Connors Lab 2021 Update

 

The funds from last year’s BIOSINQ supported research in my lab investigating the ecological physiology of small mammals.  Students in my lab laid the ground work to determine the impacts of climate change on small bodied herbivores, and more specifically the impacts of rising ambient temperatures on woodrats or packrats. In 2021, BIOSINQ funds were used to purchase consumable supplies for field work, a research-grade camera trap, and helped support my research student Jada Mulford attend and present her research at a national conference (two photos of Jada are included below).  In January 2022, Jada will present a poster titled “Analyses of baseline ecological data to address local impact of climate change on woodrats” at the annual conference for the Society of Integrative & Comparative Biology. These BIOSINQ funds were crucial to support undergraduate research while also assisting a long-term ecological study based locally here in Grand Junction. A big thank you to donors for supporting basic research activities and authentic research experiences for students in biology here at CMU!

Varner Lab 2021 Update

 

Last year, I received funds from BIOSINQ to support research on American pikas in the La Sal mountains, which was spent on lab supplies and temperature sensors. This year, one student, Holly Nelson learned how to extract stress hormones from pika scat in the lab and to analyze samples collected in 2021 from the La Sal mountains and from a collaborator in Alaska. She will soon be analyzing data from the temperature sensors that we placed in the field this summer, and she hopes to present these results at a national conference next summer. Below are 2 photos of Holly in the lab conducting this research. We are profoundly thankful for all donations to this account!

Weeks Lab 2021 Update

 

My lab received funds for supplies to be used in a Boreal Toad microbiome sequencing project. These funds were not yet used for this project because I did not have enough funds from other grant opportunities to complete the project. However, I have teamed up with Dr. Lavelle on this project and we have acquired more of the funds needed to make this project a reality. We expect to mentor 2-3 students over the period of this collaborative project. I am requesting an extension for the 2021 fund so that I may use them for supplies in 2022.