Loralee is a 1st year master’s student from the department of Animal Biology working in the Cheng Lab. She studies the expression of antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) in two species of Notothenioid fishes – the temperate Harpagifer bispinis and the Antarctic Harpagifer antarcticus.
What have you been working on this past week?
I recently finished my Southern blots comparing the AFGP genes of H. bispinis and H. antarcticus. Now I am working on extracting RNA from my samples for a future Northern blot. However, this week I’ve been busy with another project. I’m the sound technician for Illini Student Musical’s Footloose, which opens this weekend in Lincoln Hall! The show dates are Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 1:00 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 1:00 pm. Tickets can be bought at IlliniStudentMusicals.org or at the door, but there is a chance that we will sell out so I recommend getting them online. Please come out and see the show!
What’s a fun thing you did this past week?
Well, last Friday I saw the movie Us with some friends. I really liked it. If you’re looking for a good horror movie, I definitely recommend it. Other than that, I’ve pretty much spent the rest of this past week in rehearsal for Footloose. We have rehearsal every night during tech week.
Do you have any pets?
I have two tortoise-shell cats named Nutmeg and Ginger. They’re a little shy around strangers, but they love being petted and running around. Ginger goes crazy for string and likes to drag it around the apartment, and Nutmeg begs for peas and graham crackers but refuses to eat cat treats.
