In Love with Bacteria

Ashley Bono ’09 fell in love with bacteria in a sophomore introductory microbiology course. Now, as a senior at UMass Amherst, she is putting her fascination to work on a capstone project funded by a Commonwealth College Honors Research Grant. In Fernald Hall, she is uncovering information about the causes of Lyme disease and other tick-borne bacterial illnesses.
Working in the lab of entomology professor Stephen Rich, Bono is analyzing the gene sequences of the bacteria associated with deer ticks and studying how the bacteria affect the tick life cycle.
“Bacteria are everywhere and they’re amazing,” Bono says. Whenever we think they can’t live somewhere or do something, it turns out they can. They can eat metal!”
A dual microbiology and biochemistry major from Medway, Mass., Bono is on track to graduate summa cum laude. She has applications out to graduate schools and plans to become a researcher.
As a Commonwealth College scholar, she didn’t have to wait for graduate school to conduct high level research. She received a $1,000 research grant for lab equipment and supplies from the honors college at UMass Amherst. “I have a whole lot of gene sequencing to do and it can get expensive,” she says.
Commonwealth College, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has long promoted student research. Original research in the form of a capstone project is a graduation requirement for its students. Bono was one of 37 students who received Honors Research Grants this academic year. She will present her project with an oral defense in May at the Commonwealth College-sponsored statewide conference on undergraduate research.
Bono’s project may help scientists figure out how Lyme (one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the U.S.) and other tick-borne illnesses are perpetuated. “If we’re lucky we’ll find something that will help us better understand the means of Lyme disease transmission,” she says.