MAPS Graduate Student teaches "Sunflower Science" to school aged children

Ashlee teaching Sunflower Science at the Kansas Children's Discovery Center
 and how to build a microbiome to 4th graders

     Outreach has always been a passion for Ashlee Herken, a  MAPS graduate student working with Dr. Tom Platt, Assistant Professor of Biology at Kansas State University (KSU) and team leader of the plant systems research group for the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS). Part of the reason Ashlee chose to do outreach was because she was "extremely interested in representing women in science, promoting the research at Kansas State University, and supporting science education," plus, she loves "interacting with the children, because they are always extremely eager to learn about science.” In fact, it was her own fond memories of participating in science activities as a child that encouraged her to go into the field of science. Participating in the those interactive activities also contributed to her desire to lead outreach activities; and through her outreach, Ashlee hopes to not only serve as a role model, but also show "kids that science is interesting and that as long as they have a passion they can do whatever they want to do in life!"
     In order to pursue her passion, Ashlee chose to partner with Ms. Caitlin Luttjohann, the director of STEAM education, at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center in Topeka, KS because “it is a wonderful resource for the children in the area where I live.” In addition to teaching at the Discovery Center, Ashlee also reached out to Mrs. Gretchen Giffin, a teacher at North Fairview Elementary School in Topeka, KS, and has provided interactive science activities for her fourth grade class. The outreach lesson Ashlee teaches involves children building sunflower microbiomes, and this Sunflower Science lesson was derived from her own Master's program research.

Sunflower Science Lesson

      The title of Ashlee’s thesis is Identification and characterization of cooperators and cheaters from natural populations of Agrobacterium tumefaciens at different spatial scales across Kansas, and her research focuses on “isolation and characterization of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, an important member of the root system community of Helianthus annuus, better known as the annual sunflower, across the state of Kansas.” She explained her research as follows: “Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a generalist plant pathogen that is the causative agent of crown gall disease. Within the population of Agrobacterium tumefaciens there are organisms that have the ability to infect the plant and those that just use the nutrients the plant produces for the bacterium these are essentially free-loaders, we call them cheaters. I am particularly interested in the evolution of the cheaters as well as the interactions between different natural isolates and a known pathogenic strain.” She added that the interactive lesson she created is very similar to the activities she does in the lab. Ashlee explained the similarities as follows, “When I go to into the classroom or to the Discovery Center, I have a presentation titled Sunflower Science and the kids build their own sunflower microbiome. At the Discovery Center, they use stickers of different colors and put them on a model sunflower. In the classroom, they used model sunflowers and glue beads to it. The stickers or beads represent the bacteria. I talk about the positive and negative interactions in the rhizosphere and the reasons that bacteria like to live there. I also talk to them about the bacteria that I am interested in and the interactions that it has with other members of the same species and with the plant.”
    Ashlee graduated last May with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Ashlee worked on several research projects. One of her main projects was “working on the characterization of a Bacillus subtilis phage that was isolated from a farm in SE Kansas.” In addition, Ashlee was involved in a collaborative project between Washburn University and Washington University in St. Louis called The Genomics Education Partnership. It was during this project that she learned to “annotate a portion of the Drosophila eugracilis genome using Drosophila melanogaster as a reference.” During her final semester at Washburn, she had an internship with Dr. Bret Freudenthal's Lab working with one of his graduate students, Matt Schaich, and they tried "to elucidate the structure of the telomerase protein, which could potentially be used in the future as a target for cancer drugs.”
     Ashlee is originally from Oskaloosa, KS, but is currently living in Topeka.  As for her future plans, Ashlee said “I would love to continue doing research after I graduate. Currently, I am looking into different options. When I started graduate school, I was not aware of the wide range of careers that would be available to me after graduation. Ideally, I would love to continue to work with plant associated bacteria and the microbiome.”

Funding for Workforce Development, Education and Outreach in support of graduate students 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.

HERS student explores "Fire Sovereignty: Using Prescribed Burns to Conserve Tallgrass Prairies on Tribal Lands"

 

Kynser Wahwahsuck presenting
her research at the 2018 UCAR conference

   Kynser Wahwahsuck participated in the 2018 Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Summer Program after she received her BS in Environmental Science from Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. https://www.haskell.edu/sponsored-programs/hers/ The HERS program is one of the educational outreach initiatives proposed in the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS). The HERS program provides a platform for various stages of student support as they research topics that are of particular interest to American Indian/Alaska native communities. The program allows students to conduct independent research and present their findings at a national convention. HERS students from past years have focused their research on exploring “the effects of climate change on indigenous communities; the interconnectedness between wetlands resources, specifically soils, vegetation and water and the disruption to those ecosystems; and the significance of sustainable gardening practices.”  

    Being a member of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, Kynser was interested in studying the effectiveness of the Kickapoo Tribe’s “mitigation of invasive woody species on tallgrass prairie utilizing indigenous burning practices.” She titled her project Fire Sovereignty: Using Prescribed Burns to Conserve Tallgrass Prairies on Tribal Lands and she explained her research as follows: “Before colonization, Indigenous people used fire as a method to burn grasslands to clear large areas of land in order to lure game for hunting. In addition, fire management was crucial in maintaining a healthy ecosystem for tallgrass prairies that became overgrown with invasive woody species. With changes in climate in the Midwest, these woody species are more abundant today due to the increasing warm weather and decreasing precipitation. In this research, I wanted to know how Tribal lands were managing their tallgrass prairies. I visited the Kansas Kickapoo Tribe Environmental Office and they showed me their practices for conserving the prairies on the reservation. I discovered how little of the prairie is left and how fire is managed differently now in present time. Based on my findings, I concluded the use of prescribed burns should be conducted once a year on the Kickapoo Reservation to suppress the woody material encroaching on the abandoned hay field and to restore the native prairie.” This past summer, Kynser presented her research during a poster session at the University Corporation ofAtmospheric Research (UCAR) 2018 Conference held in Boulder, CO.   

     Part of the HERS program involved visiting MAPS researchers' labs and that was when Kynser met Dr. Amy Burgin, co-team leader for the Aquatic MAPS research, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at the University of Kansas (KU), and Associate Scientist for the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS). Once Kynser began working with Dr. Burgin, her research interests changed to aquatic ecology, and this is how she enthusiastically described what she is now doing with this new research focus, “I have gotten dirty helping with water sampling at Milford Lake! Currently, I am measuring phosphorus concentrations in Milford Lake where Cyanobacteria reoccurs.” 

     As for her next steps, Kynser said, “I will be starting my Master’s with Dr. Amy Burgin this summer and will be measuring stream nitrogen cycling processes across Kansas in the EPSCOR MAPS project.” In addition, and because of the HERS experience as well as the encouragement and support of Dr. Burgin, Kynser wants to mentor future indigenous undergraduate students.

Kynser is from the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas located in Brown County. While attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS, she was a member of the Student Ambassadors, the Haskell Tribal Eco-Ambassadors, Gamma Delta Pi Sorority, and served as a Student Senate Representative and Treasurer as a freshman. This summer, she will attend the University of Kansas and pursue a Master’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with Dr. Amy Burgin.

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the HERS 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 award'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.

MAPS Professor publishes 3rd edition of textbook titled: Freshwater Ecology

     Walter Dodds, University Distinguished Professor of Biology at Kansas State University (KSU) and Co-PI of  the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas with his co-author Matt Whiles, Professor and Chair of the Soil and Water Sciences department at the University of Florida, have published their third edition of their texbook titled Freshwater Ecology: Concepts and Environmental Applications of Limnology. Everything from basic chemical and physical properties of water, to concepts of community ecology are discussed in the book. Ecosystem relationships found in continental waters and recent topics that influence aquatic environments are also addressed.  In additon, the authors explore details related to key issues such as how to balance ecological and human health needs, GMOs, molecular tools, and fracking.

The book will be available starting April 26.