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Summer of Microbial Detection

ASE High School Intern working with ESP
Roopa, right, works with graduate student Vena Haynes on the environmental sample processor.

Meet Roopa, a junior at West View High School. She is spending her summer involved in assay development for microbial detection in the lab of Holly Simon, Ph.D. at Oregon Health & Science University.

Roopa is one of four high school students that CMOP is hosting this summer in the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE) program. Her summer project involves lab and fieldwork using the environmental sample processor - an autonomous instrument that performs molecular diagnostic tests in water and provides information regarding the presence or absence of specific microorganisms. The environmental sample processor detects biologically relevant organisms using assays that rely on the hybridization of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).

Roopa will assist in calibrating and generating standard curves in the laboratory, comparing data from laboratory and field experiments, measuring particles in water in the field, and aiding in the deployment of the instrument. At the end of her internship, she will share her research experiences with other students at the ASE Symposium.

 

(Photo by CMOP/Jeff Schilling)