Announcements of Opportunity
SURF: Announcements of Opportunity
Below are Announcements of Opportunity posted by Caltech faculty and JPL technical staff for the SURF program. Each AO indicates whether or not it is open to non-Caltech students. If an AO is NOT open to non-Caltech students, please DO NOT contact the mentor. Announcements of Opportunity are posted as they are received. Please check back regularly for new AO submissions!
Remember: This is just one way that you can go about identifying a suitable project and/or mentor. Click here for more tips on finding a mentor. Announcements for external summer programs are listed here.
*Students applying for JPL projects should complete a SURF@JPL application instead of a "regular" SURF application.
*Students pursuing opportunities at JPL must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents.
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Project: | Predicting biological traits from stable isotope ratios of amino acids | ||||||||||||
Disciplines: | Multidisciplinary, Biology, Chemistry, Geobiology, Geosciences, Data Science, Computer Science | ||||||||||||
Mentor: | Julia Tejada, Assistant Professor, (GPS), jtejada@caltech.edu | ||||||||||||
Background: | Nitrogen stable isotope of amino acids are used to infer trophic dynamics in modern and fossil ecosystems. Typically, only two amino acids out of the at least twelve consistently found in proteins —phenylalanine and glutamic acid — are employed. While these two amino acids are considered the canonical source and trophic amino acids, respectively, the predictive biological roles of the remaining amino acids have been largely overlooked. | ||||||||||||
Description: | The PI will provide the student with published and unpublished stable isotope data of keratin and collagen amino acids from modern and fossil mammals. The student’s tasks include collecting data on biological and life history traits for these mammal species and employing various mathematical models (e.g., generalized linear mixed models with AICc as the criterion for model selection) to infer these traits with the stable isotopic data. While the project is predominantly computer-based, there is also an opportunity for hands-on lab experience in stable isotope analysis of amino acids for students interested in learning about the isotopic measurement process. | ||||||||||||
References: |
Boecklen et al. 2011. On the use of stable isotopes in trophic ecology. Annu. Rev. Ecological. Evolution. Syst. 42: 411-440 Lee-Thorp et al. 1989. Stable isotope ratio differences between bone collagen and bone apatite, and their relationship to diet. J. Archaeol. Sci. 16, 585-599 Clementz et al. 2009. Revisiting old bones: coupled carbon isotope analysis of bioapatite and collagen as an ecological and palaeoecological tool. Geol. J. 44, 605-620 McMahon et al., 2016. Embracing variability in amino acid d15N fractionation: mechanisms, implications, and applications for trophic ecology. Ecosphere 7, 1-26 Tejada et al. 2021. Isotope data from amino acids indicate Darwin's ground sloth was not an herbivore. Scientific Reports 11, 18944 O'Connell, 2017. 'Trophic' and 'Source' amino acids in trophic estimation: a likely metabolic explanation. Oecologia 184, 317-326 Larsen, et al. 2022. Reconstructing hominin diets with stable isotope analysis of amino acids: new perspectives and future directions. BioScience 72(7): 618-637 |
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Student Requirements: | intro biology/chemistry/geosciences, basic experience and understanding of statistics. | ||||||||||||
Programs: |
This AO can be done under the following programs:
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