Thesis Thursday

Hello, my name is Jacqueline Larson and I am currently a junior majoring in Public Health with a minor in Studio Art. In high school, I had a lot of fun planning and participating in community events in my hometown Nogales, Arizona. I designed and helped paint a mural in a newly built community center in Winchester Heights, and collaborated with the local art gallery at an event my high school healthcare club hosted that’s purpose was to improve communication between teens and their parents. Through this, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in which I would help improve the lives of others and that art expression is a way to bring a community together, so my goal is to be able to combine my love for art with public health. I joined UBRP in the summer of 2022 and it has been an adventure of being exposed to and learning many different things. I am part of EHS-TRUE and joined Dr. Beamer’s lab focusing on her EPA Soil and Dust Ingestion in children study where we complete surveys with parents of children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years to determine how much soil and dust is ingested during children’s natural play. We also complete in-house visits where we set up audio and visual recording for the child’s natural playtime and then we also collect an initial and final hand rinse, dust samples, vacuum sock sample, soil samples, and hand tracing to measure the surface area of the child’s hands. I am also working on my own project of finding a standardized mouth surface area among adults. In my free time I enjoy reading fictional books, watching movies, and spending time with loved ones.

Tomasz Wlodarczyk is a PhD student pursuing a degree in Environmental Science at the University of Arizona with a minor in Renewable Natural Resources. His research focuses on the identification and study of native plant species that accumulate and tolerate heavy metals. In his PhD program, Tomasz is collaborating with researchers from The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the intersection of phytoremediation and green chemistry. He also conducts research within the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining at the University of Arizona (CESM) and is a recipient of the Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society (SAEMS) scholarship.

The University of Arizona’s Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) is an apprenticeship-style training program that teaches students the conduct of scientific research by pairing them with faculty in the biological sciences. Students are paid, to help support them through college, and they present their research findings at the annual UBRP Conference, which will be held this year on Saturday, January 21, 2023 in person, on campus.  For details and to RSVP, please visit https://ubrp.arizona.edu/.

UBRP Director Jennifer Cubeta has always found beauty and wonder in the natural world around her.  As a first-generation college student, Jennifer completed a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in General Biology, as well as one in Science Education, which has enabled her to share her excitement about biology with others as an educator.  Jennifer taught seventh-grade life science, served as an academic advisor for the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and was originally introduced to UBRP as an undergraduate participant.  Jennifer joined the program as Assistant Director in 2013, became Director of UBRP in January 2018, and continues to enjoy helping college students learn science through the conduct of biological research.  In her spare time, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, cook, travel, and play music at her church.

My name is Jessika Mesa and I am a Graduate student in the Environmental Science department. I am extremely passionate about science communication and exploring environmental issues. I cannot wait to complete my research on Project Harvest and explore more opportunities in my career field.

“Hi everyone, my name is Cristobal, a senior at The University of Arizona studying Physiology and Medical Sciences. Although I was born in Tucson, I spent most of my childhood in Oaxaca, Mexico with its unique environment which stimulated my curiosity and led me to pursue research in Environmental Health. Fortunately, while at the UofA I was able to join Dr. Paloma Beamer’s lab where we study the environmental effect of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) released from Beauty Salons and Mechanic Shops in Tucson, Az. While at the university, my involvement in her lab and being part of the MexZona organization have cemented my ideas of pursuing a career in Medicine”

Hi! My name is Jaeman Kim, and I am a junior at the University of Arizona studying Physiology and Medical Sciences. I joined Dr. Kuhns’ lab in the Immunobiology Department in May 2022 through the Undergraduate Biology Research Program where I am currently working on an assay that helps identify T-cells via their interactions with peptide-specific major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs) with the hopes of being able to provide a more effective way of identifying T-cells than the widely used tetramer assay. Outside of research, I am also involved in the Pre-Health Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association as its Treasurer, and our club provides pre-health opportunities for undergraduates as well as advocating for Asian cultural awareness. During my free time, I enjoy spending time with friends, playing games, and singing my lungs out in the car.

Hi, my name is Sun Woo Kim and I’m a junior this year majoring in Physiology as well as Molecular and Cellular Biology with minors in Biochemistry and Emergency Medical Services. I am currently in a behavioral neurophysiology lab with Dr. Gothard. We are studying brain development during adolescence by tracking behavior, hormonal, and physiological changes in Macaca mulatta. Some of the questions that I’m asking are: how much are they willing to wait for a bigger reward? How much are they willing to be generous to others? How do their impulses and prosocial behavior change during adolescence? In my free time, I like to play clarinet and ukulele and make a vlog of my day! I also love star gazing and camping!

Kira Zeider is a Tucson native who obtained double bachelor’s degrees in chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Arizona (UA) and then continued into the UA’s chemical engineering graduate program, where she is a third-year doctoral student. She has been selected as a Herbold Fellow, Richard A. Harvill Fellow, and Superfund Research Training Core Trainee for her multi-disciplinary research in aerosol-cloud-meteorology interactions and mining impacts on local communities. Her 2021 community science publication on utilizing plant leaves as low-cost air quality monitors was selected as one of 35 NIEHS Papers of the Year.

Hi my name is Will Peterson! I’m a proud Tucson local born and raised up in the Foothills. I spent my first year of college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I realized I can’t stand the cold and transferred back home to the U of A. I am now in my fourth year here at the university studying Biomedical Science in the College of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Applied Biotechnology. I was super fortunate to join the Sutphin Lab in early 2021 where we use the model organism C. elegans to study the aging process and potential genetic and pharmaceutical interventions to delay the onset of the aging process. Outside of the lab I recently began working with KEYS research program recruitment through the BIO5 ambassadors internship to get Arizona high schoolers involved in biological research. I like to spend my free time hanging out with my dog Leo, cheering on the Packers and Bucks, and training for my first half-marathon in December!