Seniors Discuss Their Science Research

The six senior student scientists in this year’s Science Research & Design program have completed their independent research and are preparing to give their presentations to the Berkeley Carroll community on May 24.

Read below to learn more about the work and research they've done over the past three years and their thoughts about the program.

Luke Kru.‘23

What are you working on in SRD? I am looking at first-generation bioethanol production and trying to find ways to do it without subsidized crops. I’m replicating the results of an Iranian study in the incubators, which used carrot pulp and beet molasses products to make bioethanol and adding an enzyme called cellulase which should allow for a better ethanol yield post-fermentation. 

What made you decide to participate in SRD? I felt that it was a way to push myself. SRD was one of the reasons I came to Berkeley Carroll. Every part of the program has been a liberating experience because it allows me to research topics I’m interested in and figure things out for myself, making mistakes along the way.

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique? It requires a lot of work, but we put that work on ourselves because we’re all so enthusiastic. We design the experiments and the trials. We do everything. We set the pace.

 

Amba D-C.‘23 

What are you working on in SRD?
I’m selecting for antibiotic resistance in bacteria and sequencing their RNA polymerase for mutations. From there, I’m going to determine their fitness with OD600 curve and try to correlate those mutations and RNA polymerase with their fitness.

What made you decide to participate in SRD?
I wanted to be able to explore my own specific scientific interests. I didn’t want to just do biology or just do chemistry. I wanted to look more specifically at enzymes and bacteria.

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique?
I think the fact that it’s so student-driven is unique. It’s not like the teacher gives you an experiment to do and then you have to  follow his exact directions – you get to decide your workload and what you want to do.

 

Jude T.’23 

What are you working on in SRD?
Over the last three years, I’ve been conducting a study on a special type of fungus called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and its effects on corn. Corn is one of the most important staple crops globally, and it’s been greatly impacted by climate change. I’m looking to see if the fungus can help alleviate the effects of climate changes on corn growth.

What made you decide to participate in SRD?
I’ve always been passionate about climate change and environmental science, and I really love how SRD allows you to study literally anything you’re passionate about. I’ve taken advantage of that by exploring the intersection of science and climate advocacy, which has been incredible. From the moment I learned about the program, I knew I wanted to take advantage of it.

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique?
I love how much agency we get in determining what we want to study and learn about. And the opportunity to conduct original research is something you usually don’t get until college, which makes it special. I also really appreciate the individual, personalized support we get from Dr. Gentile. It’s a hard program, but we’ve made it hard because we’re passionate about it.

 

Michael M.‘23 

What are you working on in SRD? My research is focusing on alternatives to traditional wastewater treatments. Specifically, I’m looking at using algae to treat wastewater and the best lighting conditions for doing this.

What made you decide to participate in SRD? I knew it was a hard course and I wanted to challenge myself. When I was in 9th grade, I saw older students taking SRD and they always seemed so independent and relaxed. I wanted to have that autonomy and independence for myself.

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique? I think that the independence absolutely makes it unique. We produce really long work -- I wrote a background last year that contained 60 peer-reviewed citations. And that was just the introduction to my paper. 

 

Lane R. ‘23 

What are you working on in SRD?
I’m studying venus flytraps. My project involves recording the trap closing and how long it takes for them to close. Last year, I studied the effect of different ion channel blockers on the length of trap closure and this year I’m looking at the effect of fertilizer on the length of trap closure.

What made you decide to participate in SRD?
There’s something really satisfying about seeing a project through from start to conclusion. It is a three-year track and when I am on the other side of it, I think I’ll be really proud of what I’ve done in the program. Also, it’s been great having the opportunity to study something in-depth.

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique?
We do everything within the school. In other schools’ science research programs, students go out and sit at someone else’s lab, watching them work. Here, we’re fully in control of our own projects, which means there’s a lot of responsibility as you progress in the program.

 

Luke Kre.’23

What are you working on in SRD? I’m investigating the fumigation toxicity of the essential oil lavender and the chemicals that are found within, such as linalool and linalyl acetate, on fruit flies. 

What made you decide to participate in SRD? My brother was actually in the program and took more of a chemistry standpoint. I knew I wanted to focus more on biology. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do when I went into the program, but as I went through the first year I was able to develop what I was interested in. 

What about the program do you think makes it special or unique? This is probably the most independent you can get. You can do pretty much anything you want as long as it’s scientific and actually furthering research on a topic that isn’t widely studied. Also, you get to publish your findings which is important to me. I want to be able to share my work.