PowerPoint Presentation

Genetic Identification of Algae Living in Sea Anemones

Grant money used to purchase equipment which would allow students to genetically id various algal strain in anemones. This anemone is a common pest found in aquariums but it serves as a model organism for studying corals and the same algae that live inside.1IISME Summer Internship in the Pringle Genetics Lab at Stanford

Inspiration for the lab was from my summer placement. Put educators in industry and university research positions. nonprofit, industry-education partnership whose mission is to empower and equip California teachers with unique professional development so that they can inspire their students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and prepare them for todays workforce in the global economy. Teachers are paired with scientists, technologists, and engineers, and are engaged in stimulating hands-on projects for eight weeks and are expected to create an education transfer plan.2

Phylum - Cnidaria

wikipedia.org/cnicdariaReefs important because they protect shorelines, support 1/3 of all fish species, economic value worlwide in the billionscellular and molecular biology of the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis (which is critical to the lives of reef-building corals) is largely unknown. Corals have hard skeleton made of calcium carbonate that protects the polyp inside. Skeleton makes them difficult to study in a lab 3

Coral Bleaching

wikipedia.org/coralpolypsea temperature rise, sea level rise and pH changes from ocean acidification, all associated with greenhouse gas emissions, coral mining, agricultural and urban runoff, pollution, overfishing, blast fishing, disease, digging of canals. 10% of the world's coral reefs are dead. About 60% of the world's reefs are at risk due to destructive, human-related activities. 2030s, 90% of reefs are expected to be at risk from both human activities and climate change4

SymbioticAposymbioticPringle, John. Aiptasia, Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2013. JPEG.

6What was your overall opinion of the lab?

This is my favorite thing related to learning about DNA

It was a decently fun lab, however I felt like it just kept going on and on.It was really interesting but we need more than a week to work on it.It was hard, but it really made me understand what was happeningIt was very confusing and frustratingIt was too hard to do if you partner was absent a lot

What was your overall opinion of the lab?There were too many steps and too many days.I loved it! It was fun AND educational.It was frustrating doing such a long lab and not getting any results.

Would you recommend future forensic classes complete the lab?Yes it gives a good example of the complex processes of DNA extraction and analysisNo. It was too long and took too many daysYes, but only if there was more time to do the lab.

It seemed more appropriate for a bio class vs a forensic class.Yes! We needed that extra practice with micropipettes and gelsYes! It was a great way to incorporate ecology with DNA.

Would you recommend future forensic classes complete the lab?