Tucked away in the basement of the Wright Laboratory of Physics, Professor FitzGerald’s lab is dominated by a humming tower fed by plastic tubing, compressed gas cylinders and exposed circuit boards that reveal the years of effort invested in this highly specialized spectrophotometer. FitzGerald’s work pursues the discovery of a material that will enable the storage of hydrogen in efficient, water-powered fuel cells that could power the cars of the future. By using data from the equipment, the properties of small metal-organic molecules can be inferred. “The big problem is that hydrogen is a gas at room temperature,” FitzGerald said. “So what I and lots of other people are after is trying to get a hydrogen sponge.” STEPHEN FITZGERALD What challenges have you faced trying to find this material? What we want is a sticky note. You’ve got the sticky note, you put it there, you tug on it a little, off it comes. … What nature has provided us with is super glue — we can get the hydrogen in, [it] sticks incredibly well, then you can never get it out, so it’s not worth it. Or Teflon — the hydrog e n really doesn’t stick [to it] at all. And there are no known materials that
have the right properties to work under practical conditions. So we need something to store our hydrogen. Very fortunately for me, about 10 years ago Jesse Rowsell showed up in Oberlin and [made] these materials called metal-organic frame- Above, the cannister of metal-organic frameworks. [These molecules work particles located inside the spectroare like] a chemist’s tinker photometer, far left. Penny shown for scale. toy, where you put differPhoto courtesy of Stephen FitzGerald ent chemical species together and create a gazillion possible structures that are pretty close. They give us some hope that we might be able to store hydrogen that way. The great advantage of these materials is there’s a gazillion possibilities; the great disadvantage is there’s a gazillion possibilities, and it can take six months to a year to make a new one, so there’s no way to systematically go through them all. How did you come into this field of research? [My previous work with infrared spectroscopy and cement] had gotten a little boring over the years. And I had done some calculations with the hydrogen, and it’s very, very unusual to use infrared spectroscopy — it’s basically invisible in the infrared unless you do something weird to it. We had equipment around that we were using for the cement. And I basically said to Scott … who [was] my honors student at the time, “You know, you’ve got enough material for your honors project, let’s try this. We’ll probably see nothing, but let’s just try it.” And so we hooked up a gas line, put it into a sample at room temperature. … And basically, 9 o’clock that morning, I had no idea what I was going to be doing. By lunch time I’m set — [ for] the next 10 years, I am set. And that was sort of my one “Eureka!” moment. … I really didn’t expect to see anything — saw half a dozen different bumps, [and] published it almost immediately afterwards. … It had been almost never done before and the idea that we would see this sort of sample was quite surprising.
WILBURN LAB
FITZGERALD LAB
Interviews with faculty and student researchers from four departments across the natural and social sciences about work currently ongoing at Oberlin. This Week Editor: Hazel Galloway Contributing Writers: Lydia Moran and Olivia Konuk
For two years, College senior Michelle Johnson has been working in the lab of Neuroscience professor Leslie Kwakye. Now working on an honor thesis, Johnson’s research focuses on the correlation between specific genes and performance on tasks that demand the integration of multiple sensory inputs. This has applications in the understanding of genetic diseases that result in deficits in multi-sensory integration, such as autism. Unlike Kwakye, who focuses on physical responses as a medium for the understanding of sensory integration, Johnson examines specific neuron responses using a device called an electroencephalogram. Her results thus far have been promising. “I’m finding that you can correlate the autism risk genes to my task,” said Johnson. “Specifically, when I present my stimuli and someone has a specific genotype, … [and] they respond in this way, I can correlate those two things together.” MICHELLE JOHNSON What is it like to work in this lab? The lab uses psychophysical tasks. … Very simply, it would be like we have a participant sitting in a darkened room, sitting in front of a computer, and … there’s a beep — a flash and a beep. Then you ask them which one came first. … So we’re not recording anything from their neurons; we’re really just measuring behavioral features, so how
MIRANDA RUTHERFORD What is it like to work in this lab? What I’m primarily doing is putting together a database of all the artifacts that were found, so then we can link these to the map, because they are two programs that work together. And then that needs to be implemented with a Javascript app on the website, and we’ve also been setting up a server to host that website since we don’t actually have any servers to host it on now. It’s a good example of how, even though a lot of departmental work is very codified — Classics need to be separated from Ancient Studies, History, Archeology and Computer Science — that’s not actually how the real world works.
It’s been really nice to see the interdisciplinary process here and how we’ve been consulting people from so many different departments. What is the most exciting thing about this project? With the Karanis project, it’s really great because you’re not just cataloguing this basket — it’s a basket that was made by somebody in the past who lived in this house that you’re cataloguing. And there’s so many generations, because Karanis covers such a wide time span, that you get to see daily life in a place that was impacted by Greece and Rome, but isn’t a place that we always learned about.
Photos courtesy of Miranda Rutherford
they perceive the two stimuli, not necessarily what neuronal activity’s happening. What is the most exciting thing about this project? I think all scientists have this — I think everyone has this fundamental questioning nature of needing to understand what’s happening. And that fundamental nature can apply to many different questions. … Because [any] specific protein is part of a
huge complex of proteins, that’s a part of this huge pathway, that’s a part of what is causing cancer, and ultimately that could be a cure for a specific type of cancer. So while I feel like everyone has these overall questions that they want to know … once you start getting into the complexities of biological systems … it’s fascinating that you could study something as simple as how fast someone pushes a button [and] you can gain so much information from that.
Kristin McFadden Friday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. Slow Train Café
The African Way Saturday, Feb. 28. 8 p.m. Carnegie Building, Root Room
Kid Business: CYCLE Saturday, Feb. 28, 8–9 p.m. The Cat in the Cream
Featuring OSlam!, Pitch, Please and the Obertones among many others, this showcase brings together some of Oberlin’s most well-loved performing groups. Organizers hope the event will raise awareness about human trafficking in Lorain County. They will be collecting donations for a local organization working to end this practice.
College sophomore and musician Kristin McFadden will take the stage at the Slow Train Café with a selection of original acoustic tunes. Her songs are influenced by pop, classic rock and folk and range from emotional ballads to more upbeat selections.
This showcase by the Oberlin African Students Association centers on the theme of challenging Western stereotypes of the African continent. Tickets are available for $3 in Mudd until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, and for $5 at the door; all proceeds will benefit the Yakubu Saaka fund to support financial aid for African students at Oberlin.
Oberlin’s only short-form improv troupe will welcome back a returning member from abroad in their first show of the spring semester. Kid Business will draw inspiration for the show from America’s Next Top Model.
ROLES LAB Professor Angie Roles’ research on crayfish population genetics was born out of a class trip to a local river. “Every year, we’d go out and teach the class how to tell the difference between these two species,” said Roles. “One day, we were out there and I said, ‘This species looks intermediate to me.’” An initial suspicion that there may have been interbreeding occurring between an invasive species of crayfish and its native counterpart grew into years of research on what effect this hybridization might have, not only on the gene pools of each species, but on our basic understanding of the concept of an invasive species. ANGIE ROLES What kind of work is currently taking place in your lab? There are actually several fairly different projects that go on in my lab. … My work is with crayfishes, and then I have a student that samples goshawks. The techniques of working with microsatellites is the same, regardless of where we are. We are interested in thinking about genetic variation across space in these sorts of different groups. … We’re interested in how much [hybridization between the native and invasive crayfish] is going on — how might that be affecting the future trajectory of these species? So in this invaded river, [if] we start out with these two species … are they both going to hang around? Are they going to collapse into one
Navigating Philips Gym: Getting Women Into the Weight Room Monday, March 2, 5–7 p.m. Philips Gym, Front Desk Softball Coach Mimi Mahon and Volleyball Coach Erica Rau will lead a session geared towards women who feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the Philips weight room. After a tour and basic training on correct usage of the exercise equipment, the two coaches will lead a brief workout. This event is open to all; come wearing workout clothes and sneakers.
that is going to be something different as it merges? [Are] one of those two taxa going to disappear as it merges? So that’s kind of the big question that we want to ask right now. I have a whole bunch of DNA samples we’re going to be genotyping. … We’re looking over time, as well, to get a sense of what might be happening here. What some of the most exciting parts of this project? I think it’s really interesting to think [that] the boundaries we think of separating species are full of holes — that we like to define things in such discrete ways in the universe, but then life finds a way to make that not so true. At some point, if they become different enough, then they couldn’t breed … but how different do they have to be? Or is it just [a] chance of
Cleveland International Film Festival Shorts Program Wednesday, March 4, 8–10 p.m. Apollo Theatre As a break from its usual repertoire, the Apollo will host a night of short films shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The Cinema Studies department will follow the screening by leading a discussion with the Festival’s short film programmer, Paul Sloop, about the process of preparing original short films for festivals.
what differences arise, so they could be very, very different [but not] in the ways that matter, so [they could] still breed? How would you explain the importance of this research to someone outside the field? Species boundaries aren’t absolute, so what does it mean for an invasive species to come into an area and be able to breed with the other species that are there? And if we’re interested in preserving biodiversity, we have to worry not just about ecological affects of competition and such, but what about something like genetic pollution between genomes? And we’re losing biodiversity potentially in that way, if they collapse into one species, or if hybridization speeds up the process of the invader taking over … then we need to worry about that. Photo courtesy of Angie Roles
I’m Alive You Bastards and I Always Will Be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 6–8, 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 8–9, 2 p.m. Little Theater This student-directed show promises to be every bit as bizarre and evocative as its title. It tells the story of two young girls living feral in the desert. The play examines the price of belonging to someone as the girls’ close relationship is shaken by, among other things, the appearance of a dead dog played by College sophomore Jenna Bellasai.
CALENDAR
Voices Against Human Trafficking Friday, Feb. 27, 8–10 p.m. The Cat in the Cream
K WA K Y E L A B
Submit entries to thisweek@oberlinreview.org by Wednesday, March 4 at 5 p.m! Please include photographer’s name, year and the location of photograph.
Below, three pots uncove in a single building in Karanis, dating from the early 200s to early 300s A.D.
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
Hazel Galloway
OberlinReview Signs of Spring photo contest
College senior Miranda Rutherford has been working in the lab of Classics Professor Drew Wilburn on the Karanis project since last summer. The lab harnesses modern GIS technology with the ultimate goal of creating an interface that will allow for virtual exploration of an archeological dig at the site of a small agricultural town that was thriving during Egypt’s Greco-Roman period in the first century B.C. The extensive collection of artifacts that were excavated by archeologists in the 1920s are currently warehoused at the University of Michigan. “We’re trying to put it all together in this interactive database,” Rutherford said. “So you’ll be able to click on a house, or click on a room in the house, and see all the things that were found there … and get a full tour of all the different artifacts that were found in Karanis.”