Week 0: Introduction

Hello and welcome to my senior project blog, my name is Colin Duffy. I have been at Basis Independent Brooklyn since 6th grade. Throughout my time at Basis, I have experienced many advanced science classes and I am excited to take on a new challenge. For my senior project, I will be researching the capabilities of sea stars in the aid to curing Alzheimer’s Disease. This subject means a lot to me as I have had a strong interest in marine biology since middle school. I have always been highly fond of collecting shells on the beach. Additionally, Alzheimer’s Disease means a lot to me as I have experienced loss from the disease personally. I know a lot of families in America also struggle with the disease. Throughout my senior project I will be looking at sea stars’ regenerating capabilities and unique chemical properties to determine if the chemical pathways in Alzheimer’s can be altered or repaired. For my on-site internship, I will be working with Elika Zahedi, pursuing her masters at Moss Landing Marine Lab (MLML) in Monterey bay. I will be able to work with experts like Elika to further add to my success in the project. MLML has 10 different labs I can work with varying from vertebrae ecology to biological oceanography. What I am most looking forward to is scuba diving and analyzing sea stars in their natural environment. By the end of my project I will have a finished research paper highlighting what I learned and the success I have had. I look forward to adding more to my senior project. You are also welcome to read my senior project proposal.