Envision

Bio: Kayla’s lab provides diagnostic testing and technical assistance to poultry integrators, growers, veterinarians, and members of allied industries around the world. She spends her time isolating viruses and gene sequencing to study the Newcastle Disease Virus.

“Every week there has been something new to learn…There is so much that go into making vaccines that don't just stop once it is given but even after it is used…Being a rising sophomore there were a lot of things that I didn't understand right away and some of the basics still needed to be explained, but Dr. Ladman and his team were very patient with me and still gave me the hands on experience I needed.”

Through Envision, Kayla realized she wants to pursue a career involving research.

Bio: Sydney, a member of UD’s NCAA D1 Women’s Ice Hockey, joined Envision to pursue her senior thesis research, a blend of species population and habitat management. She studied the impact of different source translocations on Northern Bobwhite habitat use and movement in Pennsylvania. She also used compositional analysis to analyze vegetation surveys of quail and nest locations daily.

“I love the work I'm doing. It has given me valuable hands-on experience in tracking using telemetry, vegetation sampling, and habitat quantification while enforcing what I’ve been learning in the classroom about habitat and species management along with species identification.”

Sydney aims for graduate school for endangered or threatened species management.

Bio: Todd spent the summer in an agricultural entomology lab studying the use of black soldier fly larvae in waste upcycling.

“I am interested in my lab work because it not only promotes less food waste, but also takes a different approach to combating food insecurity. I find the idea of using different organisms as solutions to man-made problems such as food waste fascinating…My experience has been great. Not only am I learning everything I hoped to learn, but I am fostering professional connections and helping the community around me.”

Todd plans to pursue his DVM and Ph.D.

Bio: Isabella wants to be a veterinarian and hopes her lab experience in Envision will help her stand out during the application process. While her lab is known for Marek's Disease research, this summer she studied the Heartland Virus, using methods such as mini-preps and gene sequencing.

A lesson she learned this summer was that it takes a lot of smaller experiments to get one successful major result. When asked how her Envision summer has been, she said “The experience has been amazing, I believe this work is laying the foundation for major future discoveries.”

Bio: During the past spring semester, Brandon began assisting Dr. Hui Ru Tan in Dr. Juzhong Tan’s food science lab. This summer, he continued to research optimizing the conditions of the extruder for “puffed snacks” made from lima bean flour. This process included grinding and sieving raw lima beans into flour, then putting the flour and distilled water through the extruder to produce a puffed snack.

Brandon has learned a lot about equipment safety and has experienced the design and execution of an experiment. He hopes to make something that can save somebody else from having to do tedious lab tasks.

He is very thankful to both Dr. Hui Ru Tan and Dr. Juzhong Tan for their patience.

Bio: Zoe saw her work this summer as having the potential to prosper in crop science and major agricultural operations. She measured the effects of Abscisic Acid, a common plant stress hormone, on Arabidopsis and tomato plants. She applied exogenous applications to the plants and collected leaf angle and thermal measurements with special cameras. One of the main goals of this research is to directly impact yield potential by influencing canopy structure, planting density, and light-use efficiency.

“I like the sense of individuality that I have in this space, it is much different than a typical lab you have to take for a class.” 

Zoe says she is leaving with experience actively participating in research and applicable lab skills. “It is inspiring to share our own research, and all work towards innovative solutions together…This experience confirmed that I am exactly where I want to be, and that agricultural research is important to me.