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Brita Jessen
[email protected]
EDUCATION
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Fall 2005 – Spring 2006
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. B.A. with honors, Biological Sciences, May 2004
Middlesex School, Concord, MA. Graduated with honors, June 2000
GRANTS and AWARDS
Sigma Xi membership, 2004
Sigma Xi travel grant, 2003
Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture student grant, 2003
National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, 2002
WORK and RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Field technician, construction and development of the Boston Area Climate Experiment.
Advisor: Jeffrey Dukes, University of Massachusetts, Boston, fall 2006 – present
Independent study, examining effects of grasshopper herbivory on Spartina alterniflora performance.
With: David Johnson, Plum Island LTER, summer 2007
Laboratory assistant, sample preparation for leaf litter isotope analysis.
Institute of Ecosystems Studies (at Boston University), winter 2007
Marine education internship, communicating natural history and current research in the Gulf of Maine.
Marine Environmental Research Institute, Blue Hill, ME, summer 2006
Laboratory technician, sample processing and preparation for the Boston Area Climate Experiment.
Advisor: Jeffrey Dukes, University of Massachusetts, Boston, spring 2006 – summer 2006
Graduate research assistantship, monitoring river herring re-establishment by radio telemetry.
Advisor: Martha Mather, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, fall 2005 – spring 2006
NOAA/TIDE internship, manipulating nutrient inputs and predator removal on a salt marsh ecosystem.
Advisor: Linda Deegan, Marine Biological Laboratory, spring/summer 2005
Research assistant, data compilation for avian nesting and feeding studies.
Advisor: Nicholas Rodenhouse, Wellesley College, winter 2005 – spring 2005
Honors thesis, describing effects of light intensity on the composition of GFP-tagged mitochondria in
Arabidopsis thaliana using scanning laser confocal microscopy
Advisor: Martina Königer, Wellesley College, fall 2003 – spring 2004
Research assistant, examining Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle control by cyclin localization.
Advisor: Jennifer Hood-DeGrenier, Wellesley College, summer 2003
Research assistant, observing Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast light response in guard cells.
Advisor: Martina Königer, Wellesley College, fall 2002 – spring 2003
Research assistant, sample preparation for study of E, coli DNA transcription control.
Advisor: Natalie Kuldell, Wellesley College, winter 2001
PRESENTATIONS
“Can You Reduce Climate Change? Yes, you can!”
Dukes lab presentation, New England Spring Flower Show, Boston, 2007
“Mitochondria: dancing organelles”
Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture spring conference, 2004
“Effect of light on Arabidopsis thaliana guard and epidermal cells”
Ruhlman Conference, Wellesley College, 2004
“The effects of light on the morphology and motility of mitochondria in Arabidopsis thaliana”
American Society of Plant Biologists National Conference, Honolulu, HI, 2003
“Characterization of a nuclear export signal mutation in the yeast cyclin Clb2”
Wellesley College Summer Research Program, 2003
“Factors affecting organelle movement in Arabidopsis thaliana”
Ruhlman Conference, Wellesley College, 2003
“Mitochondria: shape, size, and distribution in Arabidopsis thaliana”
Wellesley College Summer Research Program, 2002
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Brita Jessen
[email protected]
“Effects of light intensities on chloroplast and mitochondrial movement in Arabidopsis thaliana”
Wellesley College Science Center Poster Session, 2002
“The orientation and position of mesophyll and guard cell chloroplasts in Arabidopsis thaliana”
American Society of Plant Biologists Northeastern Conference, Wellesley College, 2002
(presented by M. Königer)
PUBLICATIONS
Effects of Melanoplus bivittatus and M. femurrubrum herbivory on Spartina alterniflora performance.
In review, 2007
Review of “Marine Conservation Biology: the science of maintaining the sea’s biodiversity,” Elliott
A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder (eds). Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries May, 2006
Effect of light intensity on mitochondrial size, shape, and mobility in epidermal cells and guard cells
of Arabidopsis thaliana, 2004
Personal experience article, Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture 2004 spring newsletter
RELEVANT COURSEWORK
Graduate: Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation, Fish Biology (Harvard University Extension School), Research
Concepts, Social Conflict and Natural Resources Undergraduate: Marine Biology, Freshwater Ecology,
Molecular Genetics, Environmental Policy, Cellular Biology, Organismal Biology, Biology of Cetaceans
(Brandeis University), Brain and Behavior, Cellular Physiology, Proteomics, Chemistry I and II, Organic
Chemistry I and II
FIELD and LAB TECHNIQUES
Aquatic and terrestrial flora/fauna sampling and identification, water chemistry analysis, confocal microscopy
(live and fixed tissue), population modeling (STELLA), fluorescent microscopy (live and fixed tissue),
protoplast isolation, vertebrate dissection, DNA or protein gel electrophoresis, PCR, MALDI-TOF mass
spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
OTHER SKILLS
Familiar with construction techniques and machinery; able to work outdoors and with heavy equipment;
proficient in common computer applications; able to learn custom computer programs quickly
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