As we grow up, we learn facts and explanations from textbooks and teachers about the world around us. Most classroom activities in K-12 and even in undergraduate courses use canned labs to demonstrate a concept or a mechanism that have one right solution if done correctly. Published studies paint a clean, straight story from idea to conclusions, leaving out the many failed starts and frustrations along the way. Serving such a sterilized version of science makes the impression that science itself is a tome of absolute and certain knowledge, gained in a straightforward process, and that most of what is to know has already been discovered and explained.

Not surprisingly, this simplified perspective of science could not be further from the truth. While humanity certainly amassed an immense amount of knowledge, there are vast gaps in our understanding, especially when it comes to specific, local and less studied organisms. In addition, science is凌乱，我们尝试尝试的大多数事情都不按预期工作，尤其是在第一次迭代中。随着时间的流逝，项目变体，实现新目标，并导致潜在的意外发现以及令人困惑的挫败感。这种不确定性部分使成为科学家变得如此有趣。对于大学毕业生而言，重要的是要欣赏科学的这些方面，以成为有效的科学消费者和科学倡导者。

Every Spring quarter I teach a高级顶峰课程华盛顿大学东部生物学系的本科生疾病生态学专业。该课程的目的是为即将毕业的老年人提供最终的经验，在那里他们可以整合他们在大学生涯中学到的一切。我还有其他目的来灌输对疾病生态学的复杂性，涉及自然和社会方面及其对生态系统过程的影响。班上的许多学生都从事与健康相关的职业，如果他们记得超越简单的差异并在练习医学时要求耐心病史，我很高兴。

This particular class provides excellent examples of the messiness of science, and the large gaps in our understanding of the world around us. I give large leeway to my students in selecting their projects, with few constraints. This means that I’m not specifically knowledgeable on the background of their projects, which forces them to educate themselves. I get to learn about the organisms they study, which is fascinating. Many times, projects don’t turn out as they were planned. In this class, I put the emphasis on effort, since even if they don’t get the expected results, we still learn from that. This year’s class in particular provided good examples of the messiness of science, and unexpected results. I asked my students to summarize their projects, with particular emphasis on these aspects, please see them below! I’m sure many of you can relate to their experiences, either from classes you took, or even from your research in the lab (or field)! Please share those stories below in your comments. Enjoy!

在华盛顿东部的白色鼻综合症调查期间，在蝙蝠上发现外寄生虫

By Connor Abney, Aaron Hope and Jamie Olson

Bat populations in the United States have been rapidly decreasing since the presence of伪造灾难, or more commonly called the White Nose Syndrome fungus, was first detected on the East Coast back in 2006. Over the past decade the disease has slowly been making its way across the country, with some cases popping up here on the West Coast. With the assistance of Washington State Fish and Wildlife (WSFW), we were able to go out to a location in Lincoln County, WA and conduct a field survey on a population ofMyotis yumanensis（Vester蝙蝠的一种种类），至1）帮助WSFW在观察到的蝙蝠上找到并识别（如果有的话），以及2）查看蝙蝠上的寄生虫是否存在通过增加病原体负荷来促进或阻碍疾病微生物组。

如果发现任何蝙蝠具有异位源，则将其去除并储存以供以后鉴定，并且观察到的所有蝙蝠都用干拭子采样了微生物组。观察到了两种类型的型寄生虫。第一个是属于Mesostigmata（黑色）的蝙蝠螨。另一个更独特，因为它属于巴西利亚属，尽管被归类为“蝙蝠苍蝇”，但它缺少任何翅膀，只有吊床代替了翅膀在进化时期丢失的地方（橙色）。收集的样品经过了PCR并通过凝胶电泳进行运行，以测试DNA的质量和纯度。然后将样品发送到外部实验室进行测试。不幸的是，第一轮测试产生了非常低的DNA，到达数据是无法使用的。在等待进一步的结果的同时，我们决定比较蝙蝠的骨质存在与性别和重量，因为这是我们目前唯一拥有的可用数据。对于偏爱男性而不是女性的载体的趋势是一种强烈的趋势（p = 0.059），尽管这在统计上并不显着。还有一种蝙蝠的趋势，这些蝙蝠的外寄生虫比没有它们的蝙蝠要重。 Luckily, no White Nose Syndrome was detected in the bats tested.

Variables affecting the prevalence of Bartonella spp. colonization of cats in Spokane County, Washington

by Tina Cao, Samantha Cheever, Aleesha Grove, Halli McGraw, Jenny Peterson, Kevin Scott, and Laura Tarango

Zoonotic infections are transmitted from an animal host to a human host. Our common house pets are reservoirs for numerous zoonotic infectious diseases. A common one is a genus of bacteria called巴尔托内拉which can lead to Cat Scratch Disease (CSD) in humans. CSD is transmitted from an asymptomatic cat through a scratch or bite that breaks the surface of the skin. This contamination with their saliva transmits the bacteria to our blood stream. Since nearly 40% of cats carry this bacteria in general, it’s surprising that we don’t see a lot of cases of CSD. While it has a high impact on those of a suppressed immune state, the recently sick, children or elderly, a normally functioning immune system can defend against the bacteria without a problem. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of巴尔托内拉spp.在斯波坎县的猫中，我们以前没有有关的信息。大约87％的猫采样测试阳性巴尔托内拉spp.which is high but not unheard of. Within our sample we saw an increase in the prevalence of巴尔托内拉spp.in younger cats from an animal shelter weighing eight pounds or less. Sequencing will soon be conducted to determine if the巴尔托内拉species found are巴尔托内拉henselaeor another less infectious strain of巴尔托内拉。If you have a cat in or from Spokane county, ensure all scratches and bites are washed thoroughly and observed for any signs of infection!

小鼠模型中诱导的炎症性肠病和乳杆菌嗜酸菌

by Ryan Cao, Hailey Gieser, Lindsey Gieser, Christina Hill, Chandler Hodge, Hayden Jones

2004年，仅在美国，炎症性肠病（IBD）就影响了近140万人。该疾病的特征是正常肠道微生物菌群的失衡。葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）广泛用于诱导上皮损伤。据信具有屏障功能障碍机制，可使细菌更容易进入宿主。到目前为止，最有前途的益生菌是治疗IBD是不同的物种Lactobacillus。我们的研究重点是确定是否L. acidophilus可以用作益生菌，以减少小鼠炎症性肠病相关的体重减轻。我们假设接受了L. acidophilussupplement after treatment with DSS would lose less weight than mice that do not receive theL. acidophilus补充。实验分为3组。第一组被给予L. acidophilusorally daily for three days and then was given 3% dextran sodium sulfate salt (DSS) in the water to induce IBD. Group two was only given 3% DSS water in their normal water bottles to induce IBD, but noL. acidophilus补充。第三组既没有收到DSS也没有收到益生菌补充剂。所有小鼠的重量每天都被服用十天，以跟踪它们的进展。如果任何小鼠失去了初始体重的20％，则将其安乐死以进行人性治疗。该项目的目标是了解益生菌对减少症状的影响，但我们的结果尚无定论。我们的老鼠根本没有任何重大的体重减轻，因此无法得出结论L. acidophilus影响了IBD的体重减轻。我们认为，小鼠没有发生体重减轻，这是因为每只老鼠所消耗的DSS水数量不一致。如果每天对实验进行重做，并每天给它们提供一致的DSS水，那么我们认为该鼠标模型将非常成功地查看是否是否L. acidophilus影响IBD的体重减轻。

Feeding and oviposition preference of adult mosquitoes collected at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, while trying to colonize them

By Donna Ganbaatar, Erika Magana, Joseph Moua, Savang Moua, Toby Moua

蚊子是全球最常见的媒介之一，负责涉及人类新兴疾病的绝大多数病例。尽管已经研究了它们的大部分生物学，喂养机制，宿主 - 病原体相互作用和宿主偏好，但我们的小组着手建立一个蚊子菌落，以在我们地区进行进一步研究。使用干冰的蚊子陷阱从特恩布尔国家野生动物保护区（TNWR）收集成年蚊子。同伴从华盛顿东部的帕鲁兹草原修复地点收集了幼虫和p。由于死亡率高，成功出现了少数。在该项目的早期阶段捕获的成年蚊子用于识别。属的百分比很大（94％）Aedeswith the addition of someAnopheles（5％）和Culex(1%). To mimic natural conditions, adult mosquitoes were transferred into a collapsible cage, exposed to 12-hour light and 12-hour darkness using an LED lamp attached to a timer. A wet towel was used to cover the cage in order to maintain high levels of humidity. The cage was enclosed in a cardboard box to eliminate natural light from affecting the light and dark phases from the lamp. Within our research project, we conducted two studies. First, we investigated the feeding site that the mosquitoes occupied most frequently within a 3-day trial with each trial consisting of a 30 minute feeding session. Feeding sites consisted of cotton pads soaked in 6 ml of 5% sucrose solution, a second solution made with a mixture of 3 ml of 5% sucrose and 3 ml of defibrinated sheep blood, and a third solution of 3 ml 5% sucrose and 3 ml of defibrinated human blood. Our data indicated that there was no significance between all three sites concluding that the mosquitoes were “not picky” feeders in our lab setting. Our second investigation focused on the preference in oviposition sites using a black plastic bowl and a white plastic bowl filled with 100 ml of distilled water and germination paper lined in the walls of the bowls. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty in trying to imitate natural climate conditions, no egg deposits were found throughout the lifespan of the mosquitoes. Because we were unsuccessful at the reproduction stage, establishing a colony was not achieved although mosquitoes were kept alive for approximately one month. Many mosquito colonies have been established all over the world in laboratory conditions using more efficient feeding methods and natural habitat simulations which we strongly encourage future student researchers to use.

Testing the efficacy of household liquids as Dermacentor tick repellents

by Hunter Lee, Jacob Ott, Nicholas Vanderholm

这里有一个方案:你和你的朋友电话asks if you would like to go on a hike this afternoon. You love to hike so you emphatically reply that you are in! However, your friend discloses to you that there is a catch…you will be going on a hike on a trail known to have a large population of ticks. You don’t have any tick repellent around your house but you don’t want to miss out on a good hike, so what should you do? We attempted to provide an answer to this question by testing the efficacy of household liquids as a substitute to commercially produced tick repellents onDermacentor在特恩布尔国家野生动物保护区收集的壁虱。在初步试验之后，我们确定Febreeze和醋是与我们测试的其他各种家用液体相比，最有可能产生重大效果，从大蒜汁到使用的机油。然后，两种液体都进行了研究试验，在那里我们测试了它们作为针对Deet的tick驱虫和没有驱虫剂的对照组的有效性。为此，我们在梅森罐子里放了10个滴答物3分钟，并计算了多少个tick虫可以逃脱罐子。我们通过将棉签浸泡在实验液体中，然后将液体擦在罐子的口周围。滴答自然会向上和从罐子中爬出，因此不逃脱罐子的滴答声表明，液体在罐子的嘴上擦液体是有效的滴答驱虫剂。我们发现，与对照组相比，DEET是唯一具有显着结果的治疗组（P = 0.043），并且在我们的任何试验中，没有tick虫逃脱了Deet Jar。Febreeze似乎具有潜在的有效性，因为它的平均壁虱数量低于对照组，但通过Fisher精确测试的统计分析没有显着性。同时，醋根本没有有效的效果，因为它的平均壁虱数量要比对照组高，尽管数据又不统计学意义。因此，总而言之，如果您没有tick虫，您的朋友要求您远足该怎么办？ First of all, do not lather yourself in vinegar. You can however use Febreeze, and it may potentially have an effect. But don’t count on it being an effective tick repellent substitute. Instead you should try to get your friend to stop by a store and pick up a bottle of DEET tick repellent, and as always, you should wear long pants and long sleeves to cover as much skin as possible before heading out in the field.