SHU Biology Researchers Butler and Lemanski Participate in Prestigious Program

By Austin Harper – Student Writer

Last summer, Siena Heights University biology students Maria Butler and Joe Lemanski were part of a select few to participate in research programs sponsored by Research Experiences for Undergraduates.

REU is a competitive program that supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. Nearly 600 students apply for these programs but only 10 are chosen for each study; having two students from the same institution in one year is extraordinary, according to those familiar with the program.

SHU Professor of Biology Dr. Jun Tsuji, who is Lemanski’s advisor, directed both students to a research internship data- base where they applied for their internships.

“We ask all of our biology juniors, as part of the BIO 395 and BIO 396 classes, to look into summer research internship possi-bilities,” Tsuji said.

Butler started her internship in Oklahoma and finished in Turkey. The research project she participated in was the investi-gation of ethanol usage as a repellent of honeybees. Butler said the studies confirmed that ethanol could, in fact, be used as a deterrent. She remained in the U.S. for one week and then traveled with six other student researchers and two faculty members to Turkey, where the research continued.

We focused on the effects of the 2010 BP oil spill on deep Gulf of Mexico benthic macrofauna communities.” — Joe Lemanski

“We spent the first two weeks in Turkey traveling and absorbing the culture,” said Butler, a member of Beta Beta Beta, the national biology honor society. “We stayed in some really neat hotels. One in Istanbul looked like an old sultan’s house.”

After starting their work, students were given the choice to study free-flying bees or to perform lab research.

“Initially I thought I would like studying the flying bees, but after I tried the lab research I preferred that instead,” Butler said.

In the lab, Pavlov’s classical conditioning was used to see if ethanol had the same effect on European honeybees as it did on honeybees in the U.S. However, the results were different in Turkey: when a reward (sucrose) was associated with the odor of ethanol, the honeybees were still attracted to the reward, thus suggesting ethanol could not be used as a repellent, Butler said.

Butler’s senior presentation was based on her findings. A member of the SHU women’s soccer team and a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award, Butler is seeking a job in public health or epidemiology after graduation.

Lemanski, a junior biology major, performed his research in Galveston, Texas. It was based at Texas A&M University. He and 10 other students were there for 10 weeks last summer.

“We focused on the effects of the 2010 BP oil spill on deep Gulf of Mexico benthic macro fauna communities,” Lemanski said. “Macro fauna are organisms that are larger than 300 microns. I studied these organisms that lived on the sea floor and the effects that the oil had on them.”
Lemanski is also a Beta Beta Beta member and competes on the SHU men’s golf team. He plans to eventually obtain his PhD in marine biology and pursue a career in deep sea exploration.

And next year, Siena Heights will also be represented in the REU program. Biology major Kelci Schock was accepted into the 2012 program and will spend her summer researching.