ENLISTING HER DECADES-LONG research skills, Dr. Mary Jo Ondrechen is all in for the fight to understand — and ultimately defeat — the coronavirus. Dr. Ondrechen and her team are researching the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, at her laboratory at Northeastern University in Boston, where she is a professor of chemistry and chemical biology and principal investigator of the Computational Biology Research Group.
Her ground-breaking research is funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, awarded last May. Dr. Ondrechen and her team are working to identify the amino acids in the viral proteins responsible for the activity of each protein type in this particular coronavirus that thrives at the expense of human cells. With research collaborator Dr. Penny Beuning, also a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, Dr. Ondrechen is using computational and machine-learning methods she developed to achieve a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2. They are predicting compounds that could disrupt the viral life cycle, and Dr. Beuning’s group is testing them in vitro — findings that could lead to new drugs to treat COVID-19.
Though the grant is for one year, Dr. Ondrechen hopes to complete most of her research within six months. “We developed a theory to enable the interpretation of the genomic data and apply the theory to where in the structures of the viral proteins we can attach molecules with an effort to actually diminish its capacity to infiltrate human cells or to disrupt its ability to replicate in our cells,” she explains.
Her work represents a potential opportunity to counterpunch a deadly pandemic. A second NSF grant provided a chance to offer virtual summer research internships to eight undergraduate students, two of whom are Indigenous, under the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. “This pandemic is hard on Native students, as the infection and death rates are higher in some tribal communities due to severely limited resources, such as access to clean running water, while internships and summer research opportunities have been cancelled due to the pandemic and travel-related restrictions,” Dr. Ondrechen explains.
Dr. Ondrechen’s work represents a potential opportunity to counterpunch a deadly pandemic.
The plight of Native students resonates with Dr. Ondrechen, who values her Mohawk heritage and embodies a traditional deep appreciation for nature. A cultural highpoint for her is the annual Echoes of a Proud Nation Pow Wow held on the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, a First Nations reserve, just a short distance from Montreal.
It was her mother, says Dr. Ondrechen, who fostered her initial interest in science. “It all started when my mom took us to a weekend science course where we studied everything from animals to rocks. Every week was a different topic,” she recalls. “When a parent goes with their child to these types of learning experiences, the family often talks about it during dinner. That’s when my fascination with science really began.”
She believes that Natives are a natural fit for STEM careers. “We are excellent observers of nature and defenders of our natural resources,” she points out. “The water, land, plants, and animals are part of a balanced system, and it’s our job to protect those things. You have to give back because nature sustains us.”
Dr. Ondrechen has been active in AISES for many years and has served in a variety of capacities, including as chair of the Board of Directors and as a mentor for the Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM program, which helps inspire and train undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students to become college and university professors.
Besides pushing to help defeat COVID-19, she is working on two other research grants. One from the NSF involves machine learning to interpret the functional roles of amino acids in proteins to explain genomic data, and another from the ALS Association is for developing a novel approach to treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal neurodegenerative condition also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dr. Ondrechen is also the director of a project funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to catalyze institutional change to encourage natural science majors to be more welcoming of non-traditional students, including minorities and first-generation college students.
Dr. Ondrechen completed her bachelor of science degree in chemistry at Reed College in Portland, Ore., and went straight for her doctorate in physical chemistry at Northwestern University. She has authored and coauthored dozens of scientific research papers. She continues to enjoy mentoring and encouraging students at all levels through webinars, one-on-one meetings, talking circles, and conferences. This is her 40th year as a Northeastern University faculty member, and she continues to find her work compelling. “It’s a wonderful life working with young people,” she says. “New discoveries are always around the next corner.”
— Kimberly Durment Locke
FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS Liam Puls was part of a small STEM school: the Oklahoma School of Innovation and Experiential Learning, in Bixby. He was in the school’s first class, with a cohort of only 15. Now, it has students from seventh to 11th grade. “We were able to do things that regular students don’t get to do, like travel to Peru and Boston, and visit companies like SpaceX and Boston Dynamics,” he says. “Amazing field trips!”
Now in his junior year, Liam attends Victory Christian School in Tulsa. He plans to play golf on the high school team and participate in the Oral Roberts University dual-enrollment program, earning college credit while in high school. He notes that the Cherokee Nation provides generous scholarships for dual-enrollment programs like this one.
Liam’s ultimate career goal is to teach science or math — maybe both — to Native students. His father inspired his vision for a career path. A psychiatrist in Okmulgee, Okla., his father went away to college and medical school, chose to come back to serve the needs of the community, and sees anyone with a tribal ID. “He is a good role model for me,” says Liam. “I see his drive to make our community healthier. As a teacher, I hope to come back to Oklahoma and serve my community like my dad does.”
“If I don’t support the community activities, especially the ones for Native students, I worry they won’t last. To make sure they are around for the next generation, we have to get involved and understand that we’re making a difference just by participating.”
Because Liam believes that positive experiences early on, like the ones he had, can set Native students up for success, he plans to teach middle school. He counts AISES among those experiences. “I have been a member since eighth grade — I didn’t know about it until eighth grade!” he says. He has competed in the past three AISES National American Indian Science and Engineering Fairs (NAISEF). “I won first place in the junior division in eighth grade, when my project was plastic sequestration of single-use shopping bags,” he says. “Last year I did a project studying the use of language using a computerized linguistics program and won the Oklahoma Tribal Conservation Advisory Council Award.”
Liam is grateful that his parents and teachers encourage him to get involved, take risks, and enter competitions. “Many students don’t enter because they don’t think they can win,” he says. “Believe me, I have entered many competitions that I didn’t win! But I look at it this way: if I don’t support the community activities, especially the ones for Native students, I worry they won’t last. To make sure they are around for the next generation, we have to get involved and understand that we’re making a difference just by participating.”
One competition that Liam did win is the Congressional Art Contest for his district. His winning photograph will hang in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., where it will go up against each district winner throughout the United States. His prize shot captures his younger brother wearing his older brother’s cap from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “Like many Native families, our family has a legacy of military service that my brother is carrying on,” he explains. “For myself, I currently am a cadet staff sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program and am learning how to fly planes while also working through search and rescue training.”
In another competition, the art and essay Sutton Scholarship Award, with his photograph of his brother on their farm in Delaware County, Okla. “That’s where our family settled after the Trail of Tears, so the land has special significance,” he explains. “It has two springs, tall pine trees, and many types of wild animals. My dad teaches us how to keep the land healthy and preserve the habitat for future generations.”
Liam prizes his family connection to the land. “I called my essay ‘The Land of Many Mothers’ because it is through my grandmothers that our farm has been preserved and family stories handed down and remembered,” he says. “I often wonder if that is what my grandmothers imagined we would do, and I wonder if they would be surprised that seven generations later we would still be here!” Liam himself is not only still here, he plans to stay.
— Kyle Coulon
OLIVIA BAPTISTE has been drawn to science since elementary school. “I loved presenting at the science fairs,” she says. That interest has blossomed into focused studies in biology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. While the field has always been a favorite of hers, the biology course she took in her first year cemented her interest. Now in her third year at UBC, she is preparing for the MCAT and pursuing her goal of becoming a physician someday.
After living with her grandmother on the Soda Creek Indian Reserve for four years, Baptiste and her parents moved an hour away to Quesnel, B.C., a small, rural town surrounded by beautiful mountains, lakes, and rivers. During elementary and high school in Quesnal, Baptiste was encouraged by her mother, a dental hygienist, and her father, a cutoff saw operator at a local lumber mill. “My parents have always supported me in my passions for science and health care,” she says.
In high school, she figured out that she wanted to be either a nurse or a physician, and her parents helped her plan her career path. She volunteered at a hospital throughout her high school years, which gave her a good sense of how rewarding the work can be. “Volunteering allowed me to explore my passion for speaking with patients and tending to their needs,” she says.
She attributes the growth of that passion to her grandmother, a residential school survivor and role model of care and compassion. “She has cared for so many people and is the most generous person I’ve known,” says Baptiste. After Baptiste’s first year at UBC, forest fires forced her grandmother to move in with Baptiste’s family. Throughout the summer, Baptiste took care of her grandmother every day, just as her grandmother had cared for others, an experience she found deeply gratifying. “I realized that I was following in her footsteps,” says Baptiste.
In high school, Baptiste figured out that she wanted to be either a nurse or a physician, and her parents helped her plan her career path. She volunteered at a hospital throughout her high school years, which gave her a good sense of how rewarding the work can be.
Like many students who go from a small town to a big campus, Baptiste says the move from rural Quesnel to a large city university was a major challenge. “I found Vancouver to be overwhelming,” she says. “I was very homesick in my first year. I found it hard to make friends and join groups on campus.” She struggled to keep up with the academic workload until she discovered the resources provided by the UBC Longhouse (a cultural center for Indigenous students). There she found tutoring and the First Nations House of Learning, which helped her manage her coursework.
By being resourceful, she stayed on her path. “My determination has helped me persevere in hard times, specifically with academic work,” says Baptiste. That self-motivation has also helped her improve her communication skills, whether through her lab work or as a member of .caISES (the Canadian Region of AISES). She was the vice president of UBC .caISES in her second year and co-president during the 2019–2020 year. She was able to attend a Canadian National AISES Gathering in Saskatchewan and forge connections with other AISES members there. AISES has also helped Baptiste meet more Aboriginal students at UBC and plan STEM events for Aboriginal youth in Vancouver.
In her second year at UBC, she was accepted into the Indigenous Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program and paired with Dr. Jörg Bohlmann in the Faculty of Forestry. She applied for and was granted the Undergraduate Student Research Award by Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Through research with Dr. Bohlmann and under a postdoctoral fellow on a Crocosmia (a genus of flowering plants) project, she learned valuable skills. At the end, Baptiste was able to present her findings to her lab group.
Now she’s well on her way to her goal. From listening to her grandmother, she knows there’s a need for more First Nations doctors. She is determined to fulfill her grandmother’s wish. She wants to become a physician and work closely with First Nations communities providing health care to rural areas.
— D.J. Pollard
