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AMSR & AESR Advanced Research Opportunities in Science | Berkshire School

Signature Program Website
Advanced Math/Science Research (AMSR) and Advanced Environmental Science Research (AESR) are yearlong courses that offers students an authentic independent laboratory experience to design and execute an original research project of their choice in the biological, physical, environmental, or social sciences. What sets Berkshire’s courses apart is the program’s design: students work with a professional scientist to conduct real-world research in world-class facilities and place-based opportunities for environmental study. Click the link above to learn.

Examples of Current Research Projects

AMSR: Green Machines of the Future

Andrew Shen, Class of 2023

Building a clean jet engine

Project Description by Andrew Shen

I hope to produce a turboprop system that is able to produce electricity through a series-parallel engine configuration that combines a generator into the stator fans of a jet engine. This configuration generates electricity that can be fed back into an electric motor that could provide additional thrust. This could decrease the burn of jet fuel through the supplementation of electronic propulsion, decreasing the amounts of carbon emissions released into the environment during air travel.
The PRUSA Printer is ideal for delicate prints or prints that need to articulate. This unit can print PLA plastic or Carbon Fiber. Carbon prints can be used for experiments that involve higher temperatures generated during engine testing.
Prusa Printer

Student Perspective

Can you describe the AMSR experience?

ASMR has enabled me to pursue my own interests and projects. This class has provided me with time, equipment, and Dr. Burch, all instrumental to achieving the results that I hope to achieve. This is also an extremely open class, where students can pursue any scientific matter they want. This freedom has been especially refreshing for me as I have been able to learn and examine my project at my own pace. -Andrew S. ('23).

What is the class like?

This is also an extremely open class, where students can pursue any scientific matter they want. This freedom has been especially refreshing for me as I have been able to learn and examine my project at my own pace. -Andrew S. ('23).

AESR: Smart Farming with Soil Scouts

Chioma Okafor, Class of 2022

Work Smarter, Not Harder....

Student Perspective

Project Description by Chioma Okafor

Smart farming is using modern technology to increase the quantity and quality of agricultural products. Smart farming technologies can help farmers achieve better outputs at lower costs while adhering to agricultural environmental requirements. -Chioma Okafor ('22).
Click here to learn about Soil Scout Technology

How has AESR added to your Berkshire experience?

AESR has given my inner creativity a chance to shine! Coming from Malawi, a country that relies on agriculture for its income, I knew I wanted to conduct a research project on the ways to improve farming while allowing farmers to make profits. -Chioma Okafor ('22).

Scouting out the place

Soil Scout is the technology that I will be using in this project. This is a sophisticated soil moisture and temperature sensor that is used not only in agriculture but also in golf courses and sports stadiums. The use of this technology will help to increase the frequency with which users monitor changing soil conditions, therefore maximizing crop growth by implementing the essential items that need to be added and/or removed. -Chioma O. ('22)
Chioma's Soil Scout Presentation

AMSR: Molecular Biology of Skin Cancer

Caroline Reilly, Class of 2022

I am an aspiring Dermatologist and, therefore, have always felt strongly interested in skin cancer and how it is caused at the molecular level. -Caroline Reilly, '22

From Dr. Burch: "Caroline came to Berkshire during her Junior year. That spring, she elected to enroll in an Independent Study to get a jumpstart on her AMSR work. That was pivotal to her success as a 1-year AMSR student.

Caroline's Independent Study Poster

Hypothesis-Driven Experimentation

Hypothesis: Antioxidant quenchers might be able to prevent UV damage.
Experimental Setup: After the application of an antioxidant (RudiROS or negative control), cultured mammalian skin cells will either be left untreated (No Treated), or treated with UVA/B or UVC. Western Blot will then be used to assess DNA and protein damage.
Caroline Reilly '22 collecting cell lysates for SDS-PAGE analysis and Western Blotting.

Regeneron STS 2022 Entrants

The Nation's oldest and most prestigious science research competition for high school seniors.
Click here to learn more about the competition

CLARA MOLLERUS '22: CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF KNOWN QUORUM SENSING INHIBITOR IN VIBRIO HARVEYI SYSTEM

Clara's Summary: Bacteria use quorum sensing to communicate. They constantly release molecular signals that bind to other bacteria by chance (upper left image). When the bacteria are in a higher concentration, like in an enclosed space, the likelihood that the signal reaches them instead of dissipating into the environment is greater. Upon receiving the signal, the bacterium turns on a gene, such as light production. This communication system allows bacteria to save energy by only producing light when in a high concentration and most effective. Inhibiting molecules block the reception of the signals and prevent this production of light. This serves as an alternative to antibiotics because it can control gene expression without contributing to antibiotic resistance. Although QStatin is a well known inhibitor to quorum sensing, there is little known about its chemical function. To investigate this, I tested chemically altered forms, or analogues (middle image), of the QStatin molecule on V. harveyi, a light producing bacteria (lower left image). One of the analogues (Q-N), which lost a nitrogen atom, no longer blocked quorum sensing, and showed that the nitrogen was chemically essential for the efficacy of QStatin (lower right image). This research aids in understanding why inhibitors are successful and contributes to work avoiding a worldwide catastrophe from antibiotic resistance.

SIERRA POSEY '22: GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE MICROVIRIDAE DNA PACKAGING PROTEIN J: STUDIES TO ELUCIDATE THE ROLE OF THE TERMINAL AROMATIC AMINO ACIDS

Sierra's Summary: The bacteriophage PhiX174 is a virus that infects bacteria. With a small genomic structure, it is able to serve as a model system for more complex viruses through gaining an understanding of its protein functions (Upper image). My research examined the DNA packaging protein J of PhiX174 in the way that mutations in the aromatic ring structured amino acid Phenylalanine would affect the viability of the virus. Working with six different mutations in this specified location of the J protein (Middle image), I was able to categorize their phenotypes based on the results of the plating assay I completed. I completed plating assays at both restrictive and permissive conditions in terms of both temperature and bacterial cell line complementation and looked for the viability of all six mutants at these conditions. Isolating mutations in the J protein, I was able to locate break-through plaque formation at restrictive conditions on one of the six mutants. This allowed me to hypothesize the presence of a second site suppressor somewhere else in the genome that allowed for viral viability. Isolate plaques were then picked for PCR and gel electrophoresis analysis to determine the presence of an additional mutation after DNA purification and sequencing (Lower right image).

SANJNA SRINIVASAN '22: APPLICATION OF EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS TO PREPARE FOR MACHINE LEARNING: INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ANOMALIES IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER-ASSOCIATED GENE DATA

Sanjna's Summary: Outliers and anomalies may impact large amounts of data in unexpected ways. Exploring the data by employing methods of data mining allows us to better understand the data we are working with while detecting certain characteristics that are worth investigating further (Upper left image). Working with data of the phenotypic characteristics of the microscopic worms C.elegans with mutations in Autism-Spectrum-Disorder-associated genes, I found an anomaly in the data from the GNAI1 strain that hadn’t been taken into account prior to the analysis (Lower right image). I delved into the impacts of the anomaly on the characteristics of the strain and found that it was significant (Lower left image). As such, I was able to prove the importance of performing exploratory data analysis prior to performing a large-scale analysis.

Good luck, Bears! The top 300 Scholars will be announced on January 6, 2022 at noon.

Sabin Laboratory for Math/Science Exploration
Click here to read more about our facilities on campus

For more information about Advanced Research Programs at Berkshire, reach out to Dr. Burch aburch@berkshireschool.org