A recent study published in Current Biology and covered in the New York Times and on CNN, estimated that from 1999 to 2015 more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost due to natural resource extraction. Didik Prasetyo, a co-author of the study and doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University, is eager to learn more about the decline and find ways to conserve their habitats and populations.

Prasetyo’s general research interests focus on orangutan conservation and began when he mapped the genome of orangutans in a region of Borneo, Indonesia. He’s also studied their nesting behavior to better understand how they are structured to provide protection during the rainy season. His doctoral research, specifically, investigates the development of flanges in male orangutans. The flanges are enlarged, padded cheeks that frame the face and develop as orangutans mature and are associated with dominance. Some male flange development is slower than others, and Prasetyo wants to better understand why by studying the orangutans’ diet and hormone levels.

“Orangutans can adapt to different situations,” Prasetyo said. “When the forest changes from primary (old growth) to secondary (regenerated), they can adapt. Why not protect them in that forest and they can survive? We just need to make sure there’s no hunting.” To learn more about Didik’s work visit the Rutgers University website.

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Photo Credit: Erin R. Vogel/Rutgers University–New Brunswick

It’s been more than 550 years since the Great Plague, also known as the Black Death, resulted in the death of at least 100 million people in Eurasia and reduced the world’s population by roughly 20%. Even with all the biomedical advances and research, fundamental questions about one of the deadliest diseases remain unanswered. As a doctoral candidate at Colorado State University in biology, biosecurity and infectious diseases to be specific, David Markman hopes to provide some insight.

Markman’s research demonstrates the ability of the bacteria that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, to survive and multiply inside the single-celled amoeba commonly found in soil and water. Under normal circumstances, bacteria eaten by amoebae are destroyed. However, according to Markman, “there’s a growing catalog of bacteria that are found to be resistant to being digested by these amoebae.” The danger is the potential for these pathogens to be used as biological weapons. If Markman’s research proves the possibility, his next step will be research that focuses on how to stop it.

Markman has received numerous fellowships and scholarships, including from the U.S. Department of Defense. Once he completes his PhD, he hopes to work in bio-defense. “Combining science and business in an ethical and responsible way is something that really appeals to me,” Markman said. To learn more about David’s work visit the Colorado State University website, and read his paper “Yersinia pestis Survival and Replication in Potential Ameba Reservoir” for a deep dive into his research published in the CDC journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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Photo Credit: Colorado State University

Madison Heslop, a doctoral student in history at the University of Washington, is on her way to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the academic year to research its history. As a 2018-2019 Fulbright Fellow, Heslop is interested in the connected histories of Vancouver and Seattle during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Located just 118 miles apart but in different countries, Vancouver and Seattle have some shared history.

For nine months, Heslop will be at the University of British Columbia working towards her dissertation project, which explores how the relationship between these two places developed. Specifically, she will examine these, “places where the various Pacifics of transpacific Asian migrants, Canadian and US officials, and a range of Indigenous peoples from the North American continent and Oceania bump up against one another.”

“I am thrilled by the opportunity a Fulbright Grant has offered me to develop an intimate familiarity with the lands and waters of Vancouver, both historical and contemporary, and to contribute to local communities there," Heslop said. To learn more about Madison’s work visit the University of Washington website or her personal website.

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Photo Credit: University of Washington

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/30/mla-study-english-and-other-modern-language-phds-1996-2010-mostly-working-academe

Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, said in an emailed statement that MLA's and AHA's recent studies "are filling big gaps in our understanding of the careers of humanities Ph.D.s." 

Their information is "critical for current and future Ph.D.s trying to understand the career options available to them, and to humanities Ph.D. programs working to improve the preparation of their students," Ortega said, noting that CGS will be ready to release data from its own Andrew W. Mellon Foundation- and National Science Foundation-funded study of career pathways in the fall. Preliminarily, she said of the forthcoming data, "I think we can safely say that the first wave of findings point to greater diversity of career options than many humanities Ph.D. students would imagine."

As a doctoral student in geology at Oregon State University, Ellen Lamont studies mountains. As a 2018 Fulbright scholarship recipient Lamont will be studying, conducting research, and teaching with the Himalayas as her backdrop. In Lamont’s words, “If I’m going to study mountains, I figured I might as well start with the crème de la crème of mountains, where it’s complicated and crazy and impressive and majestic!”

Lamont will collaborate with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology for her research, sampling and mapping fault exposures in the foothills. Her work will specifically focus on how mountains are formed, and which geological force is most important: climate or tectonics. Lamont and her advisor, Dr. Andrew Meigs, believe the process will be better understood by studying the foreland of mountain ranges. “We think we can look at the foreland in a new way,” Lamont explained. “What we want to know is, when did the foreland grow, and how was growth divided among individual faults? When did the faults develop, in what order, and how do they vary spatially?”

By analyzing the timeline, Lamont hopes to find some answers. “If we see that the foreland has been developing more recently than the hinterland, we’ll know that tectonics is likely the dominant force. If it’s the other way around, climate is likely dominant,” Lamont said. To learn more about Ellen’s work visit the Oregon State University website.

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Photo Credit: Oregon State

https://eos.org/opinions/preparing-graduate-students-for-stem-careers-outside-academia

Current graduate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) prepare students for a career that most of them will never find themselves in. These graduate programs have traditionally been apprenticeships that prepare students to become researchers at academic institutions [Hancock and Walsh, 2016]. However, more than 50% of all doctoral degree holders do not work in academia or even do research as their primary job (Figure 1).

After an undergraduate course in gender studies, Lindsay Toman’s role as an LGBTQ advocate was cemented. Now a doctoral student in sociology at Wayne State University, Toman wants to better understand the relationship between health care providers and the LGBTQ community. She began hosting focus groups with participants from Corktown Health Center to assess how comfortable health care providers were with serving their LGBTQ patients.

“A lot of medical students who identify as LGBTQ started coming to my focus groups, which was indicative of a need in the space. The students seemed torn between the two identities. There are certain professional expectations on how doctors go about their day, which may not necessarily cater to LGBTQ individuals.” Toman used her research to create LGBTQ and You, a training manual to help health care providers understand the unique needs of their LGBTQ patients.

Toman recently received the Eugene V. Perrin Memorial Scholarship in Health and Science and Peace. She presented her research at the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Annual Meeting in August 2018. To learn more about Lindsay’s work visit the Wayne State University website.

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Photo Credit: Christine Nyawag/Wayne State

As a member of the selective Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, Theo Roth seeks out challenging problems. Roth is currently working on his doctorate in Biomedical Sciences as part of a dual MD/PhD program and researching new treatments for various cancers and other diseases. Roth’s recent research breakthroughs resulted in a first-authored paper in the July 19 issue of Nature and coverage in The New York Times.

Roth’s research focuses on the burgeoning field of genome editing. Research and experimentation with genome (or gene) editing is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that holds tremendous promise. Previous research focused on using viruses as carriers for the new genetic material, but that has a number of drawbacks, including difficulty pinpointing the exact spot for insertion. Roth and his co-authors, under the supervision of Alexander Marson, discovered a new way using electrical fields that speeds up the process and allows for more targeted delivery.

This research was arduous but rewarding. Roth made his discovery by running thousands of tests. "It took time and effort to get that pipeline up and running, but once it was, we could rapidly iterate through conditions, and focus in on the protocol alterations that were yielding greater numbers of live, correctly edited cells," Roth said. To learn more about Theo’s work visit the University of California, San Francisco website.

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Photo Credit: Noah Berger/UCSF

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/18/nonprofit-national-university-system-makes-moves-acquire-profit-institution

There is a growing demand for graduate degree holders in the work force, and officials at National University System are looking to meet it.

https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/letters/universities-are-up-to-challenge-of-gathering-data-about-ph-d-s/

At the same time, it is important to note that in recent years, U.S. universities have demonstrated that they are up to the challenge of gathering and reporting data about their Ph.D.s. As members of the Ph.D. Career Pathways project, we are part of a network of 64 universities working with the Council of Graduate Schools to collect data on the career pathways of STEM and humanities Ph.D.s with support from the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.