Alissa Edjacin ’24 and Kylie Mitchell Lipetzky ’23, working with their individual research groups in the BIOL 497 Research Seminar, received funding in the form of Tri-Beta (BBB) National Biological Honor Society Grants.
Edjacin, who received $797, is working with Lexi Smith ’23 on microplastics in squirrels. With microplastics (MPs) emerging as a threat to several biomes and marine ecosystems being the most thoroughly studied to date, Edjacin’s group is one of the first to investigate MP accumulation in wild rodents, specifically ground and tree squirrels and the first to compare the prevalence of MPs in urban versus rural squirrels. 
“Last year, I worked on microplastics in Clay County rivers, so this feels like a continuation of my work,” Edjacin said. “I am excited to contribute as much as I can in the fight against pollution.”
Mitchell Lipetzky, who received $120, is working on squirrel microbiomes along with Andie Kassenborg ’22, Grace Ivesdal ’23, and Rhaegan Kiland ’23. Mitchell Lipetzky’s group is researching the diets of squirrels who live around Concordia and in rural North Dakota. They’re studying how the squirrel’s diet impacts the composition of the gut microbiota with rural squirrels having a more plant-based diet versus urban squirrels that have increased access to processed food and exposure to human food sources.
Both groups are collaborations with the seminar class and other biology faculty and staff — Dr. Jennifer Sweatman with microplastics, Dr. Ellen Aho and Dr. John Flaspohler with microbiomes, and extensively with Harshana De Silva Feelixge, the lab coordinator who has a strong background in microbiology.
Dr. Joseph Whittaker, associate professor of biology, said the whole process was extremely collaborative, making it exciting to conduct research in new, unfamiliar areas.
“The students worked together in their groups to put the grants together, and it was a lot of fun to be part of their collaboration,” he said. “They took ideas from previous coursework and elaborated on those projects to make them uniquely their own. The support of Tri-Beta very much made these research projects possible. The students were able to develop projects along their own interests and take the initiative to go in some new directions.”
Edjacin and Mitchell Lipetzky will present their research at either a regional district convention or a national biennial convention and will be presenting at COSS (Concordia College’s Celebration of Student Scholarship).