ReBUILDetroit Scholars showcase research at poster presentation

Contributed by University of Detroit Mercy

Freshmen ReBUILDetroit scholars at Marygrove College presented their DNA Barcoding research of Caddisflies at a poster presentation April 28.

Earlier this semester, scholars collected larvae for their research from the Clinton and Rouge Rivers.  (See Scholars collect samples while helping the community.)

In the laboratory at Marygrove College, scholars extracted DNA and with the help of ReBUILDetroit partner, Wayne State University, sequenced the DNA.

"Providing a research experience during the freshman year is one of the goals of ReBUILDetroit," said Dr. Abigail Fusaro.  "Since we are preparing scholars for academic careers, presenting their research in a forum like this is an equally important skill to develop."

"I am very thankful for the experience that Dr. Fusaro and Dr. Knight provided," said Tierra Modock, a ReBUILDetroit scholar who presented at the event. Ms Modock's poster....  "When I look back on the semester, it was an amazing experience."

Modock's poster introduction states, "This poster discusses the procedure that we did to collect caddisfly larvae.  Caddisfly larvae are good water quality indicators and are easy to sample and identify.  The goal of this work was to use the information we gathered to make a phylogenetic tree of caddisflies from all class sites to see how closely related they are."

See all the posters:

• Using CO1 and DNA barcoding to identify caddisflies (Trichoptera) - T. Modock
• DNA Barcoding Caddisflies from the Rouge River Watershed using the CO1 gene - Wilson, E. R.; Cebrero-. Moreno, K. Y.; Landis, G. N.; Goldsmith, C. M.
• A Bug's Life: DNA Barcoding of the Johnson Creek Site 5 Caddisfly Specimens - Aljabiry, H.; Ayodeji, Y.; Burt, D.; Moore, T.; Thomas, B.
• Using the CO1 gene and DNA barcoding to identify caddisflies (Trichoptera) - Dayfield D., Gray N., Modock T., McKinnon D.