Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-2540 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor

Phone: (307) 766-3571

E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

Date: May 15, 2006

 

UW McNair Scholar invited to study Weddell seals in Antarctica

            A University of Wyoming McNair Scholar who performed undergraduate research in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Veterinary Sciences has been invited to participate in a study of Weddell seals in Antarctica.

            The goal of the study is to determine if global warming is having an effect on the seals.

            Sascha Rogers of Gretna, Neb., graduated from UW in December with a bachelor’s degree in zoology and physiology.

            Rogers, who was mentored by research scientist Jean Jewell and the late Professor Elizabeth Williams, will begin working on a master’s degree this fall at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

            If she successfully completes her master’s degree and is accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Alberta, Rogers said she will participate in a population genetics study of Weddell seals beginning in 2008.

            Her major faculty adviser at the University of Alberta offered the invitation.

             “We’ll look at specific candidate genes in the seals to determine if there is an association between body condition and the changes in environment caused by global warming,” Rogers said.

            “I’m very excited about the project. It’s an opportunity to gain experience in what I’m interested in, and that’s conservation biology and genetics, and not very many people get to study animals in the Antarctica.”

            The invitation was based largely on Rogers’ undergraduate research at UW, where she investigated genetic variability in the prion protein gene in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The study examined possible resistance or susceptibility to scrapie, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.

            A prion is a microscopic protein particle lacking nucleic acid. It is thought to be the infectious agent responsible for chronic wasting disease in deer, scrapie in domestic sheep, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as “mad cow” disease, in cattle. These are degenerative diseases of the nervous system.

            “I was able to narrow down my interest in biology from the classes offered here at UW. The professors helped guide me in my education,” Rogers said.

            She thanked Jewell and Williams for agreeing to mentor her even though she was a student in the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

            “They taught me about the ethics of research, proper measuring and how to respect your specimens and the animals you are working with,” Rogers said.

            After Williams died in a motor-vehicle crash in December 2004, Jewell wanted to continue the mentorship, noted Rogers.

            “Because of Jean, I feel like I’m far ahead going into graduate school. Jean is a thoughtful, reliable, fun-loving person. As a researcher, she is ambitious, meticulous, and passionate. She is hard working, but she loves what she does. She enjoys getting results in the lab, and she enjoys teaching students about basic lab practice,” Rogers said.

            She was presented a $2,800 stipend from the McNair Scholars Program to complete her undergraduate research at UW.

            At the beginning of the project, Rogers predicted, “My results will show how similar the prion protein gene of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep is compared to domestic sheep.”

            Jewell said, “They are, in nearly all of the 151 cases examined, the same as the common sequence in domestic sheep, which is associated with susceptibility to scrapie. We’re in the process of writing up the project for peer-reviewed publication now.”

            The paper will examine how the two genes vary, which will allow Rogers and Jewell to estimate possible susceptibility or resistance to scrapie in wild bighorn sheep.

The federally funded McNair program is designed to prepare limited income, first-generation college students and underrepresented groups in graduate education for entry and success in doctoral-degree programs.

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