My interest in barley surfaced earlier this year while doing a science fair project that involved experimenting with the use of different barley varieties in ethanol production. During my project I contacted Dr. Blake in hopes of having several barley samples tested for starch content. It was during this time he asked if I would be interested in working in his lab for the summer. That's how I became involved in EPSCOR.
While working in a plant breeding lab specializing in barley genetics I have gained valuable lab experience while working on several different projects. I have learned how to do two different types of DNA extractions from a World Collection of 1500 barley varieties that are being studied for genetic variation. I have made and loaded agarose gels to see how successful the extractions were, and set up PCR's to amplify the DNA. I have run acrylamide gels, which allow genetic difference in varieties to be visually detected, and photographed the results. Another project I worked on was sampling and extracting barley from the World Collection for hordein proteins. Acrylamide gels will be run to look at the proteins. Grinding barley samples that have been rumially digested for starch analysis was also something I did. The purpose of this project is to determine how much starch is left in the barley after being digested by a cow.
I am glad I had the opportunity to be part of the EPSCOR program. In six interesting weeks I have witnessed what scientific research really is and how it is conducted. I now understand how much time and preparation, along with careful study and analysis, goes into each research project. I have learned so much in the short time I was here and had a lot of fun with the program. It was great having the opportunity to work with so many great people. Thanks to them I now know what may lie ahead for me in the world of science and research and where it can take me.