Passing the Torch

(pictured from left to right: Hannah Stillman, David Brinkley, Hanny Rivera, Ann Tarrant)

Yesterday was the last day in the lab for Falmouth Academy Intern Hannah Stillman and just the second day for Summer Student Fellow David Brinkley. Both of them have contributed or will contribute to our ongoing studies of the sea anemone Nematostella. Hannah helped with animal care and joined us in studies of thermal plasticity and circadian rhythms. One cool brand-new result from her work is that daily cycles in extension by Nematostella seem to be directly light-cued and not under circadian control…but we are still following up on this very new result. David has already started working on optimizing metabolic assays that may provide insight into the mechanisms that Nematostella uses to respond to (acclimate to) temperature changes in the environment. We have really appreciated Hannah’s conscientious hard work and infectious enthusiasm and hope to see her back soon. And we’re excited to see what David discovers this summer.