Connor Squellati, REU student
Jonathan Shia, REU student
SFSU Biology’s REU program is back in person this year and the lab is delighted to welcome Connor Squellati from Pomona College and Jonathan Shia from Northeastern to the lab for the summer.
Jonathan comes to us via the MBL’s cephalopod initiative, where he has been working as a husbandry intern for the past semester. He’ll be working on a project to measure peripheral nerve activity in cephalopods in the presence and absence of putative analgesics. He’ll be supported by a team of Skyler and Chris - Skyler’s behavioral work on analgesia provides the background for his study, and Chris’s electrophysiological expertise provides the practical training in the skillset he’ll be developing here.
Connor’s main interest is in the molecular biology and genetics of nociception and plasticity in cephalopods. He’ll be conducting a study looking at expression of nociceptor-specific channels and other molecular markers in octopus and squid tissue. Connor will be working alongside Gabby, who brings years of experience in bioinformatics, molecular techniques and in-situ hybridization to the lab.
In addition, they’ll be taking part in the regular REU professional development activities and obtaining a certificate in coding by working alongside Rachel, who is using the Python-based program Deep Lab Cut to analyze the walking kinematics of her flamboyant cuttlefish.
We wish them a busy, productive and enjoyable summer!