Clips & writing samples

Here is some of my selected work. (More clips are available on request.)

Automating Scientific Discovery

(news article for Biomedical Computation Review, Summer 2009)

Robots already have a place in many labs, automating tedious tasks such as pipetting samples. But a new system designed at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom has taken laboratory automation a step further.

“The idea of using a robot is not news, but what’s different about ours is the robot was involved in developing hypotheses and experiments on its own,” says Ross King, PhD, head of computational biology at Aberystwyth University’s computer science department. The work was published in the April 2009 issue of Science. Read more…

Parasitic worms offer insights into immune function

(for the 2008 annual report of the Baker Institute at the Cornell University Veterinary School)

Although billions of people worldwide suffer from chronic infection with parasitic worms, not enough is understood about how the immune system fights this type of infection. In fact, Dr. Appleton’s lab has learned, the immune system doesn’t fully fight off the worms, but actually protects them from harm.

This fascinating balancing act between host and parasite has led to important insights about how our immune systems work. In a recent paper, Dr. Appleton and her colleagues show that eosinophils, immune system cells previously thought to attack parasitic worms, actually play a role in keeping the worms alive. Read more…

New rice plant may feed the hungry with less water and land

(Press release for the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, March 2009)

Scientists at BTI and across the globe hope to feed the hungry with an ambitious project - engineering a more efficient type of photosynthesis into rice.

With water becoming scarce, synthetic fertilizers falling out of favor, and half the world’s population depending on rice as a staple crop, the time has come for a more efficient type of rice - one that can grow better in hot dry climates like Africa, and that can weather droughts in China and elsewhere, producing more grain than before with just a fraction of the water. Read more…

Testing Cayuga’s Waters on an Eco-Cruise

(for Tompkins Weekly, October 6, 2008)

“Cayuga Lake is a little like wallpaper for Ithaca,” says Bill Foster. It’s something to sail on, to drive around, to gaze at from scenic viewpoints. But what is really going on under the surface? In a series of eco-cruises this fall, provided by the Floating Classroom project, Foster and a series of guest speakers are diving deep (metaphorically) to share stories and reveal little-known facts about the lake. “I want to open everybody’s eyes to what’s happening out here,” he says. Read more…