Mary Wolf
Laboratory for Sensory Ecology, Department of Biology, Bowling Green State
University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403.
I
want to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude for being selected this year's
Libbie Hyman scholarship recipient. The Libbie Hyman Scholarship enabled me to
attend the course "Chemosensory Neurobiology in the Marine Environment" at the
Bermuda Biological Station for Research. Since this particular course is
offered only once every two years, this was my only opportunity to attend.
My
experience at the station was an exceptional one. I was able to interact with
researchers that were focused on different facets of chemoreception in
invertebrates. My background is in behavioral science, so interacting with
investigators that work in the field of molecular biology was very advantageous
to me. The course "Chemosensory Neurobiology in the Marine Environment"
included many techniques used in the study of chemosensory biology. The two
techniques I utilized the most in the course were single unit electrophysiology
and radio-ligand binding assay. I felt that these two techniques offered the
best application towards my current research, the effects of pollutants on
olfactory mediated behavior in aquatic organisms. I recorded data from the
antennules of lobsters using single unit electrophysiology and interpreted
those recordings. Crayfish are very similar in body structure to the lobster.
Both crayfish and lobster use their antennules to sense odor stimuli while
crayfish also use their antennae. I will be able to apply this technique to
investigate the effects of specific chemical pollutants at the cellular level. Do
chemical pollutants have an inhibitory effect on nerve transmission or do they
interfere with olfaction by over-stimulating the cell? The other technique I
learned during my course was radio-ligand binding assay. With this technique I
investigated how feeding deterrents compete for binding sites of amino acids
used in the aesthetascs (chemoreceptors) of the lobster. Since crayfish do not
have aesthetascs, the procedure has to be modified, but I believe it could be
a useful tool in investigating the effects of pollutants. The radio-ligand
binding assay may be useful in determining whether these pollutants compete
with amino acids necessary in the transmission of information to the animal.
The
concepts and techniques taught in this course have given me a wider avenue with
which to pursue my research interests. I will be able to use these techniques
both during my graduate career and in my future professional career. I want to
thank you again for the opportunity to attend this course and further my
research interests and goals.
OFFICER LIST
DIZ Chair
Rachel Ann Merz
Department of Biology
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081
telephone: 610/328-8051
Fax: 610.328-8663
rmerz1@swarthmore.edu
DIZ Program Officer
Larry McEdward
Associate Professor of Zoology
Department of Zoology,
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
352/392-8738
Fax: 352/392-3704
mcedward@zoo.ufl.edu
DIZ Secretary
Susie Balser
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
309/556-3307
Fax: 309/556-3864
sbalser@titan.iwu.edu
DIZ Secretary-Elect
William Jaeckle
Visiting Professor
Department of Biology
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
309/556-3779
Fax: 309/556-3864
wjaeckle@titan.iwu.edu
Libbie H. Hyman Scholarship Committee, Chair
Michael LaBarbera
Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
The University of Chicago
1027 East 57th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
773/702-8092
Fax: 773/834-3028
mlabarbe@midway.uchicago.edu
Graduate Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee Representative
Shea Tuberty
Crustacean Endocrinology
Research Associate
University of West Florida
Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation (CEBD)
Science Training in Ecology Program (STEP)
Pensacola, FL 32514-5754
850/934-2431
Tuberty.Shea@epa.gov