Advancement Fund Recipient Blog Post
Regis College is foremost a teaching institution that prides itself on the positive outcomes attained by our students. To improve the outcomes for undergraduate biology students, we found it is imperative to offer on-site research and independent study opportunities in the laboratory setting. Various recently received funding including the 2021 ZHA grant have positioned the Regis Zebrafish Research Facility to offer undergraduate students rich internship and independent study opportunities that will spark in them a love for science and a passion to succeed. The BI students completing internships and research opportunities using the zebrafish animal model during the last three years have grown immensely in both their academic understanding and critical thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their future studies and careers.
The Regis Zebrafish Facility received this generous grant from the Zebrafish Husbandry Association (ZHA) in 2021 to assist in the purchase of LaMotte Water Quality testing equipment to maintain the required standards in our single rack zebrafish habitat. Our system is an Aquatics habitat rack retired from a Boston hospital research lab and repurposed in our facility for undergraduate training. The system requires manual water quality assessments, and we previously used colorimetric aquarium tests (ex. API kits available from Amazon) performed by students. The reading of these tests can be somewhat subjective. Our system measurements are now more like research/industry sites, and it is more accurate to have students utilize an instrument such as the LaMotte WaterLink SpinTouchFF photometer in water quality testing for alkalinity, ammonia, hardness, nitrate, nitrite, pH and phosphate using disposable disks containing reagents that are spun with a water sample and provide precise results in two minutes.
A big thank you to the ZHA board and members for supporting education through advancement grants and helping to prepare students for employment in zebrafish labs.
BS in Biology undergraduate and Zebrafish Lab Intern Maria Toumbouras Class of 2023 is seen using the equipment