Zoology major Allison Remick and environmental studies major Madeline Desmond spent several weeks in Kent State’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program getting to know the microbes of the European wall lizard.
The students, who are both members of the Honors College, were among a cohort of 178 students who conducted research projects under the direction of faculty mentors during the annual 2024 SURE program.
Remick, a junior pre-veterinarian major from Grove City, Ohio, said it takes a lot of experience to get into veterinarian school and the SURE program gave her the opportunity to gain that experience.
“The biggest thing that drew me to SURE is that it is something that not a lot of people are going to get the opportunity to do,” Remick said. “Dr. Brian Trevelline is an amazing scientist. I’m having a great time working under him and I get to discover things all on my own.”
Here is Remick speaking with Kent State Today about her work in Trevelline’s lab.
Brian Trevilline, Ph.D, assistant professor of Biological Sciences in Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, focuses his research in the area of how the microbiome shapes the ecology and evolution of hosts.
Trevelline spoke highly of Remick's and Desmond's innovative ideas and the warm and hospitable environment they have created at the lab for everyone who works there.
“I love having their brains in my lab,” Trevelline said during the SURE program in July. ‘They are incredibly intelligent and very ambitious young scientists and they’re coming up with unique and novel ideas and enriching the research program in my lab. And I love what they bring to the lab because they create a warm, hospitable and accommodating place for other members of my lab team.”
What is the SURE Program?
The SURE program, which runs for eight weeks in June and July, provides a stipend to students for their work throughout the program, in addition to offering on-campus housing for participants. Students gain valuable one-on-one experience with a faculty mentor, professional development and scholarship opportunities through student group meetings with fellow SURE participants.
Desmond, of Independence, Kentucky, said she would like to be a full-time researcher and professor in ecology and conservation biology. She spoke with Kent State Today about why she chose to participate in the SURE program.
During SURE, Remick and Desmond assisted Trevelline with his research regarding how exposure to bacteria in the early life of lizards influences their health and exposure as adults. The SURE participants traveled to Cincinnati to work in the field capturing the lizards in their “invaded habitat.” They measured the lizards and sampled their gut microbiome.
Trevelline said there is much evidence that microbes are important to humans, but there is not an understanding of how microbes influence the health and survival of wild animals. The work will shed light on how gut microbes have shaped the ecology and evolution of lizards and other egg-laying vertebrates. Resnick and Desmond made significant contributions to this research.
“Our SURE students made a tremendous impact on this research by helping to develop new projects studying how microbes contribute to lizard coloration and also how lizards protect developing embryos by depositing bacteria-killing enzymes inside their eggs. These SURE student projects are the first step to a greater understanding of how microbes influence the lives of wild vertebrates in nature.”