扣篮 & DNA: LR basketball star excels in the lab

作为勒努瓦-雷恩大学女子篮球队的一名6英尺1英寸的首发中锋, Olivia 纳恩 is encouraged to swat back shots from the opposition.

然而, 作为一名优秀的生物学学生，并参与了一个全国性的项目，为纽约冷泉港实验室收集蚂蚁物种的基因条形码, swatting participants is discouraged.

"I was enthralled with eusocial colonies, so I just dived in," 纳恩 said. “当我第一次在显微镜下观察蚂蚁时，我就爱上了它.

"Growing up, you see an ant and think it's just an ant. 现在，在22岁的时候，我在显微镜下观察蚂蚁，试图识别它们. There are 20,000 species of ants. That's such a challenge. I could discover a new species of ant every day for the rest of my life."

Up to the Challenge

A native of Lexington, 北卡罗莱纳, 纳恩 has never really been one to go the easy route or follow the crowd. Rather she's opted for adventure and the road less traveled.

“我记得当她作为一名大一新生来到我的生物课上时，”斯科特·谢弗博士说.D., associate professor of biology at LR. “那一年，全球网赌十大网站对科学大楼进行了疯狂的翻新，并在图书馆上课. 有些学生会对你讲的任何内容提出问题, and Olivia was one of those students. We were talking about organic molecules and basic genetics. She was always one of those students who was interested. She wanted to discuss it and know more."

A prospective health science major, 纳恩, 而不是, decided to major in biology with a minor in chemistry. 对任何人来说都很难的课程，更不用说优等生和学生运动员了.

“她在过去四年里在课堂上的表现以及她所学的专业, with the amount of time she has to spend with her classes, 成为一名二级篮球运动员是非常不可思议的," said LR women's basketball coach Grahm Smith. “全球网赌十大网站在季前赛中每周投入8小时，在赛季中每周投入20小时. 能够以她的方式管理这两种负荷，并以她的方式表现出来, you don't see many student-athletes who are able to do it."

As a senior and starting center for the Bears, 纳恩 served as a defensive stopper and rim protector for LR. At the midway point of the season, she was second on the team in rebounds, steals and blocks, while chipping in as the No. 4得分手.

She averaged just under 30 minutes a night for LR, 哪一个, when you add on practices, 举重训练, film study and study hall, places a premium on her time.

“她在课堂上的时间和她在学习上的时间绝对是超常的, but at the same time, she's fulfilling her duties with us,史密斯说. "She's putting her time in at the gym and getting individual workouts in. I think it's a real testament to her time management skills."

纳恩 was already serving as a Bear of Distinction, 当她被谢弗选中为冷港项目工作时，她为即将全球赌博十大网站的新生提供指导，并为有抱负的小熊队带领参观校园.

“她是我第一个想到的优秀团队成员，因为她对昆虫学很感兴趣,他说. "Then we added another to our team, Brian Johnson, who is an LR [1999] alumnus and teaches at Gastonia High School."

这三个团队组成了来自全国各地的40个团队之一，东南部的4个团队——但也是北卡罗来纳州唯一的团队——参加了这项研究，对蚂蚁进行条形码编码，以建立一个全国性的数据库.

“基本上，全球网赌十大网站正试图隔离物种，试图识别它们，”谢弗说. "We isolate DNA in those specific species, amplify a specific gene and send it to the laboratory in New York. They then take those samples and sequence that specific gene, CO1. They send it back, and we annotate it. 全球网赌十大网站基本上是在试图寻找一个足够大的片段，以便与国家生物技术中心的其他数据库进行比较. 全球网赌十大网站把坐标给他们，看它是否与数据库中的其他物种相匹配."

Laying the Ground Work

纳恩 has done a lot of the ground work for the team, 引诱, identifying and cataloging ants during her downtime. She said she averages about an hour a day working on the project.

"Collecting ants was really tricky,她说. "I caught a lot more than the number I ended up with, 但有几次我把收集容器弄丢了，把收集到的蚂蚁都弄丢了. 我压扁的蚂蚁比我计划的要多，所以我必须学习一些技巧."

One trick was freezing the specimens, 哪一个 made it easier to manipulate them with tweezers under a microscope.

"A few times I thought I'd grabbed them gently, but I'd accidentally popped their head off,她说. “在处理小于3毫米的东西时，它确实让我的手眼协调能力得到了提高."

纳恩 said she has collected 700 ants with the goal of identifying 400. 一开始, she tried 引诱 and leaving traps at the base of trees, 然而, it mutated into using an aspirator to catch ants one by one. 到目前为止, she hasn't discovered any new species, 然而, she did come across one, Tetramorium bicarinatum, that is exotic and native to Southeast Asia.

Through her work barcoding ants, 纳恩还为她的高级荣誉研究项目开发了框架，该项目研究了黑核桃树和红枫上蚂蚁的不同分布.

谢弗说:“这是在为她的研究生院和职业生涯做准备。. "Catching ants is not a simple project. 你必须引诱他们，然后使用不同类型的二分类密钥进行传统的识别. Then you have to use the microscopes. 她正在学习DNA分离，全球网赌十大网站还可以进一步放大特定基因. 这意味着你必须了解如何运行热循环器，以及哪些成分会进入聚合酶链反应。."

For the spring 2021 term, 纳恩正在继续她对蚂蚁种类的鉴定，并帮助指导谢弗遗传学实验室的学生. 学生们正在参与她的研究，纳恩向他们展示她如何从各种物种中提取DNA并进行鉴定.

“这个项目帮助我将去年学习遗传学时所学到的知识联系起来,她说. “我很高兴能成为其他学生将在这些即将到来的实验室中体验到的啊哈时刻的一部分."

纳恩计划在北卡罗来纳科学院和大学研究与创造性表达研讨会(SOURCE)上展示她的研究，然后在生物学院面前为她的项目辩护, 这些研究成果通常会被发表，并在勒努瓦-雷恩大学图书馆永久收藏，供未来的熊们研究.

她已经申请了几个博士项目，目标是进入康奈尔大学, Kansas or Vanderbilt to continue her studies in entomology.

"It's a grind that doesn't really stop, but it's fun,她说. "It's even more encouraging to do what I do and excel at it all. It has taught me balance. It has challenged me to go outside my comfort zone.

“我只是想学得更多，在某种意义上让自己保持警觉，因为在研究中, you answer one question and that leads to 10 more. It is a continual pursuit of knowledge that challenges you critically."