Jay study brings student researchers to Topaz

A research project focusing on pinyon jays brought four Western Nevada College students to southern Douglas County.

Student Elijah Smith said it seemed that the jays discovered his research group before they located them.

“The pinyon jay is very noisy,” he said. “You hear them usually before you see them. It’s a quail call but a little more wavery.”

The birds, which are named after their favorite conifer, look like small blue crows.

“I’ve wanted to do research previously and not really had the opportunity to do so,” said Elijah Smith, who is pursuing an associate degree and will focus on a biology major at the University of Nevada, Reno. “I’m definitely looking to get more experience and keep doing it. To get paid to be out in the wild, looking for different types of wildlife, was a great experience. Really cool!”

Joining Smith in the group researching the baseline population of the pinyon jay habitat on Wild Oat Mountain at Topaz Lake were Nathan Boyd, Maile Pierson and Hailey Wagstaff. Their project was overseen by biology instructor Robin A. Eppard.

“It was an excellent way for students to learn,” Eppard said. “We used classroom knowledge in a real-world setting.”

For many Western Nevada College students participating in the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program in June, it was their first experience with scientific research.

Eighteen undergraduates were divided into four research groups tasked with specific projects, and then they presented their research work in a poster format, requiring them to provide an introduction, research methods, an illustration of results and conclusions from their work. Each group was supervised by a mix of WNC biology and chemistry professors and instructors.

The research students presented their work through a well-attended poster presentation June 27 to family members, faculty and staff in the Aspen Building.

“This is the largest number of students who have participated in the INBRE research,” said Minden resident and WNC Professor of Biology and Chemistry Elizabeth Tattersall. “I don't know why there was more interest this year. Having the bird project helped, since the students who worked on that were not really interested in the other projects. The students did a very good job presenting their work.”

Student researchers also examined bacteria at Walker Lake.

“I already had two of the professors for my classes, so I got to meet Dr. Tattersall,” said Zehna Abdelhady. “I only knew three of the eight people there so it was nice to meet a lot of new faces and get to really know them.”

The research group studying the diversity of bacteria at Walker Lake

included Alicia Cupp, Elizabeth Janzen, Zehna Abdelhady, Julia McBride, Darcy Hornbeak and Lexey Akins. They were supervised by Professors Christian Copley-Salem, Tattersall and Smriti Bhattarai.

Researching the high variability of microbial genera between samples from Weber Reservoir were Maxwell Thornley, Adan Nunez-Soto and Eid Abdelhady. They were overseen by Copley-Salem, Tattersall and Bhattarai.

Lastly, the group researching COX-1b and COX-2a splice variants expressed in the MEG-01 human cell line included Emily A. Bird, James M. Cosman, Hunter E. McNabb, Sierra N. Williams, Ariana M. Wolf and Richard A. Robinson. They were supervised by professors Rachelle M. Bassen and Gary Evett.

Zehna Abdelhady, who is a pursuing a nursing career, enjoyed the timing of the research projects.

“I like how it was right after school because everything was still fresh in my mind and I still was in that go-go-go attitude,” she said.