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Carol A. Hefley
chefley@okstate.edu 1205 East Hartford Street Broken Arrow, OK 74012 918-402-6625 EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma Expected graduation date: May 2015 Associate of Science, Biotechnology, Psychology Tulsa Community College, Tulsa, Oklahoma Graduation date: May 2010 RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Biological Research Internship May 2012 to present Consortium (TABERC) Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma Studied the possible causative agent of Morgellons Disease Grew bacteria and fungi from samples of Morgellons patients and compared with control samples Performed PCR( Polymerase Chain Reaction) to quantify the sample size

Research Technician August 2012 to present Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma Studied morphologies of Monarch butterflies AWARDS: NSF URM Research Scholar (awarded through OSU) NSF S-STEM scholar (awarded through OSU) References upon request Conducted surveys for milkweed plants and Monarch butterflies Observed and recorded Monarch caterpillar movement and host plant preference

Career statement Writing assignment

Critical thinking This paper was one of the longest papers I have ever written and it was on a subject I knew absolutely nothing about prior to the assignment. This assignment got almost 20 hours of my life and I am proud of my research put into it. This addresses almost all the departmental objectives in the research and communication skills area which are: Understand the scientific method and its application to the life sciences; understand the concept of scientific peerreview and how to access peerreviewed literature; demonstrate the critical thinking ability to summarize and evaluate basic information on biological Systems published in the scientific literature; and demonstrate the ability to present scientific information clearly and concisely orally and in writing. This assignment challenged these areas and I learned a tremendous amount of knowledge in this area of these objectives. 2 artifacts Tech writing instructions
Research proposal

Carol Hefley Dr. Baum

What do you do if you have a bacteria that you think might be Escherichia coli. What is the first step in the process of characterization? The first step is growing it on agar, but what agar do you use?

In the Hiroshi article it explains how MacConkey agar has a role in Escherichia coli growth. Escherichia coli is a very common bacteria. To grow it on agar you have to do some background information on the specific bacteria and what it needs to grow. The Fijikawa article talks about the comparison of growth in pouched foods and gives a lot of detail what Escherichia coli is.

The question is what kind of agar do you use when trying to characterize Escherichia coli? My hypothesis is the agar in which Escherichia Coli will grow will be Nutrient agar . Nutrient agar has all the basic nutrition bacteria needs to thrive and grow and is not selective for any specifiic bacteria type.

We will experiment with nutrient agar and MacConkey agar. The methods that will be used first is inoculating a agar with a plastic loop. Streak for isolation with nutrient agar plate with the Ecoli.

Take out inoculated Ecoli plate and make sure all colonies look the same. Then take another plastic loop and inoculate a MacConkey plate plate. Put in 37 incubator for 24 hours.

Take MacConkey agar plate out of incubator. Growth= Gram negative bacilli and Escherichia coli is a gram negative bacilli.

One limitation to this experiment is that if you have growth on MacConkey agar you do prove that you have a gram negative Bacilli BUT there is a lot of different gram negative bacilli bacteria in the world. So further research would need to be done to guarantee that Escherichia coli is the bacteria you are growing.

The significance of this is that when you have a bacteria you need to characterize you start with agar. This is the first microbial technique you would perform. Figuring what kind of agar the bacteria will grow on is first step to figuring put what test do next on the flow chart.

Hiroshi, F. and S, Morozumi. 2007. Modeling Surface Growth of Escherichia coli on agar plates, Applied Environmental Microbiology, NCBI Pubmed http:/Pwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P MC1317346/ Fijikawa, H . K. Yano and S. Morozumi. 2006. Model comparison of Escherichia coli growth in pouched food, NCBI Pubmed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16862 989

Additional artifact

Mmorgellons powerpoint Austin texas

Reflection over all

Upon graduation, our majors will: In the area of core content knowledge: Understand fundamental principles of evolution and the diversity of evidence that supports this unifying theory for the life sciences; Possess a working knowledge of biodiversity and systematics; Understand basic principles of ecology, physiology, genetics, and cell biology in terms of their historical foundations and currently active, frontier research areas; and Be able to articulate the relationships among these core disciplines and how application of an integrative approach to life science research contributes to our understanding of the natural world. **These learning outcomes can be documented through coursework. If there are no assignments or projects that demonstrate these, then you could provide a written description of how you have developed this core content knowledge and which courses and/or activities have contributed to that knowledge.** In the area of research and communication skills: Understand the scientific method and its application to the life sciences; Understand the concept of scientific peerreview and how to access peerreviewed literature; Demonstrate the critical thinking ability to summarize and evaluate basic information on biological systems published in the scientific literature; and Demonstrate the ability to present scientific information clearly and concisely orally and in writing. **These learning outcomes can be documented in a variety of ways, such as completion of a ZOOL 4700 (Undergraduate Research Problems) project, course laboratory projects, Honors Contracts, Senior Honors Theses, Wentz Research Projects, etc.** In the area of career, ethical, and social awareness: Understand the relatedness and distinctions among specialized fields of study within the life sciences as they relate to career options; Be prepared for admission into programs of graduate study, schools of human and veterinary medicine and related health professions, or for entry into the job market in fields related to the life sciences; Recognize and respect the central importance of scientific integrity to the advancement of science; Be able to formulate evidencebased arguments on matters of science that generate controversy in society; and Appreciate standards of responsible use of organisms and environments in research as well as in the application of knowledge that comes from that research. **These learning outcomes will perhaps require the most creativity to address, but could include assignments and/or projects, written statements referencing certain activities/experiences (e.g., seminars), etc.** There is also the possibility that you do not think you have met one of the learning outcomes based on your experiences at OSU, and that can documented with a written statement