Snake, Rattle and Role: Honors Student Finds Niche in Reptile 研究

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发布于2023年4月7日

托马斯Becnel

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On hot summer nights in West Texas, with her eyes wide and heart racing, Grace Coppinger 学会了如何捕捉响尾蛇.

她加入了博士。. 杰森·斯特里克兰，a 生物学 professor at the 十大彩票网投平台, and two graduate students on a field 大本德国家公园附近的旅行. 日落后，他们开车穿过沙漠寻找 因为蛇在过马路.

Using tongs or a pole with a hook, the 南 研究ers eased the snakes into a sack. The next day, they maneuvered the snakes into a plastic tube, then had them bite down 在塑料杯上释放毒液.

“我们捕获的蛇比我想象的要多，”科平格说. “我们已经进入了 二三十岁. 尤其是晚上，又潮湿又黑，你有时 对付有毒的爬行动物. 这是一次疯狂的经历，做一些不是每个人都做的事 可以做. 肾上腺素飙升得很疯狂.

“有一天晚上，我们出去捉蝎子. 为了找到他们， 你用黑光照射，它们就会在黑暗中发光. 所以我们沿着悬崖边 德克萨斯州中部，a.m.那里有巨大的星星和最大的夜空 见过. 我这辈子从没觉得自己这么渺小过. 超级酷的体验.”

回到莫比尔，科平格在蛇的研究中找到了自己的定位. 她收集了 common garter snakes – generally harmless to humans – near the nature trails on campus 并从它们的后毒牙中提取毒液进行分析. 这是一个知之甚少的领域 的研究.

The 荣誉学院 student is interested in what proteins are produced in the venom of the garter snake, and how they are different from other rear-fang snakes. 同时, whether female garter snakes, which are larger than males and tend to eat bigger prey, 它们的毒液更复杂吗.

The 21-year-old junior 生物学 major hopes her work will be published in a scholarly 杂志，如Toxicon. 她已经是一篇树蛙文章的合著者了 Dawn Canterbury, a former 南 graduate student, in Herpetological Review. 她是 also an undergraduate 研究 assistant on a tick 研究 project that is a col实验室oration 思特里克兰德和菲利普医生之间的关系. 梅根·赫曼斯 微生物与免疫学学系. 

Coppinger is one of four 南 undergraduates nominated for a 2023 Goldwater 学者hip 在科学、技术、工程或数学方面. 她打算从事基因研究 研究. 海员的伯特利大厦，是 荣誉学院这里是她最喜欢的校园之一.

“I just love going in there and hearing about what everyone’s working on,” she 说. “One of my friends is an anthropology major studying all of these interesting things. 真是太神奇了，这个人的大熔炉.”

在南, Strickland runs a 生物学 实验室 called the SSSTING Lab, which is short for 蛇，蝎子，蜘蛛，毒素，信息学和基因组学. 科平格拿了一个 his genetics classes and sent him an e-mail asking about 研究 projects.

“She was a freshman at the time, so it was great to bring her in early,” Strickland 说. “As soon as we started talking, it was clear that she was smart, energetic and 高度自我激励. 她是实验室里的好帮手. 她总是想 是有帮助的. 她总是努力成为团队的一员.”

Coppinger is grateful for the chance to do 研究 as an undergraduate. 她记得 思特里克兰德给了她几个研究的机会. 其中之一，袜带蛇 project, he described as “from the ground up,” requiring lots of work over several 学期.

这听起来不错.

“In my mind, if you’re going to do something, it needs to be 100 percent,” she 说. “Within the hour, I got back to him, saying please can I do this, and I will work 那么辛苦. 那就是我去的地方，我很高兴我去了.”

从密苏里到莫比尔

科平格在圣. 密苏里州的路易斯. 高中时，她做到了 a summer program at the University of Chicago, but chose to attend 南 because of 荣誉学院和多芬岛海洋实验室.

She wound up studying reptiles, rather than amphibians, which surprised her parents.

“My mother hates snakes, so at first she was kind of worried about me,” Coppinger 说. “I don’t think any of us expected me to end up in this, but I’m happy to be 现在.”

在莫比尔，她在当地一家五金店做兼职. 她跑了好几次 每周参加一次，偶尔参加5公里赛跑. 她有一只叫盖特的狗.

This summer, she will participate in 研究 Experience for Undergraduates, a National Science Foundation program, with the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University.

Coppinger has definite plans to attend graduate school and go on to earn a Ph.D. 有 a satisfaction that comes with field work that leads to 实验室 analysis and published 结果.

“我喜欢围绕研究建立的社区，”她说. “我喜欢在 实验室. 我喜欢为一些事情做贡献. 我对几个工厂项目很感兴趣 in, using genetics, but I could see myself working with rattlesnakes or pit vipers 我的余生.”

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