Research of YCP: Caitlin Chiaretti and Charity Huggins
Research is an important aspect of college that students across nearly all disciplines engage in, at one point or another. It allows them to observe the world in specific and original ways, to form nuanced perspectives — they can ask just a single question, and from there, the possibilities are endless. York College encourages its students to perform research on their own with the help of professor mentors. Every researcher has a unique approach — and this is what we at The York Review are particularly excited about. This web series is about cracking open student researchers’ experiences — hearing about when and how they got their hands dirty, about the evolution of their thinking, about what they personally take away. Caitlin Chiaretti and Charity Huggins are two Winter 2018 biology graduates who developed and conducted their own research projects. They kindly agreed to give us the inside scoop.
Perhaps we should start with something simple, yet critical — what is research itself, to each of these women? Ms. Chiaretti sees research as “a form of exploration and adventuring in order to make discoveries to increase knowledge and understanding of specific topics.” Ms. Huggins sees it as “an incredible chance to be the first to know what was previously unknown and make an impact on the world by expanding the knowledge of the scientific community.” Ms. Chiaretti and Ms. Huggins conducted vastly different research projects that highlight their respective interests within science and their respective career goals after graduation.
After an internship at Schuylkill County Conservation District that involving testing the water quality within abandoned mines, Ms. Chiaretti realized that she had a deep interest in water quality. She began gravitating especially towards the Tyler Run Creek, which runs through York College’s main campus. While investigating water quality research, she found papers about the effect of temperature on crayfish. She considered this type of research fascinating, as she was able “to assess human impacts on the environment and how they have affected water temperature and quality within the York College of Pennsylvania campus.”
Ms. Chiaretti’s aim was to investigate the effect temperature has on the abundance and growth/development of Allegheny crayfish over a 14-month period. First, she collected crayfish within Tyler Run Creek over a 10-month period as well as measured different environmental factors such as pH and calcium levels. She compared the growth/development of the crayfish in water that was the normal temperature of the creek to water that was 5°C higher. The results showed that increased temperature causes an increased abundance of crayfish, but not growth, while other environmental factors did not have an effect on either. This came as a surprise to Ms. Chiaretti, leading her to reject her initial hypothesis — at first, she had predicted that pH and calcium levels would also affect the abundance and growth/development of crayfish. She hopes that her research will be the first step in providing “conservation recommendation to York College of Pennsylvania in order to conserve the creek and the aquatic ecosystem within the future.”
From her efforts, Ms. Chiaretti learned many valuable things. She says, “Research is unpredictable, and you constantly need to think analytically about how to solve problems and overcome obstacles within your research ambitions. It is important to develop critical thinking skills and foster an open mind in order to constantly be able to combat problems.” Students, especially when they encounter unexpected results during research, must learn to adapt.
While Ms. Chiaretti was focused on how environmental factors affect wildlife, Ms. Huggins was interested in investigating the effects of reinforcing a behavior with either a positive or negative consequence (something known as operant conditioning) on neuron longevity. Her passion for this topic stemmed from her background as a psychology student. She writes, “I have always been deeply interested in the brain.” So through this final undergraduate research project, Ms. Huggins was able to dive into the brain, so to speak, and combine a variety of fields — psychology, biology, and chemistry. She believes this sort of research is important to society, explaining, “Degeneration of the hippocampus is one of the hallmark features of many medical disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, & Huntington’s disease. Understanding the factors — like learning — that increase the neurons within the hippocampus will hopefully help the scientific community discover ways to combat these issues more effectively.”
Ms. Huggins had rats as the subjects within her investigation. She used a Skinner box, a mechanism which teaches rats to pull a lever in order to receive food. After this first part, she took neural tissue from the subjects’ hippocampi. The samples were examined to determine whether there was an increase in neural cell survival — these examinations were made possible by immunohistochemistry, which identifies specific markers on different cells. Ms. Huggins’ results showed that there was an increase in neural cells within the hippocampus, the part of the brain related to task performance. Her hypothesis was not completely supported, since she discovered that only specific regions within the hippocampus showed an increase in new neurons. Originally, she’d hypothesized that the entire structure would experience an increase. Such results forced Ms. Huggins to think “outside of the box.” Ultimately, this researcher hopes that her work “helps the neuroscience and psychology communities to continue to develop new therapies that can help strengthen the brains of individuals with these devastating and currently incurable disorders.”
Ms. Huggins had a number of revelations as a result of this exploration — and, interestingly, they’re related to more than just science. She reveals, “There is no such thing as failure and each insignificant result is as important as the significant ones, though it may not feel like it. Sometimes it’s just as important to know what doesn’t work as what does, and it truly helps build your capacity to problem-solve and look at an issue from multiple angles.” Anyone could benefit from Ms Huggins’ takeaway: “Conducting research is a lot like life: where one door closes, another always opens, and there is always room for improvement!”
Though research may seem intimidating, there is nothing to fear, really. It allows students to not only tackle unanswered questions, but also learn more about their own learning styles and general ambitions. Both Ms. Chiaretti and Ms. Huggins wish to leave some advice for those who may pursue research in the future.
Ms. Chiaretti advises, “Future research students should anticipate having problems and speed bumps along the way. It is alright if this happens to you! Just keep trying and finding a way to fix the problems you are having. Don’t get discouraged because your research goals always work out in the end — even if it seems unlikely while you are in the middle of conducting your experiment.”
Ms. Huggins has similar thoughts. She writes, “Try not to get discouraged. It’s easy to forget the bigger picture when you encounter problems and, oftentimes, it isn’t realized how frequently problems will arise: it’s just a part of the process.” And Ms. Huggins has another message for readers: “Research is an amazing experience and it teaches you not only many incredible things about science, but also about yourself. Pick something that interests you and pursue it honestly, so when you look back — significant or not — you are proud of the work you accomplished, and you know that you made an impact. It’s not always about the result, but the journey there and all the ways you will grow as a scientist. It truly is worth it!”
Ms. Chiaretti and Ms. Huggins are excellent models for all learners — no matter if you’ve ever touched a microscope or not. Though they have now graduated, they will always be part of the York College community. So let’s cheer them on as they step out into the world!
And… before we wrap up completely, we’d like to say congratulations to all who graduated this semester! We wish you the best of luck in the coming months and years — and hope you’re always driven by the beauty of learning.