{"id":249,"date":"2011-11-03T10:31:17","date_gmt":"2011-11-03T14:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/?p=249"},"modified":"2019-11-15T12:22:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T17:22:22","slug":"the-little-things-microelectrode-instrumentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/2011\/11\/03\/the-little-things-microelectrode-instrumentation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Little Things: Microelectrode Instrumentation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melody Bernot\u2019s projects are numerous, enterprising, and diverse. An early-career faculty member in the\u00a0Department of Biology<\/a>, she is collaborating with students on\u00a0eight funded projects, including research on the habitat of an endangered pupfish population in the hot, shallow salt creek of Devils Hole in Death Valley, Nevada. That study is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Park Service\u2019s Death Valley National Park.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Melody Bernot, assistant professor of biology.<\/p><\/div>\n

Closer to home, Bernot has assumed supervision of an\u00a0ongoing project\u00a0formerly directed by Professor Emeritus\u00a0Robert Pinger of the Department of Nutrition and Health Science. In the interest of Hoosier health, the Indiana State Department of Health needs an accurate reading of the potential for the appearance of cases of West Nile virus, a potentially serious disease spread by mosquitos. The health department supports student surveillance efforts in collaboration with Bernot.<\/h4>\n

In addition, Bernot helped procure a student grant from the Indiana Academy of Science to study herbicides in state streams. She is also part of a growing collaboration with a colleague from her own department, Professor\u00a0Tom Lauer, Ball State’s 2010 Researcher of the Year. Lauer\u2019s work is close to Bernot\u2019s scholarly heart: the testing of pharmaceutical concentrations in freshwater habitats which, for this project, is near-shore Lake Michigan. All of Bernot\u2019s investigations fall into two main research categories: trace organics in freshwater systems and novel instrumentation to understand where those trace organics are going. Microelectrodes are the most common instruments she uses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey look like really tiny syringes,\u201d she said. \u201cWe customize them for field use and ship them out for free to other researchers. We\u2019ve adapted and integrated an existing technology and made the instrumentation user friendly and field friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernot received a grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of microelectrode instrumentation for novel assessments of microbial biofilms in ecological applications. She and her students use the customized instruments frequently. During the 2011 summer semester, she directed the work of two students\u2014one in New York and one in Nevada\u2014who were using her microelectrode instrumentation in their research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think once people start to realize how important the small scale is to what\u2019s happening with freshwater contaminants, they recognize the utility of taking minute measurements,\u201d Bernot said. \u201cAll the cool stuff happens at a really small scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Rob Osborne, graduate research assistant,
conducting field work with microelectrode
equipment in the Hudson River in New York.<\/p><\/div>\n

The microelectrode instrumentation is useful in a variety of fields, which supports Bernot\u2019s<\/p>\n

interest in interdisciplinary work and aids in boosting Ball State\u2019s reputation for freshwater research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are doing phenomenal work,\u201d Bernot said. \u201cBoth undergrads and graduates have been published in strong journals. That\u2019s definitely on par with a top-tier research institution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melody Bernot\u2019s projects are numerous, enterprising, and diverse. An early-career faculty member in the\u00a0Department of Biology, she is collaborating with students on\u00a0eight funded projects, including research on the habitat of an endangered pupfish population in the hot, shallow salt creek of Devils Hole in Death Valley, Nevada. That study is funded by the National Science […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-highlights","category-researchnews","tag-2011-research-magazine"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Little Things: Microelectrode Instrumentation - Ball State University Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/research\/2011\/11\/03\/the-little-things-microelectrode-instrumentation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Little Things: Microelectrode Instrumentation - Ball State University Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Melody Bernot\u2019s projects are numerous, enterprising, and diverse. 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