Eastern Student Christianne Senechal of Amston Assists with Biology Research Project

2018 Mar 27

Eastern Connecticut State University students Christianne Senechal and Jonathan Rappi are assisting Eastern Biology Professor Amy Groth with a complex research project that uses microscopic worms to study genes that are important for human development and disease, including cancer.

Senechal '18 majors in Biology and hails from Amston.

During her research, Senechal has learned the dedication it takes to achieve results. "The research that I have done at Eastern has helped me learn to think critically and persevere," said Senechal. "These values are important regardless of what path someone takes. I never thought that research would be a path I would consider taking, but I have come to enjoy the process very much and believe that what I have learned will carry over into whatever career I pursue." said Senechal.

As Senechal's mentor, Groth helps her determine the direction of her research. "We often spend time discussing the results of my experiments and how we should proceed based on those results," explains Senechal. "She supervises me when I am learning how to carry out protocols for different procedures, until I am capable of working on them independently. Since my research is essentially a branch of her area of research, Professor Groth is a knowledgeable resource who I can turn to when I am unclear on direction."

Senechal believes that undergraduate research benefits students because it provides them with a true appreciation for the amount of work, dedication and effort that is involved. "When a student takes a biology course with a laboratory component, the labs all follow a strict protocol and the results of the experiment are already known by the professor. However, when performing independent research, students learn the variability in research, including how to devise protocols that work for their own experiments and how there are often a number of explanations for why things may go wrong. And since undergraduate research is performed under the mentorship of a professor, there is always someone for the student to turn to when they need help." After graduating, Senechal plans to take a year off to conduct more research or work as a medical assistant before applying to medical school. Her interests include medical genetics, emergency medicine and specialties such as oncology.

"All of the research in Eastern's Biology department is conducted by our extremely talented undergraduates in collaboration with a faculty member," said Groth, who teaches courses in genetics, biotechnology, molecular genetics and the biology of cancer. "The student researchers are utilizing cutting-edge techniques such as RNA interference and confocal microscopy to study genetic pathways in nematodes. The findings will shed light on how those pathways function in human development and disease."

Both students will be presenting their research at two conferences in April; Eastern's Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern conference and the Eastern Colleges Science Conference in Ithaca, NY.