WISP

I chose to study biology because I wanted to learn more about nature, wildlife and the environment that sustains us with hope of contributing to the conservation of life on Earth. It all consciously began as a hobby since I was fascinated by and passionate for reptiles and bugs and began working at a small zoo that rescued exotic unwanted pets. I began my college career in a B.A. of nursing program but then decided to withdraw after 2 years and change my major to Biology. At the time I was completely unaware of where this decision would lead me to but after an Insect Life course at UMASS Boston I became hooked on aquatic insects.

I decided to focus on aquatic macroinvertebrates as a group since they are bio-indicators of water quality and water is becoming an increasingly threatened resource. My thesis research focuses on aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity of small streams in Eastern Massachusetts. I am trying to determine how flow regime in these small and intermittent streams seasonally affects macroinvertebrate diversity and community composition. I have discovered that despite the lack of surface flow for a few months during the late summer, intermittent streams were just as biodiverse as some perennial streams. This is significant because intermittent streams are not protected in Massachusetts where human development is rapidly increasing.

Outside of my academic career I enjoy traveling and have gone to Brazil every January for the past 4 years. I love the outdoors and frequent the beaches in the summer and I enjoy hiking. As a reptile enthusiast and I care for six snakes, three of which (two Ball Pythons and one Corn Snake) were rescued five years ago while I worked at a zoo. The Ball Pythons were apparently so content in their new home that they decided to mate and successfully added members to the family. This was completely unplanned but is an entire other story you are welcome to ask me about. My passion for reptiles has guided me in working for Curious Creatures where I provide educational hands on programs for children that teach about wildlife and their natural history. My most recent endeavor is learning Capoeira which is a Brazilian martial art/dance that has proven to be very challenging but should keep me busy over the cold winter. Life is good.

Research Interests

The copolymerization of vinylbenzylthymine (VBT) with styrene sulfonic acid (anionic) or benzyl amines (cationic) has given us a water soluble polymer that when exposed to short-wave UV light will cross link, resulting in a water insoluble polymer. Using DNA photolyase we are able to unzip the cross-linked polymers, allowing the material to be reused.
My ultimate goal is to use this technology for injection molding of three dimensional polymeric materials that are benign, degradable, potentially reclaimable, and reusable. The problem we are facing right now is that the copolymers decompose at higher temperatures before they melt. Our proposal is to incorporate longer hydrocarbons chains into the copolymers in an effort to increase the non-covalent forces. With increased thermal stability, due to greater non-covalent interactions, the end result should be a copolymer that melts before decomposing.