Ava Bignell is a second-year student from Ontario, California. She is involved in the campus
organization Donation of Tissues and Organs along with the sorority Alpha Delta Chi. She
has been conducting research in the Hallem Lab since September of 2021. Using
Caenorhabditis elegans and Strongyloides stercoralis, a parasitic nematode, the Hallem Lab
studies sensory behavior through neural systems. This behavior may be altered due to the
organisms’ experiences or environmental conditions. As a CARE Fellow, Ava is studying the
response of C. elegans to carbon dioxide, specifically how the metabolic activity of bacteria
affects the response of C. elegans. To study this, Ava will use paraformaldehyde to create
bacteria that are metabolically inactive and grow C. elegans on this bacteria. Next, a
chemotaxis assay will be used to calculate the attraction or repulsion, which will be
compared to that of the response of C. elegans grown on bacteria that is metabolically
active. This research will give insight into how behavior of C. elegans is shaped by bacterial
metabolism. In the future, Ava’s goals include obtaining a PhD and continuing to do
research along with being an educator.