The

DistinctionTDA collaboration by

the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Honors Program

Fall 2017

Recognized in the 2017 Student Electronic Category by the National Collegiate Honors Council - First Runner Up in the Nation!

Tip of the Chalk HSA representative takes action with DACA event

Korean Adventure Student details his studies in South Korea

Peak Experience A bird’s eye view of working at Philmont Scout Ranch

Study Abroad “Hola” from Spain Student tells of her travels throughout Europe

Summer with Biomed Student examines his experience with INBRE

Honors Student Association HSA’s Honorific Fall An overview of HSA’s fall activities

Table of Contents

23

Graduates December Graduates 1

Internships Chugging Toward Success How Honors internship inspired career choice44

SURPlus of Experience Earned Student participates in SURP

56

78

Really Amazing RA A look into being Honors RA

Honors Stories Maverick Productions How a student gained real-world experience at UNO9

10

Honorable Mentions Professor Profile JeffKnapp

Student Spotlight Nora Jean Baker

12

12Honors Honors Fall of Fun13

@UNOHonorsProgram

@UNOHonors

@UNOHonors

@UNOHSA

Chris Winchester,Newsletter EditorMarina Madrigal,Newsletter Co-EditorSam Lauritsen,StaffKayley Scott,Staff

No Fear of Failure Student wins national award for neuroscience poster 11

December Graduates

Graduates

Page 1

Tyler Friesen“Studyoftheeffectofosmoticstressintheproduction of anti-malarial drug in Artemesia annua”Mentor: Kiran BastolaMajor: BioinformaticsCollege of Information Science and Technology

Amanda Greer“ISIS: Reimagined”Mentor: Gina LigonMajor: International StudiesCriminology and Criminal JusticeCollege of Arts and Sciences and College of PublicAffairsandCommunityService

Josiah Krutz“Automated Test Generation”Major: Computer ScienceMentor: Harvey SiyCollege of Information Science and Technology

Kelsy Neil“Using Multiple Intelligences Theory to Aidin Reading Comprehension”Mentor: Saundra ShillingstadMajor: Elementary EducationCollege of Education

Sara Smith“Analyzing Chimeric Strains of Coxsackievirus B3 Genomic RNA by Site Directed Mutagenesis”Mentor: William TapprichMajor: BiotechnologyCollege of Arts and Sciences

Abigail Wayman“Hanging Out with Older Adults: How InteractionAffectsCollegeStudents’AttitudesToward Aging”Mentor: Mary Ann PowellMajors: Sociology and GerontologyCollege of Arts and Sciences and College of PublicAffairsandCommunityService

Jamie Wredt“Research Based Interventions for Students Struggling with Oral Reading Fluency and Ac-curacy”Mentor: Brian McKevittMajor: PsychologyCollege of Arts and Sciences

HSA’s Honorific FallBy: Alex Wasinger

Honors Student Association

Page 2

Sitting in anticipation of being dunked, senior and President of HSA, Alex Wasinger, looks on at a crowd of students.

A group of Honors students laugh and enjoy the creative activity of painting at HSA’s Halloween Extravaganza.

Itisofficial.Fallhasfallenuponusagain.Honors students are back in full swing at UNOand there isenthusiasm in theair.

Recognizable (as well as new faces) can be seen aroundcampus-especially in theHonorsfacility.Lifelong friendships are being made and meaning-ful memories are waiting to be crafted, and with that, HSAisexcitedforwhatthenewschoolyearwillbring. The Honors Student Association (HSA) represents the entire Honors student body, facilitat-ingtheculturetheHonorsProgramstrivesfor.HSAhas a strong commitment to creating an environ-ment that provides students with opportunities to explore and to grow, both intellectually and person-ally.Wehelptocreatesocialandscholarlyevents,give back to the community through services and fundraisers, and engage Honors students to meet with other fellow Honors students. This August,HSA selected eight first-year representatives tojoin in bringing creative, new ideas and events to theHonorsProgram. They have unique and di-verse backgrounds in many disciplines and have been an excellent voice for Honors freshmen. HSA has hosted a variety of activities throughout the semester thus far.We began thesemester with a Speed-Meet event where new

Honors students had the opportunity to intro-duce themselves to other students on campus.We later had a dunk tank fundraiser to help raise money for thoseaffectedby the recenthurricanedisasters. InSeptember,HSAhostedanopen in-formational forum regarding DACA and its effecton students.With an amazing turnout, it createdintellectual discussions and helped to promote HSA’s and Honors’ presence around campus. Throughout the rest of this year and into thenextsemester,ourfocuswillbetooffermanyopportunities for Honors students to engage with other outstanding students. Every student in theHonors Program has exceptional skills and ex-periences; the connections you form with these many“Honorific”studentswillhaveaprofoundef-fect on your life – and HSA wants to hear about it! We will be regularly updating our Face-book, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat ac-counts to share information about events and what is going on in the world of Honors, so be sure to follow us! If you have any questionsor ideas for HSA, feel free to contact me at awasinger@unomaha.edu. Have a great year!

An overview of HSA’s fall activities

On Tuesday, September 5, 2017, the Trump administration formally an-nounced it will end the Deferred Ac-

tion for Childhood Arrivals program — also called DACA — putting an expiration date on the legal pro-tections granted to roughly 800,000 people known as “DREAMers,” who entered the country illegally as children. This was not the first timemy heart sankwhenIreadthenews,butthistimewasdifferent.ItfeltlikeAmericahadfinallyreacheditstippingpoint.But it does not mean we have to let it make us feel helpless.Wehavearighttobringpeopletogetherasconcerned citizens and help make our campus feel likeahometoeveryone. Within a week, Caelyn Armshaw and I were able to plan out an open forum and recruit over 25 peopletohelpoutwiththechalkingdemonstration.Itwasquitethepro-cess to reserve the free speech zone, because we could only reserve one section of it per organization; so, thanks to HSA, Stu-dent Government, and College Dem-ocrats, it was made possible to reserve the whole area! The point of the chalking was to acknowledge people’s concerns and fears regarding DACA, and then to engage in conversation addressing said thoughts concerning the issue by chalking the area with slogans like: Feel at Home.-Americanmeanssome-thingdifferenttoeveryone,butweallcallthisplacehome,regardlessofcitizenshipstatus. These are People, Not Politics.-Itishardtoimaginethe800,000peopleaffected.Weneedtohumanizethisnumberandmakeitpersonal. We Stand Together as Concerned Citi-zens, Not a Party. - It is easy to think we are all so different.Itisimpactfultocometogethertoprovethatwearecitizenswithheartsfirst. It was such an incredible experience to bring

Tip of the ChalkBy:RenataValquierChavez

Honors Student Association

Page 3

“It is easy to think we are all so different. It is impactful to come together to prove

that we are citizens with hearts first”-Renata Valquier Chavez

peoplefromdifferentbackgrounds,majors,politicalparties and experiences to get the point across for one common goal. Over fifteen people who werewalking by stopped to ask about DACA, asked to write a message of their own, or thanked us for what weweredoing.Ididnotimaginethedemonstrationhaving an immediate impact on people who were just passing during the process.What better timeto have an informative conversation than while doo-dling? Two and a half hours flew by, and CaelynandIwereinawewithallofthedifferenthandwrit-ings andmessages on display.We all have suchimportant voices that should never be hindered. The next morning, I was pumped and checked the free speech zone after cross country practice andfoundithadbeensmearedaway.ItfeltlikeIhadjust run twelve miles going straight uphill and tripped on a pinecone. Whatever may have happened, I

am thankful for it. The blurredmarks brought a lot of positive attention we did notexpect.Cae-lyn and I wrote over the leftover chalk dust with “our viewpoints cannot be erased” and the

time/place for theopen forum thatnight.Thegoalof the forum was to inform people and allow for a safeplacefordiscussion.Afteraskingaroundcam-pus, I realized most people did not have an opinion on the issue because they do not know sometimes whatDACA stands for.We had nearly every seatfilled that night and the speakers answered everyquestionwithease.Therewereeventwolittlekidsrunningaroundwhoreallylightenedupthemood. An amazing support system from friends, teammates, and the Honors community really al-lowed our effort tomove forward and thrive.Witha passion and a goal, anything can be done [espe-cially if you work relentlessly with a great friend like CaelynArmshaw].

HSA representative takes action with DACA event

I workasayear-roundfinance internatUnionPacific,and Ihandle risk reduc-tions for the Real Estate Track team.

My main duty is to draft contract agreements that outline the maintenance responsibilities of industry trackforUnionPacificanditscustomers.Iresearchcustomer locations, explain the situation to track owners,andultimately try toget theirsignatures. They also have me working on a long-term lease project within the Property Manage-ment department. There are hundreds of long-term leases Union Pacific made with customersa couple decades ago, and they are going to ex-piresoon.Theseleasesseemedlikeagoodideaat the time, with the intention to ask the custom-er to pay one lump sum at the beginning of the lease and not have to do the follow up work for annual payments. However, all these leases areexpiringaroundthesametime.Twoother internswith Property Management have been calling these locations and proposing annual leases af-ter their long-termleasesexpire.Therearemanylong-term leases that are going to need renewal, soIamgoingtobehelpingwiththisinthefuture. I have held this position atUnionPacificsincelastMay.Overthesummer,IundertooktheinternshipforHonorscredit.TheHonorsProgramrequiredmetoreflectweeklyonmyprogressandjob performance. This helped me keep track ofmy professional development. Writing down mythoughts made it easier to decide where I wanted to take this internship and has ultimately led me to pursue a full-time job at Union Pacificwhen Igraduate. Thank you, Honors Program, for in-spiring me to become a future railroad tycoon.

Chugging Toward Success

By: Joe Wilwerding

Internships

Page 4

The INBRE Fellowship is a two-year program designed to prepare un-dergraduate students for a career

inbiomedical research.During thefirst year, stu-dents spend the summer in a PhD laboratory at either UNMC, UNL, or Creighton.After this, stu-dents return to their home campuses and contin-uewithbiomedicalresearchuntiltheirgraduation. I received the INBRE Fellowship in the springof2017,andmyfirstsummerwasspentinthelabofDr.KenBaylesatUNMC.Iwasthrilledto be able to work with the bacterial pathogen Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of an-thrax. Ispent fortyhoursworking in the labeachweek. It was amazing to see how productive aPhD level lab is. My individual mentor who wasassigned to me, Marat, worked with me every dayandtaughtmebasicmolecularbiologyskills. With his guidance and the knowledge ofothers in the lab, Iwasable toobtainmyfirstpublication over the summer and presented my research at the annual INBRE conference. Notonly did I learn valuable lab skills, I also became a better public speaker– another skill that will be usefulingraduateschool.Overall,applyingforIN-BREwasoneof thebestdecisions Ievermade.

Summer with Biomed

By: Sean Watson

Senior Sean Watson in the lab during his INBRE fellowship this past summer.

How Honors internship inspired career choice

Student examines his experience with INBRE

Peak ExperienceBy: Summer Murray

Internships

Page 5

I routinely tell people, “I have the best job ever.” Despite their initial suspicion ofthe opposite (because who likes work,

really?), I argue this because I get to work at Philm-ontScoutRanch,214squaremilesofmountainsand rivers located inNewMexicoandstaffedby1,100 employees during the summer. BoyScouttroops come from all over the world to spend two weeks backpacking up to 100 miles through the wilderness.Alongtheirjourney,theystopatstaffedcamps,whichofferprogramopportunitiessuchasshooting, rock climbing, horseback riding, or gold mining.ThisiswhereIcomein:Ihavespentthelasttwosummersteachingscoutsaboutrockclimbing. The teaching part of rock climbing most-ly involves safety talks. This includes explaining

to fourteen-year-old boys that yes, no matter how cool they think they are, they do indeed have to wearahelmet.Thebetterhalfofmyjob, though,isbelayingandencouragingkidsastheyconquertheirfearsofheightsandclimbupthesideofacliff.Standing for eight hours a day in the blazing sun is absolutely worth it when you watch a scout go from uncertainty to victory as he stands atop the ridge-line.Ihavehadkidswhocriedhalfwayuptherockget to the top, smile, and tell me they want to do it again.Thattransformationiswhatmakesthisworksomuchmorethanjustasummerjob.Itisaboutinstillingconfidence,changinglives,andbeingpartof somethingbigger thanmyself. It is the reasonI cannot seem to get Philmont off my mind andthereasonIcannotwaittogobacknextsummer.

Top left: Summer works with other employees to prepare the cliff for climbing.Bottom left: Summer sits facing away from a forest below.Middle: The Snapchat filter shows Summer at an altitude of 8,362.11 feet.Top right: Overlooking a group of boy scouts, Summer instructs them on what to do next.Bottom right: Sitting atop a sharp dropoff, Summer views everthing below her.

A bird’s-eye view of working at Philmont Scout Ranch

SURPlus of Experience EarnedBy:SofiaRahmanzai

Internships

Page 6

Sofia Rahmanzai proudly stands next to a presentation of her work on the “Outcomes of Early Transition from Intraveneous to Oral Antimicrobial Treatment in Pediatric Osteomyelitis.”

I was hesitant at first to apply to theSummer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) due to my lack of

experience; however, I was excited to hear I could accept a position in clinical research through the Pediatric Infectious Disease De-partment. My end goal is to receive an MD, soI knew I could not let this rare opportunity go. Thefirstfewweeksofthisinternshipcon-sisted of me reading several articles regarding our experiment: pediatric osteomyelitis. The goal forthe project was to determine the most effectiveantibiotic treatment, whether that be oral, intrave-nous,oracombinationofboth.Iwasthentrainedand given access to use the electronic medical re-cords system for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center.Althoughthemajorityofmyworkconsistedofinputtingspecificdatafrompatientcharts,Iwasable to learn a lot about the bone infection, along with numerous medical terms and procedures. Because I worked alongside a medical stu-dent, I was fortunate enough to gain more insight

about medical school and how to get involved in clinicalresearch.Inadditiontotheseexperiences,SURP also provided students with weekly sem-inars about various topics/programs at UNMC, along with exclusive tours throughout campus. The most memorable seminar for me was aboutEbolaandUNMC’s role in theepidemic. Itwas remarkable to hear all the hard work the med-icalcenterandtheinvolvedstaffputin,alongwiththemanyriskstheytook.Afterlearningaboutthisin the classroom, SURP managed to give us the full experience by allowing us to tour the biocon-tainment unit. In addition to this tour, we visitedvarioussimulationlabsandtheMcGooganLibrary. Another memorable opportunity was at-tending a Q&A with the College of Medicine’s Asso-ciateDeanofAdmissions,Dr.JeffreyHill.Iwouldhave never imagined how much of an impact this ten week program had on my college years, and I hope students interested in medicine or research can take advantage of all the amazing opportuni-tiesourneighboringmedicalcentershavetooffer.

Student participates in SURP

With a backpack, suitcase, and camera, I was readytotakeontheworld.Well,maybenottheentireworld, but Iwasdefinitely ready

formystudyabroadprogram.ForaslongasIcouldremember,Ihadwantedtostudyabroad.Ofcourse,thestudyabroad destination changed every year from China to Ger-manytoSouthAmerica. Ifinallydecidedtoapply forapro-gram to Spain after a lot of research and help from the study abroadofficeoncampus.WhileinSpain,Ifocusedontakingcourses inSpanish,aswellasabusinesscourse.Majoringin business administration and Spanish, it only made sense to go to aSpanish-speaking country. Formy firstmonth inSpainIwasinSalamanca,aquiettowninthewesternpartofthecountry.Forthissemester,IamnowinSeville,abustlingandexcitingcityinthesouthernregionknownasAndalusia. As you might have expected, language was one of thebiggestcultureshocks.Ofcourse,Ihadexpectednotbe-ing able to understand what people were saying and know-ing I would just need to use a lot of gestures and smiles to getmy point across.When I first arrived inSpain, I quick-ly figured out thatmy vocabularywas not up to par. Sure,I knewhow to say thebasics - book,water, food, no, yes.In short, I probably sounded like a cave woman, “me want food” and “where water?” After three months, I can assure youmygrammarandvocabularyhave improved.However,that is not to say that there is not the occasional (or constant) slip-up. Every day is a new adventure, while also offeringgreat opportunities to practice my Spanish speaking skills. However, it is not just my experiences with Span-ish that are making this an incredible experience. I amalso having fantastic opportunities to travel to so many different places – Morocco, Portugal, Germany, Bel-gium, England, Ireland, France, and the Netherlands. Bythe end of my program, I will have danced at Oktoberfest, surfed in Spain, ridden a camel in Africa, eaten crepes in Paris, hiked cliffs in Ireland, and biked in Amsterdam. Traveling in the city of Seville has also been in-credible.WhenIamnot inclass, Iamexploringthecitybyfootorbike.Therearesomanysmall,windingstreets thatIusuallyenduplost,butthat ispartof thefun.Gettinglosthas allowed me to find cute cafes, beautiful parks, hid-denmuseums, and the best gelato places in Seville. I amstill slowly discovering the city and love everyminute of it. For me, studying abroad is more than just liv-ing inadifferent country. It isaboutknowingwhatyoucando and how you can push yourself to do more. Wheth-er that is through learning a language, traveling to new places, experiencing a different culture, or simply under-standing yourself more, studying abroad is a time to not have regrets and love every minute; and, as I drink cof-fee in thePlazadeEspaña, Icansay Iamdoing just that.

“Hola” From SpainBy: Brianna Eisert

Study Abroad

Page 7

Student tells of her travels throughout Europe

1. Bri huddles with her friends after the Color Run in Seville, Spain this past November. 2. Bri poses after surfing in El Palmar, Spain this past November.3. Bri looks out at Chefchaouen, Morocco on her twenty-first birth-day. 4. Bri stands in front of a building in a small town in western Spain.5. Bri gazes out at Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany this past September.6. Smiling from a ledge, Bri enjoys Zurich, Switzerland the day before heading to Oktoberfest.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Travelling and living in South Korea has certainly been an adventure, and Ihopeitisjustoneofmany.Nowthat

I am a couple months into my semester abroad, I can reflectonsomeof theaspectsof life I had toadjust to, including experiences I simply would have neverexperiencedbackhome.Theyrangefromev-eryday peculiarities to moments which summon feel-ingsofintrospection,perspective,andappreciation. Immediately after arriving on campus, the firstthingthatcaughtmyattentionwas,andthis isgoing to sound ridiculous, the delivery drivers. InSouth Korea, the food delivery workers drive mo-peds,and it appears tome traffic lawsdonotap-ply to them. They drive on sidewalks, throughred lights,down thewrong lane; youname it. Af-ter living in Korea for a few short months though, I have grown used to it. On the other hand, youdoget your fooddelivered incredibly quickly here. Another thing I found interesting while study-ing here is learning not just a new language but learn-ingtoreadandwritewithanewalphabet.WhenIar-rived in Korea, all the writing looked completely alien tome.IcannowreadKoreanaloud;whetherornotIunderstanditisadifferentstory.Ifinditinterestingreflectingon theprogressof learning thealphabetsimply because I do not really remember learning the English alphabet. This experience, combinedwiththedaytodaydifficultiesofcommunicatingwithothers who may not know English, makes me appre-ciate the ease of communicating with others in my life backhome—somethingIneverpaidmuchmindto. I think one of the most profound experienc-esIhadduringmysemesterabroadwasfindingmy-selfastheonlyCaucasianinaroomfullofpeople.I was not alarmed or bothered by any means; I just find it interesting. This issomething thatprobablynever would have happened to me in Nebraska, and I feel that findingmyself in a situation whereI am the only person in the room who has a fair complexion, blue eyes, or speaks English natively, givesmeachancetoreflectandgainperspective. In conclusion,Korea isaplace that I defi-nitely see myself returning to at some point in the future. Iwould suggest to anyonewho is looking

Korean AdventureBy: Andrew Pace

Study Abroad

Page 8

for an adventure to come here and experience it for themselves. Icouldwrite incessantly,andstill,I could never properly describe what this experi-encehasbeenlike.Ifpresentedwiththeopportu-nity to travel and study abroad again, I will jump at thechance.Ionlywisheveryonehadthischance.

Student details his experiences in South Korea

Top: Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea. In the bottom left corner is the head of a stuffed dinosaur that one of Andrew’s friends gave him from back home that Andrew takes whenever he travels abroad.Bottom: Andrew’s view from right outside his dorm in Gyeongsan, South Korea.

Maverick ProductionsBy: Sydney Edens

Honors Stories

Page 9

The entire Maverick Productions team. Assistant Firm Director and Honors Student, Sydney Edens.

MaverickPR,UNO’snationallyaffiliat-edstudent-runpublicrelationsfirm,is sponsored by the School of Com-

municationandcanbetakenforclasscredit.Stu-dents have the opportunity to work with real clients intheOmahametroareathroughthefirm.Istartedout as an account associate in summer 2017, and Iamnowtheassistantfirmdirector.Inthatrole,Ihelp the firm director,AmyNielsen, and our fac-ulty adviser, Karen Weber, with the overall man-agementofthefirmandprovideongoingcontactswith our account executives, associates, and cli-ents.IamalsotheaccountexecutiveforourclientNebraska Foster Parent Advocacy Network (NF-PAN).We created a brand campaign forNFPANand have been building and implementing it over thepasttwosemesters.Astheaccountexecutive,I supervise team members, proof copy, review tac-tics,andmaintaincorrespondencewiththeclient.I alsohelp outwith other clientworkasneeded. Being a part of MaverickPR has given me a chance to take what I am learning in my class-

es and put it to work, while also giving me expe-rience to put on my resume. MaverickPR cansometimes feel like a part-time job; being able to juggle it with my other classes and work can be a challenge.However, learninghow tobalanceev-erythinghasbeengoodpractice.IfIeverworkforanysortoffirmoragencyinthefuture,Imightbepulledintomultipledifferentclientsorprojects,andbeingableto juggleeverythingwillbenecessary.In addition, I am learning other valuable skills in MaverickPR this semester, such as hands-on me-diaoutreachandaccountmanagementingeneral. My work with MaverickPR could potentially bethebasisofmyHonorsseniorthesis.AnHonorsthesis is supposed to be the culmination of one’s academic career, and my time with MaverickPR hasgivenmethatfeelingofculmination.Somuchof what I have learned in class can be applied to myworkinMaverickPR,andsoitseemsfittingtoshowcase it inmythesis. Iamgrateful toMaver-ickPR for preparing me for life after graduation.

Studentgainsreal-worldexperiencethroughfirm

Honors Stories

Page 10

I have enjoyed my experience as a Resi-dent Assistant (RA) for the Honors build-ing inMaverickVillage. I feel blessed to

betheRAforBuildingM.Thispositionallowsmetowork with high-achieving students who have a de-siretobeinvolvedandmakeanimpactoncampus.Myresidentsarewhatmakesthisjobsogreat.Be-ing an RA has allowed me to build friendships with co-workers,residents,andDr.Morrison.Theseop-portunitieswouldnotbepossiblewithanyotherjob. As RA, I have held several programs where residents can interact and get to know more people on campus. For example, we col-lected plastic bags across Dodge Campus and recycled them for my Dodge Campus Clean Up program. In another program, Dr. Morrison ex-plained the fundamentals of being in the Honors Program and it was followed with a quiz bowl.I plan to have more events this year where my residents and I can get to know each other better whilecreatingmemorableexperiences.Myoverallgoal as an RA is to create a positive experience and living environment for the residents of Build-ingM,andIfeelIhaveaccomplishedthisthusfar.

Really Amazing RA

By: David Mata

Two Honors students compete in the quiz bowl David organized for the Honors Residence Hall.

Student recaps the fall as Honors RA

Top: Two Honors Residence Hall students enjoy David’s quiz bowl as they discuss which answer to write down.Middle: Honors residents sit together in their residence hall lounge.Bottom: Listening to David read off the next quiz bowl question, two Honors students contemplate the correct answer.

No Fear of Failure

By: Sushmita Adhikari

Amygdala.Theamygdalaislocatedinthemedialtemporallobe.Itisinvolvedwithregula9ngemo9onalbehavior,includingbehaviorlearningandmo9va9on(Wright,2011).Itisalsocrucialforcontrollingbasicsurvivalskillssuchasfeeding,flightandfight.Thebasolateralamygdalarcomplex(BLC)receivesinputfromallsenseandintegratesittoproduceanappropriateresponse.LesionsoftheBLCreducefearresponses(Mar9nezetal.,2011;McDonald,1998).TheintercalatedamygdalaprovidesinhibitoryfeedbacktotheBLCandthecentralamygdala(CeA).TheCeAregulatesfearoutput.Aim.Thepurposeofthisstudywastounderstandtheexpressionofthreegenes;glypican3(gpc3),gastrin-releasingpep9de(grp),andproteinkinaseCdelta(prkcd),intheforebrainregionsoftheDaniorerio,Xenopustropicalis,andGallusgallusdomes7cuswhileusingMusmusculusasacompara9vemodel.Anotherpurposeistocomparethegeneralanxietybetweenwildtype(wt),mutant,andheterozygous(het)Danioreriowithgrp,anditsreceptor-gastrinreleasingpep9dereceptor(grpr),andgpc3.Genes.Gpc3isresponsibleforfearex9nc9onandisexpressedintheintercalatedneuronsoftheamygdala(Likh9ket.al,2008).Thegrpisexpressedinexcitatoryprincipleneuronsandishighlyhomologoussequencesamongeukaryotes.Ifthereareincreasedlevelsofgrp,suchasbyinjec9onintoventricles,thenfearresponsesarereduced(Bédardetal.,2007;Meralietal.,2011).Micewholackgrprexhibitgreaterandmorepersistentfearmemory,whereashumanswithgrprmuta9onsexhibitau9smandpanicdisorders(Bédardetal.,2007;Ishikawa-Brushetal.,1997;Meralietal.,2011;Mountneyetal.,2006;Papeetal.,2010).Prkcdisinvolvedinthecentralamygdalabycontrollingthelevelofcondi9onedfreezingbyinhibi9ngoutputneurons(Haubensaketal.,2010).Animals.Threespecies,eachinadifferentcladeofvertebrates(ac9nopterygii,amphibia,aves)wereused.Daniorerio(zebrafish)hasaninvertedbrain,whereasXenopustropicalis(Westernclawedfrog,oZencalledxenopus)andGallusgallusdomes7cus(chicken)haveevertedbrains.Asaresult,theamygdalaforzebrafishisdorsomedial,andinxenopusandchickislateral.TherehasalreadybeenextensiveresearchontheMusmusculus(mouse),whichmakesitavaluablemodelformammaliancomparisons.InSituHybridiza3on(ISH).ISHisatechniquethatallowsforpreciselocaliza9onofaspecificsegmentofagenewithinahistologicsec9on.Genesarecodedbyfivedifferentnucleicacids:guanine,adenine,thymine,uracil,andcytosine.Ahistologicsec9onismadeoutoffourdifferentnucleicacidsthatarelinkedtogethertomakeaRNAstrand.Ifthenucleicacidsequenceofthatstrandisknown,acomplimentarystrandcanbeproducedtobindtothemRNA.OncethemRNAbindstothesequence,theBMpurpleisaddedtocarryoutthecolorchangingreac9on.Withinthe9ssue,bluedots,calledlabels,willappearsignalingthatareac9onhasoccurredandthatthecellnucleuscontainsthepar9cularmRNAsegment.

Introduc3onandMethods:Fearisabasic,conservedemo9onthatisessen9alforsurvival,yetlibleisknownabouthowfearresponsesevolved.Thisresearchcombinedgeneexpressionandbehavioralanalysestostudytheevolu9onoftheneuronalnetworkthatregulatesfearbehaviors.Usinginsituhybridiza9on,weexaminedtheexpressionpabernsofthreegenes,proteinkinaseCδ(prkcd),gastrin-releasingpep9de(grp),andglypican3(gpc3),thatareimplicatedinfearbehaviorsinDaniorerio(zebrafish),Xenopustropicalis,andGallusgallusdomes7cus.Addi9onally,anxietybehaviorswereexaminedinyoungzebrafishthatlackedgenesforgrp,grpreceptor(grpr),andgpc3.WemeasuredhowoZenthefishwerelocatedontheedgevs.centerofawell,andhowoZentheywerelocatedintheuppervs.lowerhalvesofthewellinthepresenceofas9llormovingball,respec9vely.Ourworkinghypothesisisthathomologsofgenesthatmediatefearbehaviorsinmammalsareexpressedinamygdalar-likeareasinallvertebrateanimalsandcanbeusedtoiden9fythefunc9onalrolesofthesegenesintheneuronalnetworkthatunderliesconservedfearbehaviors.Results:Insituhybridiza9onstudiesrevealedthatthegrp,gpc3,andprkcdgenesareexpressedinhomologousregionsintheforebrainsoffish,amphibiansandchicks,ascomparedtomammals.Thegrp-/-zebrafishspentless9meneartheedge(p<0.0072)inpresenceofthemovingball,butshowednodifferenceinuppervs.lowerpreference,comparedtoheterozygousandwildtypefish.Thisiseitheraconsequenceofnetworkremodelingintheabsenceofgrpduringdevelopment,orduetothesmallsamplesize.Neitherthegrpr-/-norgpc3-/-fishshowedachangeinedgepreferencecomparedtohetandwtfish.Wt,het,andmutantfishavoidedthemovingball(p<0.005)andpreferredthesta9onaryfield.However,grpr-/-avoidedthemovingballtoagreaterextent,ascomparedtowtandhetfish(p=0.125),andsignificancemayberesolvedwithagreatersamplesize.Weexpectthatwithalargersamplesize,thewt,het,andmutantfishwillalldisplayasignificantpreferenceforthesideofthewellwithoutthemovingball.Conclusions:Thecomparablepabernsofgrp,gpc3,andprkcdexpressionsupportourhypothesisthatdespiteembryologicaldifferencesinforebraindevelopmentamongdiversevertebrates,theneuronsthatregulatefearareorganizedinsimilarnetworkswithinamgydalar-likeregions.Thispaberningsuggeststhattheneuralnetworkforfearregula9onhasbeenevolu9onarilyconservedamongstvertebrates.Furthermore,thefearandanxietybehaviorsinyounggrp,grpr,andgpc3(-/-)mutantzebrafishsupportourhypothesisthathomologsofthesegeneshaveconservedrolesinregula9ngfearbehaviorsindivergentvertebratesincludingmammalsandfish.

BehavioralanalysisMeasurethegeneralanxietyof12-13daysoldzebrafishlarvaebyusingedgepreferenceandbouncingballassays.Zebrafishareindividuallyplacedinwellsthataredifferen9atedbytopvs.bobom,andedgevs.middle.Forthefirst30minutes,thezebrafishdonothaveanyballstoinduceanxietyandisusedasthecontrol.Inthelast30minutes,thetophasas9llballandthebobomhasamovingball.Theplacementofthefishisrecordedevery30seconds.

Sushmita Adhikari1 and Dr. Laura L. Bruce2 1 University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha NE 68182; 2 Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha NE 68102

Comparison of Amygdalar Neuronal Networks that Regulate Fear Behaviors among Vertebrates

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

METHODS

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

FundedbyLB692TobaccoSeblementFundsSpecialthankstoDr.SadeKosoko-Lasaki,ErrikEijike,JuanMontoya,AndrewMezher,Bailey

Hassman,andCreightonUniversity’sHS-MACAandCPHHE

ChronicAnxietyBehavior

Fish

Amphibian

Bird

Mammal

Grp Gpc3 Prkcd

Insituhybridiza3on•  grp:Inzebrafish,xenopus,andchickengrpisexpressedinhomologuesofthemammalianBLCamygdalarareaandtoa

lesserextentinhomologuesofthemammaliancortex.•  gpc3:gpc3isexpressedinthemammalianintercalatedamygdala,whichhasnotbeeniden9fiedinothervertebrates.Our

resultsshowthatgpc3isexpressedin(xenopus)oradjacentto(zebrafishandchick)thehomologueofthemammalianBLC.•  prkcd:Inmammalsprkcdisexpressedinthelateralpartofthecentralamygdala.Ahomologueofthecentralamygdalahas

beeniden9fiedintheotherspecies,andprkcdisexpressedinpartofthecentralamygdalainzebrafishandxenopus.Thusprkcd-homologouscellsarepresentinasimilarpaberninfish,amphibians,andmammals.

Thecomparablepabernsoflabelingsupportourhypothesisthatdespiteevolu9onarilydifferentdevelopmentoftheforebrainindiversevertebrates,differenttypesofneuronsareorganizedinsimilaramgydalar-likeregions,sugges9ngthattheyhaveahighlyconservedneuralnetworkforfearregula9on.BehavioralanalysesIni9alanalysesofchronicanxietybehaviorsinzebrafishshowthat:•  grprandgpc3mutantfishshowatrendtowardincreasedavoidanceofmo9on,whichisasignofincreasedfearand

anxietybehaviors,consistentwithourhypothesis.•  grpmutantfishshowadecreased9mespentneartheedgeinthepresenceofthemovingball,whichmayreflectthesmall

numberoffishtested.Thisiscontrarytoourhypothesisthatthemutantzebrafishprefertheedgeandthetopwiththemovingballcomparedtotheirwildtypeandheterozygouscounterparts.

Preliminarybehavioralresearchsuggeststhatsimilarcelltypesmaybeessen9alfortheappropriateregula9onoffearbehaviors.Futureresearch.Inthefuture,wewillmakeanewprobetolabelprkcdinchicken.Rela9velyfewneuronsexpressedprkcdinyoungxenopus,sowewilluseolderxenopustoseeifmorecellsexpressprkcdinolderanimals.Also,Dr.Bruce’slabwilluseamorecomplexbehavioraltest,cuedfear,toexaminefearbehaviorsinadultzebrafish.Wewillalsoincreasethenumberofanimalsforthebehavioraltest(especiallythemutants).Clinicalimplica3ons.Trendsfromthebehavioralassayssuggestthatmutantzebrafish,mice,andhumansexhibitsimilarbehavioralproblemswhenthesamegenesareabsent.Researcherscanusethemutantzebrafishasmodelstoiden9fytreatmentsforau9smandPTSD.

gpc3:Humanswithgpc3muta9onshaveaben9ondeficitdisorderanddistortedspeech(Bus9etal.,2011).gpc3neuronsarerequiredtoex9nguishcondi9onedfearinmice.Results:gpc3-/-fishshowednochangeinedgepreferencecomparedtowtandhet.Theheterozygotesavoidedthemovingballandpreferredtothesta9onaryfield,likemostfish.Thewtandmutantswillprobablyshowsimilarsignificanceastheheterozygoteswithahighersamplesize.

grpr:Childrenwithgrprmutantsexhibitau9smandpanicdisorders.Miceexhibitgreaterandmorepersistentfearmemories(Bédardetal.,2007;Ishikawa-Brushetal.,1997).Results:grpr-/-fishshowednochangeinedgepreferencecomparedtowtandhet.Allfishavoidedthemovingballpreferringthesta9onaryfield.Thereisatrendforgrprmutantstoincreaseavoidancetothemovingballcomparedtowtandhetfish,whichmayberesolvedwithagreatersamplesize.

grp:Inmicegrppoten9atesthefearstartleresponse,sowehypothesizedthatgrp-/-zebrafishwouldshowincreasedavoidanceofanxiety-producingbehaviors,soincreasededgepreferenceormo9onavoidance.Results:grp-/-zebrafishdecreased9mespentneartheedge,butshowednodifferenceinmo9onavoidancecomparedtohetandwtfish.Thisismostlikelyduetothesmallsamplesize,butmightbeduetodevelopmentalresponsestoabsenceofgrparedifferentthanifgrpismanipulatedintheadults.

grp,gpc3,andprkcdRNAareexpressedinneuronsthatarepartoftheamygdalarcircuitriesthatarecri9calforregula9ngfearbehaviors.grp:(gastrinreleasingpep9de;bombesin)Poten9atesthefearstartleresponse(Bédardetal.,2007)LocatedinamygdalarneuronsintheBLC(basolateralcomplex)gpc3:(glypican3)–gpc3neuronsarerequiredtoex9nguish(unlearn)acondi9onedfearassocia9on(e.g.redlightandshock).Humanswithgpc3muta9onshaveaben9ondeficitdisorderanddistortedspeech(Bus9etal.,2011).Locatedinintercalatedneurons(adjacenttotheBLC)prkcd:(proteinaseKdelta)–Ac9va9onofprkcdneuronsdecreasefreezingbehaviors(Haubensaketal.,2010).

grpisexpressedmainlyinN(nidopallium,darkblue),andsomewhatinH(hyperpallium,lightblue),whicharetheproposedhomologuesofthemammalianBLCandcortex.gpc3isexpressedmainlyinapreviouslyuniden9fiedgroupwhichwecall“I”(intercalatedgroup,yellow),similartothemammalianpabernofexpressionintheintercalatedamygdala.

grpisexpressedmainlyinneuronsinVP(darkblue),andsomewhatinDP,whichistheproposedhomologuesofthemammalianBLCandcortex,respec9vely.gpc3isexpressedmainlyinVP(yellow),similartothemammalianpabernofexpressionintheintercalatedamygdala.prkcdisexpressedmainlyinneuronsintheCeA(centralamygdalahomologue,orange),similartomammalianpabernofexpressioninthelateralpartofthecentralamygdala.Thecombinatorialpabernsuggestsevolu9onaryconserva9onoftheamygdalarneuralnetworkforfearbehaviors.

grpisexpressedmainlyinDm(darkblue),whichistheproposedhomologofthemammalianBLC,andsomewhatinDc(lightblue),whichistheproposedhomologofthemammaliancortex.gpc3isexpressedmainlyinVd(yellow),withscaberedneuronsinDm,similartothemammalianintercalatedamygdalapabernprkcdisexpressedmainlyinCeA(centralamygdalahomologue,orange),similartomammalianpabernofexpressioninthelateralpartofthecentralamygdala.

InSituhybridiza9on(ISH)Prepara3on:Thebrainoftheanimalisdissectedandplacedingela9n.Thegela9nisplacedinafixa9vesolu9oncontaining4%formaldehydeandphosphatebufferedsaline(PBS).Day1:Thebrainiscutintoslicesofbetween30-100umusingafreezingmicrotome.Thesec9onsarethendehydratedandrehydratedusingvariousconcentra9onsofmethanol.Then,thesec9onsaredigestedwithProteinaseKandprehybridizedinasolu9onofformamide,SSC,tRNA,andheparin.OncethedenaturedDIG-labeledriboprobeisadded,thesec9onssitovernightat56°C.Day2:Thesec9onsarewashedwith1xSSC,2xSSC,0.2xSSCandMABT.AZerthewashes,thesec9onsareplacedinblocksolu9on.Thean9-digisaddedandthesec9onssitovernightat4°C.Day3:Thean9bodysolu9onisremovedandthesec9onsarewashedwithMABTandAPbuffer.Then,BMpurpleisadded.Oncethesec9onsareadequatelystained,theyaremountedonaslideandreviewedunderlightmicroscopy.

grp gpc3grpr(grpreceptor)

gpc3grp

gpc3grp prkcd

gpc3grp prkcd

EdgePreferenceEdgePreferenceEdgePreference

TopPreference TopPreferenceTopPreference

AnassayforanxietywasconductedwithDanioreriotodeterminehowgrp,grpr,andgpc3mutants,wildtypes,andheterozygotesrespondtoamovingballbyloca9onpreference(edgevs.middle)andmo9onavoidance(s9llvs.movingball).

Symbol Meaningns p>0.05* p≤0.05** p≤0.01*** p≤0.001

Honors Stories

Page 11

Sushmita’s award-winning neurscience poster summarizing her research.

I completed an eight-week research program at Creighton University over the summer and won second place

at their competition at the end of the program.Because of that, they sent me to the confer-ence in Phoenix, Arizona, which was amazing! There were thousands of people attending from undergrads to post-baccalaureate and grad-uate students. Besides the research,many well-known faculty members spoke on diverse topics from microorganisms in the space shuttle to race and naturaldisasters.Manycollegeswerealsopresentto give out information on graduate programs or medicalschoolprograms.Ialsoreconnectedwitha few friends who had also completed the program at Creighton but live out of state, went to a Jay-Z concert,andexploreddowntownPhoenix.Howev-er, oneof thebest partsof the tripwaswinning. This was certainly unexpected. The pro-gram director I was with told us no one he ever took hadwonbefore,somyexpectationswerelow.WhenI did win, I was ecstatic! I knew the research I had done was wonderful, but there were over a thousand undergraduate students presenting so it was a nice surprisetobehonoredwiththis.Overall,theconfer-encewasamazingandahighlightoftheprogram. My abstract for my research is as follows: fear is a basic, conserved emotion essential for sur-vival, yet little is known about how fear responses evolved.Thisresearchcombinedgeneexpressionand behavioral analyses to study the evolution of theneuronalnetworkthatregulatesfearbehaviors.Using in situ hybridization, we examined the ex-pression patterns of three genes, protein kinase C δ(prkcd),gastrin-releasingpeptide(grp),andglyp-ican 3 (gpc3), which are implicated in fear behav-iorsinDaniorerio(zebrafish),Xenopustropicalis,andGallusgallusdomesticus.Additionally,anxietybehaviorswereexamined inyoungzebrafishthatlackedgenesforgrp,grpreceptor(grpr),andgpc3. Wemeasuredhowoftenthefishwerelo-cated on the edge versus center of a well (a small

circular container), and how often they were lo-cated in the upper versus lower halves of the well in the presence of a still or moving ball, respec-tively.Ourworkinghypothesisisthathomologsofgenes which mediate fear behaviors in mammals are expressed in amygdalar-like areas in all ver-tebrate animals and can be used to identify the functional roles of these genes in the neuronal network that underlies conserved fear behaviors. The comparable patterns of grp, gpc3, and prkcd expression support our hypothesis that de-spiteembryologicaldifferencesinforebraindevel-opment among diverse vertebrates, the neurons that regulate fear are organized in similar networks with-inamgydalar-likeregions.Thispatterningsuggeststhat the neural network for fear regulation has been evolutionarilyconservedamongstvertebrates.Fur-thermore, the fear and anxiety behaviors in young grp,grpr,andgpc3(-/-)mutantzebrafishsupportour hypothesis that homologs of these genes have conserved roles in regulating fear behaviors in di-vergent vertebrates includingmammals and fish.

Student wins national award for neuroscienceposter

I was presented with the opportunity to teach Introduction to Social Work as an Honors course for the fall of 2017.This

sounded like a fun opportunity to teach this course inadifferentwaywithdifferentperspectives.Itwasimmediately clear the Honors students I would be teaching were diverse in thought, age, class stand-ing,ethnicity,andgender.Thisimmediatelycreatedan atmosphere in the classroom where we could sharedifferentperspectivesonthematerialpresent-ed.Thestudentshavetrulybeenamazing,astheyareengagedinclassandinthematerialpresented. I learnedonthefirstdayofclassthatnota single student was interested in social work as a majororcareer. Iwasabitconcernedthiswouldstifletheirinteraction,butitwasjusttheopposite.Through engaging discussions and class activities, they have challenged each other and me academ-ically. This has truly been a fun and challengingexperience for me, as I find that teaching Hon-ors classes allows for even more creativity in the classroom. It also allowsmeas an instructor tothink outside of the box and to be challenged by studentswithperspectivesdifferentfrommyown.

Professor Profile

By:JeffKnapp

Honorable Mentions

Page 12

JeffKnapp

Student Spotlight

By: Kayley ScottNora Jean Baker

Honors social work teacher, Jeff Knapp.

HSA November Student of the Month, Nora Jean Baker.

The Honors Student Association’s Student of the Month for Novem-ber is Nora Jean Baker. She is a

first year in theHonorsProgramand ismajoringin music education. She plans on being a bandteacherbut dreamsof beingonBroadway.With-in the Honors Program, Nora is also in the Hon-ors Learning Community where she shares two linkedclasseswithotherHonorsstudents.Herfa-vorite aspect of Honors is having a group of peo-ple supporting her in college and in her classes. Nora was selected as the HSA Student of the Month because of her continued commitment towardstheHonorsprogram.SheattendsasmanyHSA events as she can and consistently provides feedback and suggestions to make the events evenbetter in the future.Sheputsothersbeforeherself and demonstrates continuous academic excellence. For these reasons, Nora exemplifieswhat itmeanstobeHSA’sStudentof theMonth.

Honors’ Fall of Fun

Honors Program

Page 13

Kayser Hall

6001 Dodge St. Omaha, NE 68182402.554.2696

unomaha.edu/honors-program

Dr. Lucy Morrison

Directorlxmorrison@unomaha.edu

Dr. Matt Patton

Instructormpatton@unomaha.edu

“When you fee l l i ke s t opp ing , t h i nk abou t why you s t a r t ed .” -Unknown

The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment. The University of Nebraska at Omaha is an AA/EEO/ADA institution. For questions, accommodations or assistance please call/contact Charlotte Russell, ADA/504 Coordinator (phone: 402.554.3490 or TTY 402.554.2978) or Anne Heimann, Director, Accessibility Services Center (phone: 402.554.2872). UCEVFLITEMP1016

Lupe Green

Staff Assistant mggreen@unomaha.edu