Erickson, who is majoring in\nmicrobiology and minoring in chemistry, will graduate in December. When she\nbegan her research, she worked with assistant professor Crystal Hepp<\/strong> to test Culex<\/em> mosquitoes to identify the different\nstrains of West Nile circulating in the Southwest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI broke off from the larger West Nile virus project about a year ago to start studying a different mosquito\u2014Aedes aegypti<\/em>\u2014that does not transmit West Nile virus,\u201d Erickson said. \u201cI wanted to see if these mosquitoes are currently transmitting or even just carrying viruses such as Zika or dengue fever. They aren\u2019t, but we did identify a new insect-specific virus\u2014one that does not infect humans. We wonder if this virus could prevent viruses like Zika and dengue from infecting Aedes aegypti<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mosquitoes Erickson studies are collected from traps in Maricopa County and taken to a lab in Phoenix. After being separated by species and by sex\u2014because only the females feed on blood, they are the ones that can spread disease\u2014the samples are shipped to NAU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Erickson\u2019s research enables her to explore her enthusiasm for viruses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love the fact that viruses are, in my opinion, more complex than bacteria in a lot of ways,\u201d she said. \u201cThe virus lifecycle is really fascinating to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating, Erickson will work at PMI through the spring semester and will follow her aspirations by applying to NAU\u2019s Interdisciplinary Health Ph.D. program in the fall so she can continue her research with mosquitoes. She said her research work has helped her grow both academically and personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been an amazing experience,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cI’ve grown a lot and improved my problem-solving skills, having to troubleshoot\ndifferent experiments. I\u2019ve also grown by developing my leadership skills. My\nresearch work has made me into a more independent person, but also able to lead\na group of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Erickson said her mentors, Hepp and assistant professor Viacheslav Fofanov<\/strong>, created a \u201creal family-like lab group. They were always there to talk to me and help me out with anything. And they’ve also helped me decide where I want to go in my career and what kind of a path I want to take to further my education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hepp said the collegiality has been mutual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile she joined our groups with very little lab experience,\nDaryn’s appetite for knowledge, drive to succeed and strong management skills\nhave earned her the privilege of leading some of our highest priority projects\nin the lab,\u201d Hepp said. \u201cIn addition, Daryn has garnered a lot of respect from\nher PMI peers and mentors, which earned her the highly regarded role of PMI’s\nhead undergraduate for the fall 2019 semester. Finally, I am very excited that\nher lab experience over the past few years will keep her coming back for more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research work helped undergraduate grow, develop skills<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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