iUTS Lab works on research related to connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) to improve urban/rural mobility and safety in an equitable way. We collaborate with a CAV testbed in another state to receive CAV data. The intern is expected to help receive the data and conducted related analyses. 

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This project aims to evaluate postoperative outcomes in patients who have undergone total ankle arthroplasty, utilizing a combination of demographic data, pre-operative imaging, and clinical information. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive database will be established, encompassing both imaging and clinical records of these patients. Additionally, machine learning techniques will be employed to develop a predictive model for anticipating operative outcomes.

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Project involves a month in South Africa

There are over 30 independent evolutionary origins of nectar-feeding in birds, resulting in hundreds of species, yet significant research on how they drink and their plant-pollinator interactions have only been conducted in one group: hummingbirds. We will study the nectar-feeding mechanics and ecology of sunbirds, another large but understudied group. Pollination ecology and mechanics are becoming significant fields of focus and concern as we deal with changing climate, habitat loss, and species extinction caused by humans. Important knowledge can be gained through the study of plant-pollinator interactions and the actual physical interactions between flowers and their complementary pollinator. These interactions are influenced by the flower and nectar characteristics of plants and how effective a pollinator is at extracting a particular type of nectar from a flower. Sunbirds are important pollinators to hundreds of plant species in South Africa, with many species-specific interaction networks formed throughout the region.

This project will involve an approximately 4-week field season in Pietermaritzburg South Africa. All travel, room, food, and incidental costs will be covered by the lab. We will be in areas with natural vegetation, observing bird and flower interactions and measuring flower nectar volumes and concentrations. We will also be capturing sunbirds with mist nets and keeping them in large aviaries during our experiment. We will record the birds feeding from artificial flowers with different nectar concentrations using high speed cameras. We will also be transporting the birds back to the capture sites and releasing them.

There will be a lot of research to get done in the 4 weeks, however, there will be the ability for some local exploration (small safari parks and nature conservancies are around!) and spending time with people from the area.

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Our lab is investigating the roles of bacterial endophytes that live within plants and provide numerous benefits including increased nutrient acquisition and stress tolerances. An essential aspect of our research is verification of the colonization and continued presence of the specific endophyte strains we add to plants in our experiments. The students will assist in genomic DNA extractions from plant samples (poplar and apple trees), PCR to amplify strain-specific targets, and ddPCR to quantify the relative abundance of the strains in the inoculated plants. The students will gain valuable molecular biology and data analysis experience. An optional aspect of the project is to assist in the earlier stage of our research through sterile plant propagation, growth of bacterial strains, and inoculation of the plants, providing experience in sterile technique, plant tissue culture, and microbiology. A strong background in biology is required for these projects.

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Seawater is considered to be a desiccating environment, and aquatic animals that inhabit these systems must have ways to hydrate themselves. A small number of insects inhabit “marine” systems (e.g. tidal marshlands, rock pools) and this includes about 5% of mosquito species in which the aquatic mosquito larvae develop in seawater. Similar to other marine animals (e.g. teleost fish), these mosquito larvae drink large volumes of salty water and ultimately excrete the salt and conserve just the water to hydrate. Teleost fish excrete these salts via the gills, while salt-inhabiting mosquito larvae excrete these salts via a specialized excretory organ of their GI tract. The research project will involve fluorescence microscopy and molecular biology techniques to explore the mechanism of salt excretion in this specialized excretory organ of mosquito larvae. The student will also have significant opportunity to engage with other scientists at various stages both inside and outside of the lab, gain valuable skills related to communicating science to a general audience, and will truly begin their journey into becoming a well-rounded scientist!

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A project focusing on either optical characterization of new perovskite semiconductors for solar photovoltaic systems or studying electrochemistry of conjugated polymers for neuromorphic computing applications is possible depending on the background of the applicant. Work usually combines a mix of physical characterization, computer coding and analysis, and chemical preparation of samples, though we try to tailor the mix to the skills and background of the applicant as much as possible.
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Hercules Dome, East Antarctica, has been selected as the site for the next US deep ice-core drilling project. Analysis of this ice core will provide a rich history of climate since the last global warm period, ~120,000 years ago, potentially elucidating what may be coming in the warming climate.

This project will be a piece of the ongoing work to select the precise ice-core location within the Hercules Dome region. The student will use previously collected radar sounding data, from both airborne and ground-based instruments, to infer ice properties including ice temperature, basal-thermal state, crystal orientation fabric, and age of the internal layers within the ice.

The student should be prepared for a computer-based project, as none of the work requires any additional laboratory or field analyses. The student will be expected to learn and leverage skills in computer programming (no experience necessary) and will be encouraged to develop software tooling for radar processing within a cloud-hosted computing environment.

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π-Conjugated polymers have unique electronic and optoelectronic properties which have enabled a wide range of electronic and optoelectronic applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), organic solar cells, wearable electronics, organic thermoelectrics, etc. Blending of two π-conjugated polymers provide a way to optimize, tune, or enhance their properties. A student with a physics or engineering background and interest could focus on a project that aims to investigate the morphology and properties of binary blends of known π-conjugated polymers. A student with a chemistry background and interest could focus on the molecular design and synthesis of a π-conjugated polymer as a component of binary blends with a targeted specific application. In either case, the student would learn about the electronic structure of π-conjugated polymers, why they are able to transport charge or emit/absorb light, and how their blends can enhance their electronic/electronic properties.

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Organic aerosol (OA) particles are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and exert large but uncertain effects on Earth’s climate as well as adverse impacts on air quality and human health. Determining the chemical mechanisms by which OA forms in the atmosphere is essential to reducing uncertainty in assessment of its environmental and health impacts. However, despite extensive study, the chemistry that produces OA remains poorly constrained due in large part to its complexity. This project will use advanced mass spectrometry and organic synthesis to investigate key aspects of OA formation chemistry in a state-of-the-science atmospheric simulation chamber.

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This project generates simplified versions of cell membranes. Each membrane contains a fluorescent dye, so it can be viewed by fluorescence microscopy. At high temperatures, all the lipids in the membrane mix in one uniform liquid phase, whereas at low temperature they demix into two liquid phases. This phenomenon has applications in understanding how the organelles of cells respond to nutrient restriction. An undergraduate will learn to analyze data consisting of fields of view of many membranes, and to fit the data to a model. The undergraduate will also be trained in generating their own samples, but mastery of this specialized procedure is not necessary for success in this project.

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Nanopore Tweezers provide remarkable single-molecule resolution, capable of resolving the fundamental steps of motor enzymes which walk along DNA and RNA. Using nanopore tweezers, we can determine how such motor enzymes work. Motor enzymes like helicases and polymerases are often essential for viral replication, which makes them important drug targets. This project will work to better understand how the SARS-CoV-2 helicase works and how it can be inhibited.

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An overarching goal in biology is to understand how form and function are intertwined and serve as adaptations for different species to survive in their natural environments. In mammals, body plans range from flying bats with wings to small, elongate weasels to large, robust elephants, representing one of the most striking patterns of phenotypic variation. The goal of this research is to examine the diversity of the mammalian body plan such as the cranial, appendicular (i.e., limbs), and regionalized axial (i.e., vertebral column) skeletal systems. Some overarching aims include 1) examining how the cranial, axial, and appendicular systems contribute to the diversity of mammalian body plans, 2) testing the evolutionary integration between the three skeletal systems, and 3) investigating how these structures may be tied to functional adaptations for certain environments. Interested students will also have the opportunity to develop an independent project related to mammalian skeletal diversity using specimens held at the Burke Museum and other Natural History Museums.

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UW researchers are part of a team trying to drill a core that will have 1.5 million year old ice, and this project will inform site selection for that effort. Interior East Antarctica receives only a few centimeters of snow per year, and as this snow is compressed to form glacial ice, tiny air bubbles are trapped, creating a record of the earth’s atmosphere at that time. This means that in regions where the stratigraphic record is undisturbed, an ice core can give us a continuous record of the earth’s climate.

However, regions of high winds can prevent snow from accumulating — or even ablate surface ice — which has the potential to disrupt the continuous stratigraphy of a deep ice core, creating gaps in the recorded ages. Ice penetrating radar data is able to detect layers within the ice that correspond to changes in chemical or crystal properties. The loss of continuous, flat layers in the near-surface internal layers of the ice sheet mark these scour locations. The student will identify regions of unconformities in multiple radar datasets and the resulting map of these areas will be compared with climate models, topographic maps, and satellite imagery to understand why they develop. The result will be used to determine locations to avoid for deep ice core projects.

This project will use datasets collected by three different institutions: BAS, UTIG and CReSIS. The student researcher will be an early-stage tester of a new software tool that enables researchers to access and interpret radar data within QGIS. In addition to the scientific goals, providing feedback about the experience of using this tool will be an integral part of the summer project.

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In this project the researcher will perform numerical electromagnetic and thermal modeling of periodically structured 2D nanomaterials. Active control over thermal gradients by tuning the wavelength, wave vector, and polarization of exciting light will be explored via computational methods.

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Using neurophysiological and behavioral approaches, we explore the neuronal circuitry in the insect brain, including the primary olfactory center. Additionally, we examine how this information is decoded by the higher brain centers involved in innate behaviors, as well as learning, and memory. We aim to understand the mechanisms of information processing in the olfactory pathways in the central nervous system (CNS).

Learn more about Jeff Riffell

The research project focuses on investigating how oysters respond to environmental stressors through gene expression analysis using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Oysters are vital ecologically and economically, but face threats from pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction. Understanding their molecular responses is crucial for their survival and sustainability. The project involves collecting oyster samples from diverse environments, exposing them to controlled stressors in the lab, extracting RNA, analyzing gene expression using qPCR, and interpreting the data to identify molecular pathways involved in stress response. Researchers will gain hands-on experience with molecular biology techniques, critical thinking skills, and scientific communication, contributing to advancements in oyster biology and informing conservation and aquaculture practices.

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Mentoring UC Davis student
Students will use genetics, genomics, and molecular biology to understand how plants detect attack and defend themselves against chewing insect herbivores.
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This project aims to evaluate postoperative outcomes in patients who have undergone total ankle arthroplasty, utilizing a combination of demographic data, pre-operative imaging, and clinical information. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive database will be established, encompassing both imaging and clinical records of these patients. Additionally, machine learning techniques will be employed to develop a predictive model for anticipating operative outcomes.
Learn more about Wendy

Mentoring SCC students
The Rorrer Lab invites two part-time guest scientists during Summer ’24 to learn basic chemistry and reaction engineering concepts related to sustainable plastics utilizing chemical catalysis reactors. Each guest scientist will work primarily on one of the following specific roles: 1. Understanding design rules for solid-liquid-gas interactions that affect reaction rates and product distribution of chemical plastic recycling processes 2. Developing an accessible hands-on activity that demonstrates how physical properties such as viscosity, boiling point, density, etc., of plastic materials change with chemical composition.
Learn more about Chris

This summer, we will be using a genetic technique known as metabarcoding to describe the diet of killer whales, beluga whales, ringed seals, and bearded seals. Students will gain experience in a broad range of skills, including data and sample collection in the field (via a 5-day field trip to Friday Harbor Labs), genetic lab work and sequencing of samples, bioinformatic data processing, and data analysis to generate a final poster. In addition to the primary research goals, the two interns will work together to create an outreach video that is geared at teaching a general audience about killer whale research in the Salish Sea. This work will include interviews with scientists, content creation, and video editing.

Learn more about Amy