K. Williams; Chemistry: St.Mary's College Maryland

Students take Action in the Gulf

Emily Cambell '11 taking a sample of the Gulf of Mexico

This past Labor Day weekend, five chemistry students accompanied Professor Larsen on a tour of the coastlines of Mississippi and Louisiana to learn more about the effects of the BP oil spill. They brought back samples of the beach sand and water to study back at St. Mary's and to further their understanding of the many environmental issues facing the gulf.

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Chem majors in San Francisco

From left to right: Brian, JP, Dr. Leah Eller, Rob, Nick, Danielle, Mike, Bertrand, Anita, Janice, Dr. Andy Koch, Tabitha (Now Dr. Clem), and Taylor. Emilie and Kristina couldn't make the photo.

Last Spring, 12 St. Mary's students attended the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Fransico. Eight presented their work and we all met after Tabitha Clem's ('05) talk. Tabitha was just finishing up her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.

"Role of PAT Proteins in the Formation of Lipid Droplets"

Kimberly Williams
Mentor: Dr. Pamela Mertz St. Mary's College of Maryland, 2006-2007 Only recently have lipid droplets been studied and hence not much is known about their formation in adipocytes. A family of proteins, the PAT proteins, is known to aid in the formation of lipid droplets in cells. Using differentiating adipocytes, knockdown of ADFP was attempted in hopes of determining how decreased expression of ADFP could affect the differentiation process. Due to problems with materials and technique, a complete knockdown does not appear to have been successful. However, even with a partial knockdown, it is possible to see that there is a difference in the degree of differentiation and the size of lipid droplets formed in cells lacking ADFP.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Students take Action in the Gulf

Chem majors in San Francisco

"Role of PAT Proteins in the Formation of Lipid Droplets"