  As a biology major with a mathematics minor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst MA (UMass), Achala first became interested in ecology after taking a biological anthropology class and reading books about evolutionary biology. Her interest in systems and how different components affect and are affected by singular changes came from her opportunity to work on behavioral experiments with birds and volunteering in a soil microbial ecology lab. While working in the soil microbial lab, she studied bacterial lignin-degrading capabilities.  She said, “that's when I discovered how interesting it was to look at big picture community interactions at such a small scale - a microbial scale," and "Dr. Ari Jumpponen's work at KSU was a fascinating representation of that field.”

Growing fungal colonies 

     Achala describes her project, titled Selection for fungal drought tolerance in an experimental system (EDGE - Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems), as follows: "Climate change projections show that the future holds climate extremes. I am doing a small study to look at whether systems are already becoming adapted to these environmental changes. Broadly, I am looking at whether environment selects for certain ecotypes. Specifically, I am looking at selection of fungal drought tolerance. We collected soil from two sites (Hays Agricultural Research Center and Konza Prairie Biological Station) with different mean annual precipitation…. At these sites they have set up rainfall shelters to experimentally impose drought. Looking across sites, and across these treatments (drought manipulation vs. ambient), we were trying to determine how the proportion of drought tolerant fungi varied. We expected that when grown on drought-selective media, the drought-imposed, xeric soils would yield a greater proportion of colony forming units as compared to mesic soil from ambient conditions. I did colony counts of the number of fungal colonies that grew on media … and also extracted DNA from these plates, to look at what fungal communities are present and how they vary across the precipitation treatments and the sites… there seems to be marginal evidence for greater number of colonies in the drought-imposed conditions as compared with the ambient conditions.”
     Her favorite part of her summer REU experience was learning new skills such as “how to sample soil, plate and grow fungi on media, extract DNA, run gels, and modify the experimental design along the way.” She also learned “how to organize and plan experiments, and how and when it is necessary to try different approaches to answer a question.... there is a lot of trial and error involved in executing an experimental design, and changing the plan is a standard part of the process.” In addition, Achala enjoyed working in the lab, attending lab meetings and discussing everyone’s project with them.  She said within the lab, the group developed "a great community with people always offering help and advice." And, she added, the overall experience "has been fun."
     As for her immediate future, she plans to return to UMass in the fall of 2018 where she is a part of the Commonwealth Honors College on a Dean's Award scholarship and is also an alto in the University Chorale. “Singing is a huge passion” of hers.  Her long term plans include applying for graduate programs in biology so that she can one day have a career that balances "fieldwork/research along with science education and communication."  Her dream job would involve working at “Institutions like natural history museums or biological stations.”

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the Summer MAPS REU program is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: "Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas."  The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

Nontraditional EEB/MAPS REU student studies the effect of climate and land use on methanotrophic communities

Carrie Spanton

      This summer the Kansas NSF EPSCoR OIA-1656006 RII Track-1: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) and the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB): Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Kansas (KU) have partnered to support three summer REU students. Through this collaboration, Carrie Spanton has been working with MAPS researcher, Terry Loecke on a project titled The effect of climate and land use on methanotrophic communities.
     Carrie is not your typical summer REU student. She grew up in Kentucky and lived in New Orleans for 20 years. She was living in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. For Carrie, the hurricane was a trans-formative event and heavily influenced her decision to go back to school. Because the hurricane had stripped away everything she had once known and possessed, it left her thinking, "who am I?" All the things she thought defined her were suddenly gone.  Although the hurricane experience was devastating, she said “It was really liberating” too, because the ordeal gave her a chance to rediscover herself and the “guts to go back to school.”
     Kansas City is now Carrie's home, and she attends Metropolitan Community College at Penn Valley (MCCKC).  In addition to her studies, she is the president of Phi Theta Kappa, a prestigious honor society for two-year college students, and has been involved in the MCCKC Women on the Move program. She is also a Supplemental Instructor for an Ancient History/Biology community learning class, an active member of Project Success, a weekly volunteer at the food pantry, and a volunteer at North Kansas City Hospital Hospice.  Carrie stays active in student government and plans to start tutoring in the fall. Biology and Environmental Science became a focal interest for Carrie after she met her MCCKC mentor and biology instructor, Terry Davin. It was his teaching style that encouraged her to become a scientist and to apply for the KU summer EEB REU program.

Samples from the research

    As an EBB REU participant, Carrie has felt a sense of community with her cohort and has especially loved learning "how to conduct research." Learning research methodology from her REU mentor, Terry Loecke, she says, "has been life-changing." Carrie describes their REU research project as follows: "As global temperatures and net population simultaneously rise, so does the demand for food production.  The overall impacts of different land use management practices on the net global warming potential remain largely unknown.  Methane is a critical greenhouse gas that is both emitted and consumed by microbial communities in soil, contributing to climate change. We used a full fractal design experiment to measure how soil moisture and the addition of nitrogen, which is widely used as fertilizer, effect methane oxidation (consumption) in soils.  We used soil samples from east and west Kansas of agricultural land, post-agricultural land, and native prairie land to add varying moisture and nitrogen treatments.  We added methane to these treatments then took four samples sets at varying times."

     According to Carrie, this REU experience has positively "pushed her out of her comfort zone."  She has loved learning new things and “how to think like a scientist.”  She further commented, “I have watched my skill sets grow.... As a non-traditional student, I didn't know what I was capable of when I first started school.  Having this kind of support as I grow as a professional has been life-changing.  I have learned that I can, actually, really do this.” On a more personable note, she says her favorite part of this summer experience has been "showing my 16-year-old son what kind of opportunities are out there and getting him excited about his future.  He's my inspiration and my drive.” As for her future plans, Carrie plans on continuing her studies and staying in academia. This experience has also taught her what kind of “mentor/leader/researcher/instructor" she would like to be one day, and she hopes "to pass on this gift that others have given" to her.

Carrie will present her research findings at the 2018 EEB REU Poster Session, July 27, 2018.

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the Summer MAPS EEB REU program is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: "Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas."  The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

"Kansas Farmers" exhibit to open August 11, 2018 featuring photos from KS NSF EPSCoR Research Collaboration

     The Spencer Museum of Art on the University of Kansas (KU) campus will be hosting an exhibit titled Kansas Farmers beginning August 11, 2018 through January 6, 2019.  This exhibit highlights fifty photographs taken by artist and Distinguished Professor of Photography in the School of Art, Design, and Creative Industries at Wichita State University, Larry Schwarm.
     In 2010, Dr. Schwarm began a collaboration with Kansas NSF EPSCoR researchers involved in the RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006  titled Phase VI Climate Change and Energy: Basic Science, Impacts, and Mitigation.  The collaborative project, titled Bio-fuels and Climate Change: Farmer’s Land Use Decisions, was a sub-project of the Track 1 Award. This particular study examined farmers decisions related to climate change, water availability and bio-fuel market opportunities.  The research team created a database on land use, water use, climate and weather, water availability, surface water quality and bio-fuel markets and used this data to identify the driving factors behind a farmer’s land and water use decisions.  Photographs taken by Larry Schwarm were integrated into the study and added to the database to provide the visual imagery associated with farmers' decisions.  The exhibit will showcase these fifty photographs illustrating the realities of contemporary farm life in Kansas.

     This collaboration also produced a 2018 book that features the photos taken during the research project titled Larry Schwarm: Kansas Farmers. The book includes an essay detailing the Kansas NSF EPSCoR research written by Dr. Dietrich Earnhart, an economics professor and director of the KU Center for Environmental Policy, and the photographs that will be presented in the exhibit.  The essay discusses the core themes of the Phase VI award that addressed farmer land use decisions, climate change, and bio-fuel prospects.  The photographs capture the legacy of Kansas farmers' independent spirit and raises awareness of how much is at stake as the farming communities of Kansas look to their future.